Using mig wire to tig

[muddstopper]

Just wondering if anybody has ever ran a few feet of wire off there mig machines to do a small tig job. I ran out of regular tig rod and thought about trying some mig wire, solid wire not the flux core. Was running practice beads on 16guage carbon steel using 1/16rod, and 1/16 tungsten when I ran out of the small dia rod. I switched to 3/32 tungsten and 1/8 rod, no biggie, but I like the small tungsten and rod for thin metal and thought about my mig setting in the corner with a 12lb spool of .035 wire and though Umm, would it work. My first thoughts are it should, but kinda want to see what others think before i head back out to the shop.

 

[mikehaugen]

I would think you would have to feed it pretty fast, and as flimsy as it is it might be difficult. I don't see why it wouldn't work though, in fact my tig filler is er70s2 so I would presume it's the same stuff though maybe not as pure. Heck, people use coat hangers!

 

[roadhunter]

give it a try and let us know how it works. I bet it would work in a pinch and as others have mentioned even coat hangers will work. Somewhat ironic considering your previous posts about doing everything by the book.

 

[muddstopper]

thanks, I plan on giving it a try. +1 on the flimsy, hadnt thought of that. Might just double it and give it a twist tie with the drill to see if it would stiffen it up. Now thinking about stainless and aluminum, just incase I runout of regular tig rods in the middle of something.

Used to use coathangers with oxy/acet, hadnt thought of trying it with tig. wonder how all that varnish would effect a weld.

 

[k0ua]

I have used the RG45 oxy/ace rod with TIG.. It works, but not the best.. I could see some quality difference in the beads when using the proper TIG rod.

 

[muddstopper]

Koua, I think their is a difference between a tig rod and oxy/acet rod. Seems like I read that somewhere, I guess it bears a little investigating to know for sure. I think a er70s2 tig rod would be the same composition as the er70s2 mig wire, just a different dia.

Did a quick search and found this which sort of answers both questions about the er70 and the rg45. MIG wire for TIG welding. [Archive] - Weld Talk Message Boards
even mentions twisting the mig wire with a drill to stiffen it up

 

[k0ua]

Koua, I think their is a difference between a tig rod and oxy/acet rod. Seems like I read that somewhere, I guess it bears a little investigating to know for sure. I think a er70s2 tig rod would be the same composition as the er70s2 mig wire, just a different dia.

Did a quick search and found this which sort of answers both questions about the er70 and the rg45. MIG wire for TIG welding. [Archive] - Weld Talk Message Boards
even mentions twisting the mig wire with a drill to stiffen it up

Cool.. I remember trying the RG45, but it has been some time ago, and while it welded, I liked the TIG filler rod welds better.!:thumbsup:

 

[MinnesotaDaveChalmers]

Koua, I think their is a difference between a tig rod and oxy/acet rod. Seems like I read that somewhere, I guess it bears a little investigating to know for sure. I think a er70s2 tig rod would be the same composition as the er70s2 mig wire, just a different dia.

Did a quick search and found this which sort of answers both questions about the er70 and the rg45. MIG wire for TIG welding. [Archive] - Weld Talk Message Boards
even mentions twisting the mig wire with a drill to stiffen it up

I like to use left over mig wire twisted together, feeds through my hand really nicely

 

[muddstopper]

I bet using .035 mig wire with a .040 tunsten would allow welding some pretty thin metal. doubt I could turn my machine down low enough to get there. Hmmm, aluminum mig wire and aluminum foil, amps down to about 3, naw, not with my shakey hands

 

[k0ua]

According to Jody from Welding Tips and Tricks:

TIG welding filler wire and Mig welding wire from a spool are essentially the same composition except that mig welding wire often contains more silicon and that can actually be a good thing for TIG welding steel. Don’t hesitate to use steel or stainless steel mig wire if you run out of TIG welding filler metal. If its too small, double it up and twist it up in a cordless drill

Standard Tig wire for welding mild steel is E70S2 It seems like the standard mig welding wire off the shelf these days is almost always E70S6. The 2 and the 6 indicate the addition of silicon and deoxidizers in the wire.

