Welding Common Joints Using Flux Cored

[@danielallen2552]

You're approach is humble and modest, a refreshing change from too many of the ego driven out here on the"tubes". You're not just a skilled welder. Keep up the great work

[@WeldFever]

daniel Allen Thanks so much for that. I really appreciate it.

[@billhuggins5086]

That is the smoothest flux core weld with a 115v welder. Hats off sir.

[@gregkral4467]

for a 115 volt, good job indeed. I am used to seeing no ripples at all, but that is not bad. great to have a little 115volt sucker around though.

[@theElderberryFarmer]

Nicely done, Dan. I'm happy that you've confirmed that the techniques I've been using with flux core welding are correct! Now, just some more practice and my results should continue to improve.

[@WeldFever]

Dwight Rahl Great, glad to hear it!

[@superdragon9293]

That was so kool.....this is the kind of teaching i need...THANX.

[@fastbusiness]

Just watched your FC and TIG videos. Thanks. Good stuff. I learned a few things I didn't know before. Keep the instructions coming. One thing that I was unsure about was how to adjust the heat, so it helped when you mentioned that increasing the wire feed speed is the way, not increasing the voltage.

[@WeldFever]

fastbusiness Great, glad to hear it. Stay tuned for next week when I discuss MIG machine troubleshooting.

[@teddekker3383]

Golly Gosh, this is an old video of yours from 9 years ago, and yet I just saw it and thought "What a great video and so well explained & demonstrated" Thank you !! I'm a real beginner in flux core mig, using batteries, and am very interested in getting into this 🙂 - Ted

[@WeldFever]

Thank you glad you enjoyed it!

[@conceptsinbiblicalhebrew4866]

Thanx for the demo and the teaching tips. Gives me confidence I can learn to do this as well.

[@matthewisaac6895]

That's a nice looking weld on that T joint you weld better with flux core than I do with gas! Guess I need more practise..

[@WeldFever]

Thanks for the compliment, but I couldn't always do that. It took a lot of time, patience, and practice. Good luck on your journey!

[@jordanz6901]

if your welder is not very big, you can also heat up the plates you are welding before welding to get better penetration

[@gregkral4467]

yes, pre-heating will definately increase the effectiveness of the weld pool washing up.

[@gabrielharris1845]

Good tip. Sometimes I'm called to perform a weld repair on site where they only have 120v power. My Everlast 140 mig is pretty capable but it can only do so much on 120v. Much better when I have access to 220v

[@christophergonzalez5653]

I made up a 50 foot extension for my 220v everlast using thick wire. there aren't too many places I can't get to now.

[@yenvi.toyennguyenchat]

I have learnt a lot from Weldfever, ideal was presented simply but efficiency for the beginners. Unfortunately, it is rarely to have suitable for application because of super thin steel in common uses. Most of steel in stores have 0.8 to 1.5mm thickness, thick steel is much expensive, thin steel create hole with 2.5mm stick welding. Hope your new instruction for super thin steel with stick welding technique.

[@agentbertram4769]

Very informative and simply put. Thanks!

[@RelateGREAT]

Thanks! Very helpful.

[@WeldFever]

You're welcome.

[@doubleroutdoors6746]

Thanks for the informative video. Thinking of getting a small welder to build a brush guard for the bottom of my tractor. I learned the basics of welding over 25yrs ago, but haven't welded in almost 20yrs. I'm no looking forward to tackling my project.

[@lar4305]

nice welding!

[@GeorgeHamberhill]

Well Done! Thanks

[@WeldFever]

+GeorgeHamberhill Thank you

[@Edldiaz]

Thank you, very educational videos, I would like to sincerely explain to me that I weld structural steels voltage and wire speed required for working with wire 0.072

[@kodiward7730]

I love the way you fix your mistakes. 😜

[@benbelman6984]

Great video. What was the wire speed on those welds? Fast slow med?

[@splash5974]

thanks for sharing these tips! i have a 110v welder that does gas or flux core. i have only used the flux core wire. But i dont get much or any slag when i weld. Am i doing something wrong or am i using a cheap brand of wire? Also ive only ran .035 wire Thank you for any help you could provide

[@dynocompe]

+WeldFever Question, I was watching an instructor on here, who said you can rest the welder nozzle on the piece you are welding when you are first learning (at an angle so only a part of it is touching). This instructor was using gas. I notice you have no welder nozzle on your tip. I was wondering when I learn to use flux core welding, if I can also let my welder nozzle run along the piece of metal while I weld. Thank you

[@WeldFever]

+dynocompe The nozzle's purpose is to allow for the flow of shielding gas to surround the weld. Since flux cored does not require shielding gas, the nozzle serves no purpose and that is why I remove it. As to your question, the simple answer is yes you can attach the nozzle and rest it on the base material to act as a guide while learning. You will have to take 2 things into consideration though. One, make sure the insulator on your MIG gun/nozzle is in good condition or you will "arc out" on the base metal when you touch it. Two, flux cored usually requires a longer stick out (contact tip to work distance) so you may not get favorable results if you drag your nozzle on the base metal, since the CTWD may be too close. Good luck.

