This video addressed a problem that has haunted me since I started learning how to weld. Even though I am a novice, the theory and solutions that you proposed will help me form a solid foundation that I can build on. This video made things crystal clear. Thank you Greg. Keep up the great work.
Greg, 22 gauge is even thin for autobody applications. Just the fact that you were able to weld the 1/16" metal to the quarter inch using .030 flux core was amazing. Well done young man. 👍👍😊
Thanks for the kind words 😀. I didn’t think the machine would do that thin to that thick lol. In the future I will redeem myself with tig, I will try to weld 22ga to 1/4. I should be able to do it.
Hey you hoser! Your flux-core tutorials have really been helpful for me building gate hinges and a small welding table. My welds have improved greatly! Super stoked!
Glad to hear that 😀. Once you can make solid welds it’s amazing what you can build. Give yourself a pat on the back for spending the time practicing & researching in order to get better. 😀
Thanks a lot for the kind comments. I try to present complex things in a simple manner so everyone understands it. I want to see people improving and realizing that they can do stuff. I will be going back into flux core and MiG in about 3 weeks, so look out for more videos related to that 😀
The powers that be at UA-cam can’t catch writing on a brush (yet) lol. That’s there to remind me not to use it on aluminum, but clearly I am bad at following directions lol.
I learn little things that some wouldn’t notice like how you start by touching the wire to the plate and backing off to your stick out distance. Tactile feel is hard to explain.
That’s a good point and something I never think to mention. With tig I always start by touching the tungsten to the metal that way I know exactly where the tungsten is. With all welding maintaining the correct distance consistently is very important, so any little thing than can be done to help is a good thing. Especially with flux core that is far more prone to porosity issues than other welding processes.
Been watching a lot and picked up a lot of tips , many thanks . I've just bough a mig /tig /arc to use flux core when welding thinner to thicker steels on site . Been working stick for years and I get the job done but just hoping it broadens my ablities and gets my welds better using flux core . Welding brackets to thin wall posts would be what I'd primarily use it for .
Flux core is easy if you have stick experience. Honestly I find it as a very solid/easy to use process. Uphill and vertical weld far easier than stick. Welding thin stuff is so much easier it’s not even funny lol.
Good morning Greg, I didn't happen to hear you give this tip, and if you did, and I missed it, I apologize but I couldn't find it anywhere in your video. When you mentioned your settings for attempting to weld thick to thin, I've been doing this for the better part of two years now and surely been 'learning through those mistakes', man let me tell you... In any case, yes, adjust down your settings but what I didn't hear you mention was that once you get settings where your thinking their good, and especially when doing vertical, reduce the wire speed down 20-30% because that will permit the burn to be cooler and more manageable, preventing blow through, especially when going vertical. Many people will go to turning down the V and instead should be turning down the wire speed. It's a reverse psychology that makes you think,- how; but it does, trust me. Lastly, I procure all kinds of scrap metal pieces, and turn them into something and this is where I get my experience welding thin to thick by dealing with what I have on hand over the last two years, but in doing so, when trying to zap thin to thick, I've learned on the HF Flux 125, I'll put the V at @ 'B' ish and push the wire to like 6-ish. The heavier push of wire will invoke a 'fill' for the weld gap, but not over-burn and blow it out. I've burned through a lot of metal figuring this out so hopefully you can maybe add that in there somewhere; reduce V but turn up your wire speed to accomplish said task. Even if I have a huge gap, I'll take cleaned off rods and use that as filler metal with the same settings I mentioned (V @A/B and WS @6/7) and it works flawlessly especially since you couldn't achieve this with a stick. Cheers.
Great videos and very detailed but it would be nice to know what settings you have your welder set to.. it would be helpful to use as a baseline for noobies like me. It's where I'm having a hard time. Please include what your settings are on your welder & the type of material you're welding. Thank you kindly. Keep your videos coming. They are very helpful 🙂.
