After welding hundreds of meters of bead on the above; I found that you really can not have too much gas flow, at some point it just becomes wasteful though. Are you welding outside in the wind or in the path of a fan? Good luck then, because the wind easily blows away your gas shield. A spool welder is your best bet if your going to do a lot of welding, however, if you keep your cable as straight as possible, you can get by with what you have. Good weld is definitely about having your feed speed and voltage correct, if your feed is jerky, it is going to look like crap. Thin gauge stock that you are welding, you will have to weld in short beads, you will find warpage a problem also. Have fun