favorite brand of welding rods.

[DaveO]

Here's one for Esab rod customers:
http://www.esabna.com/7018/evaluation.cfm#surveyArea

If you're using an Esab 7018, fill out the form and get free safety glasses. Sure seems like Esab has a lot of promos going- are they trying to buy their way into the market? They sure have a lot of information available on their website, that whole Esab University deal.

[Tritium]

There was also a link higher up on the page for sample 7018 electrodes:

http://www.esabna.com/7018/sample.cfm

Thurmond

[DaveO]

A good catch- that one gave returns on the "freebie" radar, but I decided against pursuing it myself since it says an Esab sales rep will call. I'm sure Esab is hoping to hear from commercial welding shops and welding foremen, not me and my dinky AC crackerbox plugged into the dryer outlet.

[welderdude]

Here are some pictures of the 3 rods I reviewed plus a hobart 7018AC rod. The beads I ran aren't the best I have ever ran, but they get the point across.


From bottom to top is the Hobart 7018, the Esab 7018, the Blue Demon 7018, the Hobart 7018AC, and a regular hobart 7018 on AC.
I used 80 amps DCEP for the first 3, the hobart AC rod got 90 amps, and that ugly blob is the regular hobart on 110 amps AC.





The order is the same as above, but right to left.