Newbie

[tony arnold]

I have come here because I want to know the techniques for welding mild steel and stainless and what equipment is need for S/S.

I have had mild steel table bases made and although they are fine I want to explore other techniques and finishes and need to know which welding method can cope with different steels.
I am happy to employ someone to help make table bases. I am in SW England

 

[Richard.]

Both steel and SS can be welded with a number of methods and can also be welded together with the correct dissimilar consumable. Mma mig and Tig are the common manual processes for both these materials. Each has its pros and cons depending on material thickness, position, speed, desired finish etc etc. you ask specifically to weld SS. Well for mma it's a box of 3** depending on the grade. For mig again the consumable but you'll need the correct gas. There are a number of combinations/mixes but the common and most price competitive is 97.5%Ar 2.5% CO2. For Tig again again consumable and pure argon gas.
Common stainless grades are 304/316. The filler materials suitable 308/316. There are loads of grades and fillers but these are the two general fab most common 304 is the one you'll see most I'd guess. Welding steel to Ss requires an over alloyed filler to generate the minimum cr/ni content in the diluted joint 309 is the most common and 312 for higher strength/difficult to weld materials. Hope this answers a few Q's.