ss pans

[CTsugarMan]

I have never welded stainless steel, only mild steel. I have small mig welder, what is needed to weld SS, if i wanted to make my own pans?

Thanks

[maplekid]

ER309l wire-which will give you a clean non-rustable weld and a tri-mix of helium/argon/CO² . tig would be the best way to go. but i understand how expensive a tig machine is. its no different than welding mild steel. i personally think its easier.

[Cider Hill Maple Farm]

SugarMan,

Tig is the best way for SS but you must be careful when welding it. When welding SS the back side of what you're welding needs a backing gas or purge so that area won't "sugar" (that's the black crusty stuff you see in a weld on SS). You won't see this if you are tigging carbon. The best thing to do is have a helping hand when fitting up and tacking the pieces together, your helper will hold the hose with argon on the back side of your tack. After you're happy with everything, seal up the the inside of the pan using cardboard and masking tape or whatever works. Insert a second hose from your regulator to what you just sealed up and poke some holes in the cardboard to allow the Oxygen out. Let the purge gas trickle in for at least a 1/2 hour to an hour the more time the better, and keep it on the whole time you're welding. You want the inside to look like the outside after you're done nice and pretty. A foot pedal and high freq. are a must when welding pans up, you need to have good heat control and good hand control. If you don't have the equip. you are looking at a pricey setup. I've been welding SS for 23+ years and it's still a challenge sometimes.
I hope this helps!! Good luck!

Shawn.

[cpmaple]

Shawn i was reading the post before yours and isnt er309 used for carbon to ss? I thought you would want to use 304,317,or 316 for ss to ss. I'm just asking so it dont get mixed up.I work with ss all the time i'm a pipe fitter and know a little about tig welding. Easy to do but like you said can be tricky at times.

[Cider Hill Maple Farm]

Shawn i was reading the post before yours and isnt er309 used for carbon to ss? I thought you would want to use 304,317,or 316 for ss to ss. I'm just asking so it dont get mixed up.I work with ss all the time i'm a pipe fitter and know a little about tig welding. Easy to do but like you said can be tricky at times.
CP,
You are right with 309! 309 is used to weld the two dissimilar metals together. A ss rod or a carbon rod will weld to either but when you look into metallurgy the proper rod is 309. When welding ss the grades of wire differ 304 being low then 316 then 317 a good rule of thumb is select the rod the same or better than the base material, never go below the base material. Example 316 base then 316, 317 wire, granted then 304 will work for what we want to do here. The price goes up with each higher grade of base metal and wire.

[b116757]

I use 308 wire and 98% or 97% argon and 2% or 3% CO2 gas on 304 stainless DO NOT use trimix it has helium and was developed for very thick stainless parts not thin maple pans and inputs a great deal of heat you do not want. back gassing is a must if you wish to prevent back sugaring unless you go with a little thicker metal and move very fast. Most guys TIG stainless very few MIG weld it I've done both trust me when I recamend against Trimix for thin stainless I've been down that road and it's no fun