My welds still suck, but maybe I've found the solution...

[Missourian]

Don't get me wrong... I'm not a good welder. I maybe weld something two or three times a year.

But the spatter and lousy welds may not be 100% my fault

If you're using a flex core welder and getting a small puddle and lots of spatter... your polarity might be backwards for unshielded flex core welding...even if your welder, like my Harbor Freight welder, isn't even equipped for using a shielding gas.

 

[Grumblenuts]

Likkmee

^There's your Q!

 

[Sunni Man]

I started my career as a pipe / structural stick welder.
Used the large Lincoln AC/DC welding machines.
To get the best penetrating, best looking welds.
We always turned the knobs to DC / reverse.
Which is basically what the guy in the video did by switching the cables.
He went from positive polarity to reverse polarity.
And got way better welds. ..

 

[Likkmee]

First and foremost is getting all the black shit off the steel before using a mig. Don't believe what you hear. Clean is the rule.Grind and bevel for hours, weld before a beer gets warm.
Mig is"
Metal
Inert
Gases, although CO2 and argon mixes aren't neutral...lil detail
Flux core wire feed welders suck at best. They have one purpose. Tacking thin shit together in a crummy environment well enough to stick while transporting to a proper environment to weld.anything 10 ga-1/8 and over just use a stick machine and 7014 electrode.Most never heard of 7014. It lays down and peels the flux to almost look like a mig weld.Don't use on anything over 1/4--6mm thick.

If you're gonna tube welding shit go to my ol buddy Jodys "welding tips and tricks".
JC is the REAL deal. I worked with the ol fart(younger than me tho) 35 years back in FL. He's brilliant

CLEAN

 

[Sunni Man]

I learned using stick and that's all that knew for a couple of decades.
Then our company started buying the mig welders.
I never got the hang of using those things and my welds looked terrible.

 

[toobfreak]

My welds still suck, but maybe I've found the solution...​

Gee, you'd think designing a welder they would wire the leads through a big switch so you can change the polarity as needed for the type of welding at will.

Just remember that current flows from negative to positive, so like the splatter, that is why boats make fewer waves flowing with the water not against it! Now you are no longer trying to weld the project to the stick!

 

[toobfreak]

CLEAN

Clean? That is F-ing beautiful!

 

[Missourian]

First and foremost is getting all the black shit off the steel before using a mig. Don't believe what you hear. Clean is the rule.Grind and bevel for hours, weld before a beer gets warm.
Mig is"
Metal
Inert
Gases, although CO2 and argon mixes aren't neutral...lil detail
Flux core wire feed welders suck at best. They have one purpose. Tacking thin shit together in a crummy environment well enough to stick while transporting to a proper environment to weld.anything 10 ga-1/8 and over just use a stick machine and 7014 electrode.Most never heard of 7014. It lays down and peels the flux to almost look like a mig weld.Don't use on anything over 1/4--6mm thick.

If you're gonna tube welding shit go to my ol buddy Jodys "welding tips and tricks".
JC is the REAL deal. I worked with the ol fart(younger than me tho) 35 years back in FL. He's brilliant

CLEAN

View attachment 760778

That is a beautiful weld.

There is a stick welder in my future.

But if I can get this Flux Core to weld decent, it is awfully nice to have a welder that can be carried in one hand and run off 20amp 110v electricity.

 

[Missourian]

I started my career as a pipe / structural stick welder.
Used the large Lincoln AC/DC welding machines.
To get the best penetrating, best looking welds.
We always turned the knobs to DC / reverse.
Which is basically what the guy in the video did by switching the cables.
He went from positive polarity to reverse polarity.
And got way better welds. ..

Gee, you'd think designing a welder they would wire the leads through a big switch so you can change the polarity as needed for the type of welding at will.

Just remember that current flows from negative to positive, so like the splatter, that is why boats make fewer waves flowing with the water not against it! Now you are no longer trying to weld the project to the stick!

This machine has no port for shielding gas. It's flux core only.

When it stops raining I'm going to see if I can find the wiring and reverse it.

I would post a pic of my weld from yesterday, but after Likkmee 's perfect weld, I'm too embarrassed .

But suffice it to say it looks even worse than the weld in the video with spawling everywhere and burned in slag.

 

[toobfreak]

This machine has no port for shielding gas. It's flux core only.
When it stops raining I'm going to see if I can find the wiring and reverse it.

