Stick Vertical Welding: Techniques, Settings & Tips

A first-year apprentice once told me that flat welds felt like drawing with a wet marker, but vertical stick welds felt like drawing upside down while the marker kept dripping. That dripping is exactly what happens when gravity pulls on a molten puddle you are trying to control with a burning 14-inch rod — and learning to beat it is what separates a hobbyist from a employable structural welder.

What Is Stick Vertical Welding and Why Is It the Hardest Position?

Stick vertical welding is Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW) performed with the weld axis running up and down. You still use the same stinger and coated electrode, but gravity fights every move of the molten puddle. The pool tries to sag, rope, and drip off the joint before it solidifies, so you must control it while the rod burns down toward your gloved hand.

SMAW is covered by OSHA’s welding standard, 29 CFR 1910.252, showing how central this process remains despite MIG and TIG. Stick is still the go-to process outdoors, on structural steel, and in field repairs where wind, dirt, and awkward positions make gas-shielded processes impractical.

How Welding Positions Get Their Names (3G, 3F, and the Rest)

Welding positions use numbers for orientation and letters for joint type. Plate positions look like this:

Designation	Position	Joint type	What it looks like
1G / 1F	Flat	Groove / fillet	Welding downward into a tray-like joint
2G / 2F	Horizontal	Groove / fillet	Welding along a horizontal line on a vertical surface
3G / 3F	Vertical	Groove / fillet	Welding up or down on a vertical joint
4G / 4F	Overhead	Groove / fillet	Welding from below with gravity pulling straight down

A 3G test is a vertical groove plate test, a 3F test is a vertical fillet test. Pipe has its own set (1G through 6G), but plate numbers are the foundation of most structural qualifications.

Why Gravity Makes Vertical the Toughest Position

In flat welding gravity helps. In overhead, surface tension and arc force hold the bead against the ceiling. Vertical sits awkwardly in the middle. The puddle hangs on a vertical face, so heat and travel speed changes show up as sag, drip, or rope immediately.

Vertical-up adds another challenge: heat rises into the metal above the puddle, softening it before you reach it. Vertical-down makes the puddle race ahead of the arc, leaving shallow fusion. Small errors with electrode length, amperage, or arc length break the puddle loose. This is why welding instructors repeat the “3 A’s”: amperage, arc length, and angle. As the tips from The Fabricator on vertical stick welding show, these three variables matter most.

Uphill or Downhill? The Short Answer

Most instructors say learn vertical-up first. AWS D1.1 requires upward progression for passes in vertical, with only narrow exceptions for undercut repair. Downhill still fits light-gauge sheet, thin-wall pipe roots, and production where speed beats throat thickness. Code also limits electrode diameter in vertical work because smaller rods mean less deposited metal per second and a puddle you can control.

Where You Will Actually Weld Vertically

You will see vertical welds often. Column splices, beam-to-column connections, pipe segments in fixed positions, ladder work, tank repairs, and equipment frames all force vertical welding with no way to rotate the piece. For electrode choices across positions, see our All Position Welding Rod Guide. To understand why SMAW still dominates these real-world joints, check Advantages of Stick Welding.

The honest answer is yes: vertical is the hardest position for a stick welder, and it separates those who can make a bead from those employers trust on structural work. The upside is it is teachable. Everything that follows builds toward giving you a repeatable method rather than luck.

Vertical Up vs Vertical Down: Choosing the Right Direction

Before you worry about weave width or amperage dial settings, you have to answer a more basic question: which way are you going? A stick weld in the vertical position travels either uphill (vertical up) or downhill (vertical down), and that single decision shapes your penetration, bead profile, heat input into the plate, travel speed, and whether the finished weld survives inspection. Run a heavy structural joint the wrong way and no amount of hand skill will rescue it.

What Actually Changes When You Reverse Direction

On an uphill weld, the arc is always digging into the top edge of the puddle you just froze. Each pass sits on a ledge of solidified metal, so arc force drives heat forward and down into the joint root. That produces deep, dependable fusion. The trade-off is heat: the plate warms up, the puddle stays fluid longer, and gravity is pulling on it the entire time, which is why vertical-up settings usually sit slightly below your flat values and your travel speed stays deliberately slow.

Travel downhill and the puddle chases the arc instead. Metal is deposited ahead of the freezing front, the arc lingers in one spot for less time, and the rod burns off quicker. You get speed and lower heat input, but shallower penetration and a thinner, flatter bead. On light sheet that is exactly what you want; on thick structural steel it is what an inspector rejects.

Factor	Vertical up (uphill)	Vertical down (downhill)
Penetration	Deep and root-oriented	Shallower, favors face width over depth
Heat input	Higher, plate preheats as you climb	Lower, less distortion risk
Bead profile	Heavier, layered, convex cap	Flat, thin, freezes fast
Speed	Slow and methodical	Noticeably faster
Typical electrodes	E7018 fill and cap, cellulosic root	E6010, E6011 fast-freeze rods
Code acceptance	Default for structural work	Sheet, pipe root passes, repairs

Why Structural Codes Push You Uphill

The code question settles most arguments. AWS D1.1:2000, section 3.7.1, states that the progression for all passes in the vertical position shall be upward. The exception is narrow: repairing undercut with a downward pass, and only with the preheat the code specifies. Lincoln Electric echoes this in its training material, noting that most vertical welding performed to the AWS D1.1 structural code requires welders to train and qualify making vertical welds in the upward progression.

There is a metallurgical reason behind the rule, not just tradition. Uphill welding puts heat where the joint needs it, at the root, and lets each subsequent pass temper the one below it. Downhill leaves a cold-lap-prone, shallow-fusion weld on heavy members, and a weld that looks smooth on the face can still fail a guided bend test or a radiographic check. If the WPS says uphill, the argument is over before it starts.

