How thick

[Buckeye mapler]

I am having a finishing pan made. How thick does it need to be? It is being made of stainless steel.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Whats affordable whats bendable and then what easy to weld (TIG) about 18-22 The thing about heat transfer is if its thin the liquid cools the metal faster and the flame heats the metal faster. All the heat in the arch does is heat the metal the metal heats the sap. So the faster the metal transfers the heat the better. Thin and strong is acheived with bends and dividers and good welds TIMES AWASTING

[Buckeye mapler]

Haynes,
is there different thicknesses to gauhes or is 20 gauge a thicknes when talking about stainless. i know the lower the gause in wire the thicker it is. my dad is tig welding it and he can get 20 gauge 300 type stainless steel. he was just going to weld every piece, i dont think he was going to bend it. i just dont want it to buckle under heat.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Buckey: Like wire sheet metal uses the guage measurment up to a point. Yes the bigger the guage the thinner the meterial. It wont buckel under the heat because it wont get that hot with sap in it. its called a win win situation remove one of the wins and you LOSE.

[maple flats]

During a boil it won't buckle if you keep sap in it, but welding a flat piece will likely buckle it. If you must go flat pieces I think 18 ga would be betrter. If you have a way to bend it and then weld seams go 20 or if your dad is real good welding SS and has the right welder go 22 ga for better heat exchange.