“Gasless” MIG Welding Explained!

Рет қаралды 34,958

Ай бұрын

In this video I show you a quick difference between a mig weld, and a flux core weld. I get tons of messages on instagram asking for advice on buying a first welder. Lots of people opt to save money up front and go "gasless" but that can leave you stuck when it comes time to take your work to the next level!
Check out a great article at Weldguru.com on these two processes:
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The welder I used in this video:
Lincoln 140MP
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Siegmund Welding Table:
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Milwaukee Variable Speed Angle Grinder
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Pferd Flap Disc
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1-2-3 Blocks, use them for welding an upset machinists everywhere.
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Check out the Lincoln Electric Power Mig 140MP, great for the home shop, Mig, TIG, and Stick in 1 machine!
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Thanks for watching! Be careful, know the limits of your skills and your tools! Don't try this stuff at home!
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Пікірлер: 91

@MakeEverything Ай бұрын

I left out a key detail in this video! When you set up your MIG welder, OR switch from solid wire MIG to Flux Core, make sure the POLARITY of your machine is correct. Most machines, including this one need to be set to either electrode positive, or electrode negative in order to flux core/MIG weld correctly. Check your machine and make sure the electrode and ground are connected correctly for your particular process for the best results!

@zviper Ай бұрын

metal no sticky :)

@1pcfred Ай бұрын

I didn't think this was a tutorial for how to weld. Just comparing the two processes. As far as the cheap Harbor Freight welder goes you can modify those to weld better. They're cheap because they leave out some parts that are nice to have. Like a rectifier, an inductor and a capacitor. Those parts increase the cost of the machine. But they also stabilize the arc too. The HF el cheapo is AC.

@melgross Ай бұрын

I have two welders, an ESAB emp 205 Rebel and a HF Titanium 125, the welder you mentioned. While most of my welding is done with the 205, I do use the 125. The 125 is a surprisingly good welder, considering it’s a 125 amp unit. That does limit one. But within its range, if you know what you’re doing (I’ve been welding for 50 years), you can get excellent welds up to 3/16”, if you buy the appropriate size wire 0.035” and the right type, not GS, but 11T, you can weld thicker metal to about 5/16” with multipass. That’s more than thick enough for most everything the average person will need to do. I’d like to point out, in response to the negative statements he keeps making about fluxcore, that with the proper machines and wire, fluxcore is used to build skyscrapers, ships, etc. You get deeper penetration with fluxcore than with MiG.

@Steelcrafted Ай бұрын

You skipped over a HUGE part of flux core setup and that's polarity....flux core has to be welded DCEN, vs DCEP on mig with gas....most people who buy a mig machine and use flux core, don't realize they have to swap polarity, so they get crap results so the poo-poo the whole process. Your machine prob swaps polarity automatically when you tell it what process you're welding. Most mig machines dont. The fact is you can drop dimes with a flux core setup, and weld thicker material. Some people just suck at flux core. But it's far from an inferior process.

@MakeEverything Ай бұрын

Good catch!! Its second nature for me to switch to DCEN/ DCEP, and I forgot to mention it in this video! Ill Pin a comment about that now to remind people! So many people who have asked me for help with their machines fail to read the instruction on HOW to set them up! Its crazy! I've had great luck with Flux core welding in the field and on really dirty and thick material in a pinch! Its a shame to see people upset when they buy a flux core only machine and realize they can never use gas!

@camden7488 Ай бұрын

Completely agree

@coldfront7914 Ай бұрын

I recently got a Hobart 190. I've only been running flux core and the welder is a beast.

@jayquick6520 25 күн бұрын

Flux core is too convenient to turn your nose up at it.

@MikeP350 11 күн бұрын

FCAW-S is DCEN, FCAW-G is DCEP 👍🏻

@mandeladams4793 Ай бұрын

If you're looking at appearances, I find if you just use a cupped wire wheel on a 4.5" angle grinder to remove the slag. Gets most of the surrounding spatter too all in one shot

@zviper Ай бұрын

Its been a couple years since i looked at my miller, i could swear the polarity had to be switched for flux core. I could look it up but yeah it makes a huge difference

@coldfront7914 Ай бұрын

Hobart is made by Miller and you do have to switch the polarity in my experiences

@doylerabjohn3435 Ай бұрын

That's one thing I've always needed to learn is to the weld. I hate paying a man 75.00 an hour to make a a minimum of tack weld. Thanks, very educational.

@MakeEverything Ай бұрын

Its such a great skill to learn! And honestly, its much easier than most people think... There are a lot of gret online resources now too where you can get virtual help where someone will literally zoom call you while you learn to weld and help you dial in your settings. Look up The Fabrication Series here on youtube, hes got a few great programs!

