Which wire now??? .025???

[H80N]

as an adjunct to JWELD's question... drove into the big city today to have 3 bottles refilled... get some more nickel rod for cast iron and replenish the supply of MIG wire... when I went to get .024 mig wire for the littlest machine.... GUESS WHAT??? no .024... nobody has it..... all that my principal supplier had was LINCOLN .025... bought some and the matching tips.... then went to other suppliers and even to the LOWE'S.... they all had only the RED .025... am sure it will work fine but was shocked to find no other selection....
anybody else found this problem??? or any idea of what is going on??
Heiti

[cnslmva]

H80n

Havn't quite ran into the same situation, many manufacturers to choose from just the changing sizes. .023, .024, .025 according to my supplier are all the same wire sizes (manufacturing tolerances?). I figure that they're trying to get on a system, .025, .030, .035, .045 and so on. Just a thought.

[H80N]

cnslmva
yep there is some jockeying around to be done with the manufacturers.. but the fatter wires will not fit the smaller tips if you are running wire at any rate... so... yet more tips.... when the thin wires were coming in during the late 1970's there was .018 wire out there... which was magic on automotive sheetmetal... as good as tig.. but guess did not sell well enough... so it disapeared...
but NOW in my local market... all of a sudden only Lincoln .025 is available...
Heiti
ps... wish that some smart manufacturer would reintroduce the .018 wire... the bodyshops would swamp them with orders ....hint hint...

[H80N]

ANDY
you guys would OWN the market on a precision 0-60 amp mig machine running .018 for the bodyshop trade... but nobody has stepped up to the plate in that market...
Heiti

[klsm54]

I've been selling this stuff for 20 years and until I came here, I never heard of .024 wire. All we ever had was .023 and .025. From our suppliers over the years, Harris/Welco, previously Thermacote Welco, Natweld and Inweld we always got .023. Big Red has given us .025. I have always interchanged it with no problems. With import wires, I am sure the tolerance is more than .002.

.018 wire ??? The '70's were a little before my time in this business, but I can see feeding problems like we have never seen, with wire that small. I suppose 6 foot guns would be the norm, if we had such a thing.Personally, I think wire smaller than .023/.25 would cause more problems than it would be worth.

[hankj]

I'll bet with 2000's technology, somebody could devise a liner that would run .018 wire real slick. Teflon? Some othe near bullet-proof synthetic? No doubt. It would be a WONDERFULL addition to the product line for thin stuff.

Wish I'da been hooked on this in the '70's - I'd be REAL GOOD now!!!

Be well.

hankj

[timw]

My guess is that the current steel shortage is effecting the wire business. I seem to remember in the low 70's going to a supplier and he couldn't get stick rods. He had about half a pallet left and didn't know when he would get anymore in.
The smaller wire probably requires more effort to produce and I would guess they sell more of the larger sizes anyway.

[HAWK]

I can remember the past 25 years being only .023. 030. 035. 045.

[H80N]

there was a high carbon .018 wire at least test marketed during the mid 1970s... I tried it and used it.. on automotive sheetmetal.. think the time has come again for rethinking micromig applications...
Heiti

[Blown S-10]

i would buy .018

[JWELD]

Just for thought!!
If the .024 wire will run through a .023 liner I guess you could use a carburator jet drill bit or any .024 bit to open up the tips!!

[Paul Seaman]

Jweld:
A tip cleaner for cleaning OXY tips does the trick pretty well. I do this for .035 AL tips to make them bigger to reduce burnbacks.

Good luck,

[Sberry]

Hmmmmm,,, here all this time I been running 030 on auto body. I best dig out the roll of 023 that has been siting for 10 yrs and see if its any good yet. That 023 looks pretty small coming out of the gun,, doubt if I could even see the 18

[Paul Seaman]

Sberry:
You will like it!!!

peace,

[fun4now]

.018-.023-.025

had same thing happin to me could only get .023 tips and only get .025 wire LOL bolth ends but all fed fine .002 don't count i gess.
fun thought
as for .018 dont see why you couldnt feed it through a spool gun??
seem's like it would be gust the ticket for runnig right down to .015 LOL is .015 same as .018 what tip to buy for the spool gun LOL.
If you make it they will buy!! .015 where are you im waiting with a 1951 chevy. LOL i could use .030 on it's steel!I do have some other uses for it thoug and if i didnt i think i would find some just to play with the stuff.
happy welding