[@dynocompe]

thanks for the quick response. I dont think i will let it rest on the metal, will just rest my hand to keep it steady.. Almost ready for my first try at welding. Got my plug wired for welder today, now letting welder table thaw out from being outside. (previous house owner was a welder, his table sucked so I put it outside) Now since it has a nice 1/2 plate of steel table top I brought it back in to weld on, be a good insulator for that heat I hope. He built the top though like an island with bar stools, the one side of the top over hangs like 8 inches while the other side only a couple, So now you have to be careful since its very top heavy and the side with 8 inch over hang wants to fall over! Thats why i moved it outside. Will have to reweld this table centered

[@taylort123]

+dynocompe youre referring to dual shield flux core which uses shielding from the filler metal producing gas and most commonly a 75/25 co2/argon mixture like MIG welding. This is what I use at work and it produces cleaner welders more often than not and makes the weld hotter for a higher production rate.

[@john1172]

Great videos. I'm having a problem welding a light weight nut to 1/4" square tubing for a thandle tension point. Any help would be much appreciated. Also I'm using a wire welder.

[@WeldFever]

What's the problem?

[@john1172]

Couldn't get the small nut welded to the tubing without breaking the weld when I stressed it with the t-handle and I tried adding another nut to give some extra area to weld and it worked. Thanks

[@elsart0]

Nice video. In this video there is little spatter. How do you achieve this? In other videos sometimes the weld bead is kind of a mess. Is the stick out important about spatter level? On the upcoming video could you give an explanation on how much stick out is good or bad for MIG - MAG? And the effects of varying it while welding, if possible. Forgive the bad English, and greetings from Italy SARTo

[@fastsofaracing]

because this weld is with Flux core wire. which does not need gas.

[@yourface3154]

+fastsofaracing Flux Core tends to have a ton of spatter, which is why he was asking.

[@evilcowboy]

Dude that is really up to the feel of the welder and the person welding. If the stick out is not maintained at the proper distance you will either get the wire trying to arc to the surface which is an indication the wire speed is way too slow and it is very distinct this is happening as it makes a violent popping and is arcing all over the place or you will make a giant bubble gun weld where the weld is actually more or less glued to the top surface of the material but does not penetrate the base material. If you have a wire speed too high you will feel the wire hitting the surface before it melts wanting to push your gun back towards you. Both can and will have an effect on the amount of stick out the person has also thinner material if the stick out isn't maintained you could be building a puddle so hot that it ends up burning through the material you are welding. Not fun cause then you have to try and patch the hole left behind. On thinner material I tend to hit a small bead on one end then move to the other end and do the same and then hit the center and then finally try and join the two. The idea is to keep too much heat off the thinner materials. As for your other question yes stick out can cause more bb's to appear like in the instance I spoke of where the wire speed is too slow. In either case the wire is either coming too fast to maintain the stick out or too slow. Flux-core will always spatter and is the nature of it to do so but some more expensive machines actually reduce it a bit as they usually come with wing nuts on the + and - in the machine to switch the machine to weld in DC negative. This greatly reduces the amount of spatter occurring. The only machine I know of that does not allow reversing polarity is the cheap Chinese 90 amp welders. They almost are always an A/C unit which sucks for welding with flux-core wire as it causes it to spatter up a lot. If you are getting a lot of spatter no matter what then look under the hood of it and somewhere on the machine it will say it is an A/C unit and nothing can be done except buying a machine that supports DC neg welding. There are some people who have flux-core welders and run them like they are gas welders. For example gas welding will allow the person to make the traditional stack of dimes look. However people continue this when using flux-core and it is not good to do zig-zag's or circles when welding with it because it can create voids and interrupt the creation of the slag that is protecting the puddle as the weld solidifies. This can also cause some slag being trapped within the puddle so if you grind down the weld to clean it up you see the imperfections in the weld. How it is suppose to be ran is simply dragging the wire in front of the puddle at an angle the wire is not actually entering the puddle but only adding to it. Keep in mind you are trying to control the flow of the puddle and you need to set the machine up to not add too much material or too little. A good weld is one that is almost flat across the top of it and has an obvious bead.

[@w3r3cow]

Dang... I know this is a 7 year old comment, but I just had to say, Hat's off to you sir!!! That is the most concise explanation with how to fix it on the the subject!!! I've been looking for what you just outlined and will copy-pasta so I can keep that around!! I wish there were more ppl like you, that actually knew what they were talking about and are willing to share a few nuggets with those of us who are trying to learn! You are a scholar and a gentleman!!!👍👍

[@joebriggs9599]

Excellent

[@olaedsusej]

Hey man, what brand of wire did you use? I usually use hobart flux cored .035 but i like the appearance of your weld.

