WHAT IS FLUX- CORED ARC WELDING?

Any welding consists of melting base metals and then usually adding a filler material to join them. Think of it like a glue gun, but thousands of degrees hotter. In most cases, the metal is melted using an electrical arc, like in spark plugs. This arc is created by passing electricity from the tip, or electrode, of the welder to the metal you are working to melt the material and create the weld. When steel and other metals are in a liquid state; however, they become very reactive to air and can become brittle and useless. Special shielding gases are usually needed to prevent this mixing from happening. In flux-cored arc welding, a shielding “flux” in the core of the wire evaporates during welding to automatically protect the weld. BONUS REVIEW!

THE ALL-IN-ONE WELDER

For more advanced welders, the Vulcan Omnipro 220 does flux-cored and MIG welding, along with stick electrode and tungsten electrode and filler rod (TIG). It’s versatile and powerful. To test it, we took it to JJ Cunningham & Sons in Bristol, Pennsylvania. Mike Cunningham ran the Omnipro with flux-cored wire and a variety of stick electrodes. His take: “Anybody can weld with this thing.” You use an LCD screen and dials to set the welding mode. I wondered if Mike had exaggerated the “anybody” part, so I tried my hand with a stick electrode, a first for me, and pulled a neat bead. I guess he was right.

RECIPES BY RAYMOND CHEN,