Stick being replaced

[pyroracing85]

So who thinks stick wedling is being replaced by MIG?

The only plus I can think of stick is portablity but I am now seeing mig with portable wire drives that you can send out 50 or so feet.


Is stick going to eventually become a lost art?

[LarryO]

Stick will never become a lost art.
One advantage of stick is to be able to change the type of filler or stick in a second.
Try changing from mild to stainless in a hurry with MIG.

[specter]

I don't think stick welding will ever leave. It may advance a bit but it will never fully go away. There are just too many applications that it still remains the best welding application.

For may folks stick welding is the first step they have into the welding community. I myself started at 6 yrs old on my father's old tombstone stick (which I might add still works).

[Hammack_Welding]

Agreed, Each process has it's place. I don't think any of them will be lost. Try welding with wire in a 40mph wind, even with flux cored wire and see what ya end up with. Stick will always have its place.

[mn welder]

coupla yrs ago in college a seen an article and flux core pipe welding is really taking off some bigger companies have already switched and it keeps costs down hope i dont start a real heated arguement in my opinon you have tobe willing to at least try it if it dont work it dont works if it works more money in somebodies pocket im not up on costs

[papabear]

How long has OAW been around? Every form of welding has its advantages as well as its disadvantages.

[ironman715]

Wire feed is cheaper. You can lay down more filler faster and have less waster(stubs from stick). The waste is whatever wire is left in the liner when you change the spool out. Many ironworking companies are heavy duty into wire feed...HOWEVER we still use plenty of stick. I doubt stick will ever go away in our lifetimes. I could see maybe OA welding because it seems the TIG process covers just about anything you might use OA welding for...but even then I am sure it will have a place.

[dakook]

Think Boiler outage at a large electric plant. Think 20-30 guys or more climbing through hatches to get in the boiler. Scaffolding erected every were, string light wires/extention cords ran all over the place, stick welding leads ran in through the hatches with the machines out side. A$$holes to elbows every were. The half life of a mig gun lead would be about 10 minutes in such an environment as it would be kicked/stomped to death or other wise butchered. I like MIG, but I don't think stick is going away.

[Hideandseek]

and stick welding is the only one where you can bend your rod and weld around a corner! LOL

[Pressure_Welder]

Bah i wont touch a mig machine, stick or tig here. Sure MIG has its place, but Tig and Stick welding require the most skill by far, and please dont try and tell me any different, you could teach a golden retreiver to run a bead with a mig gun. As stated above try and run a root pass or cap pass with MIG outside on pipe.... good luck. Production welding is a different story of course.

[ironman715]

I like to draw difference between MIG and FCAW. I know a lot of cats have trouble passing the unlimited all pos. test with the NR232 or NR233 .072 wire. But your right Dakook...I could not see mig standing up to the harsh boiler repair enviroment at all. Even a suitcase welder like the LN-25...might get pretty mashed up in there. Stick is certainly here to stay.

[Jolly Roger]

The last 3 construction jobs I worked used fcaw to build the boiler house, other structural was stick and pipe was stick and tig. I now run a fab shop in a manufacturing facility. Almost everything is done with stick and very little with mig. The Chinese scream bloody murder if they can spot a mig weld. I'd hate to have to try and do anything with a mig around a drilling rig, lol. Talk about trashed equipment. Nope the sticks will never be replaced completely. They are just too versatile.

[JeffB]

Each process has its place where it's most efficient. At my work we use solid wire gas MIG in the shop, where 95% of what we weld is 1/8 mild steel. MIG is just plain quicker in a reasonably dry indoor environment. In the field though, working outside it has to be stick. 6011 for stitching 1/8 mild steel together, or 7018 for more critical welds like door latches and safety chains on rolloff containers.

[David R]

I ran stick off my ranger 250 most of yesterday.

When I get the piece work in the shop, its Wire All the way!

Stick is here to stay as long as I can work time and materials.

Truly its job specific just like any other process.

David

[SR20steve]

Originally Posted by dakook

Think Boiler outage at a large electric plant. Think 20-30 guys or more climbing through hatches to get in the boiler. Scaffolding erected every were, string light wires/extention cords ran all over the place, stick welding leads ran in through the hatches with the machines out side. A$$holes to elbows every were. The half life of a mig gun lead would be about 10 minutes in such an environment as it would be kicked/stomped to death or other wise butchered. I like MIG, but I don't think stick is going away.

There you go, perfect example. Its just too easy to get in hard to reach places, when all you need is power and ground. No need for stringing out hose for shielding gas like TIG, no need for wire spools.

[wesdavidson]

Stick is being replaced everywhere it can be. We do about 50% wire, 40% tig, and 5% stick - but that is in a shop environment, in the field we used to run 95% stick. . But I agree that stick will last as long as consumables are available. Seems like the small mig welders are outselling stick about 4-1 or more. Too bad though, those little mig things probably disillusion as many folks as they bring into the career.

There have been sticks made for about any alloy or use out there. It is also about the easiest to set parameters on and get guys to stick to them. As long as you have current and sticks you can weld. I've stick welded at 60 deg below zero, in a blizzard, ( Jan 1 '78 western wyoming ) and a lot of times in rain and blizzards when it was warmer weather. I would hate to get a wire feeder to function there. Sometimes a feeder will take aday off even in a good clean warm shop under good conditions, and drive you nuts. Tig is nice until some one forgets to turn on the water, or drops the torch, or cuts the hoses.....or dumps the gas . .

When I have to teach new welders (about 80+ a year) I try to start out with tig, Set up a 14 ga coupon and have them run beads along the edges until they can see the puddle, and have some control. Then have them weld about 40 pieces together, then I go to wire feed, then stick. If they go with wire first they don't learn to see the puddle, if they start with stick then they think they have to see lots of sparks and smoke. Seeing the puddle, and good control are the 2 basics to any weld process.

Seems like hardfacing would be another process hard to do with wire