They seem over priced to me. £35 for 5Kg of steel rods seems a lot to me. Where's the best place to look for cheap ones?
if the basic electrodes arnt vac packed then youll need an electrode oven b4 you use them which adds an expense anyway, its to do with the coating on the electrode why there more expensive
the different in cost between rutiles and lo hi's doesnt reflect the cost of the flux though. a lo hi according to the manufacturer costs virtually the same to make. as i said packaging aside why are lo hi's more expensive??