OT: Harbor freight is closing out on good mig wire

[Bill Dufour]

Off Topic. My Harbor Freight is closing out on the ten pound rolls of Mig flux core wire. This is the good stuff made in Italy. I believe it is made by ESAB so it is as good as it gets. Probably replace it with junk made in china that is pre-rusted for a higher price.
Bill

[Art Mann]

Are you sure it is MIG wire? Usually, if you use flux core wire then you don't need inert gas.

[William Shelley]

You're making a distinction that only professional welders would likely care about.

But yes this is self-shielded flux core welding wire, e.g. E71T-GS, used for FCAW process, not solid core e.g. ER70S-8 wire for gas-shielded GMAW process.

[Art Mann]

I was assuming you were pointing out the closeout for the benefit of of people who are near other Harbor Freight stores. There are lots of inexpensive wire feed welders that don't even make provisions for inert gas. I just wanted to make sure people with that kind of welder knew that this wire is good for them.

[Bill Dufour]

I did not really read the package except to confirm it was from Italy. It looks similar to what I have bought their before. flux core wire that you can use with or without gas. I guess calling it MIG wire did confuse the issue. But in my defense calling it "FCAW on sale now" would have caused more confusion.
I suppose it could even be solid wire I didn't really read that far. And I do not know the diameter either.
Bill

[William Shelley]

And I just bought a 11lb spool of 0.030 flux-core about a week ago...

For reference, HTP wire which is really good stuff goes for about $55 for a 10lb spool. Blue Demon is around there too and I've heard it's good. If your welder takes 33lb spools you can pay a lot less per pound. My Tweco Fabricator 211i will do 33lb spools but I don't have a cart yet for it and the idea of moving a 60lb welder PLUS a 33lb spool of wire inside does not appeal to me.

Also keep in mind that ER71T-GS (probably what HF has) is non-spec'd wire that is only used for single-pass welds. ER71T-11 is wire that conforms to specific welding industry standards and is also suitable for use with multi-pass welds.