@fcschoenthal Ай бұрын

Just getting into some welding and using the HF Titanium 125 because of initial cost. Thanks for the explanations and resource links, they'll help a lot. - Chris

@rusty_restorations36 Ай бұрын

key point being USE QUALITY WIRE. especially with flux, It can be the difference between getting a nice quality weld, and a pile of bird doo doo and BBs stuck to everything.

@sll-tt6bj Ай бұрын

There's another video from another welder on wire and Forney and yes welder wire came out on top

@Guido_XL Күн бұрын

Many thanks for this no-nonsense explanation for beginners like me. Could you perhaps also give a hint as how to differentiate between choosing flux-core/MIG and stick-welding? I have both a simple stick-welding and a flux-core machine. I use the flux-core for thin stuff and the stick for anything thicker, but it's all quite intuitive, learning by doing. The flux-core gives me more manual control on the guiding of the puddle, but is more fiddly with the settings, whereas the stick is rather "aggressive", but tends to make a decent puddle, as long as I have a simple surface.

@KITDFOHS Ай бұрын

The ONLY thing I think flux core really sucks for is welding thin metal. Because its hotter it tends to blow through a lot more. I always recommend ppl get a machine that cab use gas, because once you use gas you never want to go back to flux if you can avoid it.

@jamesward5721 23 күн бұрын

I run flux core for work & have a couple of humble suggestions. First would be buy a Hitbox or Yeswelder machine if you're on a budget. Second would be run 1mm wire only. Nothing else. 1mm. Third would be get a good wire wheel in your cordless drill & wheel off every weld right after you lay it. The flux is corrosive, so get it off quickly & thoroughly, For me, it's a great process & I love it. One tiny "Tip" I would add is bin off the "gas shield nozzle" , cut a bit of rubber fuel line & use that to cover the end of your gun instead. You can bin it when it burns up, put on fresh (it lasts surprisingly well). It stops the tip arcing off stuff if you accidentally touch.

@fishhuntadventure Ай бұрын

I don’t even need to watch to answer. I have several welders, two of which are twins: a Lincoln weldpak 100 with fluxcore, and a second with so it’s mig. They both work great!

@jayquick6520 25 күн бұрын

My Lincoln 90i FC has taught me the basics of welding and paid for itself in less than a years time. I’m teaching myself stick now and have thoughts of adding a portable plasma cutter to the arsenal.

@dtork47 Ай бұрын

Very helpful distinction, thanks.

@skillstacking Ай бұрын

This is very helpful, I am going to be making a short video of my working on my welding. I also have a harbor freight welder and if I am being honest, it is pretty discouraging from how bad the unit works but I am going to get better wire with less spatter and do a real project with it. I want to get a good welder and Jimmy DiResta recommended the 180mp since I have 220v but need to do some more saving before getting it. Thanks for the video and happy to see you are well. ❤👊🏼

@user-ul3vu4ks2p Ай бұрын

this is the 1st video of yours I've seen.Noticed the 360MP in the background-I run one at my 9-5, dualshield and aluminum push-pull.It's a beast! We had Miller 350P's until I brought in my 350MP with a Python.Now the Millers collect dust while we run 2 360's,2 260's and a big watercooled powerwave 350pushpull that's getting replaced with another 360

@shonsadler3817 19 күн бұрын

I've been welding for 30 plus yeand I have many machines for various projects. And I just used a titanium 125 flux core welder today, in fact. To weld a truck frame. And I put fish plates on that were quarter inch thick and had absolutely no problems with it. And I have done many things likwith similar machines. And I've also got a 6 in 1 welding machine that does big tag stick. Flex core, you name it. It's got a lot going on with it and the machines. They make lower price than the old machines are surprisingly well made. Granted, I do have some of the older machines and still use my trusty. Old Lincoln stickwelder as well as other old machines to get jobs done. But I am surprised and astonished at how well some of the new machines really work. And I'm also embarrassed and surprised at how litthe tech schools teach the kids today and how to weld as fabrication and so forth. My generation had far more education and we also learned how to gas weld and weld using 100 Amp alternators and wire hangers on the farm

@mists_of_time 13 күн бұрын

exactly the video I was looking for, thank you

@5ivearrows Ай бұрын

By sequencing the welds differently than done here, you can really reduce how much the heat will pull your corner out of square. Do the outside corner first, then do the two diagonals, pulling from inside to out. Inside corner last.