Where Downhill Still Earns Its Keep

Downhill is not the wrong technique, it is the wrong technique for the wrong job. Cellulosic electrodes such as E6010 and E6011 are deep-penetration, all-position rods built for exactly this kind of fast, forceful work. E6010 carries the digit 1 in the third position of its AWS classification, marking it as a genuine all-position electrode capable in flat, horizontal, vertical and overhead welding, so the rod itself never limits your direction. Welders lean on them for downhill passes on pipe root joints and on thin sheet, where quick freeze controls the puddle and low overall heat prevents burn-through. Our All Position Welding Rod Guide: Types, Uses & Tips breaks down how that classification system works in practice.

Common downhill territory includes light-gauge fabrication, lap and fillet welds on thin plate, cosmetic work where deep penetration is unnecessary, and speed-driven jobs where distortion matters more than root fusion. For a fuller picture of why SMAW still outperforms fancier processes in these situations, see Advantages of Stick Welding: Why SMAW Still Wins.

Making the Call on the Job

Run through four checks before starting. First, material thickness: heavy sections reward uphill, thin sections punish it. Second, the governing code or procedure, which usually decides for you. Third, your electrode, since a fast-freeze cellulosic rod invites downhill while a low-hydrogen E7018 is happiest climbing. Fourth, distortion budget, because downhill’s lower heat input is a genuine advantage when you are welding long seams on light plate.

Direction is also a skill, not just a decision. Practicing both makes you a more complete welder even when your daily work is uphill only. The guidance in Five Tips for Vertical Stick Welding and Vertical-Up Stick Welding Tips for Students applies directly once you have picked your direction, and matching the rod to the job is covered in Choosing the Right Stick Electrode for the Job. Pick the direction first, then set your amperage, angle and arc length to suit it.

Choosing the Best Stick Electrode for Vertical Welding

Before you worry about weave patterns, rod angles or travel speed, get one thing right: the electrode. No hand skill rescues a rod whose covering freezes too fast or too slow for a vertical puddle. The answer is stamped on the end of the rod — you just need to know how to read it.

How to Read the AWS Classification

Every stick electrode made to American Welding Society specifications carries a classification such as E7018. Read it character by character:

• E — the process: covered electrode for shielded metal arc welding (SMAW).
• 70 — the weld metal’s minimum tensile strength, 70,000 psi. A 60-series rod gives 60,000 psi.
• 1 — the welding position. A ‘1’ means all positions: flat, horizontal, vertical and overhead. A ‘2’ means flat and horizontal only; a ‘3’ means flat only.
• 8 — the covering type, which also dictates compatible current (AC, DCEP or both) and the penetration profile.

That position digit matters most when you are about to weld uphill. It is why an E7024 — an excellent, fast-depositing iron-powder rod — is completely off the table for vertical work despite sharing the 70-series family with the E7018. As The Fabricator explains in its electrode selection guide, covering chemistry drives penetration, bead profile, slag behavior and spatter — exactly the variables gravity amplifies in a vertical joint.

The Five Rods You’ll Actually Meet Vertically

You can buy dozens of classifications. In vertical structural work, field repair and pipe, five cover most of it:

• E6010 — cellulosic covering, DCEP only, deep penetrating and fast-freezing with a thin, easily controlled slag. The classic vertical-up and pipe root rod, because it digs through fit-up inconsistency and tack welds.
• E6011 — the AC/DC sibling of the 6010, with potassium in the covering so it runs on AC machines. Same deep penetration, and it tolerates rust, paint and poor surface prep better than most rods.
• E6012 — rutile covering, medium penetration, the go-to fit-up rod. It bridges gaps without blowing through and works as a hot pass or for vertical-down fill.
• E6013 — rutile, all-position, smooth and shallow. The friendliest rod for thin material and sheet-metal vertical-down welding, but it lacks the penetration for heavy structural groove welds.
• E7018 — iron-powder, low-hydrogen covering, AC or DCEP, medium penetration with a quiet arc and a smooth, contoured bead. The structural workhorse for vertical-up fill and cap passes, and the rod almost every 3G plate test is finished with.

Most vertical groove procedures use a two-rod program: a 6010 (or 6011) for the root pass, then 7018 for fill and cap. If you are still building fundamentals across positions, our All Position Welding Rod Guide covers how these classifications behave overhead and vertically in more depth.

Electrode	Covering	Current	Penetration	Best vertical use
E6010	Cellulosic	DCEP	Deep, cutting	Vertical-up root, pipe root, field repair
E6011	Cellulosic (potassium)	AC / DC	Deep, cutting	6010 duties on AC machines; rusty plate
E6012	Rutile	AC / DC	Medium	Hot pass, bridging gaps, vertical-down fill
E6013	Rutile	AC / DC	Light	Thin material, light-gauge vertical-down
E7018	Low-hydrogen, iron powder	AC or DCEP	Medium	Structural vertical-up fill and cap; 3G tests
E7024	Iron powder, low hydrogen	AC or DCEP	Medium-heavy	Flat and horizontal only — not for vertical

Why E7018 Demands a Rod Oven

Low-hydrogen coverings are chemically thirsty. They pull moisture straight out of shop air, and that moisture becomes hydrogen in the arc. Hydrogen in a restrained vertical joint means porosity and, worse, hydrogen-induced cracking in the root after you have already gone home. AWS D1.1 and AWS D1.5 both spell out storage and reconditioning requirements for SMAW low-hydrogen electrodes, which is precisely why rod ovens exist. Practical rules of thumb:

• Keep rods in their hermetically sealed packaging until needed; once opened, exposure time is limited.
• Store opened rods in a heated holding oven, typically around 250–300°F (120–150°C).
• Rods exposed beyond their rating must be rebaked per the manufacturer’s data sheet — common reconditioning ranges fall between roughly 550°F and 800°F (290–430°C), depending on classification — or discarded.
• Check the hydrogen designator (H4, H8, H16: millilitres of diffusible hydrogen per 100 grams of deposited metal) when your procedure or code requires it.

