Has anyone used the welding rods from Harbor Freight? They are a lot cheaper and wondered how good they are.
Thanks,

should be fine what type of electrode? 6011 7018 I know the have inershield and hard wire also some cheaper electrodes have more splatter and do not run as smooth as your name brands but they work just not as user friendly

I would try the 6011, but not the 7018. I personally desire certain qualities in 7018 to say nothing of the ingredients required by code, that I have not found so far in chinese 7018.

For the most part I agree with arftist (well, most of the time anyway), But the way many folks leave their 7018 out to soak up moisture, it probably doesn't matter that much. "When good rod goes bad", sounds like a movie trailer!

Thanks for the info. Decided to go with Hobart 6013 & 7014 (for thin stuff), from Tractor Supply. Used to weld a lot of 7018, 8018, & 11018 when I was in Navy about 35 years ago. Just bought an old Lincoln Cracker Box, waiting for electrician to hook me up a plug in. Plan to make some hardy tools, and brace up anvil and vise. Plan to use some 6011 on heaver metal. Thanks again

Get small quantities of the HF rod, Lincoln rod and Hobart rod. Set the machine ONCE and run all three rods, then look at the welds. Now trim the machine out to the get the best results from each rod and compare the results.

There are the a whole bunch of other rod manufacturers that should be considered if you can get that rod locally or keep a supply on hand.

If the job is mission critical, or at the request of a paying customer, buy NEW rod. That way you are providing what they are paying for and there are no reasons for excuses..