Washington Alloy vs Lincoln flux wire

[supermanotorious]

There is a new welding supply near my home that offers discounts to students of the local welding program. They supply WA wire as well as Lincoln. I bought 4 lbs of WA for the first time and they came out to less than $5 per pound, way cheaper than the Lincoln. Before I lay this stuff down, does anyone have experience with WA and how well does it compare to Lincoln? By the weekend, I'll be able to tell you.

 

[Doc Sprocket]

I've never even heard of it, must be an American thang. That said- It's been my experience that you get what you pay for with welding wire. I have had the great displeasure of burning a foot or so off a roll of the cheapstuff, then tossing the remainder of the roll in ye olde scrap bin.

But hey- for every rule there is an exception (somewhere out there). Give it a try!

 

[machinist@large]

There is a new welding supply near my home that offers discounts to students of the local welding program. They supply WA wire as well as Lincoln. I bought 4 lbs of WA for the first time and they came out to less than $5 per pound, way cheaper than the Lincoln. Before I lay this stuff down, does anyone have experience with WA and how well does it compare to Lincoln? By the weekend, I'll be able to tell you.

Does any part of the packaging list where it was made/produced? If it just says "Marketed By....." without the country of manufacture, then all bets are off.

 

[supermanotorious]

the box says made in USA, I went thru about 1/3 pound of it welding a winch Friday, lays down a decent weld but with lots of splatter, the slag looks quite different from that of Lincoln wire and it reminds me of the Harbor Freight wire (which I'll never buy) slag though its been a long time since I've used that (only used what came with the welder), I will likely exchange the second two lb package towards 2 lb of Lincoln despite the cost

 

[supermanotorious]

as an update I've welded several winches with the Washington Alloy and will never do so again, I've been flooded with orders recently and have spent so much ****ing time cleaning splatter off the welds, I finally bought some more Lincoln .035 and it welds like velvet, **** that cheap *** wire, DO NOT BUY IT, stick to the name brand stuff

 

[loud1]

I've used Miller wire with disappointing results, way too much spatter. I prefer to spend the money and get Lincoln wire.

 

[machinist@large]

Lincoln is usually one of the benchmarks when it comes to consumables (mig wire and/ or welding rod),but Hobart (AKA Miller) and ESAB both have products I really like.

The problem I have, as far as Mig wire is concerned, is that the Hobart brand Corex dual shield wire I'm using at work doesn't come any smaller than .045" dia., and needs a machine that can put out 250+ amps to really make it shine.....

At home, I've only got a Lincoln 135 mig box (for Mig), it runs well on both Lincoln and Hobart .030" bare wire. Anything over what the lunchbox can handle is covered by my Miller Dial Arc 250 AC/DC Stick machine.

 

[loud1]

I got a crappy Lincoln 120 here at work that i use for small jobs, at higher settings the miller flux core spatters so bad it will interfere with the weld puddle. At home i have the Lincoln 135 setup for mig, I prefer this machine.

I have a Schumacher 225 ac that I converted to output dc also for the heavy stuff.

 

[Doc Sprocket]

as an update I've welded several winches with the Washington Alloy and will never do so again, I've been flooded with orders recently and have spent so much ****ing time cleaning splatter off the welds, I finally bought some more Lincoln .035 and it welds like velvet, **** that cheap *** wire, DO NOT BUY IT, stick to the name brand stuff

You live, you learn. I made that mistake once only. Nothing but the good stuff for me, from now on. Just me and my Lincoln 180 Dual...