Polarity, Thickness and Joint Type

Polarity selection is mostly about your machine and the rod. E6010 is a DCEP-only rod; E6011 and E6013 give you AC flexibility for older machines or generator welders in the field. E7018 runs well on AC or DCEP, though on AC you may need slightly higher amperage to keep the arc stable. DCEN (electrode negative) is rarely used for these classifications in vertical work.

Match rod diameter to thickness and joint restraint. Thin sheet suits 3/32 or 1/8-inch 6013 or 6011; a 3G structural groove commonly runs 1/8-inch 7018 for fill and cap, with 5/32-inch for heavier builds on thicker material. Tight, well-fitted joints favour a 6010 root; sloppy fit-up with gaps favours 6011 or 6012 bridging. When the base metal is a high-strength or low-alloy grade, filler compatibility becomes a separate conversation — see our Alloy Steel Welding Electrodes guide for how those classifications are matched.

Get the rod right and the foundation holds. With a 6010 root and a dry, oven-fresh 7018 in your holder, you are ready to dial the machine in — amperage, arc length and angle — which is exactly where we go next.

Machine Settings: Amperage, Polarity and the Three A’s

When it comes to stick vertical welding, dialing in your machine is just as important as your hand movement. With gravity constantly pulling the molten puddle down the plate, the slightest bit of excess heat will have it running away from you. To keep control, it’s best to rely on a simple framework known as the 3 A’s: Amperage, Arc Length, and Angle. Master these three, and the rest of your vertical work becomes far easier to correct on the fly.

Amperage: Turning It Down for Vertical

The biggest adjustment going from flat to vertical is heat. More amperage means more puddle fluidity, and fluidity is your enemy when welding uphill. As a general rule, you want to run slightly cooler for vertical than you would for the same joint in the flat position.

For example, for a 1/8 in. E7018, about 125 A may suit a 2F horizontal fillet while a vertical 3F fillet on the same material needs roughly 10 A less — around 115 A — for a single pass. For vertical uphill 7018 work, many welders report a workable range of about 120–135 A for 1/8 in. rod on test plate, with a tight arc to avoid sticking. Thinner plate will generally fall towards the lower end of that range, whereas slightly heavier plate may creep up towards the top end. This is also why it’s crucial to be selective with your filler, as some electrodes are far more forgiving than others. When weighing your options, it is worth referencing an all-position welding rod guide to see what is realistically manageable for vertical work.

Polarity, Arc Force and Hot Start

Most of the electrodes used for vertical structural work, such as E7018, are ran on DCEP (Direct Current Electrode Positive). However, always check the manufacturer recommendation for the specific rod that you’re running. Your machine’s advanced controls can also be your safety net. Hot Start gives a momentary burst of amperage when striking the arc to prevent sticking, and Arc Force (also known as Dig) automatically bumps amperage when the rod gets dragged too close to the plate. Use both sparingly, as cranking either to their maximum will overheat your puddle very quickly in the vertical position.

Angle and Arc Length: The Other Two A’s

The angle that you hold your electrode will change drastically depending on which direction you’re traveling. According to Miller Welds, you should hold the electrode perpendicular with a slight push (forehand) tilt of 0–15 degrees away from the direction of travel for vertical up. This pushes the puddle up the joint whilst still allowing it to freeze behind your arc.

Conversely, for flat, horizontal and overhead positions, the drag (backhand) technique with a 5–15 degree trail angle is standard. Arc length is the final piece. For vertical uphill, keep an extremely tight arc, roughly the diameter of the electrode or slightly shorter. Any extension past that will widen and overheat the puddle, making it far more prone to sagging.

Dialing It In By Rod Diameter and Thickness

There is no universal number for every job, so treat the values below as a starting point to tweak from. Test on a scrap of the same thickness in the exact joint you’re welding before committing to your work piece:

• 3/32″ rods: Usually the coolest starting point, often between 70 – 90 A for light vertical uphill work. Great for tight root passes.
• 1/8″ rods: The most common for test plate. Start around 115 A for 7018 vertical uphill and adjust in 5 A increments based off of puddle size.
• 5/32″ rods: Rare for single pass vertical uphill on thinner stock. If used, only on heavier plate and usually ran with extreme restraint, often starting around 130 – 140 A whilst still being ran tight and controlled.

The goal isn’t to run the highest amperage possible to fill faster, it’s to run the lowest stable amperage that will still wet into both sidewalls. If your puddle is stacking up like a rope and refusing to freeze, drop 5 A. If it’s sluggish, struggling to tie in, or you’re constantly sticking the rod, bump up just 5 A. With small tweaks like these, your puddle will go from uncontrollable, to something you can confidently push all the way up the plate.

Vertical Up Technique: Root Pass, Fill and Cap Step by Step

For stick vertical welding, the sequence matters more than trying to cover the joint all at once. With the right stance and control, a vertical-up groove can be built pass by pass from root to cap with far less sag and fewer defects.

