Stinger
Stinger turns up in 4 fields: refractories, welding, electricians, concrete. Here is what it means to the people in each one.
Stinger in refractories
Shop name for the immersion vibrator head pushed into fresh castable to consolidate it.
The steel vibrating head on the end of a flexible shaft or electric poker used to settle castable around anchors and drive out entrapped air. Installers insert it at regular spacing and pull it out slowly. Too little vibration leaves voids and honeycombing; too much, or leaving the stinger in one spot, segregates the mix, sends the fines up and leaves the bottom coarse.
"Work that stinger in and out, don't just park it in one spot or the fines will all float up."
Stinger in welding
Shop name for the electrode holder that grips a stick rod and carries welding current to it.
Insulated clamp at the end of the welding lead that holds the SMAW electrode. Welders choose stingers by amperage rating, weight and jaw style, and replace them when the insulation cracks or the jaws stop gripping. With the machine on, a stinger is live, so it is hung on an insulated hook or with the rod removed, never laid on the work.
"Hang the stinger on the hook, not on the beam, the machine's still running."
Stinger in electricians
Lead that drops from a pole-top fuse cutout to a transformer's primary bushing, in lineman and service talk.
A stinger is the short jumper conductor from the bottom of a fused cutout down to the high-voltage bushing of a pole-mounted transformer, or more loosely any short tap lead. It is what makes the transformer live when the cutout door is closed. Service electricians hear the word from line crews when coordinating disconnects and reconnects at the pole.
"Lineman pulled the fuse but the stinger's still on, so treat that transformer as live until they ground it."
Stinger in concrete
An internal concrete vibrator, or specifically the vibrating head on the end of its flexible shaft.
Shop name for the handheld vibrator crews push into fresh concrete to consolidate it. Heads run from pencil vibes about 1 in across for tight rebar to 2.5 in and larger for walls and mass work. Good practice is to drop it in vertically, let it sink a few inches into the previous lift, hold it until the surface goes glossy and pull it out slowly, never using it to drag concrete sideways.
"Get the stinger in every two feet along that wall and quit using it to push the mud down the form."