Yessir on heat, heat sinks and HAV heat factors- I like the Tempilsticks- you pre-heat the entire area after you have done the "grunt work" clean, grind, bevel, etc- with a Rosebud tip, when the crayon turns liguid and runs, you have that temperature, and you can get Tempilsticks in just about every usable range for surface temperatures- post weld heating adjacent to the HAV is also a good idea, just to delay the heat loss factor and then, wrap in asbestos blankets and allow to cool down slowly until the entire welded area or weldment is cool to the touch of a bare hand--An old timer was my "Mentor or Rabbi"- he once told me this-and he was 100% right- re Stck or SMAW welding, whether with 6011 or 7018 Lo-Hydrogen code rod- same principle applies- most beginners get into trouble with that welding technique because they have the machine set to "cold" as in lower amperage- and they tend to travel too fast or do a weave pattern too wide, which usually results in undercut-certain high deposition rods require more amperage to deposit and flow properly (usually in the 1G or downhand position) such as 7014 or 7024 (aka- "Drag Rod"- drag as in the position of the rod to the weld puddle, not as in Tiny Tim or Elton John "drag'--rods designed basically for DC rev. polarity (6010- 7010- HYP and the 7018-8018- etc rods can run well at std. amperage settings, rods like 6011 and 6013 run on AC usually need a bit more amperage- a lot of this is subjective as to nature of the ferrous metals being welded: joint, position,gauge or thickness, stress factors on the developed joint, etc. MY son-in-law and I have a small metal fab. shop for small trailers, riding lawn mower frame repair, welding together metal tree stands and ladders- we have a Lincoln 220 AC/DC welder (runs on 220 Volt 60 amp. single phase stove current) and a Miller 250 amp TIG (runs on 220 Volt 80 amp. curren single phase - and we have 200 amp service for both 110 and 220 sides- The Miller when used for SMAW welding is 10 times smoother for developed arc, because it is a 100% duty cycle machine, the Lincoln is a 20% duty cycle (except for the circled 75 amp setting- that is 100%- mainly for pipe thawing--And we have a Victor combination oxy-acetylene cutting/welding torch set and a propane/oxy heating torch--but not for welding- a 14" abrasive chop saw for cutting metal and pipe to req'd dims and a power handsaw as well-we can't build a submarine with that equipment, but we can handle about most anything that we encounter with those basic tools and machines for welding- possibly a plasma arc cutter some day, if we ever get into non-ferrous metals- the last welding machine I would buy for our needs is a MIG wire feed welder- popular with auto body shops in .022" dia. wire- but the same old timer that taught me current settings (heat) and slow travel speeds once said about MIG (years ago) "Yeah, they're OK for some projects, but it's pretty hard to screw up a ground clamp lead, a stinger and a stick of 5P-- amen to that- here endeth the lesson--
