Hot Rods Mig Wire .023, .025, or .035?

Same here....

LynnW

 

.030 here.

 

.023 for sheet metal here also... .035 for heavy stuff.


But have used .035 flux core before for sheet metal.

 

.023 wire is hard to obtain around here. It's like a needle in a haystack.

I usually run .025 wire for everything. Yes I have welded some 1/4 plate with the .025 wire.

I do have a spool of .03 wire but for most jobs that I would switch to .03 I walk over to the arc welder because it's easier to setup.

When i bought the lincoln 220v welder it came with a roll of .035 coreflux wire. Which I tried once and did not like the way it welded. Back to the arc welder.

The mig is mainly used for anything thinner than 1/8 inch.
Anything above go for a real welder with some 7018 rod.

I have never tried tig but as my father (40 years of welding) found out. His brain, eyes, feet and both hands dont work together to tig weld. I want to bust out the tig welder at work sometime and play to see if my limbs can work together

 

I use .023 in my Hobart for sheet metal and .030 for chassis and roll cage welding. Anything heavier I use my stick welder. Don't have a tig welder. May buy one this year.
I still gas weld my headers . Goes back to my days at Midas muffler in the 60's I guess.

 

yes, change nozzle with wire change...have not changed liner...same one for both

 

If you have a DC stick welder, why buy a tig welder? All you need is a tig torch, regulator and hose. Reverse the polarity on your stick machine and go to work.

 

Mig wire size depends on the application.

 

Negatory!
I actually did change EVERYTHING, the only thing I didn't do was throw that "firehose" of a Miller gun assembly in the trash and buy a Tweco.

 

Same here. My HTP 120v is ready to go with .023, and the 240v Miller is set up with .035 (and CO2 gas...it came that way).

I use the 120 v HTP 90% of the time.

 

.030 for everything..

 

Yes, here's a good short video with some tips for using a DC power source from a good ol' Kansas welder! Weld.com has a lot of video's available for all kinds of welding situations.

 

Did you change the liner, rollers and tip when using the .023?

 

030 works for everything I use my mig for. HTP 160 that I bought in 1993. I also have tig, and ox-acet. Can use my tig power supply to stick weld if I needed to.

 

See my entry five posts back.

 

Cool video, @Ebbspeed . Gives me hope for my old Sears stick welder.

 

.030 for everything I do, lots of sheet metal and some heavier chassis stuff. I hate having to swap wire around, and its what I am used to using for years

 

.030 for almost everything I do.

 

My Miller 252 unit will only go as low as 14 volts. I find that 030 wire actually helps on 18 or 20 gauge to act as a heat sink and allows for better control with less blow through. I do use 023 as well. Mostly 030. I can and do dial it up and 030 works for well for structural components.

 

Went to the garage for a look. .035 from Princess Auto. Never really gave it much thought.

Sent from my SM-T350 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

.035 for everything, 20 gauge sheet metal can be a little challenging, but I have gotten pretty used to it now.
Now that I have retired, I might switch over to .030, but I'd have to buy new rollers & tips. Gene

 

.030 here

 

.030 but after reading all these comments it has me wondering if I should be looking at .025 for sheet metal....

 

.023 in the Lincoln for Sheetmetal, .035 in the Hobart for heavy welding.

 

My welder came set up with .035. I set it up for .023 for it's first sheet metal job. I have never changed it back. I find it good for every thing on a hot rod. I even built my log splitter with .023. Some pretty heavy welds. It obviously fills slower, but takes less amperage to run. I find it much more controllable. You can always put in a root, then multi -pass for heavy stuff.

 

I had a problem with tig at first...same thing. Coordinating foot with both hands?
Hell, it was like driving while oxy-acetylene welding!
Finally got onto it with practice, but tig is slower than I can usually tolerate.
(spoiled by mig speed, sometimes I oxy-acet weld things I want perfect, but some of my 'perfection' is lost from seldom welding. (oxy-acet)
Welding is like...getting to Carnegie Hall: Practice, practice, practice.

 

The old Miller 211 loves that 030 wire, which isn’t an option in the poll. It’ll do anything. Currently working on my Jeep CJ doing panel patches.

 

I use .030 because that is the size of the tips I have.

I get my wire from the Farm Supply store and I think they use the .035 more because they seem to have more products for it (tips, liners, and different brands of wire), but they usually have what I need in stock for the .030. For all I know, they might just have more of the .035 in stock because less people use it.

 

I use 0.6mm for sheet metal with a tip for 0.6mm and 1.0mm with a tip for 1.0mm for heavier plate and angle - but I`m neither a sheet metal worker or welder.....I just get by and have done for 30 yrs with the same machine.I do have TIG as well for delicate work and stainless steel my 2c

 

For the Aussies who don't do maths, 23 is .6mm 30 is.8mm 35 is .9mm approx..... .6 is what I use for sheet metal wouldn't use a mig on chassis work unless it was 415v feed....mainly use stick on anything over 3mm