Paul, as an old fart talking to an old fart, if I had the opportunity to learn from you one-on-one, it would be a priceless opportunity. Love all your videos, even those I may never get to do myself, but damn, you're good.
If you loosen your guide rollers a little bit you shouldn't have those hard starts with the wire melting off and sticking everywhere else. General rule of thumb is just point the gun at your hand with a slight bend in the wire and it shouldn't push your hand away hard and should follow a smooth bend
I'm thinking some of that early assembly might like some good old tie-wire! Or in the welding shop maybe some odd bits of MIG wire that always seem to be around. Speaking of say holding that large vertical piece from falling on to your toes for example.