[@WeldFever]

I was using Lincoln, NR-211 MP

[@DanWright-w7x]

What Flux core wire you like the Best ?

[@Ron-FabandBuild]

Thanks for the video. I am getting into welding and have no experience. I have been around it most of my life and it does not seem complicated. Just learning the basic must do and don'ts and lots of practice. I guess my question is this. I am looking at welders but i am not looking to have several different welders. I would like to stick, MIG and flux core from one machine if possible. I have been looking at them and have no idea which one would be best. The best performing welder for the best dollar with the most features? I also want to stay in the 110 volts range if possible. Any suggestions? Thanks

[@WhoDoUthinkUr]

Thank you so much man

[@rawritjon]

what is your left hand doing when welding? got any more advice for complete beginner?

[@KF1]

Just as feedback, you already had my attention on the topic. I don't need intro music or fancy nameplating. Meat and potatoes, please

[@WeldFever]

I'll take that into advisement. Thanks for the feedback. - Dan

[@tomherd4179]

Easy to follow instructions. Now how do I get the flux to come off easily like you did on the T joint. It seems I always have to fight to the death to get it off. The videos I watch the flux just seems to jump off!!

[@WeldFever]

Providing your settings are correct, if the weld goes in hot enough and is laid down at the right travel speed, it would peel right off.

[@tomherd4179]

Yup, I turned up the heat and it did just what you said. Being newer I tend to run with less heat - a fatal error on my part for a number of reasons. Thanks!

[@rayalvarado1942]

Can you do a bent test, to see how much penetration there is?

[@broken1965]

great videos.the last welds were T joints fixed my bad

[@broken1965]

what helmet shade are you using?

[@WeldFever]

+Jon A About a 10 shade.

[@TheKurtTribute]

They were both lap joints. A T joint is when the metal pieces join at a perpendicular angle, not parallel like the one in the video.

[@crookedriver2079]

+GambleFabrications Nope. At 5:24 you can clearly see that there is a T-Joint. I pretty sure if you look at the _longest axis of each piece_ you will find that: If the both of the longest axes lie in (non-coplanar) parallel planes then it's a lap (if coplanar then a butt or edge joint); However if they are perpendicular then it's definitely a T-Joint or a corner joint. See American Welding Society's codes and standards or the equivalent.

[@TheKurtTribute]

John ______ You are correct, the one at the 5:24 mark is clearly a T Joint, I guess I never made it that far into the video.

[@PathinAZ]

I read some other comments, and I have a question about flux core. I have a pro-series 125 amp flux-core kit. In the comments, it's said that the nozzle is not needed for flux-core. Since my machine is just for flux-core, and no way to even add gas, why did it come with the nozzle if it's not needed? from the comments, it seems that I can run without the nozzle? I always thought the nozzle helped in the shielding, but if it's not needed then it's 1 less thing to capture all the spatter flux gives. Help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[@WeldFever]

+Path in AZ MIG and Flux Cored guns are one in the same, so that is probably why it came with a nozzle despite the machine not being able to weld with gas shielding. Flux cored welding does not require a gas nozzle to be placed on the end of the gun. What I do recommend is a special flux cored welding nozzle, that serves to protect the threads of your contact tip from spatter. Good luck!

[@PathinAZ]

WeldFever Thanks!

[@killermanSAd]

+Path in AZ I took my nozzle off and haven't noticed a difference

[@jtmagicman25]

Where can you buy the thread protector on the gun tip?

[@WeldFever]

+jtmagicman25 Any welding supply shop, online, I've even seen them at the big box hardware stores.

[@jtmagicman25]

WeldFever Thanks for the answer. What are they called exactly so I can ebay search.

[@b0xcrash]

+jtmagicman25 yeah I bought one at Lowes for like $4 bucks, welder nozzle. Blue Hawk flux-core welding nozzle, I tired to use it but I like the ground down nozzle that came with mine that is used on gas based welders, for gas shielding. Using this type of nozzle like he is using, I kept accidentally touching it, contact tip, against the metal at an angle and causing it to fuse to the surface.........probably not super good for it, lol

[@jtmagicman25]

b0xcrash Cool, thanks, I just want something to protect the threads from arching.

[@jjenson2006]

I found that a needle scaler is the best way to clean up the welds.

[@WeldFever]

I agree, thanks for that!

[@ricksherwood1416]

how long can you weld continuously? I thought I heard something about a duty cycle which determines that.

[@gregkral4467]

depends on machine. I like to get at least a 60percent then you can do 6 min weld over 10 min period, machine needs cooldown period, so 20 percent will get you 2 min in 10 of welding. They are getting better, but it depends what voltage you have, and amperage in circuit to provide, and the max power of machine's capabilities.

