- Joined
- Aug 8, 2007
- Messages
- 7,916
- Age
- 37
- City
- Terrace, BC, Canada
- Vehicle Year
- 1991
- Engine
- 4.0 V6
- Transmission
- Automatic
- Tire Size
- 40s
Stick and fluxcore are pretty much the same welding process....
-
Welcome Visitor! Please take a few seconds and Register
for our forum. Even if you don't want to post, you can still 'Like' and react to posts.
Welding.
- Thread starter RangerRyan
- Start date
Who said I had a 220v mig? I have a 110v mig for light duty work and portability and a 220v stick welder for the heavy stuff.
Believe it or not the mig process has its limitations, dirty metal, windy conditions, thick materials, and that expensive bottle to name a few, all places where flux core shines. Mig's advantage over flux core is on thin sheet metal, and production welding and not much else, there isn't much on a truck you can't weld with a mig but that doesn't make it the only process you need.
It doesn't matter what process he was using, the point of it was to show that the user was the controlling factor in how the weld came out. Your welds shouldn't have much spatter with proper settings and technique.
Believe it or not the mig process has its limitations, dirty metal, windy conditions, thick materials, and that expensive bottle to name a few, all places where flux core shines. Mig's advantage over flux core is on thin sheet metal, and production welding and not much else, there isn't much on a truck you can't weld with a mig but that doesn't make it the only process you need.
It doesn't matter what process he was using, the point of it was to show that the user was the controlling factor in how the weld came out. Your welds shouldn't have much spatter with proper settings and technique.
I'm curious as to how you know what my welds look like?
I can honestly say that I've had many, many hours of hood time with both flux core and solid wire. Both have great characteristics, but both also have drawbacks.
Flux Core:
This is more expensive stuff, but as long as you switch your leads(the ground is +), you can achieve a fantastic looking and structurely sound weld. I love using it outside, on thicker material, and when the material isn't the cleanest. The drawback is, on thinner stuff, it's much harder to use without putting burnholes into your piece. It is much smokier and spatter is pretty common, not a good idea to use indoors with closed doors. This takes skill to use. If you are a master at stick welding, this is the same exact thing. It's also very portable if you have a portable welder. Since it's only the power source you need and not a gas bottle, it's very versitle out in the field.
Solid Wire:
This stuff is very clean, very easy to use. It's easy to manipulate and weld, you can get different puddle flows and penetration by using different mixes of gas. The drawback is it does not like dirty steel, if it's windy or theres a lot of air movement, your gas is blown away, you have to have a gas hook up, which costs extra money and limits your portability. But for thin stuff, it's the cat's meow. I can weld exhaust tubing without blowing through and have it look fantastic.
I owned a Hobart 140 for 6 years before upgrading to a Miller. That Hobart NEVER gave me any problems or hiccups or any issues whatsoever. I welded the Ranger with that machine!
I recommend that machine to anyone who wants to start out welding. I don't trust HF welders, simply because going cheap in the welding industry....there's a reason why it's cheap. NEVER go cheap on wire, materials, anything. Get the good stuff with quality control infused into the products.
Wow...this was long.....but I take my welding kinda seriously too.
Flux Core:
This is more expensive stuff, but as long as you switch your leads(the ground is +), you can achieve a fantastic looking and structurely sound weld. I love using it outside, on thicker material, and when the material isn't the cleanest. The drawback is, on thinner stuff, it's much harder to use without putting burnholes into your piece. It is much smokier and spatter is pretty common, not a good idea to use indoors with closed doors. This takes skill to use. If you are a master at stick welding, this is the same exact thing. It's also very portable if you have a portable welder. Since it's only the power source you need and not a gas bottle, it's very versitle out in the field.
Solid Wire:
This stuff is very clean, very easy to use. It's easy to manipulate and weld, you can get different puddle flows and penetration by using different mixes of gas. The drawback is it does not like dirty steel, if it's windy or theres a lot of air movement, your gas is blown away, you have to have a gas hook up, which costs extra money and limits your portability. But for thin stuff, it's the cat's meow. I can weld exhaust tubing without blowing through and have it look fantastic.
