Mig wire type

[Don]

Out of mig wire and looking for something that works good and easy to grind,label is gone from roll,but it wasn’t what I would call easy to work,there’s a lot of diff opinion on the internet,need somebody that knows something!!

[swedishsteel]

I've used ESAB Easy Grind. From what I can find/read it's "softest" mig, making it somewhat easier to grind when doing body work. I haven't had much luck moving it much with a hammer and dolly, but I'm far from being a good metal worker. It's kind of hard to find and expensive. Bought two 11 lb. rolls a couple months ago and was about $100 a roll.

[Don]

That seems a whole lot out of line for something as simple as welding wire!!

[deuce_roadster]

Don if you look at the labels on the wire the hardness of the wire is noted by Sn where n= some number. If you just ask for MIG wire what you normally will get is S6 which is hard and often cracks if you tack something or if you weld it and try to hammer and dolly the work.. Years ago I used to get S0 for body work and it bends without breaking. The Easy Grind you get now is like S1 or 2. I do a fair amount of metal work and much prefer this softer wire for body panels. If you TIG weld, the fit up of the pieces is crucial (as you already know) to not using much filler rod. Always ask the welding store professionals about what you should use and explain your experience level. In my opinion for what I do, if using the MIG, the Easy Grind is worth the extra money. You can easily swap it out for stronger wire if you are doing something structural. Dual shield wire is very expensive but is twice as strong if you are going for strength. Good luck with your choices.

[quickchange34]

Any mig wire you buy you won't be able to metal finish the weld. Either tig or gas welding will work .

[PeteVS]

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Is the "easy grind" wire available as a flux core wire or only for use with shielding gas?

[rockfla]

I use .023 Eazy Grind for my sheet metal work

[Don]

I am using gas mix for shielding!aregon a d co2::

[rockfla]

Originally Posted by Don

I am using gas mix for shielding!aregon a d co2::

I use a "Tri" mix, it seems to "help" with splatter

[RKS.PA]

Originally Posted by Don

Out of mig wire and looking for something that works good and easy to grind,label is gone from roll,but it wasn’t what I would call easy to work,there’s a lot of diff opinion on the internet,need somebody that knows something!!

Don, most of the time, what are you trying to fix/build with your mig welder??

[Seth Swoboda]

75/25 gas is a must. The small MIG welders that don't require shielding gas, aren't worth buying.

[Krylon32]

When we were boxing deuce rails for about 10 years in my chassis fab shop we used a wire between S1 and S6 both for strength and ease of grinding. I can't find the exact number anymore. We used 75/25 gas. The man that worked for me for 10 years boxing rails got to be a dam good mig welder. When he first started he left a lot of material to grind but after a few years he was leaving minimal excess. We never had any complaints about rails separating so he must have burned them together good. Still seemed like we went thru a lot of 24 grit discs over the years

[G.M.]

Originally Posted by Krylon32

When we were boxing deuce rails for about 10 years in my chassis fab shop we used a wire between S1 and S6 both for strength and ease of grinding. I can't find the exact number anymore. We used 75/25 gas. The man that worked for me for 10 years boxing rails got to be a dam good mig welder. When he first started he left a lot of material to grind but after a few years he was leaving minimal excess. We never had any complaints about rails separating so he must have burned them together good. Still seemed like we went thru a lot of 24 grit discs over the years

