Well… oxi acetilene and l are not friends l admit that . I only have it for two or so years and, not to brag, but whatever l welded so far held together for almost 5 minutes 
great for heating up things and l think l will continue to use it as that. And making garbage bag bombs for Easter
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Yes, as now i use it only for brazing and cutting, only at work, to expensive with those gas bottles. Bad thing is i don’t want to bring home any gas-bombs (imagine one goes of inside the car 
)
But it can be solved with classical calcium carbide in a suitable jug 
Anyone recognize the feeling when you know you have laid a really nice weld with that old ac-welder and rutile electrodes, picking the slag of it just to realize you have laid TWO nice welds, with a air-gap between them? 
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Haha, oh yes. Done that a few times and it has also happened while you know it could happen so you are concentrating on getting it to not happen and still there are one or more spots where it still happened 
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Hi Johan, what welding equipment do you use? Just curious, i really admire those guy’s building gasifiers with stick, my first attempts was with stick, imagine welding a oil-drum with stick
At 16 i used my first summer-job payment to buy a cheap mig, didn’t regret it, (next two month’s payment needed to rent shielding gas )
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I’ve done it quite often. 3/32 6013, preferably on DC. I’d rather work with hot water heater tanks.
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Yes, and dc is almost a must, ac is harder on thin material, it seems.
I’ve always have trouble translate those classifications on electrodes, here we have some european classings, and also sae.
Mostly i use OK48 (basic) and OK46 (rutile/basic)
Ok48 gives good, strong welds, but have little unstable arc, also very hard to “restart”.
I have some good stainless and some “cold” cast-iron electrodes that is classified 6…some.
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Here in the US of A the numbers go like this, 7018- 70 is tensile strength 1- positions , 8- Flux type
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Hi Göran
I use these welders
Two small inverters, one newer Esab and an older Genesis, and an old huge Westinghouse welder. I also have an Esab 125a migwelder that I hardly ever use so I have never learned how to set it properly (which means horrible cluttered welds). Usually stick is my go-to welder.
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That is nice equipment, all of them 
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Thank you. Yeah, I am happy with them. I am very impressed with the inverter welders though, they work flawlessly and almost eliminates the need for the big one. With 3,25mm (1/8”) sticks and upwards I use the big one though.
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Yes, the inverters are fantastic, i have a cheap one, but if im going to by one, probably a Fronius, tested one and really liked it, small as a matchbox, wires weight more than the inverter and super strong (and cheap) otherwise i like Esab most.
Ofcourse, im going to bring home one of them stoneage rotating inverters, heavy old beast, but very nice to weld with, if one uses a piece of rebar as electrode it doesn’t even hesitate
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Yeah, thats a man’s welder right there
Have heard good things about fronius but never tried one
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I’ve tried using my little lunch pail inverter welder, but I have such a hard time getting it to start. I think my main issue is attempting to weld thin stuff with stick. I need to refurbish my Dad’s old Marquette buzzbox and try that one out. Still cleaning up the shop so I can more readily work in there instead of just outside of it 
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Inside is definately nicer, both in cold weather or warm. Plus I have a hard time seeing what and how I am welding when it is light around me. The fact that I am using a handheld welding screen with darkened glass probably has something to do with that. I should invest in an auto-darkening helmet to make life easier, well, perhaps only the welding part of my life that is
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For thinner metals with stick a trick I’ve adopted that works is to pre-heat the rod tip.
Have a scrap piece clamped nearby. Scratch the tip along that to arc heat it.
And adjust the welder to a re-arc hot start.
S.U.
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When it comes to stick welding, i prefer a hand-held screen too, only problem is i tend to drop it where i work, and then step on it 
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Yes, definately preheat the rod, I do 120*C or 240-250F. If the material is very thin then very short burns and pretty quick after eachother so it doesnt cool too much in between the burns
@Woodrunner I actually have never had that happen, I guess my back needing stretching takes priority and then I’m already standing up and put it on a bench or something
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JohanM. Have you tried the using of a second handheld stick dipping into a pushed puddle?
I first welded only, and later brazed only with gases at 14 so it seems natural to me. Flows more flux down thru the backside for SS protection. And the new material, dip-dip adds, cools so I blow thru less.
Ha! Ha! A new welding classification: Good Enough for Gasifiers.
In truth we do not need the ultimate strengths and pressures ratings. We Suck after all.
S.U.
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Nope, that is something I never heard of and never thought of. Good idea and it seems like it would work well. This requires me to get an auto-dim welding helmet though, or grow another set of arms but the helmet seems better
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Somewhere the is video of Ben Peterson welding while he talks to the camera. No hood. Real welders use the force. I’m not so good.
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