Welding rods in an abandoned factory

comments welcome from welders only please

Well, having been a welder for a short stint in my wayward youth, let me comment. Tim I like the colors, tones, and especially the theme. But I am not sure about the composition. The central position of the box of rods, and the blurred (from swinging?) line on the left kind of distract from the ambiance. Suggestions? Well, I dunno. Still like it though.

Garry, at least I was right about the welding rods, there were hundreds of them on the floor. I fooled around with the swinging what ever it was just for the heck of it. How old do you think those rods were?

Tim, those rods look old enough to have been used by me back in the day! The ends of the rods sticking up out of the box, and the condition of the box seem to indicate age. If they really are that old, it would be fun to try and use them and see how ineffective they are now!

Some of the white stuff was flaking off and the metal rod underneath was visible. What is that white stuff? I am thinking these are forty or fifty years old.

Tim, the white stuff is flux. It mixes with the molten steel and I think it creates a very high temp to aid in melting and blending of steel. (I only worked in a steel fabricating works for about 10 months, and that was nearly 20 years ago.)

The rod fuses to the steel you are trying to weld without this flux because the steel doesn't actually liquify with just current flowing. The flux "floats" up to the surface of the weld as it cools and forms a layer over the weld and chips off after it cools. It actually flakes fairly easily on the rod.

We used to keep very fresh stock in the workshop as the shelf life for a rod from a commercial perspective where reliability is important is only a few years. Once the flux starts flaking, the rods become a real pain to use and slow down the work, as well as making for ugly welds which take longer in "post processing". These rods might not be that old, possibly only a decade or so old, maybe even less?

This factory looks and sounds like a really interesting photographic environment! Do you have more shots from there?

Garry, thanks for the info. I will post some more photos from the building and put them in a folder. I think the room I took this in was the welding room.