How to Use a Stick Welder – All the Details You Need to Know

Last Updated on March 16, 2024 by John Patterson

Stick welding has to be one of the leading welding processes that people are familiar with. This is simple to do, and a lot of welders use this whenever they need to weld outdoors.

You should know how to use a stick welder so that you can weld adequately. Some people are more familiar with other welding techniques such as MIG or TIG. The main problem with these types of welding techniques is they can get affected by the wind easily.

How to Use a Stick Welder?

What is Stick Welding Anyway?

Stick welding is a type of welding technique that will allow you to strike an arc between the items that you are welding together. The electrode will melt into the pieces that you are planning to weld.

The great thing about this is the layer of flux that will protect the weld while you are doing the welding process.

There will be a slag that will form on top of the weld bead but do not worry because you will find it easy to brush down the slag once you are done with the whole welding process.

How to Start Doing Stick Welding

It would help if you remembered that the most essential thing that you have to remember is you cannot weld when it is not safe. There are some safety instructions that you have to follow before you can start welding.

Be prepared with all of the welding gear that you might need, such as the following:

1. Welding bandana
2. Safety glasses
3. Welding jacket
4. Welding gloves
5. Welding helmet
6. Welding Pants
7. Leather shoes
8. Leather apron
9. Welding shirts and t-shirts

Once you are sure that you have all of the items that you will need, you can proceed to weld. You need to have the right stick welder otherwise how can you push through with continuing the process?

Using the Stick Welder

Some people will use a multipurpose welder, but if you want to do stick welding properly, it is best if you would find a 110v stick welder that you can use easily. The great thing about a stick welder is that it can be very cheap. If you plan on doing this technique alone, finding the right machine will already be very helpful.

There are some items that you will need to continue with the welding process:

Slag removing tools – You need to have the right tools to remove the slag so that you can clean up your welds after. The usual slag removing tools are composed of a hammer a slag chip and a wire brush.

Ground Clamp – This usually comes with the welder, but there will be times when you need to purchase this separately, especially when your first ground clamp breaks.

Stick Electrode – It can be confusing to purchase the right stick electrode, especially when you are doing it for the first time. You can choose the right one depending on what you are going to weld. Most people will pick 6013 if they are still beginners.

Some Tips to Do Effective Stick Welding

You cannot expect that you will master stick welding, especially if you have just learned how to do it. You need to make sure that all of the settings that you have done are correct. Otherwise, you might make more mistakes.

• Listen to the sound that the arc makes when you use it. The sound should be like frying bacon. If the noise is too loud, this is a sign that you need to turn down your amperage.
• The angle of your electrode should be between 15% to 30% vertical.
• You can be familiar with the other available welding positions.
• Make sure that you will travel just right because it will become evident through the welds that you will create.
• If you are getting too much splatter, this means that the arc is too long and you need to make a few changes.
• There may be times when you will have some trouble starting the arc. This means that the temperature may be too cold. You can make some adjustments to make the welder start.

Advantages of Doing Stick Welding

If you are more familiar with doing other welding techniques, you might be wondering why this is another technique that you should consider. These are some of the reasons why:

• Doing stick welding is going to be fun and comfortable to do. You only need to use a small metal, and you do not need to use a cumbersome machine to make sure that the welding process will take place correctly.
• You can do welding even when you are outdoors. This is the best welding technique that you can use when you need to weld in windy conditions. Other welding techniques cannot compare to this benefit.
• This is one of the most natural techniques that you can master.
• There are instances when you can weld on metals that are rusty, unlike in other welding techniques wherein you have to make sure that the metals are adequately cleaned.

Disadvantages of Stick Welding

Now that you know some of the advantages, you need to remember that stick welding is not the welding technique that you can use for all welding processes. These are some of the disadvantages that you can expect.

• It would require more skill as compared to other welding techniques, although once you know how to do it, it will be easy to do.
• Expect that there are going to be a lot of splatters.
• You would need to spend more time cleaning up so it might not be as efficient as you have previously expected.
• Expect that it will not produce high-quality welds, especially when compared to other welding techniques.

Final Thoughts

You have hopefully learned all that you can about stick welding. There are a lot of other things that you will learn as you continue trying out the technique. The more that you do it, the better that you will get at it.

Comment here for any questions or suggestions on how to use a stick welder.