Mig or Tig my new set of pans

[madtrapper]

I need to upgrade from steam pans to "proper pans" I have a oil barrel set up I made two seasons ago and I am wasting time slowly boiling in 3 pans. I crowed up a bunch of stainless steel from a restaurant that was remodeling. I'm in a tight spot. I have some money saved but do I pay someone to tig the pan I want and pay 400 or more to get it done or do I buy a new welder that will allow me to us 304L stainless wire with a tri mix? Anyone that can help with this that would be great. was hoping to make a back pan with 2inch by one inch raised flues give or take and a small front pan with two dividers for the syrup pan with a draw off on the left. and then a pre heater pan at the back. I have 2" thick bricks in the fire box and part of the flue section the rest is 1" brick. Has AUF draft going to have forced air under fire. have a manifold built into it when I made it. its under the fire grate? not sure how it will work but we shall see. gets pleanty hot. the flue temp gets 800 F cant read any higher. and the top is 47 5/8 by 21 1/4 yes weird size but madeto fit the steam pans, its all out of found steel almost and I spent the last of my money on the steam pans so I could use it that same year.

pictures of my evaporator815781588159

[unc23win]

Have you ever welded stainless before? It is not easy I am all for learning and becoming self taught, but something as important as welding your pan I would probably pay for someone to tig weld it and rest easy maybe they would teach you and you would learn for the future. Just my opinion.

[Bucket Head]

TIG welding thin stainless steel requires a lot of experience. It also requires perfect fitment of the pieces that are being joined- there can be absolutely no gaps. Will a professional sheet metal outfit be cutting/bending the pan parts?

How thick is the stainless? A MIG welder won't be able to weld the metal very well if its as thin as the factory-made pans. I MIG welded my pans, but the metal was 16ga., which is much thicker than the factory pan metal.

Knowing how much knowledge, talent and time that will be required to TIG weld what you want, $400 is not bad. Also, knowing what professional welding equipment costs (which is all I would ever consider buying) $400 is'nt going to buy a great welder. If you have a line on a decent Miller or Lincoln brand machine, great- but I would'nt go shopping at Harbor Freight prior to an evaporater fabrication project.

Your ahead of the game with the stainless you procured, so I would have a professional do the TIG welding. It will make for a lot nicer finished product.

Steve

[RileySugarbush]

As an alternative, think about taking that deep pan and adding copper drop tubes, then moving it to the back position. Adding the tubes will triple the evaporation rate for that pan. Much simpler skills required, no welding!

You could two of them, but it is better to use the deeper pans because the boil is so violent. Check it out:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/uekyxmghj6hcaxr/SElvkge894

[optionguru]

I'm with the others. I've learned to weld pretty good over the last few years but have been warned against stainless without lots of practice. On a side note, Riley, I recently started a drop tube pan just like yours but had horrible luck with the pan buckling and deforming as I went from one tube to the next. How did you avoid this?

[RileySugarbush]

I'm with the others. I've learned to weld pretty good over the last few years but have been warned against stainless without lots of practice. On a side note, Riley, I recently started a drop tube pan just like yours but had horrible luck with the pan buckling and deforming as I went from one tube to the next. How did you avoid this?

Very low heat! I used a propane torch with silver solder at about the lowest flame I could and kept the flame moving all the time. When you are done with one tube, stuff a wet rag in it so the solder doesn't get too hot when soldering its neighbor. I had very little trouble with distortion.

[68bird]

On the drop tubes, how did you flare the copper?

[saekeaton64]

http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?19759-Drop-tube-pan-build
Here is a link to a thread I started some time ago.
This should help with making the tubes.

[RileySugarbush]

http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?19759-Drop-tube-pan-build
Here is a link to a thread I started some time ago.
This should help with making the tubes.

I flared mine much like that, but without as much style!

[Wanabe1972]

Guys. I would be the last person to stomp on someone making there own stuff but there is one thing nobody has mentioned here. Never mind ss of this thickness is tough to weld as it needs to be fit perfect and back purge the welds with argon or helium. The real problem is welding ss gives off hexavalent chromium and requires speacial breathing devices or a smoke eater able to remove the gas. The problem with the smoke eater is it also pulls your sheilding gas from where they are needed. If you don't have this equipment I would have a shop do it or silver solder. Jeff