by Mike
(Oklahoma)
This is something that's always worked for me, be it out in the refinery or down in the machine shop.
When you've just stopped a pass, your rod will have a bit of molten metal on the end. If you're quick, you can give it a flick and send the little bit flying.
This will leave an open space at the tip, and you can really easily snap off a small chunk of flux with your glove to expose a new clean surface on the electrode.
All you have to do is make sure that you don't flick it at someone nearby!