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Posted by: charliew Feb 9 2009, 10:12 AM

Does anyone have a source for easy-grind. The prices locally is about 60.00 for a ten lb. roll of .023. That seems pretty steep just to get a more malleable weld.

Posted by: J P Stein Feb 9 2009, 10:27 AM

I bought some about 10 years ago and IIRC it was not cheep.....30-40 bucks. Worth every nickel tho. I've used half (WAG) the spool). Bout the only folks that buy the stuff are body pros...not a big market.

A steel worker friend (night supe) got it thru his company at their discount.

Posted by: rick 918-S Feb 9 2009, 03:03 PM

I asked about it at the welding supply store. They told me there was no difference in mild steel welding wire. I used to buy easy grind when I had my shop through the body supply store. They told me the same thing as the welding supply.

Posted by: Todd Enlund Feb 9 2009, 03:23 PM

QUOTE(rick 918-S @ Feb 9 2009, 01:03 PM)

I asked about it at the welding supply store. They told me there was no difference in mild steel welding wire. I used to buy easy grind when I had my shop through the body supply store. They told me the same thing as the welding supply.

Posted by: J P Stein Feb 9 2009, 04:41 PM

Your car body is made out of cold forming steel.....something like A36. It has a tensile strength of around 36K PSI. The "normal" weld wire has a strength of somewhere upwards of 60K psi tensile.....this means it's harder on the Rockwell or Brinell scale. Easy Grind is soft....not quite as soft as the body metal, me thinks, but close. It is considerably.....ah... easier to grind which makes it easier to fair into the surounding metal.....and to clean up the mess you've made with your stinger....thas important to me.

It's not too shinney for structual welds tho.

Posted by: charliew Feb 10 2009, 12:25 PM

Softer means more forgiving when you are reshaping the surrounding areas and less prone to getting fractures you can't see till about three years later when the paint starts to bubble. These cars twist a lot and thats why you almost never find fiberglass parts that haven't cracked either where they are bonded on or close by. On unibody cars all of the body panels are there to support the suspension and the cabin and drive line weight.