Welding SS

[satanherself]

How hard is it to weld Stainless Steel ?? or how different ?

 

[donsrods]

What are you trying to weld (thickness)? My Son was just playing around with some stainless steel boat trim tabs, experimenting with his tig, and he said he could fuse them together with no filler, they just melted together.

One of our more experienced welders on here will know for sure, I bet.

Don

 

[Tripper]

SS

How hard is it to weld Stainless Steel ?? or how different ?

Ms Herself,
I'm sure Don is right about one of the welders being able to answer but I just saw an article about it... I'll see if I can round it up! I assume u want to weld up the window trim?!

BoB

 

[satanherself]

Ms Herself,
I'm sure Don is right about one of the welders being able to answer but I just saw an article about it... I'll see if I can round it up! I assume u want to weld up the window trim?!

BoB

Actually no ,,Wanna make one of those U Fab intakes,,we have ton's of old stainless from Firetrucks so I figured put it to good use

 

[FlatBroke]

WOW...
How much stuff you got up there M'am ?
Firetrucks
V-12's
Junk yard
ALL sorts of parts and old cars...
I am amazed.

 

[joehalford01]

i did some light tig welding on stainless in a welding class i had. They were real thin pieces though so no filler was needed, they just melted together like don said. I think you would some filler rods for thicker pieces and it shouldn't be any harder then aluminum. (i'm no expert though )

 

[WIZEGUY]

Anytime you are welding a tube, intake runner, etc. that is made of stainless,you have to "support" then backside of the weld. This keeps the weld from getting contaminated and crystallizing.

The preferred method is to purge argon through the inside of the tube. This is done by blocking off one side of the tube and leaving a small hole for the gas to exit. You can use a small piece of round plate and tack weld it to the end or cardboard and tape for that matter.
On the other end you will need a plate of same type with a larger hole for the argon tube to sit in.
All your doing is putting gas in and gas out. I usually run about 10 to 15 psi.

Another method that works is to order some of the powder that mixes with isopropyl alcohol. You coat the inside of the weld joints before welding.
It works fine, just not as good as the purge method.
It can be ordered from any weld supply shop.

Also you will need to turn up your torch gas for better protection and clean ,clean, clean. Even clean your wire.

I've just touched on the basics. Gotta get back to work..........

 

[satanherself]

Ahh,,sound like I should go with plain steel or let someone else weld it,,thanx for the info

 

[T2T]

Don't be afraid of SS..............I weld it from time to time and it's just as easy as steel. Wiseguy is right and his method is used by most welders....it's not as difficult as it seems and you only need to purge if you are welding a "container" type piece...........give it a try.

 

[donsrods]

Yeah, come on Cheyenne, weld it up out of the stainless, then you can polish it and it will look just like bill.......... (Oh, oh. I almost said the B word. )


Could Satanherself be moving to the light side???


Don

 

[WIZEGUY]

Here is the powder I was telling you about.

 

[Hotroddaddy]

Stainless is just like regular steel, it just takes a little more heat, as far as purging it, i would not worry about it on exhaust tubes, if your doing critical tubing ,or food service , then yes ,purge it.

Plus you also have to get the right filler metal, there is lots of grades of stainless steel, plus there is 3 kinds of stainless steel.

 

[WIZEGUY]

Stainless is just like regular steel, it just takes a little more heat, as far as purging it, i would not worry about it on exhaust tubes, if your doing critical tubing ,or food service , then yes ,purge it.

Plus you also have to get the right filler metal, there is lots of grades of stainless steel, plus there is 3 kinds of stainless steel.

Repaired alot of broken headers from people who thought the same thing.

The reason for the purge is to keep the weld from becoming contaminated from outside air and ending up being brittle.
If you want to do it right, purge the stainless. If you can't do that, use the Solarflux.

Some of the different types of stainless are 304,309,318,321,409,430,441 and 3CR12.

 

[TMP]

Actually no ,,Wanna make one of those U Fab intakes,,we have ton's of old stainless from Firetrucks so I figured put it to good use

If you have an arc welder[a/c or d/c] you can stick weld it. The hard part is cutting it to fit. You'll need a plasma cutter or you can cold cut it[saw] I would tack it up first then weld it out with a 3/32 stainless rod. You can buy it at your local welding supply. It welds like a low hydrogen rod[7018] which means you need to weld up hill instead of dragging you rod down hill. You can buy 2lb box of rods usually and not spend a lot of money. Get a few of the rods and practice on the material you are going to use. TP

 

[powerplant]

You need to know that welding on stainless steel creates Hexivalent Chromium.

In case you care (some people don't).... OSHA just dropped there exposure limits to this stuff way down because they realize how nasty the stuff is. Causes cancer when you breath it. Use a N95 or even better a P100 respirator. You can get paper masks with these qualities that fit under welding hoods better than canisters... just don't start them on fire!!

 

[goose-em]

I know this is an old thread but I thought I might chime in.

Don't worry about the hexavalent chromium thing. Yes OSHA dropped the levels but the lowered levels are still quite high.

As for welding stainless steel there a a few things to keep in mind.

#1 it is nothing like welding plain carbon steel.

#2 Stainless is very thermally conductive. This means that the heat is not disspated as fast as plain carbon steel thereby creating the need for more amperage when welding.

#3 A finished weld on stainless should be straw colored. If you are seeing purple or blue or black you are using way to much heat, speed up you travel speed. Also feed in more filler metal as this helps cool the weld puddle.

 

[powerplant]

I know this is an old thread but I thought I might chime in.

Don't worry about the hexavalent chromium thing. Yes OSHA dropped the levels but the lowered levels are still quite high.

Not arguing with your welding tips but I disagree with you on Chromium VI. Sure... if you only plan on welding stainless steel once in a blue moon it may be fine with no respirator. If you plan on doing it every day... I would think twice. Just to say "don't worry about it" is not good advice in my opinion.

 

[51FLAT]

Iam the head fab guy for a winery and i weld ss all the time 3/8" to 6" and the purging is great if you plan to grind off the outside weld, like with headers because if you do it right theres a weld on the inside just like the outside.. So the company made a new rule every thing new would be made out of ss or alum so they don't have to paint every year, for me its like spreading butter. Just my 2cents. Pat

 

[Unkl Ian]

I found TIG welding Stainless was easier than steel.

 

[anvil]

all cutting grinding must be SS only or you will import iron to your SS and it will speck and rust my 2 cents worth