Ame J.D.- some Bubbas like to use the coat hanger wires with the copper flash- even some have salvaged MIG 70-S-3 .035" and .045" to use for TIG- as you so correctly said- NOT GOOD- plus unless you clean the rollers and the wire feed hose liners on ANY MIG unit after each spool change, all that crud will eventually cause porosity in the weld bead deposited-and Never use the same MIG unit to interchnage between Mild Steel, Stainless and Aluminum- My biggest "gripes" about MIG are twofold: Bubba's who work on a production line, where the components are clamped in a fixture and all welding is done Downhand- they'll say that they are "Certified Welders'- BS--they are "One Trcik Pony" Welders- when you can run the Arkansas Bellhole in API code welding with 5P on schedule pipe w/0 backing rings and pass X-ray, then come and tell me how good you are- also, the MIG welders usually judge, especially a fillet weld, by appearance and NOT by root penetration- you can lay down all the cover passes you want, but if the root pass is NOT 100% right, you've wasted time, material, electricity, shielding gas and MONEY--I had a buddy- we both got our Journeyman's cards same day- he worked for a GE AirCraft Engine plant in Kent Co. (closed now for some years) and welded Titanium with TIG- all inside a air purged and Argon flooded "Fish Bowl" 100% Argon, no oxygen to contaminate the welds, and as you said correctly J.D.--precision welding, wheter fusion or with filler rod with TIG- that's the Hallmark of a highly qualified welder-knowledge of materials and metallurgy, cleanliness, precision and joint preparation equals welds that pass X-Ray and meet code each and every time- anything less is not acceptable-
