Another looking for a flux core MIG welder suggestion thread

[Jrasband]

I enjoy building and repairing things, not doing cleanup.

This is a lot more clean up involved in prepping a repair than cleaning slag.

 

[WinterDeere]

Me too, I like to use a needle scaler which removes slag fast!

Easily my favorite "later in life" tool discovery. I don't think I even heard of a needle scaler until age 30, and even when I first bought one, never imagined how useful they were. There are so many jobs where there's just no acceptable substitute for that tool.

Whether it's removing rust and paint from an old implement, removing badly caked on grass swarf from under a mower deck, or slag from a welder, the needle scaler can get it done as gently or roughly as you need. It helps to have a few in different sizes, if your compressor can support the big'uns.

 

[Jrasband]

Easily my favorite "later in life" tool discovery. I don't think I even heard of a needle scaler until age 30, and even when I first bought one, never imagined how useful they were. There are so many jobs where there's just no acceptable substitute for that tool.

Whether it's removing rust and paint from an old implement, removing badly caked on grass swarf from under a mower deck, or slag from a welder, the needle scaler can get it done as gently or roughly as you need. It helps to have a few in different sizes, if your compressor can support the big'uns.

Yeah me to, I was amazed the first time I used one. So far I have only used it for weld prep and clean up. Don't think I could power a bigger one, My compressor is 29 Gallon, 165 PSI, 5.3 SCFM.=

 

[WinterDeere]

Yeah me to, I was amazed the first time I used one. So far I have only used it for weld prep and clean up. Don't think I could power a bigger one, My compressor is 29 Gallon, 165 PSI, 5.3 SCFM.=

Yeah, they can get pretty thirsty, as the size goes up.

Compressor CFM goes up as pressure drops, and I don't know how much pressure you really need to maintain to keep a needle scaler in it's effective range, but I'd guess at least 60 psi, if not more. So I'd check my compressor's CFM vs. pressure curve, and probably use some number the 60 - 90 psi portion of that curve, in deciding the maximum size needle scaler it can support.

Just like with everything these days, compressor manufacturers play a lot of games with specmanship. They give you the max pressure at low CFM, and the max CFM at low pressure, and very few people understand those two numbers can never occur together. It should really be a law that they say "CFM @ pressure X", maybe even with "X" being some standardized number near 90 psi.