“Gasless” MIG Welding Explained!

In this video I show you a quick difference between a mig weld, and a flux core weld. I get tons of messages on instagram asking for advice on buying a first welder. Lots of people opt to save money up front and go "gasless" but that can leave you stuck when it comes time to take your work to the next level!

For links to what I used in this video, see below, as an amazon affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases:

The welder I used in this video:
Lincoln 140MP

Siegmund Welding Table:

Milwaukee Variable Speed Angle Grinder

Pferd Flap Disc

1-2-3 Blocks, use them for welding an upset machinists everywhere.

Check out the Lincoln Electric Power Mig 140MP, great for the home shop, Mig, TIG, and Stick in 1 machine!

Thank you to Pferd abrasives for supporting my shop and my channel. For links to some of the grinding discs I use most see below:

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

→ Flap disc:

→ Inside corner disc (AMAZING):

→ Wire Wheel:

Thanks for watching! Be careful, know the limits of your skills and your tools! Don't try this stuff at home!

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Below are some links to tools I use in the shop on a daily basis.

Starbond CA Glue:

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

→ Bosch Miter Saw ( My Favorite miter saw)

→ Sawstop Table Saw:

→ Wen Tabletop Metalcutting Bandsaw

→ Articulated Vise:

→ Bosch Portable Bandsaw ( 18V)

→ Porter Cable Restorer:

→ Lincoln 120V Welder ( good for a home shop)

→ The Camera I use:

→ The Tripod I use:

[MakeEverything]

I left out a key detail in this video! When you set up your MIG welder, OR switch from solid wire MIG to Flux Core, make sure the POLARITY of your machine is correct. Most machines, including this one need to be set to either electrode positive, or electrode negative in order to flux core/MIG weld correctly. Check your machine and make sure the electrode and ground are connected correctly for your particular process for the best results!

[melgross]

I have two welders, an ESAB emp 205 Rebel and a HF Titanium 125, the welder you mentioned. While most of my welding is done with the 205, I do use the 125. The 125 is a surprisingly good welder, considering it’s a 125 amp unit. That does limit one. But within its range, if you know what you’re doing (I’ve been welding for 50 years), you can get excellent welds up to 3/16”, if you buy the appropriate size wire 0.035” and the right type, not GS, but 11T, you can weld thicker metal to about 5/16” with multipass. That’s more than thick enough for most everything the average person will need to do. I’d like to point out, in response to the negative statements he keeps making about fluxcore, that with the proper machines and wire, fluxcore is used to build skyscrapers, ships, etc. You get deeper penetration with fluxcore than with MiG.

[doylerabjohn]

That's one thing I've always needed to learn is to the weld. I hate paying a man 75.00 an hour to make a a minimum of tack weld. Thanks, very educational.

[fcschoenthal]

Just getting into some welding and using the HF Titanium 125 because of initial cost. Thanks for the explanations and resource links, they'll help a lot. - Chris

[KITDFOHS]

The ONLY thing I think flux core really sucks for is welding thin metal. Because its hotter it tends to blow through a lot more. I always recommend ppl get a machine that cab use gas, because once you use gas you never want to go back to flux if you can avoid it.

[zviper]

Its been a couple years since i looked at my miller, i could swear the polarity had to be switched for flux core. I could look it up but yeah it makes a huge difference

[mandeladams]

If you're looking at appearances, I find if you just use a cupped wire wheel on a 4.5" angle grinder to remove the slag. Gets most of the surrounding spatter too all in one shot

[gerardlunow]

I bought the 175 Plus/HD (HD = Home Depot) machine for one purpose. My heater core of my pool heater was cracked/leaked. The machine ( I am NO! welder) got the gaps fixes for half the price of a new core. 15 years later I go around on trash day to fine metal objects to cut and build skill. Now i need to work on my Crown Vic before I sell it and buy a new car. It is all about building skill. Your video gave me more incentive. Thank you!

[rusty_restorations]

key point being USE QUALITY WIRE. especially with flux, It can be the difference between getting a nice quality weld, and a pile of bird doo doo and BBs stuck to everything.

[pcfred]

I have a MIG and a TIG welder. I don't use either anymore. Getting gas is a pain. All I do today is stick weld. It's the cheapest and easiest welding process to keep up with. A pack of sticks and I'm all set.

[Steelcrafted]

You skipped over a HUGE part of flux core setup and that's polarity....flux core has to be welded DCEN, vs DCEP on mig with gas....most people who buy a mig machine and use flux core, don't realize they have to swap polarity, so they get crap results so the poo-poo the whole process. Your machine prob swaps polarity automatically when you tell it what process you're welding. Most mig machines dont.

The fact is you can drop dimes with a flux core setup, and weld thicker material. Some people just suck at flux core. But it's far from an inferior process.

[MyLilMule]

Obviously you can't cover everything in one flux core vs. solid wire video, but you did a great job in covering the basics. Flux core has its purposes and you mentioned one of them briefly, it runs hot. Whenever I want to weld something thicker (before I got my 285 amp machine), I would switch to flux core because I knew it penetrated deeper and let me stick thicker pieces of metal together. :) Love the channel!

[fishhuntadventure]

I don’t even need to watch to answer. I have several welders, two of which are twins: a Lincoln weldpak 100 with fluxcore, and a second with so it’s mig.

They both work great!

[ivearrows]

By sequencing the welds differently than done here, you can really reduce how much the heat will pull your corner out of square. Do the outside corner first, then do the two diagonals, pulling from inside to out. Inside corner last.

[shonsadler]

I've been welding for 30 plus yeand I have many machines for various projects. And I just used a titanium 125 flux core welder today, in fact.
To weld a truck frame. And I put fish plates on that were quarter inch thick and had absolutely no problems with it. And I have done many things likwith similar machines. And I've also got a 6 in 1 welding machine that does big tag stick. Flex core, you name it. It's got a lot going on with it and the machines. They make lower price than the old machines are surprisingly well made. Granted, I do have some of the older machines and still use my trusty. Old Lincoln stickwelder as well as other old machines to get jobs done. But I am surprised and astonished at how well some of the new machines really work. And I'm also embarrassed and surprised at how litthe tech schools teach the kids today and how to weld as fabrication and so forth. My generation had far more education and we also learned how to gas weld and weld using 100 Amp alternators and wire hangers on the farm

[inscoredbz]

I love my Hobart handler 210. For a home welder, it's hard to beat for the money.

[skillstacking]

This is very helpful, I am going to be making a short video of my working on my welding. I also have a harbor freight welder and if I am being honest, it is pretty discouraging from how bad the unit works but I am going to get better wire with less spatter and do a real project with it.

I want to get a good welder and Jimmy DiResta recommended the 180mp since I have 220v but need to do some more saving before getting it.

Thanks for the video and happy to see you are well. ❤👊🏼

[billnu]

I just picked up a titanium 125 and man it is a pretty useful tool for $150. Spool of wire and a 110 outlet, just go to town. As you said it is a smoking monster so have to provide for ventilation if indoors. Worse than stick welding.

[Hound]

Dual shield is flux core that is mig. Ran it for 35 yrs. Always just called it flux core. Ran a lot of hardwire too and big wire innershield.

[garthland]

this is the 1st video of yours I've seen.Noticed the 360MP in the background-I run one at my 9-5, dualshield and aluminum push-pull.It's a beast! We had Miller 350P's until I brought in my 350MP with a Python.Now the Millers collect dust while we run 2 360's, 2 260's and a big watercooled powerwave 350pushpull that's getting replaced with another 360