Gene T wrote:
James,
You made a lot of good points, however I'm not planning on opening a
fabrication shop nor have the desire to become a certified welder. In the
past I have taken classes on oxy-acetylene and arc welding but not wire feed
welding. I have been to two local welding suppliers and asked questions and
even tried out a Miller welder. I have purchased 2 books and a CD-rom on
welding and would like to take an adult ed class but I work two jobs so it's
kind of hard to schedule.

Then to make me more confused
I saw some gas shielded- flux cored wire. Can this be used without the
gas?
Thanks for your help,
Gene

Since you have taken courses on Arc and Oxy-acet welding, I don't think
you need a course on wire feed welding. I bought a wire feed welder
and used it to build a trailer without ever taking a course on how to
use it.

The dual shield wire is great stuff for most welding. Just enough flux
in the wire that the metal can be less than perfectly clean. The dual
shield that I have been using lets me use spray mode with pure CO2 gas.
It does need gas to weld. I have forgotten to turn the gas on and it
is obvious that something is wrong.

Dan