stick or mig welding stainless?

Post by **badger** » Mon Jun 08, 2009 6:47 pm

I want to weld a stainless pipe nipple to an old stainless beer keg. I have access to a tig welder but i have never used one and it needs gas, i am however pretty good with a mig or stick. I know it is possible but what rods/wire do i need, can i mig gassless or with normal gas.How good of a weld will i get? wich of these 2 is the best option?

Cheers

Post by **bazooked** » Mon Jun 08, 2009 7:15 pm

just be carefull with the stick kegs are thin but should be doable with a 2.5mm satincraft rod, you will need gas with ur mig aswell welding stainless.

Post by **ausyota** » Mon Jun 08, 2009 8:18 pm

bazooked wrote:just be carefull with the stick kegs are thin but should be doable with a 2.5mm satincraft rod, you will need gas with ur mig aswell welding stainless.

I think you mean Satinchrome rods.
Satincraft are a GP rod.

Post by **Struth** » Mon Jun 08, 2009 9:39 pm

The best option of the 2 will be the one you are best practiced at.

TIG is the best option overall for this job though.

Cheers

Post by **bazooked** » Mon Jun 08, 2009 10:50 pm

ausyota wrote:
bazooked wrote:just be carefull with the stick kegs are thin but should be doable with a 2.5mm satincraft rod, you will need gas with ur mig aswell welding stainless.
I think you mean Satinchrome rods.
Satincraft are a GP rod.

haha yea, im zombied, i hate niteshift

Post by **V8Patrol** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 6:57 am

As per usual with "these questions"........ lack of info

The keg is around 2~2.5 mm thick which should weld best with tig......

the 'nipple' is an unknown, could be a piece of 25mm bar with a 8mm thread cut through it.... suggesting mig for that part

does the job require a "neat finish" or not ????
Tig will be a far more presentable finish over mig or stick

does the job require strength ?
in which case mig is definately the go

If you have never tig welded then why consider it ?
stick with what you know or take it to someone that can tig it for you.

Have you considered silver solder ( oxy accet welding ) ???

Post by **Struth** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 9:34 am

It wont matter how heavy the fitting is TIG is the best way to do this especially if you anticipate using it as an air receiver.

If it is still going to be a keg then it will need pickling and passivation on the inside to clean it up otherwise any food substances will become contaminated.

Drill the relevant hole and take it to a place that can TIG weld thin guage stainless.

Cheers

Post by **badger** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 10:30 am

Sorry for the lack of info. Basically im building a meat smoker and i want to install a 40mm nipple, approx 3mm wall to fit a ball valve for air control.
The weld doesnt need to be neat altho it would be nice, it does however need to be reasonably strong and air tight.
I did consider silver soldering but i have never done this either (i have brazed copper tho) and after googleing it wasnt sure if it would work on stainless.
If i was to mig this can i use normal argoshield with stainless wire? or is a different gas required.
I have tried googleing but everything i find goes into alot of technical terms about the metal etc

I am building a few of these and dont wish to pay someone to weld them up as that would go against the nature of the project as i have not paid for any of it.

Thanks again for your help

Post by **Going_up** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 3:35 pm

the thing to remember with tig on stainless...

less filler rod is better. treat it like braising, use the arc to puch it around the weld, it'll look alot neater.

i use a copper / stainless filler rod... not too sure exactly wat it is. work gets them

Post by **Charlie** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 5:24 pm

Silver soldering might be the best way to go,someone who does balustrading supplies should be able to supply the solder and flux.

Post by **zagan** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 6:42 pm

MIG or TIG

Stick won't be any good as you'll blow holes through the thin metal.

SS is pretty much the same as welding mild steel, less splatter quite nice to weld really over mild steel.

Post by **Struth** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 7:06 pm

MIG should do it ok ish.
It will have edge wetting problems and be a bit difficult to make neat but it sounds like your only option given what's available.

Cheers

Post by **V8Patrol** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 7:09 am

badger wrote:......I did consider silver soldering but i have never done this either (i have brazed copper tho) .......

almost the exact same process

Silver solder sticks are available from most steel w/shops, seen it in some Miter10's, aircon installers carry it, fairly common stuff !

As far as a DIY goes I think at this stage the silver solder is your best choice ( yes it does stainless well ) and mig would be your 2nd option. Stick will blow holes in the thin wall stuff and tig will mean further costs, for you own "smoker" get the tig work done but for others ....who cares !

Tig sounds easy but it does take some skill and knowlege to get it right, by the time you actualy get the hang of it you'll have used a cylinder of gas, making a very expensive learning curve !

Kingy

Post by **mickbeny** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 2:24 pm

Hi all...Badger,If your any good at stick welding stick weld it.If its not important,just use a GP rod laying around at home.Grind the socket so there are no gaps with no bevel and the hole in the keg is the I.D. of the socket.Use a 2.5mm rod with about 85 amps and it will be a peice of cake.Nothing a grinder cant fix if you bodge it up.

Post by **ISUZUROVER** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 5:06 pm

Cold smoker or hot smoker???

Any pics/plans???

Post by **brendan_h** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 9:27 pm

personaly i would tig it.

but as other have said use the mig. you can get little 100diameter spools of stainless wire

Post by **Eddy** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 8:44 am

NONE of the above.

couple of flange nuts and the job is done!

Post by **Bumpy45** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 3:47 pm

Hey Badger, a silly question but are you sure it is stainless and not aluminium? I thought that the beer kegs were ally.

Post by **fester2au** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 5:41 pm

Beer kegs are stainless and for the record I have not seen any that are 2 or 2.5mm thick unless the really old ones were. It will be no more than 1.6mm.

And if you are going to waste your time with stainless please do it properly otherwise you may as well have made these out of 20 litre oil drums or such. Nothing looks worse than dodgy stainless work but of course it can be done and will work just looks crap.

Pay $20 and get someone to tig yours and do the others any way you like.

Post by **badger** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 6:01 pm

Well i bought some stainless rods this arvo and decided to give it a go welding some stainless pipe in as a chimney. It welded fine, didnt blow one hole. Its not the neatest weld but it is a hell of alot better than i expected it to be.

ISUZUROVER its a hot smoker, i dont realy have any plans or pics as yet but its loosly based off of a "drum smoker" but out of 2 beer kegs cut up n stacked together. Ill post some pics on the weekend when i finish it and hopefully cook sumfin

Thanks everyone for your help.

Edit, i also pinched alot of ideas from this http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showt ... hp?t=23436

Post by **BAB20** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 6:55 pm

hey badger if you want i'll get it stick welded @ my manufacturing workshop for you @ Geebung.

email me if you want bren@havestock.com.au

Post by **ISUZUROVER** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 6:56 pm

badger wrote:Ill post some pics on the weekend when i finish it

Cool - would be much appreciated!!!

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stick or mig welding stainless?

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