My first practice welds (Flux Core)

Rust Warrior · 2026-03-23T14:41:19+0000

Today, I had my first go, ever, with a welder. Mine is a gasless MIG welder, for reference.

It was harder than I thought but I've picked up a few nuggets of useful information in the process.

I found pulling produced a better result, where as pushing away left a "valley" in the weld.

I blew quite a few holes, particularly on the first few attempts because I had the amps too high. I turned the amps down to 80 which seemed less "vicious".

The wire feed seemed to vary, even after I'd tightened down the feed wheel some more. I'm using 0.8mm flux core, which is definitely being fed on the 0.8mm side of the feed wheel. Not getting too close to the metal seemed to yield a better result.

The steel (1.2mm) had a propensity to distort. That said, I did lay several practice welds down in a short space of time, so lots of heat build-up.

Seeing through the auto-darkening mask was a tricky, so I just cranked the setting down slightly which made it easier without any issues with my vision afterwards.

Plenty more practice needed of course, especially on joining the metal because my attempt on a butt weld with distorted steel was short of the mark.

Overall, I'm happy with the first session.

Erie Fred · 2026-03-23T15:30:39+0000

"if it makes slag, you must drag"
Is a common saying to remember how to run it.

Of course, nothing is set in stone, you may find
a situation where you need to push flux core.

Barking Mat · 2026-03-23T15:37:12+0000

A) find some thicker metal.

B) try running a straight line, varying your travel speed.

C) keep practicing.

Pigeon_Droppings2 · 2026-03-23T15:43:21+0000

Does flux cored require special rollers?...I only use solid and that uses smooth rollers.

Wozzaaah · 2026-03-23T16:22:17+0000

Rust Warrior said:
I turned the amps down to 80

That is still way too high for 1.2mm steel, I'm not surprised you're blowing holes.
Your beads are all over the place. They're weaving about and you're speeding up and slowing down as you move. Hold the torch in your dominant hand, use the other hand to help steady it and get your travel speed consistent.

Mark 2 · 2026-03-23T16:44:37+0000

Pigeon_Droppings2 said:
Does flux cored require special rollers?...I only use solid and that uses smooth rollers.

Not really, the theory being that the wire could be squashed without knurled rollers.

Rust Warrior · 2026-03-23T18:39:45+0000

Thanks for all the pointers. Progress will be incremental and I'll have another go this week on another dry day.

Rust Warrior · 2026-03-23T18:42:07+0000

Wozzaaah said:
That is still way too high for 1.2mm steel, I'm not surprised you're blowing holes.
Your beads are all over the place. They're weaving about and you're speeding up and slowing down as you move. Hold the torch in your dominant hand, use the other hand to help steady it and get your travel speed consistent.

Thanks for the tips. I blew less holes at 80 amps, and I'm just trying to find the sweet spot with the amps. If I go low, apparently it won't penetrate the base metal correctly? I also need to set up on a better bench because the one I was working on today was too low which didn't help for keeping a steady hand.

Rust Warrior · 2026-03-23T18:43:40+0000

Barking Mat said:
A) find some thicker metal.

B) try running a straight line, varying your travel speed.

C) keep practicing.

My lines got straighter with more practice. The early ones were very zig-zag compared with the later ones.

Popcorn · 2026-03-23T19:24:38+0000

Draw some straight chalk lines to use as a guide it'll help getting your eye in.

Rust Warrior · 2026-03-23T20:58:00+0000

Popcorn said:
Draw some straight chalk lines to use as a guide it'll help getting your eye in.

Great idea, thanks. I had the mask setting very dark which made a straight lines harder to do.

Tom O · 2026-03-23T21:43:04+0000

And one day someone will dig up something like that and believe it is a extinct language.

Bouledogue · 2026-03-23T22:00:25+0000

You can see from the third image that you are already beginning to improve, @Rust Warrior . Well done.

There are much better welders than me who have commented above so I shan't offer you any technical advice; however, the two things that affect my own welding the most are comfort and visibility. Get those right and you're already ahead.

The other thing to say - and I know you know this - is that flux-core can be quite difficult for a beginner (or anyone else, for that matter) to master. Allow yourself extra time and practice to get where you want to be. You'll get there.

MikeBs · 2026-03-23T22:22:45+0000

Hi @Rust Warrior , if you visit a scrap yard you may be able to get some thicker steel to practice on.
The problem with thin stuff is that it heats up and distorts as you practice. Then, as you’ve noticed, the next bead you run is on hot metal and it’s easy to blow holes.
Gasless is difficult to master and generally gives some splatter so don’t worry if this happens to you. It happens for most people.
Good luck.

Rust Warrior · 2026-03-23T22:41:56+0000

Tom O said:
And one day someone will dig up something like that and believe it is a extinct language.

Rust Warrior · 2026-03-23T22:44:43+0000

Bouledogue said:
You can see from the third image that you are already beginning to improve, @Rust Warrior . Well done.

There are much better welders than me who have commented above so I shan't offer you any technical advice; however, the two things that affect my own welding the most are comfort and visibility. Get those right and you're already ahead.

The other thing to say - and I know you know this - is that flux-core can be quite difficult for a beginner (or anyone else, for that matter) to master. Allow yourself extra time and practice to get where you want to be. You'll get there.

Thanks. I noticed the last few practice welds were a little better.

Rust Warrior · 2026-03-23T22:50:24+0000

MikeBs said:
Hi @Rust Warrior , if you visit a scrap yard you may be able to get some thicker steel to practice on.
The problem with thin stuff is that it heats up and distorts as you practice. Then, as you’ve noticed, the next bead you run is on hot metal and it’s easy to blow holes.
Gasless is difficult to master and generally gives some splatter so don’t worry if this happens to you. It happens for most people.
Good luck.

Some thicker steel will help for practice for sure. I do have to weld the thinner stuff to do rust repairs on my work van, so inevitably I'll need to get that right.

I might just dial down the tint on the face shield just ever so slightly, but not too much more. At the moment I think it's on 10 or 11. I could just barely see the weld pool earlier and the arc looked like a tea light that was about to go out. That made straight lines and judging speed and height more difficult, especially on my inaugural welding practice day.