Some stainless practice

[redstopgreen]

Never tig welded before I got my 200t. Not formally trained in any welding.

Went to scrap yard and picked up some stainless to play with. Maybe 16 guage sheet. Cut out 6- 4" squares and went to town practicing outside corners.

Used 1/16 tungsten. Tried 1/16 filler. .030 stainless mig wire. And fusing.

Started out horrible. Then got waaaay better.

[Kempy]

So what dose the tank inside look like, did you use argon to purge the inside to stop the burning or just welded it?
For the first time it looks not to bad. Little more practice thing will be the way you will like it to look. Keep send your progress, nice to see new welders on the forum.
Also welcome to the forum.

[m j mauer]

Looks ok to me, and welcome to the forum redstopgreen.

[redstopgreen]

i did not purge any. the inside seams were not too bad. a little wire brushing cleaned them up...before i couldn't get inside anymore. if i get a chance ill try and figure out what my first seam was and compare it to my best of the day.

[Paul Moir]

Did you learn the trick to straightening your mig wire?

When I do stainless sheet outside corners, I leave a little overhang to fuse down and so rarely have to use filler. It's fast and produces a nice looking weld. If you want to limit the damage on the inside but not purge (if the inside doesn't matter much), you can use an aluminum angle backer to keep the air away. The thing with stainless is if you get it too hot and it's unshieilded, it burns producing a rough, porous surface.

[redstopgreen]

there is a trick? i just cut some off and kind of reverse bent it a little.

[Paul Moir]

Oh I think I learned it from geezer here. Best thing ever; I've showed a couple welders since.

Take a long length of wire, clamp one end in a vice and chuck the other in a drill. Pull wire tight with drill, spin drill, and you get straightish wire. Cut to ~3' lengths.

[youngnstudly]

Your welds look really good for a beginner! You'll pick "it up" in no time with a little more practice. I started using the Solar Flux B on misc. stainless projects were the backside is accessible, and it's not bad to work with. Used to use copper backing, but on a finished part you have to be extra careful when clamping. I haven't started back purging anything yet as I'm finishing current projects at the moment that don't require SS welding.

As for the mig wire trick that Paul mentioned, I just used it for some .023 mig wire in the 36" lengths for the thin sheet metal repairs I seem to do quite often. The way I do it is clamp the wire in a drill press vise (you could use anything though, even clamping it with visegrips to a flat surface), I bend approx. the first 1/2" of the loose end over itself, chuck it in the drill, and blast the trigger "on" and "off" while pulling the drill taunt. When the wire makes the noise that a tight guitar string would make when strummed, I loosen the chuck and let the "tension" unwind. The wire comes out perfectly straight that way, and the only droop you get is from the lack of support that the wire has from it's small diameter. I think I also picked up that trick on here (or possibly from Jody at WT&T). When you get good at the 16ga, start dropping down (numerically higher) to thinner sheet to perfect your skill.

Another fun exercise is smoothing the weld and "graining" the part as is done in the sheet metal trade on kitchen hoods and countertops that have a #4 finish. I don't know what you're practicing for , do you have a specific project in mind using stainless?

[redstopgreen]

thanks. ill try this straightening method maybe this weekend if i get a chance to play some more.

my only teacher is youtube. the techniques didnt really start clicking till this practice session.

tried to buff and polish it but ended up leaving black crap everywhere and gave up on it.

no real reason for the stainless practice, other than to be able to weld it. i only weld little artsy thing for gifts at the moment. mig didnt give me the control or precession i was wanting.im sure i will come up with some cool things to build with my new machine. maybe a bicycle or something. have to be steel though.

the super ugly one in the photos was my attempt to fill a fairly large gap( i cant cut straight ) maybe 1/4" or so. i guess they are all pretty ugly. but i was fairly happy.i was using a cheater lens in my helmet. thinking about trying to stop using it. i strain my eyes real hard trying to see that close.

[Kempy]

redstopgreen
You said (I was using a cheater lens in my helmet. thinking about trying to stop using it. i strain my eyes real hard trying to see that close.)
I have been using them for 30 years in my helmets and it helps the straining looking at the weld, you just have to find the right ones to wear. I do not wear glasses and I am 65 years old just when I weld.

[Rivets]

redstopgreen
....... I do not wear glasses and I am 65 years old just when I weld.

Hi Kempy,

Just curious, how old are you when you don't weld?

Cheers,
rivets