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How to Choose a Stick Welder

Published October 3, 2026 · Built by Jeremy Panasuk

A stick welder is chosen by the amps the joint will actually hold, and by the minutes those amps allow. Two published sentences get mixed because both contain a number near 140. This site’s stick function, given 1/4 inch of clean steel, prints 1/8 inch E7018 at 90–140 amps. The farm guide’s heavier-repair class is 175–250 amp stick. Those ranges do not overlap. A third number, a MIG machine whose range ends at 140 amps, is not a stick welder at all.

Three answers people paste into one cart

QuestionPublished answerWhat it is
1/4 in clean steel on this stick tab1/8 in E7018, 90–140 A, labeled 120 V machine OKThis site’s stick function, checked against the Handler 140’s 25–140 A range on 115 V
Heavier farm repair175–250 A stick, or 200–250 A MIG at 40–60 percent dutyFarm guide, for hitches, axles, and hardfacing
Handler 140MIG, 115 V, range 25–140 A, rated 90 A at 20 percent duty, single-pass mild steel 24 gauge to 1/4 inA MIG spec sheet, not a stick procedure

Read the rows as different questions. The first is a rod window for a thickness. The second is a machine class for a kind of repair. The third is a wire-feed welder whose top amp happens to equal the top of the rod window. Sharing the digit 140 does not make them interchangeable.

Worked example: 250 mils, clean

One-quarter inch is 250 mils. On the stick tab, enter 250 and choose clean. The function takes half of 250, which is 125, and will not go below 62, so the rod size it uses is 125 mils. A result above 100 and at or under 128 prints as 1/8 inch. Clean metal selects E7018. The window stored for 1/8 inch E7018 is 90–140 amps, and the polarity line says DCEP only. The power-class line says “120 V machine OK,” because the high end of that window is 140 amps and the Handler 140 spec sheet lists 25–140 amps on 115 volts. The line follows the rod window. It does not look at the 250-mil thickness.

Change the condition to rusty and the diameter stays 1/8 inch. The electrode flips to E6011 and the window becomes 75–125 amps. Power class stays “120 V machine OK,” because 125 amps is inside the same 25–140 amp range. A machine chosen only because it can hold 90–140 amps on 7018 still has to be able to run 6011 if the steel is dirty. That split is how to clean metal before welding. Lincoln describes E7018 as the low-hydrogen electrode, usually run on DC, when quality is the issue, and E6011 as the electrode for rusty, dirty, less-than-new metal and for repair when DC is unavailable. The calculator contains only those two. It will not print a window for 6010 or 6013.

Lincoln’s technique note for the low-hydrogen family is to drag the electrode. A long arc, whipping, leaving the crater, or moving too fast can cause porosity, because the slag is the shield. On a multiple-pass weld, clean the slag after each bead. That is how the rod is run. It is not a review of a machine.

Where 140 amps sits, and where it does not

The farm guide’s heavier-repair sentence is 200–250 amp MIG at 40–60 percent duty, or 175–250 amp stick, for trailer hitches, axles, and hardfacing. The calculator’s clean window ends at 140. One hundred forty is less than 175, so a welder that can just reach the top of the 7018 window has not entered the farm class. The farm repair page keeps that class next to the light-repair MIG band. This page only asks whether a stick purchase is being justified with the wrong row.

The Handler 140 spec sheet lists a welding range of 25–140 amps, a rating of 90 amps at 20 percent duty, 115 volts, and single-pass mild steel from 24 gauge to 1/4 inch. It is a MIG machine. Its range includes 140 amps, which is the top of the E7018 window, and it does not include 175. Calling it a stick welder because the thickness line says 1/4 inch is a category error. The 1/4 inch line on that sheet is a MIG thickness claim.

Duty cycle at the top of the rod window

The farm guide treats duty cycle as minutes out of 10. At the Handler’s printed point, 90 amps and 20 percent, that is 2.0 minutes of welding and 8.0 minutes of cooling. You do not need the square rule for the nameplate itself.

The duty tab uses the square rule when the amps you type are not the rated amps. Take the published pair, 90 amps at 20 percent, and set actual amps to 140, the top of the 1/8 inch E7018 window. The function does 20 × (90 ÷ 140) squared. Ninety divided by 140 is about 0.643. Squared, that is about 0.413. Times 20 is about 8.27, which the display rounds to 8 percent. Weld time from the unrounded result prints as 0.8 minutes. Cool-down prints as 9.2 minutes. Inputs: rated amps 90, rated duty 20, actual amps 140.

That 8 percent is not a second line on the Hobart sheet, and it is not a stick-welder rating. It is what this site’s duty function does to a MIG nameplate if you plan to hold 140 amps. A stick machine you are about to buy has its own plate. Read that plate at the amps in the rod window, on the duty cycle calculator, instead of borrowing a wire-feed rating because the range numbers look alike. The first-bead walk at a thinner stick setting, 125 mils, is on how to weld. Every rod window the stick tab stores is on the stick welding amperage chart. The shade that OSHA lists for those electrode diameters is on what to wear when welding.

A common mistake

The mistake is one shopping sentence: “I need a 140 amp welder for 1/4 inch.” The calculator’s clean answer is a 1/8 inch E7018 rod at 90–140 amps, and it labels a 120 volt machine OK because 140 amps is the top of the Handler 140’s 115 volt range. The farm answer for heavier repair starts at 175 amp stick, which that range does not include. The Handler sheet is still a MIG machine, rated 90 amps at 20 percent, which the duty tab turns into about 8 percent if you type 140. Buying the MIG because the stick window ends where the MIG range ends skips the process and the duty collapse.

Limits

Nothing here is an open-circuit voltage, a hot-start spec, or a circuit-load calculation. The 120 volt label means the rod window fits the Handler 140’s published 25–140 amp range on 115 volts. A 5/32 inch window, which runs past 140 amps, is the case that line calls a 240 volt machine. Confirm the bead on scrap of the same thickness, and drag 7018 the way Lincoln describes. A hitch, an axle, a guardrail, or any joint a code or a qualified procedure governs is that procedure. This site did not run a stick welder to produce these windows. If the steel might be galvanized, stop and use the galvanized page before either amp class matters.

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120V stick welder

Frequently asked questions

What does the stick tab return for 1/4 inch of clean steel?

Enter 250 mils and clean metal. Half of 250 is 125, which lands in the 1/8 inch rod band. Clean metal selects E7018, and the stored window for 1/8 inch E7018 is 90–140 amps. The power line says a 120 volt machine is OK because 140 amps is inside the Handler 140’s published 25–140 amp range on 115 volts.

How does that window compare with the farm guide’s stick class?

The farm guide’s heavier-repair class is 200–250 amp MIG at 40–60 percent duty, or 175–250 amp stick, for trailer hitches, axles, and hardfacing. 140 amps is the top of the calculator window and is below 175. The two sentences do not overlap.

What does the duty tab show at 140 amps on a 90 amp, 20 percent nameplate?

It computes 20 times (90 divided by 140) squared, about 8.27, and displays 8 percent: 0.8 minutes of welding and 9.2 minutes of cooling in a 10-minute period. The Handler 140 sheet is a MIG nameplate, 90 amps at 20 percent. That result is the calculator’s square rule, not a stick rating printed on the sheet.

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The Handler 140 line, and other hobby and farm plates with a stated amp range and duty cycle, are in the welder duty cycle and amperage chart.

Compiled with AI assistance from the sources below. Spot an error? Email [email protected].

Sources