Mig weld stainless question?

[Dirtybird103]

At work today they asked me if could weld a handle back onto a cup (both stainless). All I have is a Lincoln mig with er70s-6 and 75/25. Its just a spare sample cup for them and they just want the handle back on. Is there anything I need to know about welding stainless? Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[BigMike782]

Mild steel wire and 75/25 wil work but the weld will rust.
To keep it stainless you would need to use wire of the same make up as the base material and a gas low in CO2.....helium/argon/CO2 mix, argon/nitrogen mix or argon/oxygen mix.
That looks like a good tig job if you have access to a tig machine.

 

[rsanter]

How about a spot welder?

Question....what would happen if I used my mig with stainless wire....and used the argon from the TIG
Just a question, I know I could TIG it but I am wondering why the need for the argon mix

Bob

 

[BigMike782]

Resistance should work fine.
Straight argon will not give good penetration. For that mug/cup deal SS wire and argon would probably work.

 

[steel 35]

My response was its going to be expensive! You should get some test pieces and another method. see big mikes post

 

[Dirtybird103]

I told them it would rust and they were fine with that. Eventually I will get a tig haha.

 

[dr_clyde]

Yeah...I try to avoid stainless wire welding. Tri mix gas is expensive, the technique isn't very easy to master, sugars easy, general pain in the ***.

That's a TIG job it i ever saw one. If they are ok with rust and they just want 2 pieces stuck together, just mig it and call it a day. If they need the corrosion resistance, gotta weld it right and use the proper filler.

 

[HAP]

Weld spatters more than regular steel as well.

 

[rsanter]

How about using silver solder
Will be easy and clean to do

Bob

 

[mechan]

If you do not want to purchase the correct wire (not knowing the base metal maybe shoot for 309) and the correct gas then I would tell work you are unable to do it. Saying it is stainless is like saying something is aluminum. Okay what *type* of aluminum. What is this cup for? I really hope it is not anything to do with food service if you are pondering using a carbon steel wire on it ....

Seems like a waste to buy consumables to make a very small weld for free unless you plan to use them in the future. If they do not care about aesthetics and just want it to stick go buy a tube of JB Weld.

 

[Dirtybird103]

Thanks for all the input and help everyone!

How about using silver solder
Will be easy and clean to do

Bob

I need to get some solder and learn how to do it for sure. Im young and still learning. I really like the look of some soldering I have seen people do and hope to make it there one day!

What is this cup for? I really hope it is not anything to do with food service if you are pondering using a carbon steel wire on it ....

Seems like a waste to buy consumables to make a very small weld for free unless you plan to use them in the future. If they do not care about aesthetics and just want it to stick go buy a tube of JB Weld.

I work for a copper mining company and its just for getting dirty water in a confined space. Its just a spare so I figured I might as well try and see what happens. They were happy with how it turned out. It seemed like it burns a lot hotter? I had to turn the heat way down and was worried about burning through so I stopped and started a few times.





The bottom right is where I finished, it looked really hot but it started looking better.

 

[HAP]

Thanks for the follow-up. Glad it worked for ya.