If I'm not mistaken, I think the idea with the flux is that it tries to create the same supportive environment for the weld to stick as the gas does, but without gas, which is probably key to your portability. Everything is a trade off.

I would post a pic of my weld from yesterday, but after Likkmee 's perfect weld, I'm too embarrassed.

That looked like a good enough weld to work as a shipbuilder for the Navy or nuclear vessels.

But suffice it to say it looks even worse than the weld in the video with spawling everywhere and burned in slag.

I bet reversing your polarity will really help a lot.

 

[Sunni Man]

I would post a pic of my weld from yesterday, but after Likkmee 's perfect weld, I'm too embarrassed .

I'm a really good stick welder and my welds get compliments.
But the weld in that picture puts even me to shame. ..

 

[The Duke]

I can't weld, it's not my thing, but I know a couple crackers that are very good at it.

One can even do aluminum. The other one, he crinks that stick in the jaws and zips that thing out so fast and clean it's poetry in motion.

No way would I ever be that good, why bother when I know that cracker?

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

Don't get me wrong... I'm not a good welder. I maybe weld something two or three times a year.

But the spatter and lousy welds may not be 100% my fault

If you're using a flex core welder and getting a small puddle and lots of spatter... your polarity might be backwards for unshielded flex core welding...even if your welder, like my Harbor Freight welder, isn't even equipped for using a shielding gas.

Yeah.
It took me awhile to figure out where I was screwing up.
Thankfully we had a welder at work and he gave me a bunch of pointers which helped immensely.
The biggest improvements came when I stopped using flux core. It got rid of a lot of my problems making it easier to figure out the ones that remained.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

I'm a really good stick welder and my welds get compliments.
But the weld in that picture puts even me to shame. ..

A lot of the beautiful welds you see these days are done by machines/robots.

 

[progressive hunter]

Don't get me wrong... I'm not a good welder. I maybe weld something two or three times a year.

But the spatter and lousy welds may not be 100% my fault

If you're using a flex core welder and getting a small puddle and lots of spatter... your polarity might be backwards for unshielded flex core welding...even if your welder, like my Harbor Freight welder, isn't even equipped for using a shielding gas.

flux core will always give a ugly surface, but a grinder hides it pretty good,,

 

[toobfreak]

he crinks that stick in the jaws and zips that thing out so fast and clean it's poetry in motion.

Sounds just like a girl I once knew.

 

[Likkmee]

I started my career as a pipe / structural stick welder.
Used the large Lincoln AC/DC welding machines.
To get the best penetrating, best looking welds.
We always turned the knobs to DC / reverse.
Which is basically what the guy in the video did by switching the cables.
He went from positive polarity to reverse polarity.
And got way better welds. ..

Well. Those electrodes you were using on iron are 7018 The require dc to penetrate. The other stuff like 6010,6011,6013,312 etc will run either way. 6010 is "better" on DC but I've run it on little clunkers. Spatters a lot more but works.

 

[Sunni Man]

Well. Those electrodes you were using on iron are 7018 The require dc to penetrate. The other stuff like 6010,6011,6013,312 etc will run either way. 6010 is "better" on DC but I've run it on little clunkers. Spatters a lot more but works.

Yea, we called 7018 "beauty rods".
On pipe we did a root pass of 6011 or generic (P5) and caped it with 7018
For fabrication 7018 was usually single pass to fill the bevel using various diameter rods.

 

[JamesE]

Don't get me wrong... I'm not a good welder. I maybe weld something two or three times a year.

But the spatter and lousy welds may not be 100% my fault

If you're using a flex core welder and getting a small puddle and lots of spatter... your polarity might be backwards for unshielded flex core welding...even if your welder, like my Harbor Freight welder, isn't even equipped for using a shielding gas.

Something else you need to pay attention on is the size and lenth of your cord you are using if on a extension cord. I was having issue with splatter and not good penetration. I was just using a small 25 foot cord. Made a world of difference when I went to a heavy gage contrators 25ft cord.

 

[Missourian]

Yeah.
It took me awhile to figure out where I was screwing up.
Thankfully we had a welder at work and he gave me a bunch of pointers which helped immensely.
The biggest improvements came when I stopped using flux core. It got rid of a lot of my problems making it easier to figure out the ones that remained.

I've seen your welds. They are close to perfect.