burglar says hello to all

[burglar]

I was welding in a steel mill some 50 years ago and not sure how much I have remembered. I stick weld and was told by a welder friend to use missile weld and now I find that a member of this site says that 309 ss is the same but at lower cost. Does anybody have info about this stick???

[Glenn]

Lincoln ER309/309L ER309/ER309L DC-
Used for welding similar alloys in wrought or cast form. Occasionally used for welding 18-8 base metals when severe corrosion conditions exist, and at times, welding dissimilar steels. Intergranular corrosion resistance is maximized by keeping the carbon content at or below 0.03%.

[HWooldridge]

"Missile weld" is welding jargon for several makes of rod. Many moons ago, I did a short stint selling Certanium consumables and they had an outstanding all purpose rod that would weld most anything (IIRC it was grade 707). As is my custom, I became friends with the application engineers and they eventually conceded that most of their rods were upgrades in flux and wire over standard formulations. I kept a few samples after I left the company and that rod was pretty amazing - the sales demo was to weld two pieces of broken file back together then stick it in a vise and try to break it with a hammer. The weld would usually bend to 90 degrees and not break until you went the opposite direction. I once demo'ed it to an old pipeline burner - he said it was 'missile rod' and he could weld ANYTHING with plain old 7018. Of course, that wasn't exactly true but I never did make the sale.

BTW, I use ER309 for tough applications and it works well - ductile and will stick to most anything ferrous. However, I also use rods specifically made for cast iron when that type of welding is required - most 'regular' rods don't really cut the mustard on cast.