Stance and Arc Setup

Before striking, set your feet shoulder-width with your non-dominant foot slightly forward and square to the joint. Keep close enough to keep your elbow bent, as reaching out will lock your shoulder and make travel speed jerky. Brace the heel of your hand or forearm against a stable point to take the load off of your wrist, letting movement come from your shoulder and hip instead.

For most groove joints, your work angle should sit around 5–15° off perpendicular with a slight drag angle to help push the puddle up. Focus on the leading edge of the weld pool, not the arc core. A good rule of thumb is to keep the arc in the leading one-third of the puddle. If it drifts to the middle or back, you’re moving too slowly and gravity will start pulling it down.

Starting and Restarts

Never start directly inside an open root. Strike on a run-on tab or just above the joint to establish a stable arc length, then ease into the joint. For mid-joint restarts, chip and wire-brush all slag from the previous bead, strike over the crater, and overlap it by roughly 1/4 to 3/8 in before resuming travel. Skipping this overlap is a common way to trap slag right where a bend test will expose it.

The Root Pass

The root pass is what the rest of the joint will lock onto. As The Fabricator’s vertical-up guidance notes, keeping the electrode in the root and whipping it upward as the puddle forms helps stack controlled weld metal. In practice, this is a tight whip-and-pause: a short bite into the root face, a brief pause for the keyhole to fill, then a small retreat to let the puddle begin to freeze.

On wider root openings, a shallow U-weave can help wet both sidewalls instead of letting metal hang in the center. Following Miller’s advice to focus on the sides of the joint, take a deliberate pause at each wall for tie-in before moving across. The center will fuse with far less effort if the toes are properly melted in.

Fill Passes and the Cap

Once the root is clean and solid, build the fill by stacking beads in overlapping layers. Aim to cover about half of the previous bead and half of the adjacent sidewall with each pass. This keeps the groove building evenly without creating a tall hump down the middle. Chip and wire-brush between every pass, and never try to bury slag by welding over it. For all-position rods, the All Position Welding Rod Guide can help narrow down classifications that hold up well to this stacking.

The cap is the pass most often judged. Keep it slightly convex with uniform ripples and toes that blend smoothly into the base metal. Watch for these live cues as you weld:

• Even ripples: A sign of steady travel and consistent arc length.
• Coarse, fish-scale ripples: Often caused by moving too fast without pausing at the sides.
• Grooves at the edges: Undercut. Try holding slightly longer at the toes or dropping amperage a few amps with a tighter weave.
• Wet, runny edges that won’t freeze: Usually from excess heat or a long arc. Shorten your arc before gravity takes over.

Stops, Finishes and Inspection

When you need to stop, back out gradually and feather the crater to help avoid a shrinkage crack. Plan your next start to land on that feathered crater and overlap by 1/4 to 3/8 in after thorough slag removal. Before moving to the next pass or calling a coupon done, chip the entire bead and inspect the toes under good light.

This level of precision is a big part of what keeps the trade viable, which ties back to the advantages of stick welding across structural and maintenance work. Most of all, take photos of your coupons from pass to pass. Comparing them is the quickest, most honest way to lock this vertical-up sequence in for good.

Common Vertical Stick Welding Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Every vertical welder has a scar story: a puddle that dropped off the plate mid-pass, a rod frozen to the root face, a cap full of undercut that the inspector rejected without a second look. The reassuring part is that almost none of these failures are mysterious. They repeat for the same handful of reasons, and once you can read the bead, you can diagnose the habit behind it.

Sagging or Roping Puddle

Symptom: The puddle bulges, ripples turn fat and ropey, and the bead sags downhill instead of stacking. Cause: Excess amperage combined with a long arc. Too much heat keeps the metal fluid too long, and a stretched arc dumps extra energy into a puddle gravity is already pulling down. Fix: Drop amperage roughly 10 to 15 percent below what you would run in flat position, then shorten the arc to about one electrode diameter or less. As The Fabricator’s vertical stick guidance emphasizes, puddle control in vertical comes from heat discipline, not hand speed. Reduce amps, tighten the arc, and the sagging usually disappears on the next pass.

Undercut Along the Sidewalls

Symptom: A thin groove melted into the base metal at the top edge of each pass. Cause: Travel speed too fast through the center, or failing to pause at the edges so the arc melts the sidewall without filling it. Fix: Slow down and let the puddle wash into both toes before moving on. Weave patterns should pause momentarily at each side, not whip across. The AWS D1.1 structural welding code sets visual acceptance limits for undercut at roughly 1/32 in., so a shallow, intermittent nick may pass, but a continuous 1/32 in. groove at the toe will send a plate back for gouge-and-repair.

Porosity from Contaminated Rods

Symptom: Pinholes and blowholes revealed when the slag lifts, often worst in the root or restart areas. Cause: In vertical work, porosity in carbon steel is most often traced to moisture pickup on low-hydrogen E7018 electrodes, plus rust, oil, or paint on the plate. Fix: Keep 7018 rods in a sealed container or rod oven and follow manufacturer re-baking and holding times. Those rules exist in AWS D1.1 and AWS D1.5 precisely because hydrogen causes both porosity and cracking. Clean at least an inch either side of the weld zone, and switch to a cellulose rod like 6010 if the plate is visibly damp or rusty.

Sticking the Electrode

Symptom: The rod freezes to the work, glows cherry red, and snaps off when you pull. Cause: Amperage too low, arc length too long, or the rod being dragged rather than arced in. Sticking is a direct symptom of the amperage-arc length-angle relationship. Fix: Nudge amps up in 5-amp steps, snap the arc with a quick scratch rather than jabbing it, and hold the rod tight to the puddle. If the machine has arc force, increase it; the feature exists specifically to keep the arc from stuttering out at low settings.

