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MIG Welding - 030 vs 035

21K views 21 replies 12 participants last post by  Elevinpointsixtoone 
#1 ·
Hey I'm getting to know my new Hobart 210 MIG welder and am wondering if there is a wire diam. preference for welding up thicker materials. I'll be installing some .25" thick mild steel engine mounts, 2x4 box tube frame (.125") plus the typical M-II stuff, pivot tubes with support bracket, rack brackets etc. I think the M-II stuff is mostly 3/16". So I've practiced with some .030 solid wire welding up some .125 and .250 flat steel butt joints and the .125 looks pretty damn nice. 100% penetration. I'm still looking for the correct settings on the .25. Would moving up to the .035 solid wire create a better weld for like 3/16"s and up or is this really just up to the guy holding the gun? My thought is the bigger wire may produce a larger/fatter arc making a somewhat larger joint of fused material?
Any thoughts on which would be better if any?
I've welded a ton of sheet metal and thinner brackets with my Lincoln 115 volt unit. This is my first 230 unit.
Thanks,
Dave
 
#2 ·
Go to the larger wire, think about it this way, the larger the wire the more amps it can carry thru it to the weld. Wire is cheap, get some and give it a go and you will see what I mean.

Brian
 
#4 ·
As a "rule of thumb" (wonder where that old saying comes from? :confused: ) use the largest electrode or wire practical for the task at hand, notice I did not say the largest possible! There is a big difference between the largest wire possible for a weld and what works the best, so what works the best for a given size metal? That's kind of like asking "how long is a piece of rope"? Many factors determine what will be the best choice for a certain job but generally the largest wire or rod practical, that is the size that works comfortably and produces a sound weld, will be faster and cheaper with no loss of weld quality. The bottom line is if your welder can handle the AMPs and .035 does not burn through or otherwise damage the base metal then it may be a better choice-or not. Experiment and see how it works for you.
 
#6 ·
67fordboy said:
Me personally i would go with .035 wire course that also depends on your welding experience! I can weld in body panels or 1/2 inch thick stuff with .035, just a personal preference
I agree with 67fordboy, I use 0.030 exclusively at home (0.045 to 1/16 at

work). I believe that it has a large enough diameter to do heavy steel (5/16)

and small enough to do sheet metal.

Does your local supply have either 0.030/0.035 in your preferred brand? The

reason I ask is that there is a little price difference also, in my area the

0.030 seems to be a about 5 dollars cheaper for a 1kg spool. It may not

matter but now a days 5 dollars is still 5 dollars in my pocket. Also

my local praxair stopped selling the 0.030 wire I preferred (lincoln hardwire)

and for some reason it was back ordered for about months so I had to switch

to air-liquide hardwire and dualshield fluxcore.
 
#7 ·
I can find Lincoln and Harris 030 all day and have used both without issue. I checked Lowes for .035 solid wire but they don't carry it. I'll check with my welding supplier....I have a resale with them. I wonder if they put 030 on a 2 lb spool? Would rather not drop $50 on 10 lbs if I don't like it....
 
#8 ·
Just keep in mind,, The bigger the wire, The hotter you need to run the machine..The smaller the wire, The lower you can run the machine...

The smaller wire is good on panel work... You can keep the heat down and still get penetration..

You shouldn't need no more then 0.30... :thumbup:

I only use 0.23 and 0.30 ...The 0.23 can weld the thicker metal also... Like someone said... It has a lot to do with the guy holding the gun.... And for the thicker metal's,, Always bevel grind both sides... So you can get 100% weld.. ;)
 
#12 ·
oldred said:
As a "rule of thumb" (wonder where that old saying comes from? :confused: ) use the largest electrode or wire practical for the task at hand, notice I did not say the largest possible! There is a big difference between the largest wire possible for a weld and what works the best, so what works the best for a given size metal? That's kind of like asking "how long is a piece of rope"? Many factors determine what will be the best choice for a certain job but generally the largest wire or rod practical, that is the size that works comfortably and produces a sound weld, will be faster and cheaper with no loss of weld quality. The bottom line is if your welder can handle the AMPs and .035 does not burn through or otherwise damage the base metal then it may be a better choice-or not. Experiment and see how it works for you.
I was told by my grandfather that the rule of thumb was an approximate measurement of 1", and a "foot" was 12". (male adult). the thumb measurement is taken from the tip of the thumb to its first knuckle.

He told me that back in the days of wooden ship repairs at sea many times there was no ruler. Since most men had their thumbs and feet they could facilitate repairs with a common measuring tool! ie." Hey Frank - cut a foot and 3 thumbs off the end of that timber"

Whether or not that is the true origin, it sounds reasonable to me.
 
#13 ·
mig welding

Old Fool said:
I was told by my grandfather that the rule of thumb was an approximate measurement of 1", and a "foot" was 12". (male adult). the thumb measurement is taken from the tip of the thumb to its first knuckle.

