Flux-core welder for rails and stanchions

[Bob L]

have some welding work to do on my boat, and I'm thinking a welder might be a good investment. Harbor Freight has a 110v/90amp flux-core welder on sale this weekend for $89. I guess the principal behind it is that there is flux in the wire, therefore you don't need a bottle of inert gas to shield the welding.

I have stanchions with separate bases - I guess the idea is so that they are removable to reduce "air draft" when the mast is stepped. But the stanchions wobble in the bases and I don't like the feel of it. I also want to modify my stern rail and bring it forward past the cockpit - so my primary use of this welder would be for stainless tube, but I'm sure it will come in handy for other things.

Does anyone have experience using this type of welder? I've used MIG before on the railing of my previous boat, and it was pretty flawless after a lot of grinding... Thoughts? Ideas? Expertise to share?

[Tim]

Maybe you can't go wrong with anything that costs only $89, but I doubt you'd get satisfactory results with such a cheap welding outfit.

I know little about welding, unfortunately, and can't really comment much beyond that. But if you truly want a welder for a variety of jobs, I'd suggest that there are probably other ones that would make a better investment and would do the jobs you need for years to come. Cheap tools are just that.

[David VanDenburgh]

... I guess the principal behind it is that there is flux in the wire, therefore you don't need a bottle of inert gas to shield the welding.

My experience with welding is limited - two years working for a welder in college - but every time I used flux-core, the welds had a tendency to come out looking like bird poop, literally. Flux core spatters all over the place and just doesn't seem to create as good or as nice a weld as MIG. I agree with Tim: cheap tools are just that. They're often more frustrating than effective.

David

[Quetzalsailor]

Go buy yourself some books on welding. My most recent purchase was "High Performance Welding" (at Borders), a paperback, well illustrated, covered all the several methods for aluminum, steel and stainless. His premise was that if the method was good enough for aircraft and race cars it was good enough for anything.

I have a reverse polarity AC-DC arc welder and an oxy-acetylene set. I have done decent welding on steel, aluminum and some stainless. My recent attempt at welding 304 stainless on a non-structural application was an utter failure using the arc welder. So I re-read the book, saw where you can gas weld stainless using stainless wire and the special flux; instead, I took my arc-welding stainless rods and welded my 304 trim successfully(!).

Don't buy junk! Read this book; he sets out what he's found useful and what's not worth it and why.

[catamount]

"High Performance Welding" (at Borders)

Couldn't find a book with that exact title, but found instead: "Performance Welding" (Motorbooks Workshop) by Richard Finch, ISBN: 0760303932.

Looks like its the book you're refering to, and it does looks like it's a good book, too.

[Bob L]

Sorry for the delay in replying - I had to pick up yet another project boat... (19' Cobia center console in need of a floor)

Right, I hear what you all are saying, Harbor Freight stuff is cra.. well, not the greatest. But more to the point: Will flux-core type welders do a good job on stanchions? (Heck, I'm not Henry Kaiser, and this ain't a Liberty ship) Or do flux core welders leave pitted, non bonding, etc. welds?