Wrong Direction, Cold Lap and Losing the Puddle

Symptom: A wash-shaped bead sitting on top of the plate instead of tying in, or an arc that wanders off the joint. Cause: Running vertical-down with an electrode that cannot handle it, travel too fast, or an arc that creeps longer as your hands tire. Cold lap is simply unfused overlap: the puddle never reached the sidewall. Fix: For structural plate, go vertical-up and slow down enough for the puddle to wet both faces. Shorten the arc when it wanders, and watch for arc blow at the ends of a bead; a slight side offset of the rod corrects it. For electrode direction and position suitability, see our All Position Welding Rod guide.

Trapping Yourself in a Corner

Symptom: A wide weave early in the joint leaves you with a deep V of unfilled space and nowhere to put the last bead. Cause: Overweaving to cover width in one pass. Fix: Plan every bead before you strike the arc. Stack narrow stringers and leave room for the next pass so the final cap comes out slightly convex and defect-free. If you need to clean up a bad tie-in or a crater, deliberate air arc gouging is a repair technique, not a welding technique, and belongs outside the puddle.

Symptom	Likely Cause	Fast Fix
Saggy, ropey bead	Too many amps + long arc	Drop 10–15%, shorten arc
Undercut at toes	Too fast, no edge pause	Slow travel, dwell at sides
Porosity	Wet 7018, dirty plate	Rod oven, clean joint
Sticking rod	Low amps, long arc	Raise amps, snap arc in
Cold lap	Puddle not washing in	Slow down, tighten angle
Corner trap	Overweaving	Stringers, plan pass count

The pattern across every row is the same: heat, arc length, angle, and patience. Fix those four before you blame the rod, the machine, or the position.

Joint Prep, Fit-Up and Multi-Pass Planning for Vertical Grooves

Vertical welding punishes sloppy preparation harder than any other position. In flat work you can grind out a bad bead and move on. In a vertical groove, gravity is already working against the puddle before the arc is struck, and a poorly fit joint gives it nowhere sensible to go. As The Fabricator’s guidance on vertical stick welding makes clear, most vertical defects trace back to decisions made with a grinder and a checklist, not with the stinger in your hand.

Bevel Angle, Root Opening and Root Face

A standard single-V groove for stick work usually gets a 37.5° bevel per side, giving 60° to 75° overall when both plates are beveled. The bevel exists so the electrode can reach the bottom of the joint: too narrow and the arc rides the sidewalls, too wide and you burn filler for no benefit. The root opening, commonly 1/8 in. to 3/16 in. for plate practice, controls penetration. Open it too far and the root pass sags or blows through; close it too tight and you get lack of fusion right where it matters most.

The root face, or land, is the small straight edge left at the bottom of the bevel, typically 1/16 in. to 1/8 in. It acts as a heat sink that keeps the root from melting away while you establish the puddle. Backing bars are the other option, and they are the rule rather than the exception in qualification work: AWS D1.1 test plates for vertical qualification commonly use 3/8 in. plate with a 1/4 in. backing bar for a 3G groove test. A backing bar gives the root a surface to sit on, so the welder concentrates on travel speed and arc control instead of fighting blow-through. Full details are in AWS D1.1 Structural Welding Code — Steel.

Cleaning, Tacking and Fit-Up

Cut the joint, then clean it. Mill scale, rust, oil and cutting-fluid residue are the quiet killers of a vertical root pass. Mill scale can dissolve into the weld and pop out gases, causing porosity, so brushing or grinding both bevel faces back to bright metal before tacking matters more than most beginners think. A dirty joint also produces more of the byproducts that make welding hazardous, which is part of why OSHA treats welding fumes and process byproducts as a recognized hazard.

• Grind the bevel faces at least 1 in. back from the edge on both sides, and remove mill scale from the root area specifically.
• Tack the outside edges first, then add tacks mid-joint to lock the root opening. Plates walk closed as they heat, so re-check the gap at both ends after tacking.
• Verify the gap with a gauge, not your eye. A root opening that drifts from 1/8 in. to 1/4 in. halfway along the joint will change puddle behavior mid-run.
• Shield the joint from drafts that cool the puddle unevenly, especially on outdoor field repairs.

Preheat and Interpass Control

Thicker sections and cold weather change the arithmetic. D1.1 specifies maximum preheat and interpass temperatures for certain steels — up to 400°F (200°C) for thicknesses up to 1-1/2 in. (40 mm) in one example clause. The practical habit: preheat evenly, monitor with a temperature stick or infrared thermometer, and never let interpass temperature run past the code limit. Excess heat softens the weld zone and can distort the fit-up you just worked to achieve. If you are welding carbon steels that harden readily, our Alloy Steel Welding Electrodes: Selection, Use & Safety guide covers fillers that pair well with controlled preheat.

Planning the Pass Sequence

Plan the whole weld before you strike the first arc, and remember that capping passes must be planned from the start: each bead has to leave space for the next, since vertical welds cannot be ground down easily without code implications. Grinding a cap flat can remove required reinforcement or expose the underlying weld to examination, so sequencing is your insurance policy.

1. Root pass: tight arc, slight whip or small U motion, watching for full penetration onto the backing bar.
2. First fill: slightly wider than the root, tied firmly into both sidewalls, crowned just below the bevel surface.
3. Remaining fills: stringers or narrow weaves, each layer topping out below the plate edge and leaving roughly a rod diameter of room for the cap.
4. Cap: two to four beads, each overlapping the last by about half a bead width, finishing convex and free of toe undercut.
5. Repair plan: a gouged or overlapped cap bead gets cut out with air arc welding and carbon arc gouging, not covered with more filler.

