[TheForge] mig welding

[Bruce .]

The curious thing is that what I READ suggests that flux core is superior
to MIG in a number of ways, including resistance to wind.

My own weld using my little (A/C, I think) Northern cold-tip flux core
welder don't bear this out, but I'm a relative newbie, and I think this
must be the second-cheapest such welder on the market.  The cheapest is the
(old version) HF hot-tip version, that I started with.  Damned tough to
start out on a hot-tip welder -- don't get that one.

My problem is that I was too cheap to enroll in the local welding classes,
which would have set me back over $1000 for two semesters and drew a poor
review from a friend who took them.  I figured that if I wanted to spend
that money, I'd spend it on equipment and supplies and teach myself.  The
coaching I got from good friends, excellent weldors themselves, helped
immensely.

So, I said the Northern flux-core welder, probably, and the HF one,
definitely, are  A/C units. Arc welding SHOULD be DC, but no such option on
these units.  (Some folks have posted how to do the conversion but I
haven't bothered.)  So comparing these units to a first-class (and $500+)
welder is comparing apples to oranges.

That said, I can achieve perfectly adequate welds with my Northern welder,
limited mainly by total mass of the workpiece.  Up to maybe 1/4" thick, it
works fine.  (It also has no control for sheet metal.  More experience
might help...)  My welds are ugly, but strong.  The main problem with them
is my own inexperience.  My weldor friends turn out much better welds with
this welder.

I have used this welder to prototype ALL the NJBA "lightweight" forging
equipment, including numerous welds between pieces 1/4" thick.  This
equipment will NOT fall apart in my lifetime.

The real downside is the flux fumes.  You can't breathe it, so wearing a
dust mask or respirator is essential, and it MUST be exhausted from the
area, and the workpiece and the welding helmet get covered with dust.
Formerly I used a fan to disperse it, but that wasn't adequate.

Since then, I rigged a clothes-dryer supplemental exhaust fan (that I found
at the flea market) to exhaust the fumes (using an "elephant trunk" of 4"
vinyl dryer exhaust tubing, terminated with a piece of 4" aluminum duct),
and that works well.  Nonetheless, I'm fixing to fit a battery-powered fan
to my helmet to minimize the flux-dust deposits on my lens. (That endeavor
is mainly to preserve vision through the lens -- I can't see through the
layer of dust.)

Bruce
NJ

On Sat, Jul 15, 2017 at 8:37 AM, terry l. ridder <terrylr at blauedonau.com>
wrote:

> hello;
>
> general question. mig welds
> how do welds made using shield gas compare to welds made with flux-core
> mig wire? is there a real difference?
>
> with the millermatic 185, i have always used shield gas. I was talking
> with an acquaintance about mig welders and he asked me if I had ever used
> flux-core wire. He mentioned that he used flux-core when welding
> outdoors because even a slight breeze made shield gas useless. I had
> never given it much thought.
>
>
> --
> terry l. ridder ><>
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