What gauge steel for pans ?

[smokeyamber]

Ok, skipping the whole stainless vs. steel discussion , what gauge plain steel would or have people used for pans ? Going to pickup some to build a quick set of pans for the new arch and was debating 18 vx 16 gauge steel... I will be either migging or solder these pans...

Thoughts ?

[spencer11]

deffentaly mig weld them. i have heard that 20 gauge stainless will transfer heat the same at 14ish gauge steel. so you could get thicker steel so it would be easier to weld. ror get 18-20 gauge and have it transfer even better.

spencer

[BoarsNest]

It depends on how much experience you have welding. 18 ga steel is about .010" thinner than 16 ga, so I don't think it will make a big difference in your boiling rate. 18 ga is a little tougher to weld so if you don't have a lot of experience I would go to 16 ga. Have fun building your own stuff.

[lisbon_ny]

almost done with a new set of pans and we did use mild steel easier to work with as well as cheaper we tried last year to make stainless steel pan and the word TRIED is the key we didnt have any luck but with the mild steel we have done well we used mild 20 gauge for the fle pan and 22 gauge for the finish pan may even boil tommrrow if all goes well

[smokeyamber]

Thanks for all the feedback, I picked up 18gauge on Friday, even got a deal cause it has some light rust on it ! Will be working on it this week. Of course I already have my taps in so I am likely going to go a quick and dirty build. Will try Mig, but not optimistic since I haven't been doing it much lately. Likely will go way low tech with pop-rivets and soldering to seal. I can always go back and rework later. I also want to try a flue pan as well so that may happen next season ...

Thanks again for the info and support , I will try and document to process for anyone who is interested.