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Abrahamfh....da welder

cmayna

cmayna

DILLIGARA?
Donator
Warning, if you see this guy with a welder in his hands, run for your life..........

....otherwise you might find him trying to burn down my shop at home or hopefully soon attempting to burn down his own garage.

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Yesterday, Abe brought over his newly bought welder to my house to practice some welding. His machine is capable of doing both flux and mig welding. Currently it is set up as flux so we tried some welding on some text pieces. I have never done any flux welding and now I know why.

FLUX SUCKS


We practiced some spot welding after I drilled out some random hole in one of the test piece plates and no matter how both of us tried, we could never get a pretty weld. Major splatter, lots of smoke and fumes.

Flux 1
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Flux 2
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I finally said "Flux this" and pulled out Mr. Miggy, my mig welder. I did one spot weld and then gave the gun to Abe who filled in the remaining 9 holes:

Mig 1
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Mig 1 backside
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Hopefully this exercise has convinced Abe to switch his machine over to Mig.
 
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Flux does suck.

However, when I was doing a few welds at the house that no one would see after I put the fenders back on it accomplished what I set out to do. I figured if no one could see the welds then who cares if they are "pretty" or not so long as they held.

I have a few projects on the TA that will require welding whenever I finally get to them. I've been seriously considering upgrading to gas or just begging my buddy to let me borrow his at his shop.
 
It's been my experience that I can make better looking and strronger welds with stick welding vs. flux core. MIG is the best of the 3.

That said, since I tried TIG, I haven't used MIG for any sheet metal. No need to drill the holes for spot welds with TIG - just clamp the two sheets together, and melt them together. That said, I've only done small sections. I might be changing my mind with the upcoming floor project.
 
Good going Abe and Craig. Welding is a mysterious skill I'd like to learn someday. I'd like to be able to fabricate and replace/patch rusty body panels.

BTW, "Cmayna's Weld Tech University." What's the school mascot? Do you have a football team? Can I suggest:
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I'm sure there is a purpose for Flux welding besides allowing one to make butt ugly weld art. Abe mentioned to me that it is good in a windy enviroment since the flux or gas in built into the wire, whereas with Mig the gas apparently can get displaced on a windy day.

I can't imagine anyone mig welding, outside, on a windy day too often.


John,
Yes I already have a Mascot:

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Comments from Miller's website regarding flux vs mig

Flux- Excellent for outdoor windy conditions, For dirty rusty painted materials, Hotter than solid wires. Welds 18 gauge and thicker materials.

Mig- For indoor use with no winds, For autobody manufacturing fabrications, welds thinner (22 gauge) materials.
 
Just finished at airgas where I purchased my first cylinder and had it filled with shielding gas as well as picking up solid .023 wire.
 
before you throw Flux Core welding under the bus (i use gas...)

i believe something is wrong with that welder or setup.

are you POSITIVE the polarity was set correctly for Flux?
 
"cmayna" said:
I'm sure there is a purpose for Flux welding besides allowing one to make butt ugly weld art. Abe mentioned to me that it is good in a windy enviroment since the flux or gas in built into the wire, whereas with Mig the gas apparently can get displaced on a windy day.

I can't imagine anyone mig welding, outside, on a windy day too often.
Click to expand...


I can imagine it if you were a rancher mending gates / cattle guards or perhaps otherwise welding in the field as part of your occupation...heavy machinery mechanic or something along those lines. The father of one of my best buddies in high school worked for WP. He had a big truck that they took to the field and did all their repairs in the field....you don't have an option when working on a piece of equipment that weighs tons.
 
Abe: denim jeans are great for welding (denim resists weld splatter well), but cotton sweatshirts are a no-no. Get a leather or denim jacket. Leather is the best for welding splatter of all materials.
 
"Midlife" said:
Abe: denim jeans are great for welding (denim resists weld splatter well), but cotton sweatshirts are a no-no. Get a leather or denim jacket. Leather is the best for welding splatter of all materials.
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Quiet....how's he supposed to get the jumpers if he's all protected!


Hey Abe, practice welding above your head in a short sleeve shirt.

he he he
 
Fixed it for ya. LoL :part :hide

"silverblueBP" said:
Quiet....how's he supposed to get the jumpers if he's all protected!


Hey Abe, practice welding above your head in a short sleeve shirt (shorts and flip flops).

he he he
Click to expand...
 
Well, I can only say this: I've worked industrial / commercial construction, worked in various manufacturing industries (including nuclear plants), and worked on a cattle farm. I have yet to see any certified welder using flux core wire. They use stick for most things, and TIG for stainless, hastaloy and the like. Pinged our certified boiler welder here - he replied: "never use flux as the flux gets trapped in the weld rather than lays on top like stick."

It's impressive to see the welds these guys make with stick. I've seen guys make multiple pass welds on 6" pipes with stick - and then have them pass an xray inspection for voids.
 
Then why on earth did the welding gods ever create flux welding? Abe will be happy (not his pocket book though) that he had a taste of mig welding, and will never look back.
 
Our welder stopped by the office - he was curious why I asked (plus it's cold outside). When I explained, he stated he uses MIG at home for his cars (he's a gear head also) on thin stuff, and stick on thick. He says he would never use flux core on auto stuff, because the flux would cause problems for the paint.

He never uses MIG here, and we don't even have a MIG on site (suprised me). Very little thin material used here (industrial plant), and he often welds much more than 15 feet from the machine, so he would need to use a reel gun. He only uses stick & TIG here. The thin stuff we use is stainless, so TIG is used.

He said flux core is used extensively in manufacturing structural steel members, as it penetrates as well as stick, but without the need to change electrodes is much faster. MIG isn't used because gas shielding isn't good outside where much of this work is done. Other than large scale structural work, he doesn't see a use for flux core - stick is used for the final field fab of structural members, because it is light (easier to carry) and the final fab is often done remote from the actual power supply (leads of 00 ga running 100 ft are common). He says it is actually harder to weld with flux core than stick or MIG, because of the porosity problems.

I'd guess the manufacturers market it to consumers as an entry level to MIG. Most of the quality machines can be converted. Mine was converted ASAP.
 
"buckeyedemon" said:
before you throw Flux Core welding under the bus (i use gas...)

i believe something is wrong with that welder or setup.

are you POSITIVE the polarity was set correctly for Flux?
Click to expand...

so no response to my above question? should i assume Flux Welders produce bad welds because of poor design as opposed to user error?

or am i just in the BS forum?
 
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