Stainless welding project

[joeu235]

I'm stick welding up some Christmas decorations from some stainless steel plates that I got for free. I believe they are 316 based on where they came from but not 100% sure. I welded up some of the ornament with 312 rods from TSC but, wow, they are expensive. I'm going to the welding supply store tomorrow. Should I get 308L, 309L, 316, or something else?

First time welding stainless, so don't be too harsh, there is some slag inclusion.

 

[dragoneggs]

I will let the experts comment on rod choice. Looks good to me... especially for decorations. What exactly will it/they be?

 

[Motorboatin]

You could use any of the rods you listed but 309 is for welding stainless to steel. 308 is used for 304 stainless and 316 is for 316

308 & 316 rod should be about the same price at the local welding supply. I think we buy 316 rod for $1 more per pound

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Beings as it is not a structural project; get the cheapest SS rod and try it first, then move up if that does't work. I have used 304 and 308 as a gen purpose rods. Most of my construction stuff was 304 stock, very seldom ran into 316. That looks like a pretty hefty item for ornament work.

Ron

 

[dragoneggs]

The offshore welders that I have dealt with... require 316L rod vs. 304 or 316 for corrosion reasons. Somehow I expect your ornament to not to be in those conditions unless you are hanging it out on an oil rig! :laughing:

 

[joeu235]

My wife's family plays a game where we trade home made Christmas decorations at Thanksgiving. After I weld up all the open corner joints, I'm going to plasma cut Christmas symbols in the sides, polish it up, and put a candle in the middle. Since it weighs about 15 pounds, its probably a table decoration instead of a tree ornament.

Choosing electrodes for stainless sure is more complicated than low carbon steel.

 

[jrsavoie]

If you have a DC welder, you can hook up a tig torch to it. Main pain is no auto gas shut off.

304 will rust a little.

 

[yomax4]

Any SS rod is fine. 308 or 309 may be the least cost. Get the LHS or LSI version. = Added silicon, lower carbon. LHS and LSI mean the same thing. They will wet out the best. 312 is not needed for this project. It's probably 4X higher cost. If you have any left, save it for unknown or dissimilar metals or cast.

 

[Oldoak]

If you have a DC welder, you can hook up a tig torch to it. Main pain is no auto gas shut off.

304 will rust a little.

All the TIG torches I have ever welded with had a manual on-off gas button on the torch handle and a main gas shut off either on the gas bottle or the gas manifold running through the shop.

Most all our stainless welding was with 316L (low carbon stainless) in a industrial environment. All 316L pipe and plate. I wouldn't want to have been footing the bill for it.. :shocked:

 

[jrsavoie]

All the TIG torches I have ever welded with had a manual on-off gas button on the torch handle and a main gas shut off either on the gas bottle or the gas manifold running through the shop.

Most all our stainless welding was with 316L (low carbon stainless) in a industrial environment. All 316L pipe and plate. I wouldn't want to have been footing the bill for it.. :shocked:

I have 3 and none of them have the shut off at the torch. They are all fairly old. 35 - 40 years probably.

 

[joeu235]

If you have a DC welder, you can hook up a tig torch to it. Main pain is no auto gas shut off.

304 will rust a little.

I've got a Bobcat 225 which has DC but I don't have the TIG setup. I plan on getting an inverter TIG/Stick machine someday but have other things to spend money on now.

 

[jrsavoie]

I've got a Bobcat 225 which has DC but I don't have the TIG setup. I plan on getting an inverter TIG/Stick machine someday but have other things to spend money on now.

All you really need is a TIG torch, flow meter, bottle of Argon and a DC welder. I never have had a foot control or even a gas switch by someplace handy.

If you keep an eye out you can be ready to TIG fairly cheap. I never bought anything new. I have a high freq and water cooled torch, but don't have $500 invested in everything.

And that's including the loss I took on the 400 Miller gasser that I should never have sold.

If anybody is looking and stumbles across a Miller Thunderbolt AC/DC. They are good little welders. The Thunderbolts that are strictly AC are worth about $50

 

[joeu235]

I got 3 pounds of 309 rods today for $8.50 a pound. Much cheaper than the 312 from TSC, like 4x cheaper! Thanks for the help.

 

[joeu235]

I finished the decoration in time for our Thanksgiving swap. I think it turned out well. It was a lot of welding with 1/8 rods and I definitely got better the more I did it. Stainless wasn't really any more difficult than 7018 but sure does hold the heat. It took almost 2 hours to cool down to ambient. If it was something with real function, I probably put too much heat into it. Please enjoy the video.

 

[Will S]

That Christmas 'ornament' will be around for generations. Nice job.