I would bet this man you had welding took more time to make better fitting
joints. When welding with MIG you are always applying metal. On joints that
but up to each other depending on the thickness of the metal leave a slight
gap. .023 wire will make any welds required on autos. You can cut the speed
of the wire down real slow which cuts the amps or speed it way up and get
close to 200 amps. The voltage has to be adjusted to properly burn the wire
at the tip. You can speed smaller wire to get more heat or amps but you can
not cut large wire for real low heat. I got into MIG welding back in the late
40's when MIG welders were giant machines made by Arco and GE. They
were used on welding heavy metals. I made the first body shop machines
which we called Fender Menders. At that time C25 {75% argon /25% CO2}
was not available. We used a bottle of argon and a bottle of CO2 and mixed
them with a "Y" hose. The gas would build up pressure when you were not
welding and come out in a big gush when you pulled the trigger and disrupt
the arc for a few seconds at start. I put a small length of .035 contact tip in
the gas hose where it entered the handle of the gun. This cut the gas surge
and also let a little gas bleed out on the small ball of wire on the end of the
gun. This cooled the wire in gas making it easy to start the arc the next time.
My company made MIG welders for Air Products, Hobart, Forney and Snap On
tool company for years. I sold the company over 40 years ago and they still
make MIG welders for Snap On. In fact I think they are almost 100% Snap
On. For light MIG welding you need a lighter shaded glass than on larger
diameter wire heavy metal welding. I am close to 90 years old, my eye sight
is 20/20, hand is still steady and still do a little MIG and gas welding. Back
when we first started there was only a couple makes of small MIG wires made.
They were all hard and hard to grind but we got by. G.M.

[flatheadmurre]

There is brazing wire available for the mig to nowdays...used mainly for not affecting galvanized steel in modern car bodywork.
I tried it on a project more looking like a sieve then a floor after blasting...and since it doesn´t melt the base material i talked myself into that it worked better...or was it the feelgood of something new...

[JSeery]

Originally Posted by flatheadmurre

There is brazing wire available for the mig to nowdays...used mainly for not affecting galvanized steel in modern car bodywork.
I tried it on a project more looking like a sieve then a floor after blasting...and since it doesn´t melt the base material i talked myself into that it worked better...or was it the feelgood of something new...

Have you tried on something like a body patch panel (external skin) or butt joint situation? Interesting and something I've never heard of.

[flatheadmurre]

Originally Posted by JSeery

Have you tried on something like a body patch panel (external skin) or butt joint situation? Interesting and something I've never heard of.

Seems to work as good as the normal migwire...less splatter...but it needs clean surfaces.
If you think it will tigweld fine it works migbrazing.
I had to reduce the power a fair bit compared to mig welding.
Less heat so warpage/tension seemed to be less.
Haven´t used it much yet.

[rotorwrench]

One of the major problems with the wire feed welders is the feed system. The wire has to be hard enough to feed or it will break. The "S" or alloy number is only part of the description. The ER70 gives the tensile strength at 70k if you know the system. 70k is pretty hard stuff.

I don't use a wire welder for sheet metal due to the hardness of the filler. I use RG45 with an O/A gas rig to weld sheet metal. The 45k filler wire is much softer and many times I don't have to hammer it at all. I use an aircraft torch to keep the heat down to a minimum. Believe it or not, O/A/gas shields the weld pretty well during the process if done correctly. It's so much easier to weld that I would never use a 60k or 70k filler. I do use the wire feed for welding thicker metals but I also still use the old rod burner too. The wire feed keeps the stuff cleaner with Argon/CO2 mix but the rod burner is less expensive to operate out in the toolies.

[JSeery]

This is really interesting (to me at least), will have to do some research. I have trouble with something like hammer welding with gas because of having to do something with the torch or turn it on and off. And MIG is an issue because of the wire. And TIG has it's problems as well. Haven't found the ideal, for me, solution yet.

[Zeke3]

I have been practicing my gas welding skills and trying to follow rotor wrench' suggestions. Not very pretty yet. I am using a small old Harris torch. Next step is to drop down to a 0 tip size and see how that goes. I was not able to find RG-45 filler rod in a diameter smaller than 1/16". I asked my welding shop about TIG filler rod, but it was the same ER70-S6 material as the MIG wire, or something very similar.

I did the firewall repair in my avatar photo with the MIG welder and I am pleased with how it turned out after some grinding. That was before I had the O/A setup.

Oh well, keep practicing with the torch.

[JSeery]

I really like using a torch, but for some reason it always ends up being a juggling act for me!!