For the manufacture of electrodes, first of all, a welding wire is needed. It is cut into pieces of a certain size and a special coating is applied to it. Coating is necessary mainly so that the electrode does not burn out immediately, but melts gradually.
Electrode wire
It is desirable that the wire was close in composition to the metal being welded. Otherwise, there is a great risk that the seam will turn out to be short-lived and of poor quality. And even completely fall apart.
Today 56 grades of electrode wire are produced. All of them have different chemical composition. They can be divided into three main groups.
The first group is carbon wire. Carbon contains up to 0.12 percent. Small and medium carbon steel is welded with such a wire.
The second group is a wire for welding low alloy steel. It contains nickel, chromium, molybdenum, titanium, manganese and other chemical elements. Well, the third group includes a high-alloy wire.
Correctly select the grade of wire can special tables. According to the symbols contained in them, it is easy to calculate the appropriate chemical composition of the wire.
The electrode wire is available in diameters from 0.3 to 12 millimeters. Most often used with a diameter of three to six millimeters. The wire should always be cleaned.