I owned a Hobart 140 for 6 years before upgrading to a Miller. That Hobart NEVER gave me any problems or hiccups or any issues whatsoever. I welded the Ranger with that machine!
I recommend that machine to anyone who wants to start out welding. I don't trust HF welders, simply because going cheap in the welding industry....there's a reason why it's cheap. NEVER go cheap on wire, materials, anything. Get the good stuff with quality control infused into the products.Wow...this was long.....but I take my welding kinda seriously too.
02RangerXLT
Well-Known Member
Oh this is just great....
you deleted your previous posts in this thread? Trying to hide something or what? 
Yep.. it's wirefed stick.
cmr2
Active Member
I thought Hobart is just a rebadged Miller
Nope the hobart of today is the same thing ,Miller ,miller bought them out and just keep there name on the machines ,Hobart only owns pipeliners ,machines that wouldn't be used by 99%of they folks on here
but the old Hobart machines are /where made by hobart so thats ones that are differant to run/use
If you read what I posted earlier you'd see that Miller and Hobart are now owned by the same parent company ITW, Miller now builds that larger machines while Hobart is now geared towards the hobbyist and homeowner...
Miller's making the 'pipeliners' now...
Oh this is just great....
Yep.. it's wirefed stick.
Ok I'm not losing my mind looking for that post, but to better answer that based on whats left.
Hagan said:All I'm saying is every time I've used fluxcore on my welder and the welds come out ugly with a lot of spatter vs a clean weld from solid wire with gas. The weld simply does not look as good as a solid wire with shielding gas weld. This is first hand experience. I didn't just "see" it I ACTUALLY experienced it
Yes. I've went through 10lbs of flux core wire and I'm just telling him my experience. I swear the welds look completely different. Maybe I'm just crazy?
There really isn't much cleanup since the slag scrapes off easily and the little spatter that is there can be knocked off without much work. So either you think that is too much work to do or you are doing something wrong and getting a bunch of excess spatter to remove.
He is Carnac the Magnificent
Todd S.
Damn you found me.
If you read what I posted earlier you'd see that Miller and Hobart are now owned by the same parent company ITW, Miller now builds that larger machines while Hobart is now geared towards the hobbyist and homeowner...
Miller's making the 'pipeliners' now...
This is correct. While the two companies do share components, mostly in the feeding system and consumables, they are separate and neither owns the other.
There really isn't much cleanup since the slag scrapes off easily and the little spatter that is there can be knocked off without much work. So either you think that is too much work to do or you are doing something wrong and getting a bunch of excess spatter to remove.
I have my own opinion based on my own welding experience. I am far from being a professional welder so if I can't set up my welder to weld with flux core then I am sorry. I simply shared my opinion and if you don't like it please move on. My opinion isn't right or wrong its just an opinion...
prerunnerwannabe
Well-Known Member
Amen.
Str8sixfan
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2012
- Messages
- 284
- Vehicle Year
- 1997
- Transmission
- Automatic
kcm1582, thanks for posting that vid. I just got a stick welder a few months ago...finally switched out my plug in the garage to the appropriate one just yesterday. Still need to buy a helmet, but I'm looking for good training experience, and that video was really good.
I started out trying to tell you that by working on your settings and technique you can get much better welds from flux core but you kept insisting that it was no good. I'm no pro welder either but the fact that I get good results with a little Hobart 140 means you can too.
It wasn't till you went back and deleted posts and called me out on what was in said posts that I got pissed off and a bit mean, but as far as I'm concerned that's bull.
He has a whole channel devoted to welding, and I highly recommend them. Two of the biggest improvements in my welding came from watching his videos and getting a good auto darkening helmet.
Sponsored Ad
Sponsored Ad
TRS Events
Member & Vendor Upgrades
For a small yearly donation, you can support this forum and receive a 'Supporting Member' banner, or become a 'Supporting Vendor' and promote your products here. Click the banner to find out how.
Recently Featured
Ranger Adventure Video
TRS Merchandise
Follow TRS On Instagram
