What's MIG Welding?

MIG welding stands for metal inert gas welding. It’s a process that uses a spool of wire that is continuously fed into a MIG welding gunMIG welding stands for metal inert gas welding. It’s a process that uses a spool of wire that is continuously fed into a MIG welding gun.

This process burns, melts, and fuses together two pieces of metal. It is also called GMAW, or gas metal arc welding, on occasion.

A MIG welder is a machine that handles the wire and feeding. The gas shield is what differentiates MIG, TIG, and stick welding. This is created by a flux that releases gas caused by a chemical reaction, or a cloud from a tank.

With MIG welders, the tank is usually filled with a mixture of Metal Inter Gas (hence, MIG welding).  None of the gases in the mixture will react badly with your weld or add contaminants.

The gas gets pumped through your cable from the gas tank. It gets released from the same nozzle that the welding wire gets fed through, creating a protection around your arc while you weld.

This wire-feed welder uses metal to create the weld material that gets held on a spool inside your welder. The material the wire is made from is determined by the type of metals you’re fusing together.

Beginners will usually work with a wire that contains flux inside, which allows them to work without needing a separate gas tank. This will work, but it is less than ideal and the weld quality will suffer.

The wire gets fed through your nozzle, and comes out when you pull the trigger on your spool gun. The wire completes your arc.