Welding Tips and Tricks

Had an old timer tell me hanger wire is good filler rod for acetylene welding. When I filled a hole in the bed of my truck one day, I found it did work well.

I'm just curious, but in a pinch, has anyone ever used a hanger for tig welding?

Well I never tried it for tig - I seriously doubt the weld would be too good - coat hangars are usually zinc coated / sprayed & this will burn off contaminating everything - add to this proper filler wire has anti oxidants & other additives to get impurities in the base metal to float to the surface thus ensuring a good porosity free weld - as the process itself has no cleaning action.

Oxy / Acetylene on the other hand burns up most impurities as you weld & yes you can use coat hangars / old fence wire - just about anything you find - done plenty of it when I was younger - just used what I had !

I've used coathangers for oxy-fuel welding, too, in a pinch.

Coathangers today are pretty much random alloys, though. Just whatever went in the scrap smelter where the "ungraded" metals go. I might patch an exhaust, or some cosmetic fill, with it, but I'd never use it for anything I'd have to rely on for it's strength. Thirty or so years ago, the coathangers could have been made from the same melt as log chain. Today, no. They're made from the cheapest metal available, which is random-melt scrap.

I've never tried to TIG with it. I might have to give it a go, just for the hell of it. Plain steel hangers are usually laquered to block rust, so a good burn-off and cleaning would be in order for TIG.

Steve S

I have heard of those long ago using hangers. I remember back when I first started welding 10 years ago a neighbor had a 110v stick machine and he was using hangers to try and weld on exhaust and his trailer. I really didn't know much then (and maybe not much more now ) but I remember thinking I didn't think that was right. It made for a great light show anyway
-Jonathan