I keep 316L in my MIG because that is what I am welding 99% of the time. If
I just need to slap a couple of mild steel pieces together and to lazy to
change wire I will use the 316. It works well enough. The color is a
little weird but the weld is strong enough. If I were doing something
really critical or that might be subject to a lot of vibration I would use
the proper wire.

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

"Al A." wrote in message
...
I have a 30 or so pound roll of stainless MIG wire,
Harris ER309L. Forgive me if this is a dumb question, but
is this stuff any good for welding things that are
not stainless? Could this, for example, be used to weld
"regular" steel, non-critical stuff like angle iron, etc?

I'm not talking structrual work here, just simple general
home shop stuff. I am not likely to need to do any extesive
SS welding, so this is just taking up space. If I can use it
for more generic welding, then I likely have a lifetime supply,
maybe two.