Do this instead (3 Stick Welding Tips)
In this video I will be sharing 3 tips on how to strike a welding rod for beginners. Some, including myself, have givin beginner welders the advice of "just strike it like a match" but over my 17 years of stick welding experience I have learned that it is actually better to Not strike the welding rod like a match. So in this video I share 3 tips to help beginners strike an arc with out getting as frustrated. 1. get comfortable. Not just stance wise but welding gear, shirt, hood and all. 2. make sure you have a good ground connection. 3. be gentle.
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I've been sanding the area where your ground clamps for at least 327 years, I was welding way back before Yoda turned green and I made Luke Skywalker's light saber for him by using a modified tig torch- I forgot how I did it exactly, so don't be questioning me about it!
Thank you for your services amen
😂😂😂
327 year's! my God man are you the Moses of welders, Do you throw down a welding rod and yell "Let my welders go!, to lunch"
@@SouthernGround So let it be written, so let it be done!
Can you weld the crack of dawn or a broken heart?
Can't thank you enough. I've been struggling endlessly to light 7018 rods, alternatively "striking like a match" and "poking" or "tapping". I burner a few rods this morning, just doing starts by being "gentle". Finally, the advise I needed. You have freed me to use 7018.
"Good and gentle" was like being home from school sick watching Bob Ross!
Best definition of how to strike up a rod I have heard in all the years that I have been welding.
Ha! The ‘good and gentle’ segment was classic! Love it and appreciate your videos!
That gentle voice almost put me to sleep. Buy yes, calm, cool and collected is the way to go. Cheers Austin!
Did pipe for 45 years, last 5 as an instructor. When I started it was P5 root and Low High fill and cap. In the early 90's code became Tig root, fill and cap 3 inch and below. Stick fill and cap everything above 3 inch. Some of us would just weld them out tig if we were in the rack rather than climb down to reset the rig every time. Loved the job, made a good living for my family and that was what was important to me.
Yes sir I’m an older welder too and I only remember p5 root and 7018 hot pass and fill and cap now I heard that they are running pipe downhill
@@larrykeel2739 Pipeliners have welded downhill for ages, one of the main rods they have used is HYP. You may have heard of it by it's nickname hippy rod. It is designed to run downhill and has a 70 thousand pound tensile strength. Those boy's out of Oklahoma can cover many a mile a day welding those pipelines.
Thanks Austin, cleared up a couple things. Cleaning a ground and easing into the burn. Thanks for sharing with us. Keep up the great tips and tutorials. Fred.
That Gentle' demo was everything for me 😂😂 😂 Thanks Ross for the tips👌💪💪. You're the best
My pleasure!
Spot on. That strike it like a match had me all messed up. Amazing how consistently that is said.
Thank you for the great advice and for being humble enough to retract your previous advice i.e strike like a match. Many from the emerald isle, Ireland
Great video Austin! And your "gentle" voice makes you a great teacher too.
Happy little sparks :-)
I have TIG welded quite a bit (in my garage). I took a class at a community college about a year ago. And learned stick and mig and tig. But I have not done any stick since then until about a week ago. I was having a big problem striking an arc and I see what I'm doing wrong. You were a big help!!! Thanks.
Watched this video because it came up in my suggested algorithm and so thankful it did. You have answered so many questions I had no idea I needed to ask. Starting my welding project and have my welders ( flux core and stick ) I have some practice on flux core and was impressed how easy it can be. Now I’m confident to stick weld after watching this video. I have subscribed to your channel.
My uncle started us by crushing the tip of the rod for contact, contact, contact he kept repeating it. Probably the best instruction on striking a arc I have heard.
Great video. You're the only one I've viewed who recommends using a gentle touch. Im going to give it a try today because I've been so frustrated starting the arc and sticking the electrode. Well done.
I just started stick recently and im so glad i found this video because my stick kept getting stuck on vertical, and the good and gentle bit fixed that completely. 👍
Thank you. I cant wait to try this in my next class. Ive never tried "gentle" because i was told to strike like a match.
This is very good advice. I've only been welding off and on for 2 years now. I was told, strike it like a match, and I got nowhere. I found being slow and gentle when striking up was the way to do it. I'm not a good welder but I am rapidly improving every time I strike up. I spent so much time focusing on starting and screwing that up I didn't get to learn what a puddle looked like. For 20 years I avoided learning and now I love "having to drag out the cables".
I agree. It is good to hear you are improving every time. That is what it’s all about. Repetitiveness and adjusting and making changes in between every pass.
