One of the most common and DIY friendly types of welding is flux core welding. It is used in everything from home repair projects to heavy fabrication in the industrial world. So what is Flux Core Welding and is it the right choice for you? Well we’ll answer it simply below!
Flux Core Welding is a type of wire welding where filler wire is fed through a welding tip/gun and short circuited to the metal to create an arc and thus metal the parent metal and the wire itself. Flux Core wire is made up of the filler material and covered in a flux that when burned creates the shielding needed to produce a clean weld. Unlike MIG welding there is no outside shielding gas required.
Is Flux Core Welding for Me?
Flux core welding has its strengths and weaknesses. Depending the environment your welding in and the project you’re working on it my change your choice of welder. Because Flux Core welding doesn’t require shielding gas it is ideal for welding in outdoor conditions where shielding gas may be blown away. It also simplifies the process so that extra bottles and hoses aren’t required for welding remotely or out in the field. One downside to flux core welding is that the thickness of the wire is generally larger due to the flux and wire combined together. This means that more heat is required to burn the wire and makes it difficult to weld thinner metal like sheet metal. Flux Core also tends to create a little more spatter and slag when welding so it isn’t ideal for intricate welding where the weld needs to be visibly perfect. If you’re just starting out Flux Core is good to learn on and will help you get the welding process down. Flux Core Welder also tend to be inexpensive as they don’t have extra internal functions like gas regulators and valves that drive up the cost of the welder.
If you’re planning to primarily work inside your home garage and do automotive welding a MIG welder is ideal, but a Flux Core can be used as well if care is taken. One nice function of most modern MIG welders is that they can run flux core wire and weld nicely by just changing the wire and removing the welding bottle.
No matter which type of welding you choose; you can grow as your skills increase with an Eastwood welder. See all of our welders HERE.