Vertical Groove Prep Checklist

• Bevel angle, root face and root opening measured and within drawing tolerance
• Backing bar fit flush, with no gap behind it
• Joint faces ground bright at least 1 in. back; plates tacked at ends and center; gap re-verified after tacking
• Electrode size legal for vertical position; all-position rod options reviewed against the joint
• Preheat applied, interpass monitoring ready, pass sequence sketched with room reserved for a convex cap
• Slag hammer, wire brush, grinder and gouging gear staged at the joint

Ten minutes on fit-up saves an hour of grinding and a rejected coupon. For the technique that follows this preparation, revisit the root, fill and cap walkthrough earlier in this guide, plus Miller’s five steps for improving stick welding technique for the fundamentals that keep every pass consistent.

Qualification and Codes: 3G/3F Tests and AWS D1.1 Rules

A good-looking vertical bead and a qualified vertical weld are two different things. On structural work, the second one is what gets signed, inspected, and paid for. Here is what a 3G or 3F stick test involves, what gets measured afterward, and how the governing code shapes every pass you run uphill.

The rulebook that matters most in the United States is AWS D1.1, Structural Welding Code – Steel. It governs most vertical groove and fillet qualification in steel construction and sets the procedure, inspection, and welder rules that shops and jobsites work to. Stick remains the field default for that work, one reason why SMAW keeps winning on job sites.

Reading the Position Codes: What 3G and 3F Mean

Welder positions are written as a number plus a letter. The number is the plate’s orientation: 1 flat, 2 horizontal, 3 vertical, 4 overhead. The letter is the joint: G for groove, F for fillet. So a 3G test is a vertical groove weld in plate, and a 3F is a vertical fillet, usually a T-joint or lap joint.

Qualification travels in ranges, not singles. D1.1 publishes tables showing which extra positions each test covers, and they are more generous than most beginners expect, so check your edition rather than trusting shop folklore. Position ratings also apply to consumables: an electrode rated for all-position use can legally run vertical, but your qualification and the procedure still decide whether it should.

Inside a Typical D1.1 Vertical Qualification Test

A common D1.1 vertical test is a 3G groove welded on 3/8 in. plate with backing. It runs like this:

1. Fit-up. Two plates are beveled to the specified groove angle with the required root opening and root face, tacked against a backing strip so the root is supported.
2. Weld it out. Root, fill, and cap go down in the qualified position, typically vertical-up with a low-hydrogen electrode, using only the amperage and technique the test sheet allows. The welding itself is the same uphill routine you have practiced, which is why vertical-up tips written for test students focus so hard on repeatable consistency.
3. Cut the coupons. The plate is sectioned into strips. Macro-etch checks confirm fusion at the root and sidewalls, and guided bend coupons are bent over a standard former so defects open up where they can be measured.

Hydrogen discipline is built into the rules: a welder who passes two tests with low-hydrogen electrodes, one vertical and one overhead, can be qualified for all pre-approved steels under the code, a point raised repeatedly in AWS technical forum discussion of D1.1:2010.

What Inspectors Look For

Visual inspection sets the baseline: under D1.1, welds must be free of cracks and craters must be filled. Inspectors also check undercut depth against the code’s visual acceptance table, with tighter allowances where cyclic loading applies, plus cold lap, inconsistent reinforcement, poor tie-in at the toes, and surface porosity. The bend coupons then test what the eye cannot: internal fusion and soundness.

Radiography sits one stage later. Test coupons are judged visually and mechanically, while RT and other NDT apply to procedure qualification and production welds. A critical vertical groove in the structure may be radiographed, and rejectable indications such as incomplete fusion, porosity clusters, or cracks mean repair, re-inspection, and sometimes re-testing.

Do You Actually Need a Qualified Welder?

If the work is structural, yes. Anything under a building or bridge code, most work assigned under OSHA’s welding standards such as 29 CFR 1910.252, pressure systems, and anything an engineer stamps requires welders qualified to the applicable code, and the employer must be able to prove it. Repair a gate in your own shop and nobody asks; weld a column splice and somebody will.

How the Code Shapes Your Daily Vertical Work

The rules show up before the paperwork. D1.1 encodes maximum electrode diameters per position so heat input stays inside the limits the procedure qualification already assumed. That is why you will not get a fat 5/32 in. rod for an uphill root on a code job: the larger rod pushes heat past what was qualified, coarsens the grain, and puts the weld outside the procedure’s assumptions even when the bead looks attractive.

The paperwork mirrors it. A WPS says how to weld it, a procedure qualification record proves that “how” works, and your performance qualification proves you can execute it. Change process, position, filler, or thickness beyond the qualified ranges and the documents must cover the new territory before the arc strikes.

Master those constraints and the test stops being something you memorize for. It becomes a description of work you already do: the same uphill pass you have been padding in the shop, now with every variable written down and someone with a gauge ready to check it.

Safety in Vertical Stick Welding: Fumes, Shock, Burns and Ergonomics

Most of what makes vertical stick welding hard also makes it hazardous. The puddle fights gravity, so you move slower, your head sits closer to the arc than on a flat plate, your arms stay elevated longer, and the smoke drifts straight into your face. Welding, cutting and brazing hazards in the U.S. fall under OSHA’s 29 CFR 1910 Subpart Q, specifically 1910.252, which covers ventilation, protective equipment and fire control. OSHA’s welding hazards guidance puts the number of U.S. workers exposed each year above 500,000. Vertical work is where several of those hazards sharpen at once.

