Where does one buy manual metal arc welding electrodes in the UK - in particular, East London?
The likes of B&Q, and Machine Mart, just seem to sell "Welding electrodes". Graduated in how thick they are, but no mention of what material they're for (mild steel? nickel? stainless? aluminium? copper?
My teach-yourself-welding book suggests (does not explicitly state; just suggests, vaguely) that one might use electrodes of the same metal you're joining (except that you apparently use pure nickel sometimes when welding cast iron).
But everywhere that sells electrodes just calls them "electrodes".
What gives? Should I just buy generic "electrodes" from Machine Mart, and use them to weld everything in sight? Or is there a place I can get a catalogue from that lists all the electrodes I might ever want, indexed by material and welding position and thickness and whatnot?
ABS