by George Wood
(Rialto, CA)
There is nothing worse than having to make a stick weld around a corner. This requires bending the rod and hoping that you don't break away too much of the flux or crack the remaining flux that is still on the rod. The biggest problem though is arching the exposed part of the rod where you bent it.
The solution for this is to wrap the rod with electrical tape at the area that you want to make your bend. Wrap the rod with one wrap of tape then bend the rod. Just be careful not to deposit any of the rod with the tape into the weld.