The Fume Plume Rises Straight Into Your Breathing Zone

Weld flat on a table and the plume drifts up and mostly past you. Weld a vertical-up groove on a column and the arc sits inches below your chin, so thermal lift carries the plume straight into your face. Speed adds to it: vertical passes travel considerably slower than flat ones, so you take in more fume per foot of weld.

Two fumes deserve particular attention:

• Hexavalent chromium — produced when welding stainless, chrome-coated or plated steels and some hardfacing consumables. OSHA regulates it under 1910.1026 with an 8-hour permissible exposure limit of 5 µg/m³.
• Manganese — released from ordinary mild-steel consumables, including common 6010 and 7018 electrodes, and a long-standing neurological concern tracked by NIOSH’s welding research program.

Consumable choice matters too: alloy steel welding electrodes fume more heavily than plain mild-steel rods, which is why they carry their own storage, ventilation and handling rules.

Controls work in a hierarchy:

1. Source capture — a snorkel or extractor nozzle at or just below the plume, mounted to the side and slightly under the arc, never above your head.
2. Head positioning — keep your face off to one side of the plume axis rather than directly over the puddle. It costs a little visibility and buys you years.
3. Supplied or filtered air — a fresh-air helmet or fit-tested respirator where capture is impractical.
4. Never weld in a confined or low spot — pits, tanks, trenches and corner booths accumulate fume faster than you can dodge it.

Electric Shock: 20 to 100 Volts at Your Fingertips

Lincoln Electric warns that secondary voltage in an arc welding circuit ranges from 20 to 100 volts. That sounds trivial next to line voltage, but it can lock a hand shut and, under the wrong conditions, stop the heart. Primary protection is simple: dry gloves without holes and insulation from ground.

Vertical work quietly removes those protections. Arms go overhead, sweat runs down your sleeves into your gloves, and you may be standing on wet concrete, damp earth or a steel scaffold that grounds you to the workpiece. A sticking electrode on a root pass is the classic trigger — the instinct is to grab the plate barehanded.

• Insulate yourself: dry boards and dry footwear, and never kneel on or lean against the workpiece.
• Inspect holders, leads and connectors daily; repair or replace damaged insulation.
• Use ground-fault protection on extension cords and site power.
• Assume the workpiece is live until the machine is disconnected.

Molten Drips, Slag and Burns

Gravity pulls more than the puddle. Spatter and molten slag drop straight down your sleeves, into your collar and into your boot tops. Zipped, flame-resistant leathers with closed cuffs, gauntlet gloves pulled over the sleeves and a cap under the helmet solve most of it. Avoid synthetics that melt against skin, and never tilt your helmet up to inspect a hot weld from below — dripping slag finds the gap at your neckline.

Fire is the other half. On vertical field work, sparks and slag rain onto everything below, including other trades, stacked material and combustibles on lower levels. 1910.252 requires removing or protecting combustibles and providing fire watch where needed, and air arc welding and carbon arc gouging multiplies the spark volume considerably.

Height, Stance and Fatigue

One reason stick welding remains the field favorite is portability: one machine and a rod bundle can climb a tower. That same portability tempts welders onto ladders — don’t. Welding from rungs leaves you off-balance with both hands occupied and no way to control a fall. Use a scaffold with guardrails, a lift or a proper platform, and tie off where required.

Ergonomics matter more than most welders admit. Plan the joint so the bead runs between waist and shoulder height, rotate side to side instead of craning your neck, and break before your legs and shoulders fatigue. Tired welders stick rods, stretch arc length and lose their work angle — the same failures that cause defects also cause the jerk-and-grab that ends in burns and shock.

Hazard	Why vertical makes it worse	Core control
Fume inhalation	Plume rises into the face; slower travel	Source capture, head off axis, respirator program
Electric shock	Sweaty sleeves, damp steel, grounded stance	Dry gear, insulation from ground, lead checks
Burns and slag	Debris falls into sleeves and boots	Zipped leathers, gauntlet gloves, no exposed skin
Fire	Sparks rain onto lower levels	Fire watch, clear combustibles, cover below
Falls and fatigue	Ladder work, overhead posture	Scaffold or lift, stance, scheduled breaks

Most of these controls cost nothing — positioning, discipline and a glance at the area below before you strike an arc. Set them up first so the puddle can have your full attention.

How to Practice Stick Vertical Welding: A 4-Week Improvement Plan

Here’s the truth most beginner articles skip: vertical stick welding is a motor skill, not a knowledge problem. You can memorize every angle and amperage chart in this guide and still watch your first uphill bead sag into a ropey lump. What fixes that isn’t more reading — it’s deliberate, structured repetition. The plan below is how welding instructors typically sequence practice before a plate test, scaled down for anyone with a welder, a stack of coupons, and a few evenings a week.

Week 1: Padding Beads and Dialing In the Three A’s

Start where every structural welder started: padding beads in the vertical uphill position. It’s the standard preparatory exercise before anyone attempts a 3G plate test, and for good reason — it removes joint variables so you can feel the puddle. Cut a handful of flat coupons roughly 6 by 8 inches, prop the plate vertical, and run overlapping beads upward with a 1/8-inch (or 3/32-inch) E7018. If you’re hunting for a comfortable all-position rod for this stage, our all position welding rod guide breaks down the usual suspects.

Your only goals this week are the three A’s: amperage, arc length, and angle. Drop amperage roughly 10 to 15 percent below what you’d run the same rod flat, keep the arc tight enough to hear a steady sizzle, and hold a 5 to 15 degree rod angle tilted slightly downhill. Run one test bead, let it cool, look at it, and adjust one variable. Miller Electric’s stick technique fundamentals make the same point: set the machine by result, not by guesswork.

