Why is it?

I made a slight mod to my little MIG welder. I drilled a hole in the back panel so I can mount a 30 lb spool on some supports behind the welder and r un tte wire thru the hole and on to the pinch rollers. The intent is of co urse to be able to use 30 lb spools , but it does make it easy to see both sides of the spool.

Dan

Pretty funny. I had to cob together an adapter to use a 2lb spool in my Millermatic 200. No problem mounting 44lb spools :)

Normally I always ran the big spools of .035 ER70S-6 wire so it really didn't matter if I could read the label or not. Kinda knew already what was in it.

No matter to me. My baby MIG only gets one kind of wire. .30 generic flux core.

Pretty easy to tell here , I use only .025" ER70S6 or .035" flux core . Until the roll of .025" is used up , then I'll go to the roll of .030" .

Today I was running .030 silicon bronze. Besides the silicon bronze, I have and run .030 4043 and 5356 aluminum, .023 and .030 70S2 steel, .035 flux core hardfacing , and .025 304 and 309 SS wires. Using my little Lincoln SP 125Plus. Great little machine. I love it. Eric

Could you paint the reels in different colours so that you know type/size by the colour?

Or just write what they are with a felt pen on the opposite side of the reel.

30 lb! 2 lb lasts me forever - do you use your MIG for business? If not, what kind of hobby work uses so much wire?

Bob

I have that machine & love mine.

Do you have a spool gun for aluminum? I've heard that it's almost impossible to use without one. And I suppose that you have a variety of gases for the different wires.

Do you change wires often? It's such a PITA for me that I'd almost rather haul my gas tank to a remote job than switch to flux core & then back.

Bob

I am a scrounge. So bought various big spools at places as Boeing Surplu s and the local scrap yard and have wound some onto 10 lb spools. But resp ooling is kind of a PITA. So just made a stand out of bed frame angle iron . -I have found dual shield, silicon bronze , and various stainless wir es at scrap yard prices.

Dan

I use a paint pen. Felt pen doesn't show up very well on the black plastic reels. Eric

I use a different whip for aluminum. Instead of changing liners cause it's such a hassle. I do use different gasses and even made a mixing manifold that works well. I have found that I can run the softer 4043 aluminum wire with little problem. In fact, I did a job recently where I could see, with my new helmet, the aluminum wire vaporizing in the arc and depositing on the part. The trick for aluminum wire is the plastic liner in the whip, keeping the whip as straight as possible, and adjusting the drive roll pressure such that it barely drives the wire. That way if the wire stops moving in the whip it won't bird's nest inside the machine. And I really don't mind changing wires so much. I have done it enough that I have apparently found a method that works well because I can change wire and contact tip in just a few minutes. I made new, large, thumb screws for weld cables, ones that I can grab easily with my Welper pliers, so that changing polarity is easy too. Eric

It does on a patch of white nail polish, preferably from the Dollar store.

--jsw

I thought this strange this morning as the spools I use in my MIG are not handed but they are 5kg and 15kg spools. I looked at the only 1kg spool I have which I use for TIG and it is handed but I can't see why it wouldn't work either way as the drag peg would still pick-up on the webs in the spool rather than the hole on the label side.

I run 4043 and 5356 in my spool gun on the bigger machine. The labels show nicely. Well, except on the spools that the labels fell off of and I don't know what they are anymore.

Funny. I was just thinking I have used a white paint marker on some of my spools of wire.

The only thing that makes the spools handed is that the machine requires the wire to come off the bottom of the spool when in the machine. For the wire to come off the bottom the label must face in. Eric

lus and the local scrap yard and have wound some onto 10 lb spools. But re spooling is kind of a PITA. So just made a stand out of bed frame angle ir on . -I have found dual shield, silicon bronze , and various stainless w ires at scrap yard prices.

Do you have a stick welder? I was at the scrap yard and there was someone turning in a bunch of various stick rods. I really do not need any more st ick electrodes but did buy some as it was stuff I did not have . So if yo u have a stick welder, let me know and I will see what I can get for you.

Dan

I do have a stick welder. But I use so little that I pretty much have a lifetime supply. Thanks anyhow, Bob