Probably crazy, but we are building our own pans

[jkbemdavis]

I have been lurking here and planning for about a year now. In talking with my friend who dabbles in a bit of everything, he thought we could build a couple of pans... a warmer and a divided pan. We have the stainless, and have been practicing on strips using a mig welder before we actually touch the stainless for the pans. We are running stainless wire at a speed of 5-6 and around 2 amps. We seem to get a nice weld going, then it gets too hot and starts popping and burning holes. Does that sound like an issue because we are welding rookies, because there is some other issue, or because we really need to be using a tig welder? Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated. If we don't get the pans done this year, it's okay with me...I want to do them right rather than waste the sheet of stainless.
Thanks,
John

[backyard sugaring]

You can try soldering the pans if you have a good soldering iron. Give it a try. (lead free solder, and flux made for stainless, clean then clean again) We want you in the game this year. We need more people addicted to this insane hobby.LOL Good luck. Lee

[jkbemdavis]

Thanks for the input. We are back at it for more practice tonight. Possibly with solder, and definitely with the mig on a lower setting and stopping every few inches or so. Things heat up pretty quickly!

[rookie]

my friend is the manager of a large welding company, and when doing repair to my pan he told me that stainless heats up really fast, so to prevent it from burning through he welds a small area lets it cool while he does a weld away from the 1st welded area. basicaly you could weld one corner a little, than the opposite, and back and forth

[BoarsNest]

If you can get your hands on a tig welder that probably works the best. You didn't mention what gauge the stainless is but if you don't have alot of experience you might use 18 ga or 20 ga rather than 22 ga. The guy that welded mine has a lot of welding experience but I had him use 20 ga because it is a little more forgiving than the 22 ga that the professional builders use. Also if you do tig weld them overlap the joint and just fuse the material rather than add alot of filler rod. If you do mig weld a corner to corner joint is better, but you want it really tight together. One last tip would be to tack your joints as close together as possible alternating different spots on the pan to spread out the heat. If you mig weld the joints the tacks are going to cause potential leak problems whereas tig tacking really works better for going back over when you are welding the joints. Good luck and have fun.

[jkbemdavis]

Thanks for the replies. After more practice time we have realized that welding with a mig and stainless is not for rookies. My plan is to go back to basics, and look for a used (or cheap new) pan, and put together a basic block arch (or possible oil drum if the price is right) then see how things go from there. My buddy is going to continue to practice and if he feels confident wnough there is always time to build pans for next year or beyond.
Best Regards,
John

[dago9000]

Thanks for the replies. After more practice time we have realized that welding with a mig and stainless is not for rookies. My plan is to go back to basics, and look for a used (or cheap new) pan, and put together a basic block arch (or possible oil drum if the price is right) then see how things go from there. My buddy is going to continue to practice and if he feels confident wnough there is always time to build pans for next year or beyond.
Best Regards,
John

you must have the right gas arcon is best trimix will work must be realy clean go slow and skip to other sides often