What are the best basic welding rods to have, in order of usefulness/applications? I'm starting to buy rods to stock up, but I want to make sure I'm getting the most use out of them. I just have an AC tombstone, and in my garage shop it's mostly mild steel for assorted projects.
I would guess 6013 for most genera; purpose work in most positions with AC work.
I guess that others will correct me on that. If you can set an 80 Volt output I think that some 7018 rods will also work.
I have a couple of old Oxford oil cooled welders and these are general job rods i tend to use. Nothing to critical.
Cheers
Adrian
For general welding 6011. Strong ductile welds, good penetration through light surface crud.
For sheet metal 6013 Very ductile, low penetration, steel needs to be clean.
For important stuff 7018AC. Strong welds for structural steel.
6011 rods for dirty, rusty, or repair work. Harsher arc, much more penetration, slag is glassy and harder to chip.
3/32" for lighter material, 1/8" for somewhat heavier. perhaps some 5/64" for some body work, 5/32 for really heavy work. Try 2 pounds of 3/32 and 10 pounds of 1/8" in both 6013 and 6011 for a starter packagecarl mciver wrote:
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