Old Dudes and Old School procceses RULE!

by 30+years welding/ironworker
(San Diego ca)

another tip that works very well for old damp 7018 rods is to purposely stick the rod to your work for a few seconds to heat it up and to dry it out a bit, much easier starts, just dont heat it up so much that the flux turns brown or the rod itself starts glowing red, by that time the rod is wasted....... oh and another tip that people new to stick welding learn real quick is that damp or wet gloves present a challenge when placing a new rod into the stinger........ heh.... OLD DUDES RULE!!!!