Welding Tips and Tricks

picked up some new rods the other day.
managed to find some 7018 in a small pack, but could not find 6010 but did find some 6011 in a 5kg pack which was the smallest they had and last packet to.

tried them out today for the first time ever.
first impressions of the 7018 is this is easy to run. restarts actually not as bad as i've been let to believe. takes all of 1 sec with a file on the rod tip and its lights up as easy as 6013.

6011 i found to be a lot more difficult. most due to this is a lesser multi process machine with a fairly low open voltage.
would have liked a 6010 just to see if it will do it at all. but the 6011 will run, just harder to strike and needs a tight arc.
i really want to learn keyhole etc
but if all else fails a family member will be getting a pack 6011's for their buzzbox.

tweake,

Similar experience that I had, and I would also like to try 6010 even though my machine is not spec'd to run it, it says it won't run it but will run 6011.

I want to experiment with more with Arc Force on mine as I had it set pretty low, like 40%-45% and for 6011 I'm sure it will do better with a higher Arc Force.

7018 will most likely be my stick of choice. Ultimately I will be using tig more, but have a few projects that are conducive to stick.

Alan