American made welding rods

Date 10-23-2012 15:10

I used mainly Hobart rods up till this time and some Lincoln rods. I noticed that lately that the rods did notrun as well as the previous bunch that I bought. I buy a large amount and when they are gone buy some more. When I bought Hobart rods in 2008 the tins all said made in the USA. When I bought rods in 2011 the tins said made in the USA with US and foreign materials. I did not notice this right away,but after realizing the rods were not running as well I decided to look at the cans and noticed this. To me it takes more effort now to make a good weld in out of position work. I would like to buy a good quality US made product. Are there good quality US made welding rods out there? To me its irrating we have to buy an inferior product that our livelyhood depends on, and at the same inflated price.

By A_DAB_will_do (*)

Date 10-23-2012 17:01

Most Hobart rods are still made in the plant located in Troy, OH. I have seen some packages in Tractor Supply that say made overseas(China, Taiwan?). But I believe anything you're buying from your Local Welding Supplier is still made in Troy, OH.

By Blaster (***)

Date 10-23-2012 19:47

I like ESAB electrode. I switch to almost all ESAB electrodes a couple of years ago for two reasons. First, some of the electrodes I normally bought from various manufacturers had gone overseas. Second, I had been having some QC issues with Hobart 718MC 3/32 E7018. 718 MC was my favorite rod for years, but the smaller stuff I got had non-concentric flux coating on several occaisions so I started looking for an alternative.

My only real hold out is Lincoln 5P+. It is by far my favorite E6010.

By Tommyjoking (****)

Date 10-24-2012 04:14

I have to second Blaster. I have done much the same, with regards to Hobart and Lincoln...still use Excaliber MR's and 5p+. I have tried some Esab rods and while I can't weld good enough to be some kind of rod expert...some of those Esab rods sure seem easy to run...make a bad welder look better. Next 50lb can of XX18 will be ESAB.

By NMWELDING (**)

Date 10-24-2012 17:54

The last bunch of rods I purchased from Airgas were Hobart,and on the tin it said made in the USA with US and foreign materials. The prior purchase of Hobart rods from Airgas said made in the USA? I actually ran some of these rods that I recently purchased and they didn't run as well,and it was then that I looked on the tin and realized it was not strictly as US made product. The old rods kind of made look like a better welder like Tommy-Joking said. It was a noticable difference in the way you could control the puddle. Its a shame,we pay the same for a product which is inferior.

By TRC

Date 10-24-2012 21:36 Edited 10-24-2012 21:43

Took a tip from a feller who said Atom Arc was the tits. For sale 50lb can 3/32 Atom Arc with three rods missing. Test was a 12" branch open root 7018 all the way. The testing guy was nice enough to lend me a ten pound can of Excalibur because the AA doesn't lend it's self to open root- in my opinion and FYI --- Ted

PS don't stop using an electrode that works for you and don't attempt a test with a sudden brand change, it almost bit me in the double bevel single side groove

By Rafter_G_Weldin (***)

Date 11-09-2012 03:47

Have seen pics of weld made with AA rods and well they werent pretty maybe is was the shoulder maybe it was the rod. From what i saw they look to burn real cold i wont be buying any. I use Washingotn Alloy they burn real nice and lay down an excellent bead

By SMTatham (**)

Date 11-08-2012 23:11

Another vote for Atom Arc. Been using Atom Arc Acclaim here.....love it.

By Sourdough (****)

Date 11-24-2012 15:14

Try Eutectic. That's all I will use on a test. Excaliber is a hard starting rod. Terrible for restarts. Eutectic starts good, and runs way better for me than the rest. Imo

By Dblcorona Date 11-29-2012 01:04

I second what you said on the Eutectic and the Lincoln. I loved Eutectic when I was in the field. Now that I teach, I use the ESAB Atom Arc now. Runs pretty darn good and is cheaper than the Lincoln.

By tighand430 (***)

Date 11-10-2012 02:51

The new AA is good rod, but you have to make sure it is made in US as they make it in Mexico too......and that rod aint worth a sh*t. The best rod I ever welded with was the old AA in the blue an silver can. So smooth it seemed to weld itself together. I know most the nukes use it and if it's good enough for safety related work it'll do for everything else. Another good one is Arcos but best of luck to finding them at your local lws.

By Sberry

Date 12-03-2012 14:07

Back when a nuke I was on used Chemtron Atom Arc, it welded ok but the starts were really fussy and if you didn't get the arc length just right there would be little porosity in it. It took some discipline and getting used to, it looked like it cost them millions to me. Its been a while but as I recall you had to really long arc it for a split second, made for little splatter etc but the pits were a problem, some of them even looked good till you go to clean up or hit with grinder, real fine and on general fab maybe not so much of an issue but where space, location etc was a problem it could be a challenge.