Brands of welding rods

[anto]

I'm pretty new to arc welding and i dont know the decent brands of rods i should be looking for?

Can you advise any brands to look out for when buying them?

Thanks,
Anton

 

[Drains]

Don't buy anything from a supermarket or Machine Mart. Edit - or Screwfix!

Other than that, there are lot's of good makes. For value, get "white box" rods made by someone like ESAB, or anyone. Just make sure there's a maker's name on the box andnothing saying made in China.

 

[anto]

Any names to look out for, for decent white box rods?

 

[agriman]

Try Lincoln I find they are the best although I did have a box of SIF ones from weldquip that were quite good

 

[TechnicAl]

EWM, Oerlikon, ESAB, Murex are some others

If you find a rod called SuperBlue go for it........its the best 6013 on the market

 

[shenion]

Lincoln, Hobart, ESAB, Fincord, murex.

Weldability are decent but not on par with the top names.

 

[Delgado]

If you find a rod called SuperBlue go for it........its the best 6013 on the market

You sparked my interest as I'd never head of them, are you sure they're a 6013 though? (or have it got the wrong ones?) SuperBlue


To answer the OP's question I like esab (any flavour), but I've kind of been brought up on 'em... Bohler make good rods, Oerlikon make nice 316l stainless rods (with the thickest coating I've ever seen!) and I'm told the rest of their range is also good, and Lincoln Omina are also nice. At the end of the day, I don't think you can go far wrong with any top make, you often hear welders saying " I don't like this rod", " this rods sh1te" Etc..But I think that normally it's because they're just used to running something else.

 

[Drains]

Hey Delgado, yeah, those are the wrong ones.
Al mentioned them in this thread. - Complete with link.

 

[Delgado]

Hey Delgado, yeah, those are the wrong ones.
Al mentioned them in this thread. - Complete with link.

Cheers Drains, thanks for clearing that up, I'll look out for them.

 

[Tigman]

Oerliken in my opinion are a good rod in White box ! Always use them from the word go , tried others and got some real smelly ones !

 

[PTvor]

I'll add Elga to the list. They are not as easily found as some of the other names.

Screwfix rods are really horrible.

Roughly, the thinner the rod, the more critical the quality.

 

[Dogbreath23]

I thought there was no such thing as bad rods.....only bad welders!

 

[big ted]

no there is some s**trods on the market like chinise ones

 

[Dogbreath23]

nah mun, I reckon if yer a tidy boy you can weld no matter how bad the rods, the other day I was stuck out in the field and had to fix somthing up by using an old coathanger as a welding rod.not a problem, worked a treat....

 

[TechnicAl]

makes you wonder why they bother coating them, doesnt it

 

[Welderpaul]

Pull the other one.

 

[scarecrow]

might be tig

 

[PTvor]

It's disgustin that companies like Lincoln have been scamming the public for years with their coated rods and numbering systems, all to sell coathanger wire at fancy prices. Whole industries have been taken in and the AWS and ISO are in on the act.

 

[brightspark]

nah mun, I reckon if yer a tidy boy you can weld no matter how bad the rods, the other day I was stuck out in the field and had to fix somthing up by using an old coathanger as a welding rod.not a problem, worked a treat....

a question where did the slag come from that went in your eye when there wasnt a coating of flux on the coat hanger or was it from the coat that was on the hanger

 

[Drains]

No slag, he just breathed on it to keep the oxygen out ... note the user name.