List of drag/contact welding rods

[Chet]

I've seen references to either 'contact' or 'drag' electrodes for stick welding.
They allow the rod to be dragged along creating the weld.
I've searched this Welding forum, as well as Wikipedia and Dogpile, but I'm not finding a simple list of electrodes that can be used in drag welding.
One query stated that "a drag rod will have a '3' as the third digit in its ID.
But I immediately found another site that recommended 70-2-4 as a great drag rod...
So, is there a list of welding rods that can be used in a 'drag/contact' fashion?
Many thanks...
Chet

[steamin10]

I would caution you , that the way you are asking the question, is to be asking if there is an easy way to get good results. The answer is, no, not on all jobs. It is the job at hand, that dictates the method, not your skill to dictate the job. No cart before horse please. Rod control for dig, buildup, and penetration, without pileup, are the standards that inspectors go by.

Learn the coding for the rod, first tensil, then attributes of the position, and rod coating.

6010 is soft 'sheet' rod. Yet it is the base rod for much pipe welding, with a 7018 overweld.

I use 6018 generally, and 7014 'farmer rod', for most of my work, and do well, for general welding.

There are all sorts of 'rust-buster', nickle, high strength, hard face, and nickle- cast iron repair rods. Ask your welding supply house, and they usualy have several for any cause.

Biggest problem, is welding rod should be as fresh as eggs. Iron coatings rust, wood coatings mold, and rust the core material. All have a definate bad effect on your precious work. Low hydrogen, unless kept sealed, has a short life as lo-hy in any humidity conditions, or around oil.

I am not the best welder, but have learned enough for my purposes, and it still comes down to reading a bit and a lot of rod burning. It is also why Mig has gained in popularity, because the perception is that it is so easy to learn. The reality is, that it is just another way to do a job, and requires a slightly diferent set of skills.

[ken572]

Hello Chet,
I have to agree with "Big Dave," the only thing I would like to add is that in my 40 plus
years of welding I only had to use the drag rod method maybe 10 times, and that was
for very thin sheet steel. It was the old days method of vertical down drag rod skip
welding that kept the metal from warping. Not needed anymore with the new welders,
rods, wire, and technology. When you drag a rod and try to weld, you have more chance of
ending up with a dirty (High Perosity) and weak weld area.
These are some sites you might want to check out.
Miller - Basic Tips to Improve Stick Welding
Also known as a "drag rod," this electrode's thick flux automatically maintains ... Many beginners weld with too long of an arc, so they produce rough beads with lots of spatter.
http://www.millerwelds.com/resources/ar ... les16.html - Proxy - Highlight - 1 more top result from this site

Arc Welding
The term welding rod refers to a form of filler ... progression and short arc, weld puddle very fluid. Rods left out in the ... High speed. Use drag method.
http://www.millwrightmasters.com/School/arc_welding.htm - Proxy - Highlight

ChopZone.com - Welding Basics Section 1
Learn some welding basics for your homebuilt bike and e-bike projects. Our free detailed ... With the rod held at a 45-degree angle, and a good close arc going, drag the tip ...
http://www.chopzone.com/welding.html - Proxy - Highlight

Welding rod application guide
Rod is mild steel. Application – use medium arc, whipping or weaving on vertical and ... welding. Application – use drag method or open arc (keep arc short) ...
http://www.dieselduck.ca/machine/04auxi ... ng_rod.htm - Proxy - Highlight

http://www.industrial101.com/services/welding.aspx

A BASIC QUICK GUIDES OF ARC WELDING ELECTRODES
http://www.metalwebnews.com/howto/weldrod.html
http://www.dieselduck.ca/machine/04%20a ... ng_rod.htm

http://www.ehow.com/about_5652373_types ... -rods.html

http://autospeed.com/cms/title_Beginner ... ticle.html

Lincoln
http://www.lincolnelectric.com/knowledg ... ckweld.asp

Thank You for bringing back memories of back in the day.
Ken.

