Master of Metal
A Look at S tick Welding If you’ve ever seen somebody welding, chances are the technique they’re using is stick welding. It’s the oldest form of welding there is, and despite its age, it's still immensely popular. But it’s also a risky technique that doesn’t always provide satisfactory results.
This begs the question: how has it endured? 4
Actually, the first question is, “What is stick welding?” It’s the informal term for shielded metal arc welding, aka SMAW. It’s a manual arc welding process that uses a flux* powered by a consumable electrode. An electric current is generated from the electrode and a power supply to create an electric arc with the metals being welded. As the electrode and metal melt, they fuse, with the flux creating both shielding gas vapors and slag to protect the weld even further. It is primarily used for iron and steel welding. Stick welding has its roots in the 1800 discovery of the short-pulsed electric arc by Humphry Davy. Two years later, Vasily Petrov would discover the continuous electric arc. Little changed in the world of electric welding until 1881, when Auguste de Meritens developed and patented a carbon arc torch. This led to the development of carbon arc welding in 1885, with the first version of the electrode holder appearing two years later. The consumable electrode appeared in 1888, thanks to Nikolay Slavyanov.