Stainless tig and mig wire is most often E308L unless you ask for something else.

 

[firemanmike69]

I have done it many times both single strand and doubled up, carbon steel and stainless, works like a charm

 

[muddstopper]

Seems aluminum mig wire is the same as tig rod too. I now wonder about a cost comparison between using mig wire or tig rod. And then I would wonder if the aggravation of having to straighten and twist multiple strands even makes the ideal worth pursuing.

 

[k0ua]

Seems aluminum mig wire is the same as tig rod too. I now wonder about a cost comparison between using mig wire or tig rod. And then I would wonder if the aggravation of having to straighten and twist multiple strands even makes the ideal worth pursuing.

I think it is more of a "if you run out" type of situation.. OK to use, but probably not your everyday go to rod.

 

[muddstopper]

Yea, kind of what I am thinking to. I have a small spool of aluminum and nothing to run it thru. I might try using it up with the tig. Right now i am just running practice beads to get the hang of tigging. My brother has a boat prop with a blade broke. He replaced it with a new prop, so I figure the old one would make a good practice piece

 

[CNC Dan]

I've done it. Three strands of .025 twisted together. Works fine. But not as stiff as a single piece of wire.
Comes in handy if you are welding something thin, and can't get tig wire that is thin enough.

 

[MossRoad]

Thread pruned. Please continue with original discussion.

 

[Furu]

I use ER70S6 for my Tig limited experience.
I read somewhere when I was first starting my Tig learning that s6 flowed better than s2 so I got it instead.

Tried using both RG45 and RG60 with Tig once.
Not happy with results compared to regular Tig filler such as ER70S6.
Could also be that my Tig skill are not up to snuff.

As can be seen I have an inconsistent travel rate.

 

[muddstopper]

Looks a lot better than the chicken doo I have been laying down. I was practicing on some thin extruded aluminum earlier today. Tried this with some 1/16 throiated tungsten because I didnt have any Ceriated in 1/16. gave up on that. Stuck in some 3/32 ceriated and it welded better, but I couldnt keep up with the travel speed and kept burning thru. Switched back to Thoriated 3/32 and grabbed some 3/16 angle. Laid down some decent beads. I was running at 150amps and trying to race across the metal. More of a laywire at those amps instead of a dip and dap. I could keep up with it only so so. I need to get me a tig finger. Things sure get hot in a hurry.

Anyway, this is all practice. One thing i think i need to do is work on welding thicker metal and leave the thin stuff alone until I can make a decent bead. Anything below 16ga carbon and I just burn it up. I have also burnt thru the 3/16, I already knew I had the heat turned up to high, but I had to try it.

 

[Furu]

Technique that I was given by my welding mentor (Shield Arc) is amps equal thickness in thousands (ignore the decimal point) ( I hope I quoted it correctly)
1/8 = .125 = 125 amps
1/16 = .062 = 62 amps
etc

I do not have HF so I am scratch Tig only and thus can not drop off amps/pedal as the piece heats up as you travel along; especially as you approach an edge.

Some day I will have a "real" Tig unit but my current one does just fine. It is me that needs to improve.

 

[k0ua]

Technique that I was given by my welding mentor (Shield Arc) is amps equal thickness in thousands (ignore the decimal point) ( I hope I quoted it correctly)
1/8 = .125 = 125 amps
1/16 = .062 = 62 amps
etc

I do not have HF so I am scratch Tig only and thus can not drop off amps/pedal as the piece heats up as you travel along; especially as you approach an edge.

Some day I will have a "real" Tig unit but my current one does just fine. It is me that needs to improve.

I am in the same place you are Furu, my scratch start does mostly what I need to do, and I also need to improve more before getting something else... do I lust after HF start and foot pedal? Well yeah, but I am not in it to make a living or I would already have one.