Welder for 1/4" metal ?

[Nate08chevy]

There are 7018AC rods but I couldn’t get them to light up or run reliably. They run but are meh. 7014 is comparable to 7018 and run on AC.

Glad the Tooliom worked good for you too. Great little machine for the price

 

[Hooper]

Good grounding and ground surface, Fresh Dry rod or well stored dry rod, clean welding surface with wire wheel brush are key with rod welding. The more you weld, you can learn to get by cutting some corners on dirty metal etc.
But if you ever try and use a rod that has absorbed moisture it will sputter and stick, the one key that you can't short cut in my experience. For a decent weld dry rod is the main ingredient.
There is a Youtuber from Oklahoma, a red headed pipe welder, has a lot of welding tips, even a rookie can pick up tips from him. Can't remember his title. I think he is from Kingfisher if I remember correctly.
Of course he has fancy tools the weekend welder won't have, but the tips are still helpful

Dry rod key.

Atwood's has a chart that tells general uses for different type rod they sell, like 6011,7018, ect.

Counter sales person's at Airgas, where they sell welding supplies, can be helpful at times also.

 

[kwaynem]

The AC version of 7018 is definitely meh lol when I was doing a it of welding at home I kept rods in a old icebox with a droplight on all the time in it to keep moisture out