Welding Tips and Tricks

Can any one tell me if there is a stick that will weld a large range of metals and the code number for it ?
I am new to this and only used e6013's so far.
Thanks for any help you can give

Ther are several "General Purpose" or "Maintenance" rod manufacturers out there. The type of rod you would need would depend on the types of metals you will mainly be working with.

Many thanks for that.
I am retired and live on a small lifestyle block so most of the welding is repair work.
Cheers Jock

The impression I get is that most of your repairs will be on various carbon steels, so 6013 is a good all-purpose rod. It is, however, a low-penetration rod, so where strength matters a lot, plenty of grinding is in order to be sure you fully penetrate the joint.

7018 will also weld most carbon steels you'll encounter, is stronger, and is a deep penetrating rod requiring somewhat less prepwork. There is also a 7018AC if your machine can't do DC. 7018 is more difficult to use, however, and must be kept out of humidity to develop it's ultimate strength.

If you need to do an occasional stainless repair, 308 (Stainless) and 309 (Stainless to carbon) can be bought in quantities as small as 2 pounds at some weld suppliers and home centers, but require a DC capable machine. I've welded SS with 7018 with good results as well, but of course you lose the corrosion protection.

Steve

Hi Steve,
Thanks for the info, as you have said most of my work will be on carbon steels but the other rods are worth keeping in mind should they be required.
My welder is ac only so made a mental note about the 7018AC, I have also been told that the e6011 and 7014 would be better to use than the 6013.
Once again many thanks for your reply.
Cheers Jock

I'm a big fan of 6011 for repairs. it penetrates like no ones business. I recently used it to weld through what looked like a mig weld that was done without the gas on ( ! ) that had been painted (!!). I ground the weld back, no porosity. if you turn the amps up on an AC machine, you can gouge down better than 1/2" with 1/8" 6011 and still maintain a decent bead. should you do this for something that someones life depends on? no. definitely not, but for farm equipment and the like, can't beat it. 7018AC is nice to have around, I use it for anything that is critical or was clean to begin with. (you can run 7018 on AC if you've got a light touch, it runs fine, it's just a pain to start.) I've never tried 6013 to be honest, but I really don't see myself needing a low-penetration stick rod. if I need low penetration, I'll use the mig welder.

Thanks for your comments, it looks like the 6011 will be a good choice for me. I may keep a few 7018ac around for those special jobs.
Once again many thanks to you and every one for the help
Jock