Week 2: Stringers, Starts and Stops

Week two moves from pads to real joints — stringer beads on lap joints and T-joints, still uphill. The skill people skip deliberately is the boring one: starts and stops. Real welds are never one continuous run; restarts happen in every structural joint, and a sloppy restart is where porosity and lack of fusion hide. Practice striking the arc on a run-on tab, landing back into the crater of your last bead, and terminating on a run-off tab so the crater is filled instead of cracked.

One classic trick from test welders: welding toward a clamp placed at the top of the plate gives the current a path that reduces arc blow at the end of a run, where the puddle gets shaky and starved. Try it both ways once so you can recognize arc blow when it bites you in a real test.

Week 3: Weave, Ties and Shape Control

With stringers consistent, introduce a controlled U-weave or slight Z-weave on a vertical lap and a vertical T. Pause long enough at each toe to watch the puddle wash into the edge, then move across. The diagnostic to memorize here is counterintuitive: a pronounced, exaggerated fish-scale ripple pattern on a vertical bead usually signals that your travel speed is too fast relative to your side pauses. Smooth, evenly spaced ripples mean the rhythm is right. Use that visual feedback every single bead.

Week 4: Simulated 3G and 3F Plate Tests

Now run the real thing. Bevel two plates to a 30 to 37.5 degree included angle, set a root opening, tack them on a backing bar, and weld a full 3G groove: root, fill, cap. Then flip the script and run a 3F fillet on a T-joint. Crucially, repeat the same joint with incremental amperage changes of about 5 amps — up on one coupon, down on the next. Welders who choose alloy steel welding electrodes for practice coupons often use mild low-alloy material for exactly this reason: consistent base metal isolates your settings changes. Repeating one joint with small, deliberate variables is what builds muscle memory that makes vertical welding repeatable rather than lucky.

How to Critique Your Own Beads

After every coupon, run this checklist before you strike the next arc:

• Width and straightness: consistent bead width means consistent travel speed and arc length.
• Toes: any undercut where the bead meets the plate is a rejection on most code work.
• Face: a flat-to-slightly-convex face is good; a tall ropy crown means too much amperage or too slow a travel.
• Ripples: tight and even is right; heavy fish scales mean you’re outrunning your pauses.
• Restarts: check each tie-in for trapped slag or a crater crack.

If you have access to a press or even a sturdy pipe, bend a test coupon. Nothing exposes cold lap or lack of fusion like a fractured bend specimen.

When to Seek Instruction

If you’ve run three consecutive coupons and the same defect keeps showing up, stop and get a second set of eyes — an instructor’s ten minutes of watching your hands will outperform a month of guessing. This is also the moment to weigh formal training; our breakdown of aluminium welding course costs and career paths shows how structured programs are organized, even if your focus is steel.

The Core Principles, in Summary

If you remember nothing else, remember this short list: weld structural vertical joints uphill; run amperage slightly under flat settings; keep the arc tight; hold a slight downhill rod angle; pause at the toes; handle low-hydrogen rods properly; prep and clean every joint like the code inspector is watching; and practice the same joint repeatedly with small, deliberate changes. Vertical stick welding rewards patience more than talent. Four focused weeks won’t make you a journeyman, but they will make the puddle feel like it’s cooperating instead of dripping — and that’s the difference between a hobbyist bead and a weld someone will put a stamp on.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is stick vertical welding?

Stick vertical welding, also called SMAW in the vertical position, is shielded metal arc welding on a joint that runs up and down rather than horizontally. It is designated 3G for groove welds and 3F for fillet welds, and it is widely considered the most demanding position because the molten puddle must be held against gravity.

Should I weld vertical up or vertical down with stick?

For structural steel under AWS D1.1, the required progression for vertical passes is upward, except for limited undercut repairs. Vertical down is faster and cooler, and it works well with cellulosic rods like E6010 on light-gauge material and pipe, but it gives shallower penetration on heavy plate.

What is the best rod for vertical stick welding?

E7018 is the go-to low-hydrogen rod for vertical-up structural work because it produces strong, clean, all-position beads. E6010 and E6011 are preferred where deep penetration or a fast vertical-down pass is needed, while E6013 suits thinner material and easier out-of-position repairs.

What amperage should I use for vertical stick welding?

Reduce amperage from your flat-position setting by roughly 10 percent — for example, dropping a 1/8 in. E7018 from about 125 A on a horizontal fillet to around 115 A on a vertical fillet. Many welders run 1/8 in. 7018 vertical-up in the 120–135 A range, adjusting for machine and technique.

Why does my vertical weld keep sagging or dripping?

Sagging is almost always too much heat for the position: amperage too high, arc too long, travel too slow, or a weave that is too wide. Lower the amps slightly, shorten the arc, narrow the weave and pause at the sidewalls so the puddle freezes before gravity pulls it down.

What angle should the rod be for vertical up welding?

For vertical-up with E7018, hold the electrode roughly perpendicular to the joint with a slight push (forehand) tilt of about 0 to 15 degrees away from the direction of travel. Dragging with a backhand angle is the correct technique for flat, horizontal and overhead positions instead.

Do I need a rod oven for E7018 in vertical welds?

Yes, for structural work. E7018 is a low-hydrogen electrode that absorbs moisture from the air, and damp flux causes porosity in the weld. AWS D1.1 and D1.5 specify storage and reconditioning requirements, so keep rods in a heated rod oven or sealed holding oven and re-bake per the manufacturer’s limits.

How long does it take to learn vertical stick welding?

Most students can produce a passable vertical-up bead within a few weeks of focused practice, but consistent, code-quality 3G welds usually take several months of daily work. Progressing from padding beads to fillet joints to full groove test plates is the fastest reliable path.