small wire reels on portamig...

[steve.h]

Evening all. I am wanting to do a bit of welding with stainless steel. I cant run to a 5 or 15 kg reel so am looking at the little .7kg ones. Obviously these wont fit on the Portamig and I cant be a###d to make a holder (although I would at a push). I have seen the reels as below that have the spindles, can I just cut the centres out with a hole cutter and use them like that or will they get out of shape ??
Thanks for your advice.
Steve.

http://www.thewelderswarehouse.com/Welding/316_Stainless_Steel_mig_wire.html

 

[KemppiFrog]

Did something like that, but put the little reel onto a large one with a side cut off.

 

[Windy Miller]

I did it on my little ESAB Compact 125 by knocking up another little bracket with a pin to support the smaller roll of wire. Certainly a very different setup inside your machine, but anything that holds the wire in a vaguely suitable place should do the job. Are there any spare bolt holes nearby that you could attach a bracket to? For occasional use it need not be anything too fancy.

 

[KemppiFrog]

I picked up a .5kg reel of ally wire yesterday and the internal space was too small to use the previous trick, so.... Filed a couple of notches in a spare roll and wired a bit of 16mm tube to it. Set the friction brake (behind the roll) to high. 5mins.

 

[malcolm]

I just cut the middle out with a jig saw. Works fine.