I generally have settings for the specific welder I am using. The problem with wire welders is most home hobby welders have a/b/c etc for voltage and 1/2/3/4 etc for wire feed (or sometimes reverse of that). One welders b-7 is another’s c-9. My new wire welder (fp-200) reads out voltage and actual wire feed speed, which is more translateable to other welders, however typically not home hobby welders. For best results start with the settings that the machine you have suggests for what you’re welding and adjust accordingly. I will have arc footage and a lot of tips regarding how to judge the size of weld you need, coming out soon. That should help you a lot.
Ive been trying to stick weld one of those circulator wood stoves. The area around the top of the chimney adapter was all rotted. I cut it out and I'm welding in a thicker piece. All lapnjoints. I fought it for hours, blowing and fixing holes everywhere. I finally had to walk away. I wonder if this flux core welder would do better.
I know exactly what you’re talking about. It’s doable to do that with stick, but flux core wire is far more forgiving. I have literally welded auto body together with stick, but it is not easy. 10 out of 10 times I rather have flux core to do what you’re talking about. The only thing with flux core, is on spot welds it has a tendency to produce porosity. Stick makes cleaner spot welds in my opinion. The frustration factor is much better with flux core wire on thin rusty material. I don’t blame you for walking away, the most frustrated I have ever been welding something was stick welding thin rusty material lol.
Hey Greg, great videos! I'm getting ready to put 3/16 frame stiffeners on my Cherokee XJ's unibody frame rails, so this one helps a lot! One question.... Would you recommend .030 or .035 wire for my application? Or does it matter?
So it depends on the welding machine. .030 is generally acceptable to weld up to 3/16th thick steel so it shouldn’t have a issue with what you’re looking at doing. If you have a 140amp or more machine I would run .035 wire because it can carry more amperage, will deposit a slightly bigger weld, and has more flux (which can result it a cleaner weld if you’re doing it outside in a drive or something. Make sure you do some test welds of the thickness you have and in the same position so you know you have it dialed in. Flux core will handle a job like that no problem 😀
I would say the .030 would be what I would prefer then 😀, especially if it’s 3/16th to thinner material. I have welded a bunch of stuff on the cherokees, including whole cages. Never frame stiffeners though. I guess a full cage could count lol.
@@makingmistakeswithgreg Awesome, I'll take your advice and pick up some .030 then! Yeah, a full cage would definitely qualify as a stiffener! lol Thanks for your help and the awesome videos!
On this other thick to thin you didn't set the backer plate to absorb some heat, I wonder if that would have prevented some of the blowing on the back of the piece?
Using a backer to pull heat out can help avoid blowing a hole, however some melt through will be common with flux core. It’s arc is aggressive enough that it will tend to chew through thinner material no matter what. It still wouldn’t hurt to put some aluminum or something on the backside if possible, it will help 😀
Using a backer to pull heat out can help avoid blowing a hole, however some melt through will be common with flux core. It’s arc is aggressive enough that it will tend to chew through thinner material no matter what. It still wouldn’t hurt to put some aluminum or something on the backside if possible, it will help 😀
Is it not recommended to weld on the other side of the coupon after you welded one side of it using flux core? I know you can only do one pass with flux core welding.
If the backside is accessible welding it would make a huge difference in strength. You can run multiple pass with flux core wire, but it must be a wire that’s specified for it. Normal -GS stamped flux core wire will produce super brittle welds on multi pass. Wires like Lincoln Lincoln’s nr211 and Hobart fabshield 21b can safely do multi pass (typically only up to 3 to 5 passes total).
Thanks for doing these, this allows us novice welders to see what to expect and how to adjust to fix or improve.
No problem. It can be a tough challenge to weld dissimilar sizes but ultimately it’s doable with practice 😀
This video addressed a problem that has haunted me since I started learning how to weld. Even though I am a novice, the theory and solutions that you proposed will help me form a solid foundation that I can build on. This video made things crystal clear. Thank you Greg. Keep up the great work.
Greg, 22 gauge is even thin for autobody applications. Just the fact that you were able to weld the 1/16" metal to the quarter inch using .030 flux core was amazing. Well done young man. 👍👍😊
Thanks for the kind words 😀. I didn’t think the machine would do that thin to that thick lol. In the future I will redeem myself with tig, I will try to weld 22ga to 1/4. I should be able to do it.
