No, actually the ESAB Easy Grind wire is just as strong as the usual ER70S stuff. It's expensive, so I'm guessing it has a lot of nickel or something in it to give it more tensile strength without making it harder. Here's something I cut and paste from ESABs website: 3Carbon Steel WiresSpoolarc Easy GrindNo AWS Cl***Description:Spoolarc Easy Grind is a fully deoxidized wire designed to weld over moderate levels of rust and paint asare commonly encountered in auto body repair work. Easy Grind produces welds that easily meet the tensilerequirements of other ER70S cl*** wires.Easy Grind is produced in small diameters and is appropriate for the low current welding machinescommonly used in body shops.Typical Mechanical PropertiesAs Welded75% Ar/25% CO2Yield Strength, psi (MPa)72,000(497)Tensile Strength, psi (MPa)80,000(552)% Elongation in 2" (51 mm)24Typical Charpy V-Notch Impact PropertiesAs WeldedTesting Temp.ft.-lbs. (J)-20°F(-29°C)40 (54)Standard Diameters.023" (0.6 mm), .030" (0.8 mm)Recommended Welding Parameters pages 27 & 28
If you don't have time to hammer the weld when it is red hot, just hammer it when it is cold. It takes a bit longer when it is cold, but the end result is the same. Heat shrinking is the opposite of what you are hammering the weld for. You should only need to heat-shrink if you are too enthusiastic hammering the weld and you over stretch the metal.
In my experience it was a waste of money. It did NOT grind any easier, and believe me, the way I weld, I wanted it to BADLY......
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