On Thu, 22 Oct 2009 01:55:12 -0500, cavelamb
wrote:
Bill McKee wrote:

I bought my Argon bottle from Indianna Oxygen. Free shipping and a lot
cheaper than local to Calif.

I have a little Hobart (135) that I bought to build my shop.
It's only had cored wire in it - never had shielding gas as
I was working outside.

So I don't know first hand.
But I'm curious about what I've read...

Is the quality of a gas shielded weld all that much better than it
is worth the expense?

Heck yes, it looks a whole lot better. A lot less spatter and crap
from the flux going all over the place. And a lot less crap to
breathe in, which is why I barely started on the comp. 1-Lb. roll of
Fluxcore that came with my Challenger before switching to CO2. And
I've never looked back.

The beads look better without the flux bubbles coming up - I spend
less time grinding welds, if they are laid down halfway decent you can
just prime and paint.

As for quality, you can get a bit hotter with CO2 or a bit more with
an Argon/CO2 mix - but straight CO2 is dirt cheap to get refills, so
that's all I use.

You can make a bad weld with any of them, fluxcore included, if you
don't get good penetration on both sides - and with that statement I'm
going to take mercy on the local Dead Horse. RIP, Trigger.

-- Bruce --