[TheForge] mig welding

[dann at wctatel.net]

Bruce, 

For my little projects, my favorite "go to welder" is a little 110 volt
flux core Clark wire feed.   I found it a decade ago,   on a garage sale
for $25.  It even came with about $50 worth of fresh flux core  .30
wirefeed wire  with it. 

I have a good  tig, a good 220v mig ( that the wire to often tends to
jam when I am welding)  , and an AC/DC stick welder from Sears that I
have used and loved for several decades.   

Nothing wrong with cheap if it works.  

Dann Johnson 

On 2017-07-16 06:02, Bruce . wrote:

> 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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