@1pcfred Ай бұрын

I had to laugh when he said his clamping held the pieces from distorting. Nothing in the world is going to stop that metal from moving. A literal ton of fixturing wouldn't do it. I don't know how much force expanding metal exerts but I know it is a lot.

@5ivearrows Ай бұрын

@@1pcfred 100% yeah. The best you can do is understand how it is distorting the metal and use that knowledge to minimize it as much as possible

@1pcfred Ай бұрын

@@5ivearrows There's people that can play the distortion. They'll set stuff up out of square and when they're done it's square. I'm not one of those guys. Jodie did a video about distortion where he put a laser on the steel. That light beam was doing the watusi. Metal moves. There's zero chance it'll be in the same place when it cools down too. You get steel hot enough to weld and you're changing its atomic structure. It's like musical chairs. Them atoms are dancing around and when the music stops everything is somewhere else. I watched a video of Caterpillar doing huge weldments and they knew stuff was going to move. They have all the resources in the world and they just accepted the fact that they're machining the weldment when it's done.

@inscoredbz 24 күн бұрын

I love my Hobart handler 210. For a home welder, it's hard to beat for the money.

@MyLilMule Ай бұрын

Obviously you can't cover everything in one flux core vs. solid wire video, but you did a great job in covering the basics. Flux core has its purposes and you mentioned one of them briefly, it runs hot. Whenever I want to weld something thicker (before I got my 285 amp machine), I would switch to flux core because I knew it penetrated deeper and let me stick thicker pieces of metal together. :) Love the channel!

@cameronjacobs3144 Ай бұрын

It also helps to weld downhill with mig. Especially on the outside corner weld

@larescats9228 Ай бұрын

I’ve welded flux core and Gas for over 40 years I prefer Gas in the shop fluxcore outside because everything flux core is usually on heavy equipment 1 inch thick or over steel get beautiful wells with flux core never a problem- nr 211 5/64 wire And sometimes i weld dual sheld 😊

@lazyhoundracing9621 Ай бұрын

Thanks for the info.

@MakeEverything Ай бұрын

Thank you for watching!

@billnu Ай бұрын

I just picked up a titanium 125 and man it is a pretty useful tool for $150. Spool of wire and a 110 outlet, just go to town. As you said it is a smoking monster so have to provide for ventilation if indoors. Worse than stick welding.

@Statedwoods Ай бұрын

This is great. Guess I should just stick to MIG. Just looks easier. I have a Northern Tool unit. Need to upgrade at some point.

@UDoIt2 Ай бұрын

Thanks Chris! - John

@serious2204 Ай бұрын

Good Video, Why did you not weld inside corner?

@Boodieman72 Ай бұрын

It also depends on where you are welding, outside you want flux core.

@1pcfred Ай бұрын

I have a MIG and a TIG welder. I don't use either anymore. Getting gas is a pain. All I do today is stick weld. It's the cheapest and easiest welding process to keep up with. A pack of sticks and I'm all set.

@andrewpate9157 15 күн бұрын

Ok so I have a Hobart handler (I think it’s a 140) but it’s 110v and will do mug and flux core. My question is if I am welding 1/4 “ material will I get better penetration if I use flux? You mentioned I. The video flux gets hotter. I was welding 1/4 “ mig on highest heat setting and did fine but seemed like it could use more penetration.

@tomdonnelly5659 Ай бұрын

Where do you get the welding table? Thanks

@darrellmarthaller9377 5 күн бұрын

Question for you sir , I have a 212 miller can I might a tig if so do I have to change gas

@user-ph9qt3pr1g Ай бұрын

I missed your machine settings for flux core and mig settings wire speed and voltage

@sam-ww1wk Ай бұрын

Long time all process welder. Got a 350p, and a few other Millers, but shopping for a cheap portable flux 110 machine for my truck/generator. Can't believe all the Amazon brands and goofy youtube videos calling flux MIG. The "mig" branded cheapo flux machines even come with mig nozzles ha ha. Guess society is just getting dumbed down. And that is one sweet corner jig and table you got there!

@ben68442 Ай бұрын

I would like to hear your recommendations for proper gloves.

@z0phi3l Ай бұрын

Would like to mess with welding one of these days, learned basic stick welding in middle school, but nothing since, and that was in the late 80's

@1pcfred Ай бұрын

If you're an occasional welder just get a cheap stick machine. With the right electrodes and being careful you can do the around the house stuff with it. MIG is worthless when you're out of gas. Most of the bottles you get from supply houses leak. They sell gas so they've no incentive to maintain their tanks.

@massmike11 Ай бұрын

I uve a harbor freight flux 125. I also have a tig welder. The flux 125 is pretty dang good.

