MAYBE I was wrong . . . . . . . .

[Markopolo]

I just want to let all of you know that i'm man enough to admit a POSSIBLE mistake. Years and years ago, when I first got on this site....I MIGHT have said something to the effect about "Never dragging a rod" As you all know, i've been real interested in pipe welding lately...and i've learned that you "drag" the root bead in ! I stand corrected

[lotechman]

One learns in the steel trades that there are no absolutes. Of course you never could weld 16 guage steel sheeet with a 5/32 E 7024 rod running up around 250 amps could you? Someone somewhere has figured out to break every rule that someone else wrote.
Some people not only drag their rod on the root but push so hard the rod actually has a slight bend from the pressure. When the fit is too tight one will do anything to get that first pass through.

Know what you mean about absolutes, had some tell me you could weld 12 ga. with 1/8 6011 running about 200 amps. I told him B/S and then he showed me! It runs real fast down hand and you are using the rod to support an arc that fuses the two pieces together, not adding any filler at all. This was one of those production jobs....they didn't care what it looked like, just as long as it held together out the door.