Thanks, for the lessons, I just bought a 125 like the one you have and your videos are very helpful.
No problem, I am sure you will learn a lot and be able to make some cool stuff 😀
Great weld series
Hey you hoser! Your flux-core tutorials have really been helpful for me building gate hinges and a small welding table. My welds have improved greatly! Super stoked!
Glad to hear that 😀. Once you can make solid welds it’s amazing what you can build. Give yourself a pat on the back for spending the time practicing & researching in order to get better. 😀
What a wonderful series on Flux Core Welding. It confirms what I’ve always suspected. Flux Core is WAY UNDER RATED!
Thanks for proving it!!!
Flux core is a great process. With good wire and some skill it can tackle a lot of jobs and leave really nice looking welds. 😀
I've always put most of the heat on the thick metal and float the weld over to the thin metal.
Loved the video. Especially the thick to thin weld attempts. Have only seen your flux series so far but love your style of videos. Keep it up buddy!
Thanks a lot for the kind comments. I try to present complex things in a simple manner so everyone understands it. I want to see people improving and realizing that they can do stuff. I will be going back into flux core and MiG in about 3 weeks, so look out for more videos related to that 😀
“What did we learn today …” - that even a reminder “Aluminum … No Steel You F@*k” on your wire brush” won’t stop you! LOL.
The powers that be at UA-cam can’t catch writing on a brush (yet) lol. That’s there to remind me not to use it on aluminum, but clearly I am bad at following directions lol.
Thank for the information I think it was really good
You’re welcome 😀. It’s not the easiest thing to do (weld thick to thin) but with some practice and some tricks it’s doable.
I learn little things that some wouldn’t notice like how you start by touching the wire to the plate and backing off to your stick out distance. Tactile feel is hard to explain.
That’s a good point and something I never think to mention. With tig I always start by touching the tungsten to the metal that way I know exactly where the tungsten is. With all welding maintaining the correct distance consistently is very important, so any little thing than can be done to help is a good thing. Especially with flux core that is far more prone to porosity issues than other welding processes.
Been watching a lot and picked up a lot of tips , many thanks .
I've just bough a mig /tig /arc to use flux core when welding thinner to thicker steels on site .
Been working stick for years and I get the job done but just hoping it broadens my ablities and gets my welds better using flux core .
Welding brackets to thin wall posts would be what I'd primarily use it for .
Flux core is easy if you have stick experience. Honestly I find it as a very solid/easy to use process. Uphill and vertical weld far easier than stick. Welding thin stuff is so much easier it’s not even funny lol.
I've watched them all . Thanks 👍👍
No problem, I am sure you will be a much better welder now that you have some knowledge 😀.
Great video😊
You've got to fool the thin metal by holding a thicker material behind it
Good morning Greg, I didn't happen to hear you give this tip, and if you did, and I missed it, I apologize but I couldn't find it anywhere in your video. When you mentioned your settings for attempting to weld thick to thin, I've been doing this for the better part of two years now and surely been 'learning through those mistakes', man let me tell you... In any case, yes, adjust down your settings but what I didn't hear you mention was that once you get settings where your thinking their good, and especially when doing vertical, reduce the wire speed down 20-30% because that will permit the burn to be cooler and more manageable, preventing blow through, especially when going vertical. Many people will go to turning down the V and instead should be turning down the wire speed. It's a reverse psychology that makes you think,- how; but it does, trust me. Lastly, I procure all kinds of scrap metal pieces, and turn them into something and this is where I get my experience welding thin to thick by dealing with what I have on hand over the last two years, but in doing so, when trying to zap thin to thick, I've learned on the HF Flux 125, I'll put the V at @ 'B' ish and push the wire to like 6-ish. The heavier push of wire will invoke a 'fill' for the weld gap, but not over-burn and blow it out. I've burned through a lot of metal figuring this out so hopefully you can maybe add that in there somewhere; reduce V but turn up your wire speed to accomplish said task. Even if I have a huge gap, I'll take cleaned off rods and use that as filler metal with the same settings I mentioned (V @A/B and WS @6/7) and it works flawlessly especially since you couldn't achieve this with a stick. Cheers.
Excellent advice and without a doubt it will help.
