Radio Psychedelica

Had a small amount of welding today, and as nothing went right , I can report two failures.
First: when out of welding rods for a simple stick welder, bare iron wire does NOT make a adequate substitute. Easy to melt the wire, easy to render the wire RED HOT so that it melts off the holder and falls onto, say , my pants.
Neither does nails.
Second: sprinkling on sand or potassium chloride does NOT make a useful substitute for flux.
That being said, the potash will vaporize, and its a little easier to strike a arc. But not easy enough to get the job done.

Turns out my welding rods were stored twenty-six kilometers away from where I thought they were.

Proper Previous Planning Prevents Pretty Poor Performance.