[@hitzdaskinz]

Noob question but do you get arch when you make contact or when you pull the trigger?

[@elijahalexander6055]

hitzdaskinz pulling the trigger

[@devinconner6465]

hitzdaskinz both. trigger must be pressed and then the arc will start

[@jarrodkelsey821]

hitzdaskinz pulling the trigger energizes the wire, arc starts when the wire touches the metal :)

[@Terahspidgeon]

Srsly, 'torch' is just fine.. Americans with their calling dang near everything handheld a gun nowadays... 'Where's my woodenstickgun.. I mean hammer?' Good video though, thanks for the sharing!

[@landerson6983]

+Terah well, it IS hand held, actually gun shaped, operated entirely by trigger, resulting in something being propelled out of the end orifice… one does not have to be obsessed by anything to refer to the end of a mig welder as a "gun", as it is the most fitting descriptive metaphor. conversely, the word torch would seem to be the inappropriate word, as torch implies an instrument of providing light, for light's sake, or of something that spits flame or electrical arc to do cutting or welding. (as in a TIG torch, or oxyacetylene cutter which does just that) a mig machine does not spit flame or light, it feeds electrified wire through end the gun-shaped trigger operated handle correctly identified as the gun. i don't think that "americans" think about naming things as guns too much, but perhaps you are trying a little too hard to be against guns for some reason? post script- as a carpenter i find your analogy of hammer as slightly amusing, for in the modern day the hammer has been antiquated, and it has been largely replaced by the…..wait for it….. nailgun! so we DO say "where's my gun" when its time to drive nails into our materials. brilliant!

[@ktrez2000]

Was that mill scale or pickling?

[@WeldFever]

+ktrez2000 It would be mill scale, I guess? Not knowing exactly what you are referring to, it's hard to say, but pickling is a term I am not familiar with in regards to mild steel welding.

[@Mcnutts3]

pickling is only used to clean stainless welds... correct?

[@meonly1470]

where i bay the contact tip protection he use ( the black part of the contact tip)

[@Breakitandfixit]

I want to know how to join 2 plates side by side.

[@thewrightstuff7971]

do i need to buy different type wires for different metals like copper etc. I already know you need flux if you are going gasless

[@WeldFever]

The short answer is yes you do. Good luck.

[@albertort1]

what is a good welder for someo e who wants to learn like me, i would use it for tryn to do some work on my jeep like maybe built a roll cage thanks!!!!

[@nickgustafson3660]

albertort1 just picked up a Hobart handler 210 to do all the welding on my jeep, it's a little pricey but works really well

[@hansslopez8239]

what kind of welder did you use

[@agentorange2554]

+Hanss Lopez Longevity mig weld 140.

[@kellytrosper2020]

thank you

[@davidbastekusa]

how many amps where you running for this project?

[@WeldFever]

David Bastek I can't say with certainty since I used the maximum available setting on the manufacturer's chart, and didn't bother measuring out the wire to check for wire feed speed. The machine has a max of 140 amps, and I was about 2/3 of max. From the way the wire burned into the metal, I'd venture to guess I would say somewhere around 110 amps, give or take.

[@steveneastridge460]

What wire do you use?

[@WeldFever]

+Steven Eastridge I use Lincoln electric's NR-211-MP

[@EddyGonzalezDavila]

Hermano pero no ah dicho en que amperaje y voltaje estas haciendo estas solduras

[@RAW040]

Every machine is different, especially with wire feed welders. It's pointless to tell someone what their settings are, because it most likely won't work with their machine. Some machines use letters for voltage and speed, some use numbers, and some use both.

[@StanKappiris]

Good point: Most consumer flux core welders have numeric scales (i.e. 1-10) and do not relate to what traditional MIG welder's volt/amp digital and wire speed readouts display.

[@ForkliftDriver1321]

Thanks'

[@WeldFever]

***** You're welcome.

[@hassanmohd3595]

gas was used in this process or not?

[@WeldFever]

+Hassan Mohd no gas

[@ahmed.habib.]

hi if i have mig welder without gas . what wire i will use ?

[@dirtmoto2780]

Flux core

[@eghty8fox780]

احمد العبدرب الرضاء flux core

[@bompogp4210]

I did a weld like this when I did my welding course and I was failed ahahahahhaa depends who you get on the day? ps [ not that long ago ]

[@rigosanchez5266]

this is when you need a stick welder,,,,,no mig

[@Michael_00001]

Why is that? These welds looked great.

[@realcyborgh]

gotta enjoy that sax

[@justinchampagne4807]

you don't find this welder cheaper on Amazon Gas-Less Flux Core Wire Welder Welding Machine Automatic Feed Unit DIY

[@sbeertin]

pretty sure you should weld left to right, not right to left :/