TIG Welder for body work?

[wiedemab]

David Pozzi

A while back there was talk of a special MIG wire that was better for body work with less burn through problems.

Not sure if this might be what you are referring to, but I've been meaning to try it. I don't think it's intended for structural parts, but I've had a few people recommend it for sheetmetal work. It's supposed to be easier (softer)to hammer and grind.



One of the resident experts might be able to give some more information about it and/or had experiences with it.

http://www.airgas.com/browse/product...&WT.svl=373885

[David Pozzi]

They say it's superior to ER70 wire, sounds good. It was either this wire or something similar that was brought up. Less likely to burn through and it's supposed makes a fairly flat bead.

[toxicz28]

Superior to ER70 wire, I doubt. It has no aws classification. If the AWS won't touch it, I wouldn't use it for anything structural.

[derekf]

Maybe was this the body work MIG wire?

http://www.jwharris.com/images/pdf3/twentygauge.pdf

[wiedemab]

As I stated above - I don't think it's intended for anything structural.

I have been meaning to try it on some patch panels to see how it does, but never got around to it.

[toxicz28]

Maybe was this the body work MIG wire?

http://www.jwharris.com/images/pdf3/twentygauge.pdf

Interesting.

[wiedemab]

Is it flux core?

[wendell]

David,
I think the 20g is the stuff you're thinking of. It made the rounds on the chevelle and camaro boards a while ago. It's not flux core (you need shielding gas) but it's not solid core. It's got some "other" metal in the core. The end result is supposed to be a more maliable weld that finishes better (or easier). AMtt probably knows every thing about it. He knows every thing about everything else welding. I'll stick with the ER70 my self.

[wiedemab]

I just called JW Harris tech to ask them what it was intended to be used for. It has a flux core, but not in order to weld without shielding gas, but to help with welding on dirty, rusty, or painted materials. It was originally developed with a beginner home welder in mind that would be doing random repairs around the house. I asked about the differences in "workability" etc. and he said that it would hammer, grind etc. basically the same as standard (ER-70 -3) - (Is that right nomenclature?). I'm not an expert on this stuff, but I thought I'd post what I found out.

Sorry to get off on this tangent - I know the original thread was talking about TIG and sheetmetal.

[Matt@RFR]

Matt probably knows every thing about it.

Pfff. The less I know about body work, the better!

(ER-70 -3) - (Is that right nomenclature?).

That would be ER70S-3.

[David Pozzi]

Thanks for the Twentygage info.
I think the Twentygage wire is the one I heard about a while back. I may get some and try it on a minitub project.
David

[67speedfreak]

If you are going to use tig on thin sheet metal then you should use silica bronze rod. It has a much lower melting point and won't warp as bad. When installing sheet metal in tube chassis cars we Silica bronze the panels to the chassis. Much cleaner looking.

[wiedemab]

Dumb question - would this be similar to brazing?

Would this be recommended for welding in patch panels????????

[67speedfreak]

Not like Brazing in that you use a tig torch.
Could be used on certin patch panels. I would not recommend this for long flat panels. Nice thing about it is it will lay down nicely and look cleaner with less grinding.

It definately has it's place in car building but if I could only use mig or tig I would choose mig for most panel repair.

One place Silica Bronze tig works well is when welding on a roof panel in the drip rail area. Easier to lay a nice flat beed in this tight area and very little grinding afterwards.

Brian