shocker

Id like to ressurect this old thread...... .....Im about to start mig welding some aluminum,spool guns arent that common in the UK so I will be using my 200 amp MIG through the regular torch.Since the picture from the OP has long gone,can anyone describe this theory to me?

Old thread,I know,but I just finished a job where the gas ran out and it was a weekend and the trailer I was re-fabbing had to be at work monday first thing. I was dubious of the flux core no gas wire,I thought it was a "hobby" gimmick to sell cheap welders....when I had tried it before I had terrible results.This time though it was great - working outside I didnt have to worry about wind sheilding,it heated the metal fast and went deep,straight through galvanised that I had neglected to grind back.With anti spatter grease liberally brushed around the work the blobs didnt stick so much.I found that a longer wire hang-out worked better but close enough for the fumes to keep the pool covered.And I had forgotten to reverse the polarity ! Im no expert and I was using a little old clarke machine adapted for re-fill bottles and bigger wire spools,but I was able to make a decent job of it. I have reconsidered this stuff as a viable alternative that can be very useful in the right circumstances and will now always keep some around.

Hi,doing the intro thing.....good to be here,lots of great info and discussion on a broad front. I live on a farm on Bodmin Moor in cornwall,near england and have messing around with metals for a fair while.My dad was a boiler welder and then a truck engineer.....built bodies on lorries and deigned and built trailers of all sorts so I grew up holding the wet cloths and the watering can as he gas cut and fabricated.Ive been welding as needed for some years but never regularly enough to improve.Dabbled with some forge work.Lots of vehicle stuff and farm repairs and maintainance.Now I build a few tattoo machines - mainly with steel frames that I braze or silver solder with propane or MAPP.Ive been annealling a lot of mild steel to change the magnetic properties for the coil cores and armature bars that I need.That and some oil blacking of parts,sometimes going for low temp then oil quench to achieve different colour finishes. Equipment wise I have a little hobby MIG,a medium size arc machine,various propane and MAPP burners and a lot of oxy/acet kit that Im not using due to the cost and contracts involved with the gases.That may change soon as a local firm has offered a good deal on oxygen,they cant suppy acetylene but since I will only be cutting and brazing propane should be enough.We have an OLD mechanical hacksaw that is none too accurate,a 12 tonne press,sheet metal hand bender (or is that in the wrong order?),bench pillar drill press,bench grinders and linishers,and a combo lathe/mill that at present sits on the floor until I can find a way to lift it onto its stand. Well thats more than anyone wanted to know,Im sure,but there it is.Please excuse my ignorance of correct terminology as I potter around the pages. Thanks everyone,be seeing you around the forum shocks