Cleanliness is next to godliness in welding... 😁👍 Will ALWAYS make starting a weld much much easier.
my instructor always used to say "if you want to weld like a god you gotta clean like a god"
Exactly what i do Austin. Been welding pipe for 40+ years. I found the hard way by trial and error.
hello Dear brother Austin, i am learning a lot from you, especially i have been struggling with 6013 . After watching your videos i knew my mistakes. thank you
Thank you. I've always felt that what everyone was telling me was wrong. Now i don't have to wonder if it was just me that couldn't do it the right way. It wasn't. It was just me getting comfortable!
Best definition of how to strick
How did you know I wanted to have an awesome weekend!?!? You know everything! Thanks
yes, I am a beginner and have been striking way to hard, "like a match," and frustrated. thank you very much!!!
I remember when someone showed me the use your finger to break the flux off the tip when restarting that really helped good tips and tricks especially when you're up high like on a ladder or something 😊 thanks for sharing your time and skills with us all ❤❤
Another great video! Keep up the great work! Some day, I will tell you about the time when I was welding inside a new oilfield tank at the shop and actually welded two seams, one stinger & rod in each hand, at the same time! I only tried it once,but I actually welded 2 seams at e same time!
Thank you for covering this!! It took me two weeks to figure this out
My pleasure! Thank you for your feedback.
Great video, Austin. That is a great learning video, and this will help the new guy learn an easier way to weld where they don't stick the rod. Austin, I am so excited about your excellent job on my welding bed and mounting it to the truck. You have made my dream come true. Everyone I show the picture to is like that, a slick-ass rig, and I could not have done it without you. Bob King didn't even want to do the work on my rig, and he is the name on my bed. Thank you for helping out and making me a sharp welding rig. Rowdy Parker.
Pleasure is all mine brotha man. Thank you for trusting me to be involved in your welding bed.
I like to put my weld rod in my exhaust pipe .it takes the chill and h20 out of ur 6910/7018 hilow. 24 years same ZR8 new from Ohio Lincoln
Awesome video. That gentle spark off is nice.
Thanks for this video, I like your calmness and the way u talk, im going to practice this today.
Pleasure is all mine
Very educational, especially for us non welders.
This is the exact advice I needed. I was literally striking it like a match. And I have learned I need to loosen up cuz I tended to get stiffened up. Thanks brother
My pleasure
Thanks Austin. Be gentle Best advice
Zen and the art of arc strike. I'm going to head out to the shop in the morning to practice this with some 6010 and 7018. Two very different feeling electrodes to me.(6010 DC has always been an easy start to me.)
Got it! I'm gonna try that for sure. Thanks!
You are the man austin!!! Thanks for all the tips and advice
My pleasure
Thanks ive done practice before and if i would of gotten your advice prior the learning curve would have been so so much easier i felt this was great advice and your video was excellent thanks again for info 👍😎
Yes sir it’s a lot about you listening to your weld too Amen you are doing great for the future welders coming up very awesome
That was so helpful and l love your humor. Thank-you
The bob ross of welding!💪🏻
i always had good luck with making contact and then a slight twist and it would kick off. worked quite well. especially on painted iron.
I am very new at trying to learn to weld and Austin has broken it down simple for me to learn,thanks
My pleasure
Very informative. Great explanation.
Great video and excellent tips. Thanks! 😊
Buddy, you just gained another subscriber. Great, great content.
Dude your videos are so relaxing. 😊😊😊
Defiantly going to try this method
Thank you. This is very helpful
Great video young man!! I haven't done much welding over the years drove a truck for 38 years. For several years had a great neighbor that did all my welding for me we moved about an hour away now i have to do the welding myself well it don't look very good but it has held so far but maybe i can do a better job now after watchin you i was striking it kinda like a match. Thanks for sharing be safe have fun.
Practice practice practice. You will catch on with time. Be the boss and relaxed. The new eelders are easier, but I learned on a 99 dollar Lincoln buzz box that made me comfortable with anything that makes sparks. Time and rods.
My welding teacher turned out to be someone I liked as a fellow human being but probably will learn more on KZhead. He did help me get acclimated to my own equipment that I took in for that purpose. However, you sir are an excellent instructor. I’m subscribing and will follow you intently. I’m one of those dreaded DIY’s… I’ve had a few classes where the instructor was a quick down and dirty type followed by trial and error. I started with stick where I did crappy welds followed by my own Meg and fill in love with the thing. I’m setting up my equipment soon and will put your gentle approach to practice. Thank you so much. J bo
Pleasure is all mine!
