First time welding

[Lofty]

Get a lot of practice down. It's really not that complicated. Since I like a challange, my favorite thing to weld with has to be OXY or Tig. Some OKAY things can be done with a MIG, but it usually doesn't look too good.

Example:

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Hard to make a connection when welding on a car. So here's some terrible welding to make you feel better!

 

[housegsx]

^ I've seen better examples of MIG.

 

[MOTOR-RX]

make sure you cover up and protect yourself. If your skin and the arc in contact alittle to long it leaves a nice"sun burn"

 

[Dallas J]

I read about half this thread and skipped to the end, so if this has been covered then sorry.

MIG is gas shielded.. Its in the name. If you have a wire coming through a gun you pull a trigger on that is using a flux wire instead of gas then its just a wire feed machine.

You can use flux core with mig, its called dual shield.

 

[endeffect0]

Yeah i think i did i was like a big kid running round the garage looking for things to weld.

i just picked up a cheap 90 amp FCAW (flux core mig) last week. I picked it up to replace the 3 inch flex pipe that the shop wanted to charge me 250bucks to do. got the welder mask gloves ect for less...

I wanted to practice so i was running around the garage looking for metal.. a few beers in I kinda got carried away and at the end of the night i ended up with a hunting kinfe welded to an old jeep bumper.. that was kinda hard to explain to the wife in the morning.

I am loving this POS welder though. its damn convenient (and less intimidating) to just pick up some flux core and go at it. no need to worry about buying gas and even more setting to be messed with.

It worked pretty well on the exhaust. it didnt look to good though, kinda a curse of the flux core and learning to weld. Any one who is considering learning, YOU CAN DO IT! ITS EASY TO LEARN.. it just takes time and practice to get it right. (im not there yet but hey.) Also it may be worth spending a few extra bucks to buy one of the FCAW that can be easily converted to full on MIG. they are set up for flux to start and when you learn you can change a few parts and go to gas.

Debbie! I picked up a can of anti splatter spray from tractor supply (i think is made by Hobart) that you spray where you dont want splatter junk. it just wipes off when your done and looks much cleaner. I would give it a try.
Good luck!