Discount Flux Core Wire on Amazon

[California]

I'm 'frugal' (cheap ) and use Camel price check to notify me of discounted prices on Amazon.

Occasionally a real bargain comes along. I've been planning to buy more INETUB BA71TGS Flux Core wire, a quality wire from Italy, and I just paid $11.70 per 2 lb roll. It's my favorite. This is the only 'GS' (vendor's choice of ingredients) flux wire that I trust to be uniform, known quality.

The secret to best price is to wait for discounted items to be listed. "Condition: Used - Very Good - Looks and functions as if it were new. Item may not come in original packaging." This was discounted substantially from the usual retail, presently $15.76. I've had good luck buying this top class of customer return or shelf-worn goods from Amazon. All the welding wire in this Very Good category has been a complete unused roll on an intact spool. In contrast a couple of times I have tried the lowest grade, 'Usable, may be missing the manual or components' with random results. Sometimes chunks missing out of the spool, and in one case the first 20% of the wire missing with the rest a snarled mess. Don't Buy That. Amazon should have discarded it.

The other wire I buy when Inetub isn't available discounted is PGN Flux Core MIG Wire - E71T-11, if this one is discounted. But only T-11 in this case, not GS, because T-11 has a known spec for what it's made from. Lincoln's NR-211 is also T-11 spec. As I noted, I'm cheap, Lincoln gets $23.60 for a 1 lb spool. While my most recent purchase of discounted PGN T-11 was $9.72 for 2 lbs. The PGN T-11 wire seems to weld - and feed - as well as the Inetub but its smokier.

I suspect PGN (or their source) spools these small reels from random sources so their non-spec GS wire could be anything. I avoid their GS.

What are other peoples favorites?

 

[California]

Ok, I won the gamble. That $11.70 Inetub wire, discounted as 'Used, Very Good', arrived today in excellent condition.

The wire is flawless and the shink-wrap around it is still sealed. Its carton is missing the top and bottom flaps and the corners look a little shopworn, that's irrelevant to using the wire. A sealed plastic bag enclosed the original box, then that was in the normal Amazon bubble delivery bag. I received good value!

I like ordering ahead when Camelcamelcamel reports the lowest price of the year.

My welding is hobby-farm DIY application, not a commercial production application where git-er-done is more important than pursuing a few dollars saved.

I'm enjoying being retired.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I'm enjoying being retired.

I have a handle on that.

The ONLY wire I use is INE and I don't care what it costs. I've tried them all and INE is the best, least in 030 solid wire it is. I use a gob of it. usually order 4 10 pound spools at a time and I wish my Hobart 210 MIG took 40 pound spools instead.

 

[California]

The ONLY wire I use is INE and I don't care what it costs. ... usually order 4 10 pound spools at a time

Wow - What are you welding with that much wire?

 

[SidecarFlip]

I CNC plasma cut and MIG weld my line of paddock stands for Triumph motorcycles, world wide on my own .com website and customer stuff (fabrication as well.

 

[California]

Welcome! Glad to see you made it over here.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Only took 2 months and some prodding of the boss. I about had given up on it.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Welcome! Glad to see you made it over here.

if you want some various manufactures flux core wire I have numerous 2 pound spools and some 2 pound spools of aluminum wire (spool gun) as well, I'll never use. I'll send them to you, no charge except postage, let me know, sitting on the shelf collecting dust. Have no use for any of it, all sealed, never opened. There is Blue Demon, Forney and Lincoln.

 

[California]

if you want some various manufactures flux core wire I have numerous 2 pound spools and some 2 pound spools of aluminum wire (spool gun) as well, I'll never use. I'll send them to you, no charge except postage, let me know, sitting on the shelf collecting dust. Have no use for any of it, all sealed, never opened. There is Blue Demon, Forney and Lincoln.

Thank you for for your generous offer! I have enough spools of INE flux wire - my favorite - for any foreseeable project so I'll pass on this.

I bought the $25 HF MIG-180 from a guy who was more a mad scientist, than anyone who needed to weld stuff. It's heavily modified - big capacitor, an adjustable gas delay timer, all the holes for the removable cover fortified by heavier tabs he tig-welded in because he had the cover off so many times he wore out the holes. 10 foot gun. Modified low-friction metal spool holder he had turned on his lathe. Larger diameter and longer ground cable with a quality ground clamp, and the welder cabinet modified for its Dinse connector. That welder was clearly a toy!

The welder included all the wires he had intended to try out - those three brands plus Hobart, Kiswel, two different generics (photo), and the original Chicago Electric (not Vulcan) wire that had come with the welder. Here's an old post where I described trying various wires before settling on the INE that I learned of from you. You're right, its the best.

What that original owner missed in modifying the welder, was that the wire drive wheel didn't get good traction so it needed to be snugged down to where it crushed the flux-core wire. Then the wire wouldn't feed smoothly out the tip of the gun so you couldn't maintain a constant stick-out. I bought a new drive wheel that feeds with almost no tension applied, and that solved the problem he had put so much work into resolving.

My experiments with the various brands of wire he included, found that I needed different welder settings each time I changed wire. Confusing, for an amateur. Sticking to INE eliminates that variable. My welds look more consistent now.

