wire feed welding wire

[SDE]

Someone on here said that they used .023 wire. So I bought some and attempted to use it. What I found out was that the drive roller in the welder had two different sized grooves. One for .03 and the other for .025. By cranking down the tension er it will feed the .023 wire. While at the hardware store I looked for .025 but they had .024, .03, and .035. So why do they make wire that is so close to the same size as other wire. And why not make it in increments of .005. I guess my solution will be to stick to the .03 size.
TY
SDE

 

[timcasbolt]

(quoted from post at 00:41:04 10/03/21) Someone on here said that they used .023 wire. So I bought some and attempted to use it. What I found out was that the drive roller in the welder had two different sized grooves. One for .03 and the other for .025. By cranking down the tension er it will feed the .023 wire. While at the hardware store I looked for .025 but they had .024, .03, and .035. So why do they make wire that is so close to the same size as other wire. And why not make it in increments of .005. I guess my solution will be to stick to the .03 size.
TY
SDE

ig wire is metric. .023, .024, and .025 are all considered 0.6mm and should work with your feed rolls. Rounding adds errors to everything.

 

[Bret4207]

(quoted from post at 01:41:04 10/03/21) Someone on here said that they used .023 wire. So I bought some and attempted to use it. What I found out was that the drive roller in the welder had two different sized grooves. One for .03 and the other for .025. By cranking down the tension er it will feed the .023 wire. While at the hardware store I looked for .025 but they had .024, .03, and .035. So why do they make wire that is so close to the same size as other wire. And why not make it in increments of .005. I guess my solution will be to stick to the .03 size.
TY
SDE

Depending on the welder you have you may be able to get rollers that go up to .045 or larger. I have one machine dedicated to flux core and one dedicated to solid wire. Both have rollers that will work with .030-.035, but one won't do .024 at all. The Miller I own I can get rollers to got up to .045, but the other Italian unit I can't. I'm still learning this MIG stuff, it's far more difficult than stick for me. With stick if you want more penetration you up the amps. With MIG you increase the wire speed and voltage, IIRC. It's different enough that it screws up my thinking.

I will give MIG this though- I wish we'd had a MIG machine back in the early 80's when I was doing body work! Back then it was oxy brazing and EVERYTHING heat warped as soon as you got near it. I did some sheet metal a little while back with .023 and I was amazed that I could weld and not end up having to straighten and shrink like back in the day. VERY nice!

 

[dr sportster]

I had problems with .023 feeding The Miller repair guy set it up for .030 still good for body work.

 

[da.bees]

Why oh why have people in the USA resisted converting to metric,it's so much easier to work
with.

 

[Bret4207]

How is thousandths of an inch harder than thousandths of a centimeter? If you are used to thinking in inches, trying to think in metric is a pain. If you are raised up in metric, inches are a pain. To each their own!