Mig wire as filler rod?

[Paul.]

Ok 1st daft question heres go's,can i use bits of mig wire for gas welding?

Yes you can, on thicker material its best to twist a few together though to bulk them up a bit, used to OA weld a lot of 20swg sheet metal parts at one time using straightened 1mm mig wire as a filler, worked a treat.

 

[BrokenBiker]

Yes you can, on thicker material its best to twist a few together though to bulk them up a bit, used to OA weld a lot of 20swg sheet metal parts at one time using straightened 1mm mig wire as a filler, worked a treat.

now i want an oxy acetylene kit...

 

[BigDan83]

now i want an oxy acetylene kit...

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/record-no-23-vice-gas-welding-kit.58035/#post-715529

LOL

 

[BrokenBiker]

The kit is easy to get, it's the gas I do t want to pay for lol

 

[Maker]

now i want an oxy acetylene kit...

Me too, it seems to be good for everything.

 

[pedrobedro]

I've used tig rods to gas weld with so mig wire should be fine as said but a bit thin in .8. I've gas welded with coat hangers from the dry cleaners before now and with baling wire from the factory where I used to work.

 

[TechnicAl]

Proper Gas rods have a much lower Silicon content than TIG or MIG wires. This is to ensure the final weld is ductile. If you use TIG and especially MIG wire to gas weld the weld metal will be more brittle. I dont mean like an old carrot but it would be a problem at low temperatures.
So yes you can use MIG or TIG wires to gas weld unless its a critical application
In fact they probably perfrom better as they will flow easier

 

[hotrodder]

In fact they probably perfrom better as they will flow easier

Way nicer to use. A15 is very 'pasty' with oxyfuel

 

[Shedendman]

Proper Gas rods have a much lower Silicon content than TIG or MIG wires. This is to ensure the final weld is ductile. If you use TIG and especially MIG wire to gas weld the weld metal will be more brittle. I dont mean like an old carrot but it would be a problem at low temperatures.
So yes you can use MIG or TIG wires to gas weld unless its a critical application
In fact they probably perfrom better as they will flow easier

More knowledge downloaded that i didnt know,i should have paid better attention at school 40 yrs ago

 

[gordon stephenson]

Two strands of .8mm twisted do not make a 1.6mm filler. without doing the maths it probably nearer 1mm.

 

[Maker]

Two strands of .8mm twisted do not make a 1.6mm filler. without doing the maths it probably nearer 1mm.

I thought that, but I wasn't feeling pedantic enough to say it.You're nearly right with 1mm, two strands of 0.8 mm wire will have an equivalent CSA to 1.13mm if that existed. 4 strands would be needed to give an equivalent CSA to 1.6 mm rod but the overall diameter will be about 2 mm, might be useful to someone who struggles to feed standard standard 1.6 rod.

 

[gordon stephenson]

Maker, thanks for doing the sums, I usually recon "rule of thumb" double the diameter will have a csa of x4
Also when mig welding using .8mm mig instead of .6mm is not just a little bit bigger the csa is quite a lot more.

 

[chevy2]

I occaisionally use .6 or .8 mig wire as filler on real light guage stuff,
I never wind two strands together though, thats telling you that you need thicker filler, i keep 1mm filler which is fine for most thin stuff.

 

[Stueeee]

I quite often use 0.8 MIG wire for TIG work on really thin steel. When welding, I get round the "too bendy/flexible" problem of 0.8 wire by holding onto a short length of tiny copper bore tube which has the single strand of MIG wire running through it. Rather than trying to feed the MIG wire by hand (which is really awkward when wearing TIG gloves) I use the foot pedal to freeze the weld pool when the wire is in it, and pull out the next working length of MIG wire, carry on welding and then repeat when the wire runs short again.

 

[zx9]

I quite often use 0.8 MIG wire for TIG work on really thin steel. When welding, I get round the "too bendy/flexible" problem of 0.8 wire by holding onto a short length of tiny copper bore tube which has the single strand of MIG wire running through it. Rather than trying to feed the MIG wire by hand (which is really awkward when wearing TIG gloves) I use the foot pedal to freeze the weld pool when the wire is in it, and pull out the next working length of MIG wire, carry on welding and then repeat when the wire runs short again.

Interesting idea, I suppose you could use a MIG tip screwed in to the end of a bit of steel tube.

 

[langy]

I guess i'm gonna say the wrong thing here but why fanny about with mig wire when its so much better with proper tig rods, Its not like they are expensive ???

 

[Maker]

Because the mig wire was free. I have got proper tig rods too.

 

[mtt.tr]

The only easy mig diameter is 1mm up really easy to straighten as well.

 

[langy]

Because the mig wire was free. I have got proper tig rods too.

I won't say I havnt used it as I have in a pinch but if I was practising I would use the proper thing, it's hard enough as a learner without curly wire !!!