Heard a lead boilermaker say stick welding is dying out, but I still see it everywhere on site

He said TIG and wire feed are taking over for speed, but I argued stick still wins on outdoor pipe work in the wind. Which side are you leaning for heavy repairs these days?

2 comments

2 Comments

angelar571mo ago

My dad worked pipeline up in North Dakota for 25 years and I watched him burn through 100 pounds of 7018 rod in a single shift when the wind was hitting 40 mph. Stick welding outdoors in those conditions is still the only game that works, period. Wire feed guns are useless when the shielding gas gets blown away and TIG is too slow for heavy wall pipe. I'm not saying stick is perfect for everything, it's not, but for heavy repairs on structural steel or thick pressure vessels it's still what guys reach for because it's reliable and you don't have to fight with the elements.

walker.max1mo ago

Man I read this thing about the Alaska pipeline where they pretty much had to run stick the whole way because of the wind. It makes sense, you can't fight mother nature with a MIG gun. @angelar57 your dad sounds like a legend for burning through that much rod in one shift, that's insane.