savable or not? welding wire...

[keith524]

I got this box from a local welding shop going under, for free I might add. actually 3 truckloads of stuff. anyways, I opened it and I find a brand new spool of wire, clean wire, very nice wire, a full roll of .35 wire that I can use, but someone dropped the spool I guess and its uncoiled off the spool. if this wire had a slight hint of rust or dirtiness I would scrap it. It looks like they unwrapped it and dropped it. Would it be worth keeping or trying to save? atleast part of it?

 

[MarkG]

hmmmm.........if this is how they took care of their supplies, it's no wonder they're going under! :S I can't see that wire being usable unless you re-wound the whole thing, but I've never tried it. I just know I'd probably go nuts long before I got it done, but of course if you have the patience and time to sort it out------sure, do it.

 

[steel 35]

Uncoil long straight lengths and twist it with a drill for Tig wire!

 

[srmofo]

Do you have empty spool to wind it back onto?

I dont see how you would save it otherwise.

Personally I would rather go to work for an hour or 2 and just buy another spool versus spending days of my life trying to rewrap that rats nest

 

[keith524]

ok wonderful, I hated to waste it and yea I don't have much patience either, but looks likes its in the original Praxair box and was UPS'd to their shop, that explains it, I have had bad luck with UPS, I bought a grinder off ebay with a 300.00 diamond wheel on it for 60.00. I herd UPS man drop the box onto my front porch from the garage around back. broke the diamond wheel. looks like they did the same thing here.

 

[Lx460]

You can buy a brand new 10lb spool of Hobart wire for $30...

My time and sanity is worth that just not to deal with that mess. I understand the feeling of getting something for free but sometimes it just isn't worth it.

If however, you enjoy playing 52 pickup and similar games, it may be worth it to you.

 

[keith524]

I understand. I am like you, I don't care for that kind of stuff either but this is a 50lb roll. I just hated to scrap it but I suppose its not worth messing with, thanks for the help guys.

 

[Heavymetalmechanic]

Do you have access to a teen/preteen? I remember my dad and uncles giving me tasks like that when I was being a little ****. Learned quick that if I did not find something quiet or productive to do I would get volunteered for some task like that, or untangling power cords/rope etc.

 

[rsanter]

Sell it on CL
Someone will think it's worth their time

Bob

 

[zkling]

Just use it as general shop wire for tying bundles together and such, it is not worth the hassle to try and use it as welding wire. What other items did you get in this aforementioned "truck load".

 

[Jere]

Might be worth keeping around for other projects, where some wire is needed. Or think about giving it away to a hobbyist oxy\ace welder and making their day. Its the same steel just thinner so a few pieces twisted with an end in a drill,and an end in a vise will give this wire a new life.

 

[Stooge]

Do you have access to a teen/preteen? I remember my dad and uncles giving me tasks like that when I was being a little ****. Learned quick that if I did not find something quiet or productive to do I would get volunteered for some task like that, or untangling power cords/rope etc.

i was thinking the same thing, any kids you could either reward with a couple dollars or ice cream, or kids that you want to punish

 

[airrj]

Do you have access to a teen/preteen? I remember my dad and uncles giving me tasks like that when I was being a little ****. Learned quick that if I did not find something quiet or productive to do I would get volunteered for some task like that, or untangling power cords/rope etc.

My first thought exactly. You need a bored 12 year old that likes to be in the shop and hates to be told that they can't do something. "I am sure that you couldn't uncoil that and straighten it all out."

 

[sberry]

Get over it, scrap.

 

[bsaint]

I would use it for hanging parts for paint

 

[Farmall450]

I would use it for hanging parts for paint

I agree. You could probably cut out the middle and use that for MIG but the rest is most likely a lost cause.

 

[tractordude]

That's a pretty common scene in a heavy fabrication shop. The 50 lb rolls don't come on a plastic spool like the 10~20 lb do.
In my short gig as a maintenance guy at a heavy steel place, I was tossing about a roll every night for months. Most of the welders were fresh out of tech school, and would put a roll on backwards, or 1/2 way thru there was a tangle in the wire.
Time is money in a multi-billion dollar company~so you toss the roll, and get the equipment up and running as fast as possible.

I would rig up a system to rewind it, use a cordless drill to rewind it on a 10lb spool. Put a cloths pin with a paper shop rag on the wire to clean the wire on the rewind.

 

[koditten]

Been there, got the tee shirt. Actually made a rig to spool 30 lbs to another empty spool. Took almost 3 hrs to transfer the wire at 750 rpm. Not gonna do it again. Into the scrap metal bin it will go.

 

[2004.5cumminsman]

I cant believe your interested in saving it! I would of told em to keep it!