Again, thanks for the offer. And it's good to see you finally got past whatever was blocking your joining. I wonder how many other potential posters never made it on due to whatever that problem was.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Thank you for for your generous offer! I have enough spools of INE flux wire - my favorite - for any foreseeable project so I'll pass on this.

I bought the $25 HF MIG-180 from a guy who was more a mad scientist, than anyone who needed to weld stuff. It's heavily modified - big capacitor, an adjustable gas delay timer, all the holes for the removable cover fortified by heavier tabs he tig-welded in because he had the cover off so many times he wore out the holes. 10 foot gun. Modified low-friction metal spool holder he had turned on his lathe. Larger diameter and longer ground cable with a quality ground clamp, and the welder cabinet modified for its Dinse connector. That welder was clearly a toy!

The welder included all the wires he had intended to try out - those three brands plus Hobart, Kiswel, two different generics (photo), and the original Chicago Electric (not Vulcan) wire that had come with the welder. Here's an old post where I described trying various wires before settling on the INE that I learned of from you. You're right, its the best.

What that original owner missed in modifying the welder, was that the wire drive wheel didn't get good traction so it needed to be snugged down to where it crushed the flux-core wire. Then the wire wouldn't feed smoothly out the tip of the gun so you couldn't maintain a constant stick-out. I bought a new drive wheel that feeds with almost no tension applied, and that solved the problem he had put so much work into resolving.

My experiments with the various brands of wire he included, found that I needed different welder settings each time I changed wire. Confusing, for an amateur. Sticking to INE eliminates that variable. My welds look more consistent now.

Again, thanks for the offer. And it's good to see you finally got past whatever was blocking your joining. I wonder how many other potential posters never made it on due to whatever that problem was.

Not clue but I bet there are a lot. Only reason I did get on was a PM to the boss. I waited almost 2 months. Just about gave up on it as I'm Welding Web as well. One thing I don't like over there besides the fact that it's now owned by Vertical scope and VS and I don't get along well (another story for another time) is I find the convoluted humor over there somewhat adolescent.

Same with the Arborist Website. The main reasons why I don't post much on either whereas I do post a lot on TbyNet and I've been a member for a long time as well. My screen name on TbyNet, 5030 was the model number for the Kubota I had when I joined up and it's a long time gone. Don't like the somewhat heavy handed moderation on there either nor do I like the PG censoring. It is, after all, an adult site. I can live with it however and Muhammad has spanked me more than once, usually by PM as I do happen to know him off forum. He's never given me a time out, just a light spanking and I tend to obey that, most times which means I stay off political threads. On political threads my brain tends to overload my fingers and I post things I shouldn't. I have very definite political views and I don't mind posting them but some on there do take offense and whine to the boss and I get spanked. I do have a number of members on ignore and I've never reported any posts I feel that weren't right, I just don't read them. Not a snitcher, never have been. I do report spam however. At one time I was on the bosses' other site, cannot remember the name of it but I dropped out of it as it was way too adversarial for me and the bulk of posters on it were posters that got banned from TbyNet for being way over the top in comments.

This forum is way more laid back than even TbyNet is and I have no issue with that at all and far as I can tell, it's pretty much self moderating too.

You know me on the other forum and we have commented together many times.

Lots of good info over there even though I don't own a CUT. Besides, working part time for a Kubota dealer gives me pretty good insight as to what goes on in a tractor shop that only services and fixes Kubota equipment. I don't fiddle much in the shop, I drive one of the owner's single axle roll back bed trucks, delivering new Kubota's and implements and picking up 'dead' tractors that need shop intervention. The head tech and I are pretty good friends and lets me use his tools. He even trusts me enough to use the Kubota diagnosing tool here at the farm and he's invaluable for letting me borrow specialized tools like the specialized socket that removes the elongated lug nuts on the Kubota cast centers. I never approached them, the owner asked me if I wanted to work part time and I said sure, been delivering and picking up units ever since. I might work one day a week or 5 days, it all depends on how many he sells and he sells a pile of Kubota's as well as Cub Cadet commercial series lawn mowers.

Not a fancy place at all, it's just that he's been in business for 50 years, his dad owned the business and Keith took over when his dad was no longer able to run things and I knew his dad as well and his mom too. Both have passed. The fenced in lot in front of the shop and the tiny showroom (cannot even get a B series in the showroom) is always filled with Kubota tractors. I'd say he's the largest volume dealer in Michigan and the most low key as well. One thing he never does is push anyone, if you want it fine, if you don't fine too. I've actually sold a couple myself, having been around Kubota tractors and owned them for 25 years, I know them pretty well. If a customer comes in with questions and Keith is tied up and I'm up front, I can usually address their questions.

I have the full run of the place including the parts department. Just so happens that his parts manager lives about a mile from the farm and I've known him longer than I've dealt with Keith on tractors. I get my stuff delivered to the farm all the tine, I just call Greg and tell him what I need and it shows up. I do get employee pricing on parts and a serious reduction in labor rates too, not that I need that because it's unusual for any of my tractors to need dealer intervention, but pick up and delivery is no charge and I usually do it myself anyway.

One thing I never do is open the cash register. What is inside is none of my business anyway and I was raised not to ever lo0ok in anything that didn't concern me, so I don't.