Distortion around drain

[wegnerwelding]

Any other pan makers in here I have a question. Is it common to have some distortion around drain coupling when welding it on? If not, what measures have been taken to eliminate it? Welding the thick coupling to the thin wall of the pan, I'm running into some warpage, nothing too bad, but just thought I'd ask others. I'm making my pans out of 22 ga. stainless.

Thanks,
Andy

[KenWP]

Yes it is common for the thin metal to warp. When they welded the drain of a SS pan for me it warped a bit also and got wavey. I imagine somebody knows how to fix or stop it but not me. Its caused by the metal expanding away for the parts already welded and then when you attach the whole drain plug it has no place to contract back again afterwards.

[RickinFarmington]

I ran into the same thing with my SS pans.. Got a ball pean hammer and an anvil and just gradually started tapping on the weld all the way around, and like majic the warp went away. You cannot hurt the weld. All you are doing is just expanding the metal back to it original demensions.

Rick

[3rdgen.maple]

What would happen if you welded the drain on before you welded up the pans?

[KenWP]

The outside edge of the metal would probbably not expand as fast as the inside so it would still distort. If you ever hold a rod for somebody while they weld the bottom you will fell the distortion as the rod moves from side to side as he welds around the bottom.

[wegnerwelding]

I might try mig welding one instead of TIG welding it. I know it takes longer to TIG the drain on than mig. I might also try welding it in quarters. The distortion isn't too bad. I haven't looked at a pan made from leader, or small brothers to see what it looks like around the drain port. I know that some makers anneal their pans, but I don't have a blast furnace to do that. I know that stress relieves the metal.

[WF MASON]

If you think that mig welding that couplin onto 22 gauge will stop the distortion , you might want to revisit the basics of each type of welding and where its type has an application, such as Tig being percis controlled welding, used with the proper heat sinks, clamps, backing plates and custom made jigs for each welding setup to overcome warpage in thin gauge sheetmetal.

[Haynes Forest Products]

One more bit of advice if your going to weld in a patch in a round or square hole make the patch as tight to the hole size as possible. Any gaps are going to shrink as the weld cools. The smaller the weld the better large amounts of welding material will expand during the weld and contract at a greater rate.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

On my Leader welded pans, the drain looks like it is part of the pan and I will have to say, the corners and the welds on my pan are amazing. Looks better than a robot could have done. There doesn't even appear to be a weld, just like they forged them that way nearly.

[wegnerwelding]

I did look at a set of leader pans and the seams are polished very well. Something for me to shoot for. It looks like they used a die to flange the drain opening. A friend of mine has a cnc lathe and mill i'm going to look into him making me a set of dies to flange around to add some stiffness. I'm also looking into some heat sinks to help with that. This weekend I'm working on some divided pans though, and hopefully make some progress on an order of hydro cups. Thank for the input KenWP, I know most of the distortion was my error. I'm going to grab some aluminum flat stock tomorrow from work to help with heatsink.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Have you ever used copper as a heat sink? I have a big chunk that I use when I want to fill a big hole or corner. Just hold it on the area to be filled and weld away and it cools it down as you go.

[KenWP]

They make little paddles to put behind holes in thin stock to fill them out of copper also. Now aluminium would maybe work also. Never tried it before myself. They also make a spray you use around welding that is supposed to help with heat.

[3rdgen.maple]

In alot of the equipment I work on they use aluminum heat sinks. They have fins on them to help in the cooling process.

[wegnerwelding]

I picked up some aluminum flat stock today and am going to make a jig/heatsink to clamp in

[jrthe3]

when my pans where built the man weilded the bug on the pan then cut the hole on the inside of the bug he also had me cooling the weild with dry ice right after it was done

[WMF]

Use a big heatsink clamped tight and a small tungsten ground to a fine hair. Backpurge if you don't want black sugar around the weld.

What are you using for a tig welder?

[wegnerwelding]

Lincoln Precision TIG 225 is the welder I'm using with .040 tungsten. But for the drain couplings I go up to a 3/32" tungsten.

[WMF]

I wouldn't use anthing bigger than .040 2% thoriated or ceriated no matter how big of a fitting, with a water cooled torch it will handle way more than the max current you should be using. 22 gauge is tough to weld but is all I use. A gas lense will let you extend the tungsten a bit for better sight around a curve.

Many tig machines don't have a good low amp range and are hard to control for 22 gauge. Can't say I ever used the lincoln.

[smitty76]

WMF is pretty close to a good reciept for welding thick to thin. any material is good for a heat sink and the thicker and closer to the weld the better. I put heat sinks on both sides. one on the back side and one or as many as it takes around the weld jiont. I have a sh-- load of them,seems like every job I do i need to make another one. I would also use a .040 tungsten ground to a fine piont. In ss it would be a yellow one.