stainless and mig?

[BeNos]

hey all
just chasing a bit of info.
im half tossing up making a stainless steel snorkel for my 4wd.
and im thinking of mayby mig welding it togeather.
now the questions are. is all i need a roll of ss wire. or do i need pure argon gas. currently running ar/co2 mix.
and is ss welding much different to normal mild steel?

 

[madkayaker]

Pure argon and ss wire very little differance in welding

 

[chunkolini]

I had a long session of messing around with various gas mixes Mig weldin Stainless.
Argon/Co2/O2 mix, use anti spatter.

Pure argon did not weld very nicely, messy welds, I had a custom mix of Argon/2%CO2 which was the same.

In the end I found the bast way to avoid sopatter was to control it.
Think of the orientation of the work piece and I was using sheilds made of very thin aluminium strip. hen clean with pickle paste, do this outside, wear gloves and face mask, Naaarrrrsty stuff.

I found the best way is to apply the paste, leave it for 20 minutes then wash it off with a scotchbrite pad and plenty of water, leaves a lovely finish. On areas where the oxide deposit was heavier see his hands I used a SS wire brush before washing the paste off.

Result below.



Chunko'.

 

[madkayaker]

i bow down to your greater knowledge

 

[BeNos]

so does that mean my argon co2 mix would probably do. not the neatest thing going around but would do?

 

[chunkolini]

Check the label on your bottle, for Mig welding mild steel there is usually some O2 as well.
I know this because I made a right fool of myself getting grumpy about having oxygen in the bottle a few years back.
The bets thing is to have a go and keep a noe of what you are using and doing.

Here is a link to old thread I started about this business.

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=19083

I was offered a custom gas mix and all.

On the second page are some close up shots of the results using the various gas mixes. The middle one gave the best welds, argo shield light, spatter control sorted out all the problems.

Chunko'.