I had an old fashioned town blacksmith (he's 88) show me a technique he picked up he calls Long Arcing. He used a Lincoln SP125 to show me. All it amounts to is holding the wand about an inch or maybe a bit more, and with the wire speed a little higher than norm and low setting, you can do amazing things. It changed my worry about blowing holes forever. Now I can fill large holes, do just about anything. Try it, play with the idea a bit, and you will be much better before you know it! BTW, the gas shielding still seems to keep the welds clean. Don't do it in windy conditions and use Argon/C02 mix.
