| Old School Arc Welding is not dead. In fact, it is still | | | | 4. Changing metals is easy. Stick welding rods are |
| king. | | | | made for steel, stainless steel, cast iron, and even |
| It this age of high tech and robotic welding | | | | aluminum. All you do is change the rod, and possibly |
| processes, you might think that old fashioned arc | | | | polarity, but it is a lot easier than changing a spool of |
| welding might be obsolete. You would be dead wrong | | | | wire. |
| in thinking that. Arc welding (often referred to as | | | | 5. Rods are cheap and easy to get. Your local welding |
| stick welding) is still responsible for most of the | | | | supply store, Home Depot, Lowe's, Tractor Supply, |
| welding in the construction and maintenance of | | | | and most auto supply stores have them. |
| nuclear plants, paper mills, pipelines, and skyscrapers. | | | | 6. No welding gas cylinders to buy |
| Old fashioned stick welding may have advanced a lot | | | | 7. Different rods for different jobs. Tiny little 1/16" |
| back in 1927 but since then, it has hardly changed at | | | | rods can be used to weld sheet metal like an auto |
| all. It's the same welding that grandpa did to fix his | | | | body panel. 1/8" and 5/32" rods will lay down a big |
| tractor back in the day. | | | | weld on a heavy duty trailer. |
| There are lots of reasons why shielded metal arc | | | | 8. Arc gouging with a carbon arc rod can be done to |
| welding has stood the test of time...these are also | | | | cut metal or remove welds if you have a large DC |
| good reasons why any welding shop needs to have | | | | machine. You can also cut metal by using a 6010 rod |
| an arc welding machine in addition to any other wire | | | | and lots of amperage... its called "hot rodding" |
| feed or tig welders on hand. | | | | 9. A decent DC arc welding machine can be used to |
| Here are just a few reasons that any welding shop | | | | scratch start tig weld. All you need is a air cooled tig |
| needs an "Old School" stick welding machine | | | | torch, flowmeter, and cylinder of argon. You can |
| | | | make your stick welder very versatile by converting |
| 1. Welding outside is no problem. Flux from the rod | | | | it to a tig welder. But it has to be a DC machine. |
| will protect the molten puddle in windy conditions. | | | | One last tip...If you are going to shop eBay, make |
| 2. Equipment is cheap. eBay , and Craigslist will get | | | | sure to search by areas within driving distance |
| you going for a couple hundred bucks. | | | | because of shipping costs. Craigslist is also a great |
| 3. Equipment is simple. Polarity and amperage ...that's | | | | place to shop for used machines. |
| it. | | | | |