As with anything, both instructors have merit. With any technical task sometimes you are better to be "thrown into the fire" for long enough that when you do get the detail instruction.. you actually understand and have a feel for what they are talking about. I had some great instructors like that.. kind of like "3 phase learning" Phase 1: Safety and bare minimum instruction Phase 2: Struggle bus Phase 3: Bring it all in with the details.
I love this guy, thanks for the advice and tips!
Pleasure is all mine!
That’s what I needed to hear and see. Awesome dude! Thanks
My pleasure!
Good advice. Wish I had heard this before I started welding.
Thank you very much for this tip . I have been whaching your Chanel for a little while and subscribe. Do to the fact that you give a lot of good advice. I am a teen specifically 15 and am in 8th grade and this is helping me practice at home trying to teach my self . Thankyou very much for your advice again and god bless you .👍👍
My pleasure!
Austin , I forgot that the last video I watched, before watching yours, I had set the playback to 75%, so when your video came on, you sounded 3 sheets to the wind, and I thought, oh my, he has gone on a bender, haha... but I know better than that...... great information here, thanks so much for sharing, Paul
Great tips. Noob here...I have not been making sure the ground is nice and clean. I'm sure I'll see a difference now.
I have a 220 Lincoln that I’ve had for 30 yrs but that’s my biggest problem getting it to start and not stick.i was using 7018 a couple wks ago and it fired up right and burned right for a couple rods then back to the same old crap.i’m in the process of taking everything apart and cleaning and making sure connections are good now.mother of god I hope this does it.i learned learned to braze first then mig but first had the buzz box,we’ll see how it goes,oh and yeah I’m just a backyard diyer
Good tips! I keep a plain ol' red brick on my welding cart. When I have a dirty end on a rod (flux, burnt, etc.), I drag it on the brick and it shines it right up, ready to rock and roll. Give that a try.
Very Impressive, nice job!
I got to thinking yesterday well I was welding plates onto a machine and grabbed one of a files that I never use. It works great at not only knocking away the slag but all the little bits in the crakes formed. A lot better than a chipping hammer. Had a few problems with the 7018 not wanting to weld on both sides of the gap. Regardless of me bouncing back and forth from each plate. Took a few different try’s to fill clean and not weld one side only for a while then the other for a while. Tried the bend the rod and push down hard and that made the rod fill go down into the groove. If I had to do it again I would of made the groove wider.
As a 27 year old welder with 34 years of experience... this guy is the Bob Ross of Welding!!!
It’s all about those connections good stuff
Great advice and definitely don’t drink too much coffee because I have noticed that I get a little more shaky after too much caffeine but absolutely great advice
Good job buddy thanks
Good tips. It took me a while to figure out the “the death grip” on the stringer it not a easy way to weld. When I’m using 7018 I keep a file on me to file the end of the rod if needed. It just make’s easier restarting. Thanks for your help and sharing information.
Our pleasure!
good tip for an old rancher/mud dauber like me. Thanks
Pleasure is all mine!
Hot start changed the game.
You Will be a good teacher for the younger boys on the pipeline brother. I remember my first time. My dad told me. Son relax calm. Take a good look and a Little more power haha good days
Great tips for us wanna be welders!
Good deal! I’m glad the tips are great. I hope they are helpful!
Thank you for the tips
You’re welcome 😊
Industrial electrician here but I know some about welding. P5+/6010 for unistrut (right?) and 7018 for mild steel. Rake the rod on concrete to remove the flux cap to make an easy strike when welding. Your the pro and im only 46 seconds into the vid.. lol TY and thanks for the info you provide for us less experienced people.. TY SIR!!!! ..
Yes, 6010 5P plus should be OK for the Uni strut. Although 7018 would work also. But the 6010 will be much easier. And it is my pleasure!
My custom, liquid-cooled welder with transformers wired in series just gets its arc started with a simple touch. Store-brought welders don't let you change the voltage, only current through parallel wiring. But yeah! A big enough charge can also help you initiate the arc.
I'm glad you shared this I have had to tell several people exactly what it is b gentle you're trying to fire up too hard
"I'll be gentle, and just the tip." Sounds like me in my younger days!
Very Helpful!
Good deal
Awesome, have a Austin weekend.....
You can always drag the tip across the concrete a couple times to to help start back up after stopping a weld
Good tip.