He told me that back in the days of wooden ship repairs at sea many times there was no ruler. Since most men had their thumbs and feet they could facilitate repairs with a common measuring tool! ie." Hey Frank - cut a foot and 3 thumbs off the end of that timber"

Whether or not that is the true origin, it sounds reasonable to me.
And your thumb is the same length as your nose. :D :thumbup:

Bob

You guys can take your thumb away from your nose now. :rolleyes: :mwink:
 
#15 ·
And then there's "Grog" which was the way they preserved their drinking water, the barrels of fresh water (on which their very lives depended) would have an amount of RUM added so it would not stagnate in the barrel, this mixture was called "Grog" and if you drank too much you became "Groggy"! :drunk:
 
#16 ·
It was the Egyptians that developed the first standardized measureing system.When they started building the pyramids they needed help from all over and everyone had a different way of measuring,like with a string with equally spaced knots but no one spaced them the same way until they all had too work together and get the same measure...
 
#20 ·
NEW INTERIORS said:
Just keep in mind,, The bigger the wire, The hotter you need to run the machine..The smaller the wire, The lower you can run the machine...

The smaller wire is good on panel work... You can keep the heat down and still get penetration..

You shouldn't need no more then 0.30... :thumbup:

I only use 0.23 and 0.30 ...The 0.23 can weld the thicker metal also... Like someone said... It has a lot to do with the guy holding the gun.... And for the thicker metal's,, Always bevel grind both sides... So you can get 100% weld.. ;)

I would agree. I think hobbyist like myself don't always work with the best tools so we learn to do with what we have. What I see is a lot of people who weld professionally say you cannot weld thick metal with a 110v welder; I say they never had to.

I learned with my Hobart 110v welder...which is pretty bottom of the barrel welder, that it does not weld ....ANYTHING as good with .030 wire as it does with .024 wire. But it does do an outstanding job with .024 wire.

The point being the 110v welder does not handle .030 wire as well. I can not speak for a larger welder but I have learned to do some prety large jobs with the smaller wire.

The part that is missed is with larger wire, the weld is much quicker. With smaller wire the weld takes longer and the added heat makes up for the inadequacies of the wire; providing there is a good bevel and you are laying down a good amount of weld.

What I found is, with good bevels, taking time to lay down good rows of weld, smaller wire can be quite good.

Here is a set of blades which went to a mush hog on a very large tractor. My tractor is 54hp and the tractor which used these is 2x the size. Blades are 1/2" thick and they were used to clear several acres including the mowing down of 100's of locust trees. Notice the heat distortion. The area welded (not just the weld) was cherry red when I set the gun down:



This is a 1/2" thick tab on a very large water table. I had to torch it off for transport and weld it back on during set up. The tab was used to lift the table which is heavy enough to make a 5000lb fork truck light on it's wheels.



My neighbor pulled out a plow with no attachment bar. We welded on a 1" thick plow bar to the top; no mechanical advantage just weld. He plowed a couple acres in the back yard to feed the deer corn.
 
#21 ·
gow589 said:
What I see is a lot of people who weld professionally say you cannot weld thick metal with a 110v welder; I say they never had to.



I have welded professionally from 1968 until I retired a few years ago and when I hear someone, especially a pro, say that a 110 welder can't be used on thick metal the first thing I think is "that's BS"! While there may be limits from a practical standpoint due to duty cycle, time spent doing the job, etc there really is no limit to how heavy a section that can be welded with .024 wire and a 110 machine. The trick is pre-heat! With small wire and low AMPs there can be serious problems when starting the weld on a heavy section because the thick metal will sink off the heat too fast and cause chilling of the bead leading to under-bead cracking from thermal shock, poor penatration and a brittle weld. That's where the mistaken belief these machines can't be used for heavier metal comes from but this is very simple to avoid. Just heat the area to around 400 deg or so, just too hot to touch with your bare hand, and then there is no problem. The inherent heat from the weld will eventually raise the temperature if no pre-heat is used but a lot of damage could occur before the metal becomes hot enough, the pre-heat will prevent this. An Oxy/Acetylene torch is useful for pre-heat but unless the part is really large even a small Propane torch is all that is necessary, 400 to 450 deg is plenty for starting the weld and that's a long way from red hot so those little torches are usually enough. In any case the pre-heating makes a world of difference when using low AMPs and small wire.
 
#22 ·
Since there seems to be no "rule of thumb" no pun intended :p and I do have 210 amp 230 volt MIG I might as well pick up a roll of .035 and see how it runs. So far, my .030 tests look good up to eight inch while the 5/16" had a lot of weld bead fully wetted out on top but maybe only 50% penetration. I got good results on the 8th by turning the wire feed down from the recommended setting and welding slower. In fact, I started burning holes through the base material....so...I'm just now finding this machines sweet spot. I will grab a spool of .035 and see where that takes me.
Dave
 
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