← Back to Bead BoardStick welding cost per inch
Stick (SMAW) is the slowest common process per inch, but it goes anywhere and works on dirty steel with no shielding gas. This page prices stick welds by the inch with the calculator locked to E7018 defaults. Remember the rod you burn down to a stub is metal you paid for and did not deposit — efficiency matters here more than any other process.
Quick answer
In-shop, a 1/4-inch stick fillet runs about $2.13 per inch ($25.55 per foot) at $85/hr. Stick (SMAW) costs more per inch than MIG because E7018 only deposits 2.2 lb/hr and is roughly 62% efficient — the stubs you throw away are the rest. Where stick wins is setup and portability: no gas, no feeder, works on rusty stock, and it is already in your hand on the jobsite.
Worked example: 12 inches of 1/4-inch fillet
Stick is the right call on short welds outdoors, on rusty or painted stock, and any time you are already on site with a stinger and dragging out a feeder is not worth it. For long welds on clean material in the shop, MIG or flux-core deposits two to four times faster and wins on cost every time.
Questions welders keep asking
How much does stick welding cost per inch?
In the shop at common defaults — E7018 at 2.2 lb/hr, 62% efficiency, 25% operating factor, $85/hr, 25% markup — a 1/4-inch fillet sells for about $2.13 per inch ($25.55 per foot). On a jobsite the per-inch labor can look better than MIG once you count the setup MIG needs and stick does not.
Is stick welding cheaper than MIG?
Per inch of deposited weld, no — stick is slower (2.2 lb/hr for E7018 vs 4–8 lb/hr for MIG) and wastes more filler to stubs (62% efficient vs 95%). But total job cost depends on setup. On short repairs, dirty steel, or field work with no power for a feeder and no wind protection for gas, stick often wins because you skip all the MIG overhead. It comes down to weld length and conditions, not the per-inch rate alone.
How does stub loss affect stick welding cost?
A lot. E7018 is about 62% efficient — you buy a pound of rod and roughly 0.62 lb ends up in the weld. The rest is the stub you toss plus flux and spatter. The calculator accounts for this by dividing deposited weight by efficiency to get purchased weight. Burning rods further down (safely) is the cheapest way to claw back filler cost on a high-volume stick job.
Welding cost by process
MIG Welding Cost Per Inch
High deposition, 95% efficient. The cheapest process per inch on production work.
TIG Welding Cost Per Inch
Slow and welder-bound, but nothing finishes like it. Price the extra hours honestly.
Flux-Core Welding Cost
The fastest hand process — up to 14 lb/hr. Workhorse for thick-plate and outdoor structural.
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