tip for salvaging stick electrodes

by john
(new jersey)

alot of times you accidentally chip alot of flux off the end of your electrode and end up just throwing it out to avoid porosity. what i found is that i cut a piece of 1/8th inch thick steel at 8 inches by 8 inches and clamp it close by where im welding. if i happen to run into a section of electrode with no flux i just scratch at the plate until it gets back to a section with good flux coating. coworker sent a half box of 7018 rod off the end of a rock crusher conveyor and it chipped alot of the ends. i figured instead of wasting them all that i would find a way to fix them. just have to scratch the electrode on the "scratch plate" really fast and if you get a good arc started just hold it off the plate so the globs just drop. its pretty simple to do and could save you a ton of money in electrodes.