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........Metal inert gas (MIG) welding was first patented in the USA in 1949 for welding aluminium. MIG welding provides the ability to easily and accurately preset the exact welding parameters desired, before the welding sequence begins.

......The arc and weld pool formed using a bare wire electrode was protected by helium gas, readily available at that time. From about 1952 the process became popular in the UK for welding aluminium using argon as the shielding gas, and for carbon steels using CO2. CO2 and argon-CO2 mixtures are known as metal active gas (MAG) processes. MIG is an attractive alternative to MMA, offering high deposition rates and high productivity.

.....MIG is similar to MMA (Metal inert gas welding) which was first patented in the USA in 1949 for welding aluminium. in that heat for welding is produced by forming an arc between a metal electrode and the workpiece; the electrode melts to form the weld bead. The main difference is that the metal electrode is a small diameter wire fed from a spool. As the wire is continuously fed, the process is often referred to as semi-automatic welding.

.......MIG is widely used in most industry sectors and accounts for almost 50% of all weld metal deposited. Compared to MMA, MIG has the advantage in terms of flexibility, deposition rates and suitability for mechanisation. However, it should be noted that while MIG is ideal for 'squirting' metal, a high degree of manipulative skill is demanded of the welder.

.....The MIG Welding process can be used on material thickness up to one inch, but is generally used for lesser thickness materials. The process consists of a continually fed usually copper coated electrode wire. Inert shielding gas is provided through the welding torch. Deposition rates can be set by tuning the amperage, and the wire feed speed. Dependent on necessity the operator can use a wrist attachment that allows fine tuning of the amperage and wire speed, on the fly.