Using mig wire to tig

   / Using mig wire to tig #1  

muddstopper

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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.
 
   / Using mig wire to tig #2  
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!
 
   / Using mig wire to tig #3  
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.
 
   / Using mig wire to tig
  • Thread Starter
#4  
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.
 
   / Using mig wire to tig #5  
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.
 
   / Using mig wire to tig
  • Thread Starter
#6  
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
 
   / Using mig wire to tig #7  
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:
 
   / Using mig wire to tig #8  
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 :)
 
   / Using mig wire to tig
  • Thread Starter
#9  
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
 
   / Using mig wire to tig #10  
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.
 

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