@1pcfred Ай бұрын

I'm looking at the schematic for that machine now and it is AC. The output comes right off the transformer. There is nothing there. But you may ask, what should be there? A rectifier a capacitor and an inductor. That will give you smooth DC. There's videos here that explain how to modify that welder to be more capable. The parts you need and how to install them.

@cvconnor 25 күн бұрын

What gauge is the metal in this demo?

@randyrodriguez9320 4 күн бұрын

Damn 😅 i tell people when they ask what certs to get, I tell stick , and 232 inner shield , LA city cert recognized worldwide, if you can run 232 and 305 wire L8 , meg 😂

@cvconnor 25 күн бұрын

Which is stronger, MIG or Flux core?

@JanSzymonGoowacz Ай бұрын

I have 200$ Chainse flux/mig (i can use gas or not) welder, and in workshop is good to use gas, but as Im not fabrycator, and i use welder only to technical support (weld broken log arch or tack weld something to weld it in workshop) in car I have only small flux. Make the job.

@cvconnor 25 күн бұрын

what gauge is the metal in your test?

@MakeEverything 25 күн бұрын

10ga / .120 wall

@jedclampett6466 Ай бұрын

Flux core is the shit when used with a shielding gas.

@jaredhammonds8255 5 күн бұрын

Flux core is a deep penetrating process so beveling a 1/8 in thick tubing isn't necessary.

@TalRohan Ай бұрын

I just switched because I'm having trouble getting gas....I hate flux core ...porosity has never been a problem for me until I started using flux core. Several days in and I still haven't found the sweet spot for volts versus wire flow

@TalRohan Ай бұрын

Forgot to add I have a really good welder

@MakeEverything Ай бұрын

Have you tried changing out your wire? I know when Ive used old flux core wire that was exposed to humidity i get excessive porosity... That would be the problem. I really like this Lincoln inner shield wire.

@zviper Ай бұрын

polarity matters

@TalRohan Ай бұрын

@@MakeEverything thanks unfortunately its brand new...It might be cheap junky wire to be honest, because I am not normally this bad at welding....(don't buy vevor wire guys its awful) but I also have another that is turning out to be no better. maybe I need to spend more money which will be annoying but there we go.

@1pcfred Ай бұрын

Yeah I got tired of chasing after gas. The closest gas house to me is over an hour away. So you're talking a half a day to go get gas. Remember if there's slag then you drag. When you weld with flux you have to pay more attention to the puddle. The goal is to keep pushing the flux to the back of the puddle.The flux looks a little brighter. Use your angle and arc force to push flux back.

@J-Gx Ай бұрын

Don't you think a Siegmund table is a little overkill? I would understand it if welding is your full time job, but you seem to do a lot of everything.

@MakeEverything Ай бұрын

My business is mainly focused around metal fabrication these days. Specifically really high end art fabricating, so having an accurate fixture table is super important.

@J-Gx Ай бұрын

I see. What made you choose a Siegmund over a Fireball?

@sll-tt6bj Ай бұрын

Don't you have to switch out the polarity the 2 wires

@TheUltimate65 19 күн бұрын

The "mig" weldng core you use then its made fore falling verticale , whe you have too welding Aluminum must the all the pack with liner and welding gun replemented and mig weding cover more of more than stanlyes steel 😊

@camden7488 Ай бұрын

What about dual shield fluxcore. And you can do both theyre both types of mig with any machine as long as there is a gas input on machine but you can probably get around that with some adapter like usedfor making a dedicated SMAW machine run TIG. Also the polarity is reversed for each type most of you guys informing people on these two mig\fluxcore dont mention this. Many have issues with flux core cause they dont switch polarity and will stop using it......

@user-ph9qt3pr1g Ай бұрын

I'm in ZAMBIA but unfortunately flux core wire are no. Where to be found, have DESHI 270 AMP from China

@user-cv5kp7zz7q 12 күн бұрын

Gas less mig explained, how when that’s an oxymoron! 😂🤬😅

@stevefagan884 Ай бұрын

You know there is two different kinds of flux core wire a #2 stage has to have gas a one doesn't

@richardpauza2075 10 күн бұрын

OR, Both.

@phillipsabo5094 19 күн бұрын

Never trust a man that sets his grinder down like that

@mikewilliams7368 25 күн бұрын

There is no such thing as gaskets mig welding It's called Flux core or wire welding

@operationmickeymouseharold6780 23 күн бұрын

Grinding off a 🏔️ mountain of filler metal woo hoo fun fun . Lot of it is the machine and some is the operator inexperience . The bead should be flat not a motorcross jump for 🐜 ants .