TOOLS AND THE SHOP > WELDING & METAL FABRICATION

Just tried stainless rod for the first time.

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nelstomlinson:
Running 1/8" 308L-17, DCEP, trying to weld old boiler tube to make some saw horses. That stuff is a pain!  I think I had it way too hot, started at 80A, 90 was worse.  I probably should have tried 60A. Oh, well, it's ugly, but it'll hold a sheet of plywood, if I ever get rich enough to buy a sheet of cd. 

DeadNutz:
Stick welding probably is not the best way to weld SS boiler tube as TIG is preferred. How thick of a wall does that tube have? If you had problems burning through the amp may not have mattered. I used to stick weld stainless to A-36 carbon steel inside feedwater heaters but it was either 1/8" or 1/4" thick and was nice to weld.

nelstomlinson:
I'm not set up for TIG, so it's stick or nothing. 

I think the tube was probably 3/16" or so, before it sat in the woods and rusted for 20 years.  The stuff that was lying direct on the spruce needles is pretty pitted.  I wasn't burning through, but I was finding that this rod is no good for filling gaps. Where the edge of one pipe didn't quite meet the side of the other, the edge got burned up.

It wouldn't work at all vertical or overhead, and after reading on the Miller forum, it sounds like that's because I was running it way too hot.  I'll try again soonish, at lower amperage, and see if I like it better.

TexasT:
An argon cylinder, flow meter and a Tig torch with valve and the adapter for the stinger to provide the power will get you to scratch start Tig. Lots of vids on YouTube and Jody on welding tips tricks does some on his vids.

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