Metal Welding Rods

In the field, welding electrodes are usually referred to as "welding rods" so I will use that term here.
"Stick Welding" is also the term of choice in the field for SMAW, the acronym for Shielded Metal Arc Welding.
Stick welding used to be done with a bare welding rod. If you've ever stuck a rod with flux on it, you can only imagine how many times they stuck bare rods! If the rod gets too close to the base metal it will decrease the voltage causing the arc to go out. It was very difficult, and could only be used in the flat position. There are a lot of different welding electrodes and wires out there.