That’s not how most shops work. By most estimates, 80% of metal fabrication is MIG welded. At Macy Industries, the process we choose for each project is shaped by the material, thickness, end-use environment, visibility, and finish—and most of the time, that points to TIG.
The reason comes down to what these two processes do differently.
What MIG Welding Does Well
In MIG (Metal Inert Gas) welding, a spool of thin wire feeds through a cable into a gun. Pulling the trigger allows the wire to feed out continuously, and when it touches the metal you’re joining, the current flows, melting the wire into the joint and fusing the two pieces together.
MIG is fast, single-handed, and quick to learn, which is why it dominates production work, structural fabrication, and painted or coated parts where the weld will eventually be covered. At Macy, we use MIG welding for truck bodies and structural work. Where it runs into trouble is with thin materials, stainless steel, or anywhere the weld will show in the finished part.
Why Most of Our Welds Are TIG
TIG (Tungsten Inert Gas) requires two hands and a foot, which means it takes much more coordination to do well. Unlike MIG welding, where the wire serves as both the electrode and the filler, in TIG welding, the filler is decoupled from the heat source, giving the welder much greater control over the process.
This level of control makes TIG ideal for:
- Architectural work, such as handrails and signage
- Food-grade parts
- Pressure vessels and tanks
- Stainless steel parts, especially where the weld will show
- Medical and surgical applications
- Thin-gauge sheet metal, from 18 gauge up to 1/8″
Because so much of our work falls into these categories, every welder at Macy has a TIG setup at their station, and most of what leaves our floor has been TIG-welded somewhere along the way.
TIG also enables back purging, a technique used on medical-grade and military pipework. Before welding, we fill the pipe with inert gas, which produces a cleaner, less porous weld inside the joint.
Stick Welding for Field Work
Stick welding is a highly transportable process used for large, heavy structural applications that are assembled or repaired on site. Unlike MIG or TIG, stick welding doesn’t require a bottle of shielding gas. The flux-coated rod creates its own shielding atmosphere as it burns, which means the entire setup is just a power source, a cable with a clamp, and the rod itself.
Our team uses stick welding in the field for installation projects and repair jobs. Because it’s so portable, we can do stick welding in someone’s driveway, at an industrial site, or in a restaurant parking lot for handrail repair.
The Materials Macy Welds
Macy welds across thicknesses from .010″ to 6″, on parts ranging from small fabricated components to full vehicle frames, boats, trailers, and large industrial assemblies. The materials we work with most often include:
- Carbon steel (A36 and AISI 1040)
- Galvanized steel
- Stainless steel (304-2B, 304 with #4 polish, 310, and 316)
- Aluminum (5052-H32 and 6061-T6)
- Copper
- Brass
- Cast aluminum
Most of the materials we routinely work with, including stainless steel, aluminum, and thin-gauge sheet, are those in which weld appearance and weld integrity matter as much as the part itself. That’s TIG territory, and it’s why so much of our work runs through the TIG stations on our floor.
The Right Process for the Part
The material, thickness, end-use, visibility, and finish all shape the type of welding we choose for the job. At Macy Industries, we run that calculation on every project, and most of the time, it lands on TIG.
If you have a project that calls for welding, we’d like to hear about it. Whether it will be welded on our shop floor or on site, we have the equipment and experience to make it happen. Request a quote to get started.