Hey guys,
I am just starting out into welding and I am looking into getting a cheap little flux welder to start out with. Is this a good idea? Or am I just wasting my time with a flux welder? I am not looking to do anything major with this, just using it to learn with.
Thanks for any help

 

use gas.

fluxcored wire is garbage and the welds turn out like ****.

 

get a gas/no gas welder and start out with it just using flux-core. theres no point in learning with gas. who cares what they look like right? use the flux to see if u like it. if u dont then you didnt waste all the money on a gas bottle and what not. thats just what i did and i wouldnt do it any different. i learned the basics with flux-core. you learn to go over it with a wire brush right after youre done and it cleans it up pretty well. then i took a class to fine tune everything and learn a little bit about metals. now i have a regulator ordered that should be here at the end of the week so i can use gas. theres no point in spending a lot of money to learn (unless youre rich to start out with). learn how to weld and then spend the money

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 98AccordEX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">get a gas/no gas welder and start out with it just using flux-core. theres no point in learning with gas. who cares what they look like right? use the flux to see if u like it. if u dont then you didnt waste all the money on a gas bottle and what not. thats just what i did and i wouldnt do it any different. i learned the basics with flux-core. you learn to go over it with a wire brush right after youre done and it cleans it up pretty well. then i took a class to fine tune everything and learn a little bit about metals. now i have a regulator ordered that should be here at the end of the week so i can use gas. theres no point in spending a lot of money to learn (unless youre rich to start out with). learn how to weld and then spend the money</TD></TR></TABLE>

Gas does actually matter. The gas that is used actually blocks the impurity in the air(carbon mostly) from entering the weld pool. And the looks of the weld does matter also. The looks of the weld could be decieving do to penetration, convolution, and how much tensil strength is in the weld.

Flux core wires could have a good weld depending upon what the core material is made of and the welders skill level. The flux core....it actually helps the wire and base metal to be cleaned, strengthened, and etc.

 

Flux is fine to begin with or on a budget, I use one in my " shop on everything from floor pans to seats.
The only thing I dont like is its not reaqllly adjustable. Kinda like 4 settings and if you need anything else... But it works great and no complaints yet.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by madhatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Flux is fine to begin with or on a budget, I use one in my " shop on everything from floor pans to seats.
The only thing I dont like is its not reaqllly adjustable. Kinda like 4 settings and if you need anything else... But it works great and no complaints yet.</TD></TR></TABLE>

First off, thanks for all the quick responses

What you said you were using it for is almost exactly what I would be doing. I forgot to mention that I also have access to a Mig welder but I wanted a little something to learn on first.