I used to have to weld up bearing journals on printing press rolls that got recovered with rubber at a rubber mill. Did it with hard wire starting each pass 180° opposite the previous. When it got hot to where it glowed i would wait between passes and turn 90° when i resumed to try and position starts evenly. Each pass overlaps 50% onto previous. Roll was in foot actuated positioner like a lathe chuck. Especially on smaller journals i had to sit off to the side with journal at arms length and of course i had weld settings vs. Positioner turning rate all dialed in so i did not watch the puddle but rather looked just ahead with the arc flash providing the means to see exactly where to weld. Challenging but taught myself a few things. It's hopeless trying to do a small journal with it directly in front of you. Pull the trigger as you depress the foot pedal to start turning the roll and weld. Stopping the instant it turns a full 360° and you tie each pass into it's starting point. After cooling machine to spec.
Submerged arc welding (SAW) is a common arc welding process. The first SAW patent was taken out in 1935. The process requires a continuously fed consumable solid or tubular (metal cored) electrode.[1] The molten weld and the arc zone are protected from atmospheric contamination by being "submerged" under a blanket of granular fusible flux consisting of lime, silica, manganese oxide, calcium fluoride, and other compounds. When molten, the flux becomes conductive, and provides a current path between the electrode and the work. This thick layer of flux completely covers the molten metal thus preventing spatter and sparks as well as suppressing the intense ultraviolet radiation and fumes that are a part of the shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) process. ~wikipedia