[Chet]

Thanks, guys!
Excellent advice and sharing.
Yes, I humbly admit, I was hoping a drag rod would be the miracle cure for my lack of skill...
And, yes, I will check out the websites that were mentioned...
But I must confront the reality that I can read every book on welding ever written and still not know how to weld...
Got to put the rod to the metal...
(and what a learning curve that is...)
Chet

[browne]

you can use 7024 jet rods they work good

[calgator]

Chet,
Start practice welding with 6018 rod on 1/8” strips 1” wide by 4” long, after welding 4 test welds of 1” long on the sample strips. Then cut the welds and see how your penetration was. Test your skills and see the results by going slower then faster than you normally would do. I sing a song to keep my rhythm steady.
After you get 1/8” down then move on to thinner metal like 10 gauge using strips again 1” wide by 4” long and cutting to examine penetration. Then move to 18 gauge and repeat again if you want to just punish yourself, my father spent a great deal of time teaching me to weld 18 gauge and it’s still tuff for me. I bought a MIG to do the thinner metals below 14 gauge.
Just run a lot of beads, with practice comes confidence.

Have fun,

Charles

[awake]

Charles and Big Dave,

You referred to 6018 ... do you perhaps mean 6013? The former is a rod I've never seen, though that doesn't mean much. The latter is extremely common, and is widely considered to be a good, easy-to-use rod especially for hobby welders.

Andy

[calgator]

Andy,

Below is a link to Lincoln electric on welding rod:
http://www.lincolnelectric.com/knowledg ... cation.asp
Keep in mind 6013 will deposit a lot of slag and take a lot of cleanup. 6018 will give a better weld with penetration. Any welding supply place will carry both rods, I’ve been told 6013 is easier to learn but due to the deposit and slag, anytime I use it for teaching it seems to cause more dishearten students due to the look of the weld.

Charles

[awake]

Charles, note that on the link you have provided, 6018 is not mentioned. Do you perhaps mean 7018? They should be very similar rods in terms of how they weld, differing only in tensile strength. I've just never seen a 6018 sold -- always 7018 or higher.

If you did mean 7018, I too prefer how it welds over 6013, but I can't say that I've found 6013 to be that bad a rod in terms of slag/cleanup. At the right settings, the slag from either rod just pops right off ... and at the wrong settings, the slag from either can be a bear. But I do think 6013 gives more problems with slag inclusions that 7018, in my (home shop, hobby) experience. I started out with 6013 rods because I started out on a welder with low OCV; 7018 was not an option. But with my current welders (no pun intended!) I mostly use 6010/6011 and 7018.

On edit: let me be more specific: I've found that 6013 works nicely on flat welds (butt joints) and outside corners, but it is harder (for me, at least) to get a good, inclusion-free weld on inside corners with 6013; I get better results with 7018 ... and of course, the results for either rod in an inside corner are greatly improved if I make a root pass with 6010/6011.

[ken572]

Hello Guys,
These links will settle the dispute on the exsistence of E6018.

E-6018

http://geelimited.com:8080/geel/ProductDetails.jsp?id= 448

http://www.metalweld.pl/english/produkt ... id=enzasad

Ken.

[awake]

Ken, I've never doubted that a 6018 rod was possible; it is just that I have never seen such. Your links are interesting, in that one is for a company based in Mumbai, India, and the other is a company based in Poland. That makes me wonder if this is a regional difference -- with a bit of searching on the internet, I can't find any supplier in the USA that supplies a 6018. For example, Lincoln makes 7018, 8018, 9018, and 10018 -- but not 6018. Perhaps outside the US 6018 is a more common rod? Or are some of you using 6018 inside the US? I notice that both Charles and Dave are located in the US, so if you are buying 6018, I am very curious about the brand -- it may be that in IN or CA "any welding supply place will carry both rods [6013 and 6018]," but around here (NC), and on-line, I cannot find 6018 at all.

[ken572]

Hello awake,
E6018 rods have been around for many years as well as another I have used back in the day
that is not well known, the E8016-C1 (If you can't weld with a 6010/5P don't even try this one) LOL..
Ken.