Technical Do you ever use your stickwelder anymore?

I was doing some rearranging and cleaning up in my shop last night and I drug out my old 1960's Craftsman stick welder ( Arc ) from under the work bench and got to thinking about it, I haven't used it in more than 30 years!

Once I started using a Mig welder I never looked back. HRP

 

Sold my old tombstone Lincon several years ago. I use the MIG for everything now.

 

I have a nice Hobart stick welder I have only used once in the last 15 years since I got my MIG.

 

I’m old fashioned, imagine me being here, but I still like stick. I’ve have a Miller Bobcat DC/AC gas powered welder that I use. Welds real good. I use it when the weld is critical. I use the cracker box when it’s just sticking two pieces of metal together, because it’s handy.
I’ve seen mig welds that look/are strong, I just have trouble making them with a mig. Since I don’t have a mig, I use the Bobcat.


Bones

 

I just started welding, I bought a Forney 190 MP mig/tig/stick and so far only tried flux core mig ... pretty easy stuff.
I figured in future to use stick for the heavier metals like frames motor mounts etc .... maybe just stay with mig.

 

I've got a Miller 225a ac/dc that I use for everything that my Lincoln 150a 110v mig is incapable of welding properly. Usually everything heavier than sheet metal. I feel more comfortable running beads with a stick, they call them "DUMMY GUNS" for a reason. I used to use just the stick and oxy acetylene till I bought the mig many moons ago. A nice tig machine is on my list if I ever find some cash. Mitch.

 

I need to buy some rod, and see if I can remember how to do it, now that I have a tig machine (it will stick weld, also).

been a while! probably 25 years

 

i have a old miller thunder bolt buzz box, and 7018 ac rods at home and use it when ever needed. i still turn to a stick on some jobs at work. they are trying to get me to use the migs at work but if i can get around it i will. the bad part is we have people that are welders and can't use a stick which i believe should be the first thing you should learn to weld with, but that is just the way i think.

 

I still use my old craftsman stick welder, mostly on my old tractor, spent a couple hours the other day welding up cracks on the loader. Mostly use the mig on automotive stuff.


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I have a Miller 225 amp stick welder that I never use anymore. A couple of years ago, I bought one of the new "Everlast" inverter-based welders that will run stick or TIG, intending to buy the TIG stuff later when I had the scratch. Out of curiosity, I tried to stick weld with it and found that it welded great, much better than my old Miller. I attribute this to the fact while it is a DC welder, while the Miller is AC. Since DC was new to me, I boned up on which rods were which (something I had never done with the old "buzz-box"). I think using the right rod for the job and the fact that the unit is DC is why it welds so much better. I find I use it most of the time rather than my MIG. It is much smaller and easy to move around and can run on 110 volts if that's all you have.

I know some will knock it as "Cheap Chinese Crap", but they can make excellent products when they decide to.

 

I just bought my 1st Mig, so little expierence here. But, I can weld heavier plate faster with stick. This may change after I get some Mig practice.

 

Love my juke-box Lincoln.
(C'ept fer them overhead hot raindrops!)

 

Mig, Tig, Arc. Does not matter which one I use, still can't see what I'm doing these days. Time for a new helmet, and prescription.
Like most guys my age, I started with a Lincoln 225 and can still lay down some good looking welds. I am struggling to figure out the TIG, but it's improving some. Takes me back to the torch welding / brazing days long ago. My new Miller Tig also has arc capabilities, have not tried it yet. The mig welder is used weekly, the tig every other week or so. I do have some heavy equipment welds coming up 1/2" thick steel, I will be trying out the arc welding function. If it does not function well, I'll be dragging out Dad's old Lincoln again.

 

I have not used my stick Miller Matic HF 250 stick unit in over 25 years. This machine also has the tig feature which I use all the time.
Vic

 

I still use my Lincoln 225 for heavy gauge steel like frame work. My mig is just 110v so I just use it for sheet metal and thinner steel. I can remember when I was in my 20s and poorer that I used the stick welder on the highest setting to burn through steel when I couldn't borrow my buddy's torches. Didn't make a very nice cut...

 

I was unaware there was something else....my old red Lincoln 225 buzz box and oxy/acetylene get the job done...but metal coat hangers are getting hard to come by these days , for filler wire for o/a welding , so I have a millermatic 130 for my sheet metal work....

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I have an Airco AC/DC machine, and still use it for heavier stuff. Plug a TIG torch on the DC side to do TIG when I need to, or just refresh myself. The Lincoln SP100 is for sheet metal and light welding. It's 25 years old, the stick machine is at least 35.

 

I started with a Mig only because the welder at work wasn't available to weld a part I needed at a large production cabinet shop. It has like using an electric pencil and seeing the puddle was super easy (never welded before that but always watched welder and settings he used). So why would I keep trying to write with something that wouldn't start writing. It's like that bad pen at the bank. You just wanna rip it from it's chain and throw it out! Mig Thank you

 

I am 51 years old and have never used a stick welder. I learned to oxy/acet at about 10 years old, and Dad got a MIG when I was 12. Finally learned TIG about a decade ago.

 

I still use my 48 year old Lincoln because that's all I got. I would like to get a wire welder but no more welding that I do it can wait.

 

What you should weld with
what your comfortable and good with. Every type of welding machine has its good points and it’s bad points. I have welded with many different brands and types of welding machines and have my preferences. Problaly not going to change, because, first of all it would require buying a new machine, when the one I have is working just fine. Being retired, don’t use the machine I have enough to justify keeping it, why buy another.


Bones

 

Agree. I work in my comfort zone and with materials that are mig friendly which can get one a lot a results done. For the other stuff like cast iron, aluminum I now enough welders to take it to.

 

I stick weld aluminum. My 155A mig does the rest.

 

I started out with the Lincoln 225 also..Made a Heli-arc conversion to weld alum since machine was AC and in process of the conversion Lincoln came out with a AC/DC combo so I bought one for the conversion...Worked very well..Bought a new Lincoln Tig/Stick in '96 and think I only used the stick once for some rebar welding since then..Some where in the last ten years I bought a Lincoln 180 Dual power which I use most of the time now but was a rough learning curve compared to the Tig or Stick..

 

If working, all day. At home, rarely...

 

I haven't stick welded for several years, I have never owned one myself. just used them at work occasionally when it was more convenient than MIG. I feel more comfortable with MIG, which I used most of the time at work and at home. Sold my oxy/actetylene setup years ago at a time when I needed some cash and have regretted it but never replaced it.

 

My mig have not power enough for heavyer stuff.
So all work on my frame for my 27 coupe is done with a stickwelder.

 

I last fired up my 225 Lincoln when I made the engine mounts for my Ford. Early 2016-ish. I had been using 6013 rods forever, needed some fresh rod and all I could get was 7018... turned out to be great rod. Cranked it up to 150 amps and had a good time.

 

I used to do a lot of stick welding at the old shop, I liked it and was good at it. Took a night school course on it. Used to Heli arch aluminum body work too, that was a true joy. NEVER got the knack for MIG welding, why you have to grind off half or more is a mystery, might as well gas weld it. Bob

 

I had the same problem and talked to a friend who is a professional; pipe-fitter about it. A good helmet is necessary and a prescription lens helps me a lot. I also keep a bunch of lenses and cover glasses around and change them often. Back in the day, I thought lenses and cover plates lasted forever, which was a big mistake. I can see a lot better now, but not nearly as good as I could 50 years ago. I use the same prescription for the lens as I do for my "readers". The only problem I have now is when I forget to take off my glasses before I put on the helmet.