I weld better with an arc welder than I do a flux wire welder ( partly because my HF flusx core, the feed is skippy because it dosn't tighten enough ) but I tought myself how to arc weld, I learned from my dad how to strike it ( even tho now I do it compleatly diffrent than him ) and that's all I was really tought. what I do is get a peice of steel ( I use 14ga sheetmetal ) and ground that with what your working on, near where your working ( if your welding a car, don't ground to the rear bumper when your working on the front fender, ect... ) then when you want to weld, turn the welder on and then strike the arc on the peice of sheetmetal you grounded, get the rod nice and hot, and quickly move to where you need to weld, you can spot weld or start a bead like this very easilly. you do NEED an auto darkening hood to be fast enough tho. if the rod is glowing, you do not need to strike an arc, it will automaticly start welding when the rod gets close enough, that's why it works.