Its interesting, while I do not know about Techniweld offhand they may be a repackager, which has become a bit of a dirty word in welding world. But the interesting thing is, these days EVERYBODY repackages with some line of theirs or another. Many of the brands we consider as different come off of the exact same line and go into different boxes.
Hi Allan
Sorry I can't address your specific question, but I will add that I have recently moved almost exclusivley to ESAB electrodes. We still use Lincoln 5P+, NR 211 and NR 232. However I have switched to ESAB's 7018 Acclaim, Coreshield 8 (we use both NR 232 and Coreshield 8), 710 XM E71T-1M, pure and 1.5 La tungsten, and their Allstate line of gouging carbons. We also use their steel MIG wire although I can't think of the model name now. All of it is made in the USA. Oh, and I also buy their ER70S-2 and ER5356 TIG rod.
I stick with 5P+ as in my opinion it just welds open root better than 5P, 10P, 10P+, and Pipemaster. I use NR 211 as it has been a choice for incidental welding for a long time. I like NR 232 due to its responsive (unforgiving / sensitive) nature. There is nothing I have found better at forcing a welder to really understand the fundamentals of the relationships between WFS, voltage/arc length, stick out, electrode angle, speed, base metal temp, base metal mass, joint geomentry, position, etc. It can also be a good tool to open the mind of a guy with some experience who comes in thinking he is already are pretty good welder.
The ESAB prices seem reasonable, but we do have 3 good sized vendors who are quite competitive on their bids for our orders. We ask for bids from Airgas, Pacific, and Praxair, as wells as from another local vendor. I try to hold out until I can order $5,000 - $10,000 worth in order to get the best prices and so the quantities are great enough that the manufacturer will pay the shipping costs to the vendor.
I have been very pleased with the quality of the ESAB product. I have not recieved any problematic electrodes yet... no noconcentric flux coating on stick rods, or coating over the striking end or where the stinger clamps on. For years I put up with the odd box of non-concentricly coated 3/32" from another American manufacture, and its resulting fingernailing. The 710 XM is great at lower wire speeds. 5G and 6G pipe is a snap with it.
I would like to hear your input on the Turkish electrodes should you decide to try them.
Rod