Welding Calculator: MIG & TIG

Set the machine in seconds. MIG, TIG, stick, and flux core settings, plus the heat input, preheat, and duty cycle checks a welding procedure actually asks for.

Enter material thickness the way you say it on the floor - 1/8", 3/16", 18ga, or millimeters - and get an amperage and voltage range, wire feed speed, shielding gas, and filler metal for the process you are running.

MACHINE SETUP

Amperage and Voltage
Recommended amps and volts by process and thickness for MIG (GMAW), flux core (FCAW), TIG (GTAW), and stick (SMAW). Results account for weld position - flat, horizontal, vertical up, and overhead, 1G through 4G - and for joint type: butt, fillet, lap, and corner.

Wire Feed Speed
Wire feed speed in IPM or mm/min for .023", .030", .035", .045", and .052" wire. Flux core is handled separately from solid wire, so you get flux-specific feed rates instead of generic MIG numbers.

Stick Electrode Amperage
Amperage by electrode diameter, 3/32" through 1/4".

Shielding Gas
The right mix for your process and base metal. C25 (75/25) or straight CO2 on steel, 98/2 argon-CO2 on stainless, 100% argon for aluminum TIG with an argon-helium alternative for deeper penetration, and flux core specifics.

Filler Metal
Base metal to filler lookup by joint type: ER70S-6 on mild steel, ER308L on stainless 304 and 316, ER4043 on aluminum 6061, ER5356 on aluminum 5052, ER80S-D2 on chromoly 4130.

Saved Setups
Name a setup and pull it back later. Process, material, position, and thickness stay on your device.

ADVANCED TOOLS

Heat Input
Amps, volts, and travel speed in; heat input out in kJ/in and kJ/mm, with a range check against typical limits for the process.

Carbon Equivalent and Preheat
Enter plate chemistry - carbon, manganese, chromium, molybdenum, vanadium, nickel, copper - plus thickness, and get carbon equivalent by the IIW formula with a minimum preheat temperature in F and C.

Duty Cycle
Check how long your machine can run at your working amperage before it has to cool.

Pass Count
Estimate the number of passes to fill the joint.

Deposition Rate
Estimate deposition rate and wire burned for a run.

Material Usage
Estimate wire weight or electrode count for a whole job.

Cylinder Duration
Estimate how long a shielding gas cylinder lasts at your flow rate.

Defect Troubleshooter
Porosity, undercut, burn-through, excessive spatter, lack of fusion, incomplete root penetration, hot and cold cracking, overlap, distortion, tungsten inclusion - probable causes and what to change.

BUILT FOR THE SHOP

- Works offline. No signal in the shop is fine.
- No account and no sign-in.
- No subscription and no in-app purchases.
- Imperial and metric on one toggle.
- Thickness as fractions, gauge, or decimal.

Ads: a banner runs at the bottom of the screen. The core calculators - amperage, wire feed speed, gas, filler, heat input, carbon equivalent, duty cycle - are open. A few extras unlock with a short rewarded video: the cost and job-time estimates in the planning tools, and the travel-speed solver. No personal data is collected.

These numbers are a starting point drawn from published practice and manufacturer data. Qualify settings on scrap, and follow your WPS and applicable code for anything that matters.

Recent changes:
Setting the process to FCAW now recommends flux-cored wire (E71T-1C/M for mild steel, E308LT1-1 and E316LT1-1 for stainless) instead of solid MIG wire.

The Filler Metal tool has its own Process selector, so you can switch between MIG, FCAW and TIG.