Stick Welding

Stick Welding is a slang term commonly used for Shielded Metal Arc Welding or “SMAW”. Here Stick means Covered Electrode, Stick Welding is most widely used of the various arc welding processes, utilizes a fixed length electrode and an electric power source to join a variety of different metals.

The history of Stick Welding can be traced back to 1800s. In 1800, British chemist and inventor Sir Humphry Davy developed an arc between two carbon electrodes using a battery.

Gas welding and cutting was introduced in the mid-1800s. It was in the 1880s that arc welding with the carbon arc and metal arc was developed.

In 1881, French electrical engineer Auguste De Meritens used the heat of an arc to join lead plates for storage batteries.

His student Nikolai N. Benardos was awarded a patent for welding. In 1890, C.L. Coffin of Detroit was granted the first U.S. patent for an arc welding process using a metal electrode.

Around 1900, British inventor Strohmenger introduced a coated metal electrode. He used a thin coating of clay or lime and noticed that it provided a more stable arc.

During the period of 1907 to 1914, Oscar Kjellberg of Sweden came up with a coated electrode which looked like a stick. Later on, pieces of iron wire dipped in thick mixtures of carbonates and silicates were used to make stick electrodes.

Stick Welding is a process that uses a flux-coated electrode to form the weld. The electric current passes through the coated electrode or welding rod and arcs at the point of contact with the base metal.

As the electrode begins to melt, the flux coating around it creates a cloud of gases that shields the molten metal and prevents it from oxidizing.

Stick welders have four main components.

1.      A ground lead or clamp.

2.      A welding lead or stinger.

3.      A constant amperage power source.

4.      The electrode or welding rod to weld with.

Limitations:

Operator duty cycles are low compared with semi-automatic and automatic processes; this makes the cost per pound of deposited weld metal high with Stick Welding

Deposition rates are generally lower than for other welding processes.

The process is considered to be manual as it is not easily mechanized.

Stick Welding is not suitable for reactive metals such as titanium, zirconium, tantalum, and columbium because the shielding does not prevent oxygen contamination of the weld.