What is STICK Welding? (SMAW)

What is stick welding stick welding is an electric arc welding process that uses rod shaped metal electrodes that are covered with a flux material the American Welding Society calls this process shielded metal arc welding or SMAW you may also hear this process called manual metal arc welding or MMA welding.

Some people refer to this process simply as arc welding but shielded metal arc welding or stick welding is just one of many types of arc welding in stick welding an electric current flows through a metal electrode or stick an arc forms between the end of this electrode and the work piece the arc melts both.

The metal in the rod and the metal and the pieces to be joined the metal from the electrode is ejected into a molten weld pool and mixes or coalesces with the workpiece the metal and the workpiece is called the base metal and the metal added to the joint from the electrode is called filler metal stick welding always adds filler metal to the joint because the electrode is constantly melting away and becoming part of the welded structure .

Stick welding is known as a consumable electrode process as the electrode is heated by the arc some of the covering on the electrode releases protective gases that shield the weld and help stabilize the arc the remaining covering melts and covers the molten weld pool with a protective slag layer this slag layer protects and helps shape the weld as it solidifies but it must be removed when the weld is cooled since the gases generated by the flux covering are able to completely protect the molten weld .

There is no need for other shielding equipment such as high-pressure gas cylinders regulators or hoses compared to other welding processes stick welding equipment is often very simple sometimes the only controls on the machine are current and polarity many important welding variables come from how the person doing the welding positions and moves the electrode for this reason the quality of welds produced by this process depends greatly on operator skill and stick welding.

To insulated wires are connected to the welding machine one Lieb goes to a clamp which is connected to the work this is called the work lead the other wire goes to an electrode holder the uncovered or end of the electrode is placed into the electrode holder the polarity of the welding setup refers to how the electricity flows from the machine to the workpiece and back the current will either be AC or DC in AC or alternating current.

The direction of the flow of the electricity changes directions many times every second direct current or DC is like the flow of electricity from a car battery one lead is always positive and the other is always negative DC can be set up two ways in stick welding one way to connect DC is DC en or DC electrode negative which is often called straight polarity in DC en the electrode is connected to the negative terminal and the work is connected to the positive.

The other way to connect DC is dcep which is DC electrode positive often called reverse polarity many stick welding electrodes operate on dcep but some are designed to work with DC en or AC so check the manufacturers recommendations for the proper settings stick electrodes are made with a variety of metal alloy compositions and flux chemistry's you'll want to make sure the electrode you plan to use will be strong enough and that it's compatible with the base metal and the position of the joint you want to well often .

Electrodes have the American Welding Society classification code printed on them this code will identify tensile strength the flux covering type the appropriate welding positions and sometimes other important information so in summary stick welding is an electric arc welding process.

It uses a consumable electrode rod that is covered with a flux material when heated the flux releases shielding gases that protect the weld a layer of slag covers the weld while it solidifies and is removed when the metal cools stick electrodes are not all the same and must be chosen for this specific job they need to do..