Thank you again 😅
cool I am going to try this 22ga to 1/4 that sounds fun lol
Great videos and very detailed but it would be nice to know what settings you have your welder set to.. it would be helpful to use as a baseline for noobies like me. It's where I'm having a hard time. Please include what your settings are on your welder & the type of material you're welding. Thank you kindly. Keep your videos coming. They are very helpful 🙂.
I generally have settings for the specific welder I am using. The problem with wire welders is most home hobby welders have a/b/c etc for voltage and 1/2/3/4 etc for wire feed (or sometimes reverse of that). One welders b-7 is another’s c-9. My new wire welder (fp-200) reads out voltage and actual wire feed speed, which is more translateable to other welders, however typically not home hobby welders. For best results start with the settings that the machine you have suggests for what you’re welding and adjust accordingly. I will have arc footage and a lot of tips regarding how to judge the size of weld you need, coming out soon. That should help you a lot.
Ive been trying to stick weld one of those circulator wood stoves. The area around the top of the chimney adapter was all rotted. I cut it out and I'm welding in a thicker piece. All lapnjoints. I fought it for hours, blowing and fixing holes everywhere. I finally had to walk away. I wonder if this flux core welder would do better.
I know exactly what you’re talking about. It’s doable to do that with stick, but flux core wire is far more forgiving. I have literally welded auto body together with stick, but it is not easy. 10 out of 10 times I rather have flux core to do what you’re talking about. The only thing with flux core, is on spot welds it has a tendency to produce porosity. Stick makes cleaner spot welds in my opinion. The frustration factor is much better with flux core wire on thin rusty material. I don’t blame you for walking away, the most frustrated I have ever been welding something was stick welding thin rusty material lol.
I wonder about inetub wire
Hey Greg, great videos! I'm getting ready to put 3/16 frame stiffeners on my Cherokee XJ's unibody frame rails, so this one helps a lot! One question.... Would you recommend .030 or .035 wire for my application? Or does it matter?
So it depends on the welding machine. .030 is generally acceptable to weld up to 3/16th thick steel so it shouldn’t have a issue with what you’re looking at doing. If you have a 140amp or more machine I would run .035 wire because it can carry more amperage, will deposit a slightly bigger weld, and has more flux (which can result it a cleaner weld if you’re doing it outside in a drive or something. Make sure you do some test welds of the thickness you have and in the same position so you know you have it dialed in. Flux core will handle a job like that no problem 😀
@@makingmistakeswithgreg That makes sense! I should have mentioned that I'll be using the same Titanium 125 that you're using in this video series.
I would say the .030 would be what I would prefer then 😀, especially if it’s 3/16th to thinner material. I have welded a bunch of stuff on the cherokees, including whole cages. Never frame stiffeners though. I guess a full cage could count lol.
@@makingmistakeswithgreg Awesome, I'll take your advice and pick up some .030 then! Yeah, a full cage would definitely qualify as a stiffener! lol
Thanks for your help and the awesome videos!
On this other thick to thin you didn't set the backer plate to absorb some heat, I wonder if that would have prevented some of the blowing on the back of the piece?
Using a backer to pull heat out can help avoid blowing a hole, however some melt through will be common with flux core. It’s arc is aggressive enough that it will tend to chew through thinner material no matter what. It still wouldn’t hurt to put some aluminum or something on the backside if possible, it will help 😀
Using a backer to pull heat out can help avoid blowing a hole, however some melt through will be common with flux core. It’s arc is aggressive enough that it will tend to chew through thinner material no matter what. It still wouldn’t hurt to put some aluminum or something on the backside if possible, it will help 😀
@@makingmistakeswithgreg Thanks!
Is it not recommended to weld on the other side of the coupon after you welded one side of it using flux core? I know you can only do one pass with flux core welding.
If the backside is accessible welding it would make a huge difference in strength. You can run multiple pass with flux core wire, but it must be a wire that’s specified for it. Normal -GS stamped flux core wire will produce super brittle welds on multi pass. Wires like Lincoln Lincoln’s nr211 and Hobart fabshield 21b can safely do multi pass (typically only up to 3 to 5 passes total).