I love that advice GET COMFORTABLE. Oh what a difference it makes. A pro can weld if he’s wrapped like a pretzel upside down but the rest of us sure can’t.
It makes a big difference for sure.
Thing is, I think the pro can weld that way because they've learned how to comfortably brace despite being in that kind of position.
thank you!!!
Austin, you saying Get Comfortable when welding took me back to school. We were doing uphill 6010 and the instructor came in my booth and pushed real gently on my shoulders. "Why ain't you braced up?" (I kept control of the puddle the whole time thankfully....) "Always brace up!" He said. The rest is history now. Even if I'm just playing with a rod in practice, I always try and touch something solid with my body.
First thing my dad taught me about welded was A.B.C…Always be comfortable. When you’re uncomfortable is when you get shaky
Perhaps the funniest weilding demonstration I saw is S. Korea while attending Central Texas College at Camp Casey in 1984. I had been taking an automotive tune-up class with Mr. Clark to learn a little bit about emissions equipment. Mr. Clark had 21/23 ASE certification tabs. The only reason he didn't have all is he had been out the USA for a couple years. The following semester I took basic weilding with Mr. Webb a certified weilder who had been recently hired. In the interim the previous semester Mr. Clark had been teaching weilding also. The question was, "Who was the better weilder?" The challenge was who could weild better vertical uphill behind their back without looking. Mr. Clark did a noticeably better job while smoking a cigarette and talking. Of Mr. Webb said, "That don't mean nothing." I did do a little tig weilding on a lathe making surgical instruments. Some flat steel shop structural weilding that I enjoyed. Worked as weilders helper in the oil field and as a weilder on non-certified pipe supports. I enjoyed shop weilding but it didn't pay that well.
Camp Casey was lots of fun. There in 2003.
And after all that.. you still can't spell WELD 🤣🤡
If you wrap the lead around your arm once it makes the handle really light in your hand and makes it easy to be gentle.
In the 70's while in the Navy, some of us in the HT shop got the bright idea of trying our hand at trick welding, it's started with using a mirror and welding between our leg's, first flat then vertical, that wasn't enough, the we duck taped the stinger to our foot and did the same flat vert and overhead, when we finish it was the stinger taped to our foot welding two pieces of plate in a bucket of water. What was the point? other than boredom we wanted to test our skills in welding in not so comfortable conditions, I worked with a bunch of really good welders and our abilities at welding at sea be it up on the mast to hanging over the side in a boswin seat underway. A few of us went off to be underwater welders or iron hangers. Great video 👍🏻, although never heard "strike a match" now drag it or tap it yes, maybe it should have been "gently strike like a match" that's what you are doing and saying. I guess those of us who have been at it for a long time take for granted the little thing's we do, I make a rotten teacher because I forget those little things.
Good tutorial sir
Thank you
Great info.
Thank you. I am glad you liked it.
AROSS, I literally spent a night striking and adjusting within the listed parameters…I gave up that night. EVERY welder friend I have, “strike a match”… I’ve been Arc welding now for about two years, still very much rookie, I gotta say I never strike matches. After that first night I dumped my cup(of knowledge) out completely and went in blind…I’ve been utilizing a drag technic and have recently realized, finesse is sooooo much better. So, well done making this vid. I’m a patient, highly motivated learner. If I never heard that strike a match stuff I probably would’ve been welding that 1st night. Just thgt I’d add to your “gentle” video hoss. Learned in the garage without you and you tube, then it dawned on me that the interwebs might have something to offer…immediately I was a welding rock star. Thank you for being one of my continuous mentors. 💯
Pleasure is all mine!
great video man
Thank you
I also like to drag it at a low angle so it hits the flux first, then I get it a little steeper so it can make contact with the rod and it usually strikes up perfectly without sticking. Helps if the rods have a good flux tip on them.
That is a good idea
@@arosswelding Thanks and thank you for all of your helpful videos. They've helped me out over the past couple years!
About 30 years ago I started rolling / twisting the tip of the rod on every cold strike, never had a hang up since
Yep, striking like a match just causes me to jump and pull the rod off the work piece. Gently touch the work piece works well and I don’t “stick”. Thanks!
welders must make fantastic lovers!
Thanks man.
My pleasure
You are like the Mr Rogers of welding. 😆
hey Ross, so I’m very new to welding and I want to know if you know any good ways into aerospace welding at all. Any information would help. Thank you
Thanks Austin, the basics are necessary for clean arc starts
You forgot the most important thing about getting comfortable, Austin...Extra starch 😃