Selecting Stick Electrodes for a Portable Welding Project

As with so many matters relating to modern equipment, mechanisms, and substances, there is no true substitute for the voice of experience in making a good choice of stick electrode for your SMAW portable welding project. In short, the topic is so complex that even the experts recommend that you should rely primarily on the detailed advice of a welding store employee who is thoroughly versed in the subject, especially since new variations of stick electrode are constantly being invented and even long personal experience cannot incorporate knowledge of something first marketed a week ago.

However, there are some general rules that can be applied effectively to picking stick electrodes for ordinary SMAW welding tasks. Not every task is involved enough to need special welding electrodes, and in fact, many of the jobs which are carried out with a portable welding machine are relatively plain, straightforward repairs with almost no special considerations.

One of the easiest parameters for determining if a stick electrode is suitable for a given welding job is based on the thickness of the electrode itself. Compare the thickness of the electrode to the thickness of the base metal. If the electrode is thicker, then it is unsuitable for use with the metal – this is the reason why stick welding should not be used to fasten pieces of sheet metal together, since the heat will be both excessive and very unpredictable in its effects.

The best heat control occurs when the thickness of the stick electrode is half that of the metal being welded. However, thinner electrodes can be used with thicker metal, which tends to produce deep penetration and is suitable for certain types of welds and joints. You should also note that 3/16” electrodes are the maximum size for overhead and vertical welds made in this manner, simply due to the physics of SMAW welding.

When you are choosing stick electrodes, if you are planning to use them for typical steel-welding operations with nothing fancy or exotic planned, you can just select one of the very common electrode types. These stick electrodes are so generic that they are useful for most typical jobs, and even if there are specialized electrodes that might produce an even better weld, these are likely to at least give an adequate performance. Which ones you choose depends on the power supplied by your welding machine:

• If you are using alternating current (AC), then 6011 or 6013 are good general-purpose electrodes (60,000 psi weld strength, all welding positions, deep penetration or light penetration respectively).
• If you are using direct current (DC), then 7014 or 7018 welding sticks can be used as “jack of all trades” electrodes (70,000 psi welds, all welding positions, light or medium penetration respectively), as can the other two (6011 and 6013). Direct current with 6013 stick electrodes is the most flexible and trouble-free of the combinations.

Of course, a stick electrode also needs to match the type of metal that you are planning to weld – this should be stated on the package, but in the event it is not, you can fall back on store-personnel knowledge as well.