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Fri Sep 05, 2008 9:47 am

wow, i didn't know that. How do i know if the rods i have are bad then? They were kept in an old rusty metal tool box. They came with the welder when i bought it. The guy let me have his "stash" as he was only using his mig welder. Its about 50lbs of rods. I will definately buy some new rods for the sandrail build, but i use the 50lbs of rods, mostly for practice. Which leads me to my next question. What kind of rod do i need to buy to weld together cold rolled steel tubing? Also, i notice at the steel shop, they have seemless, continuous, welded, etc., which should i get, or does it matter? Is one stronger then the other?

I really appreciate the help so far. :D

Fri Sep 05, 2008 10:14 am

i like 6013s 1/8 inch for clean metal. 6011s for rusty/not so clean metal but they can be a little hot.

the rods you have. check for swelling, like when you put a piece of bread in the water. discolored, cracking and corrided on the end. most welding supply will sell rods by the pound. let them know what you are welding, maybe get a couple of cutoffs to try, let them suggest a couple of rods to try. tell them you have a lincoln cracker box.

i would ask for roll bar tubing.