Todays Silly Question

[HasBean]

My missus has broken my favorite saucepan It's 18/10 stainless and the handle was spot welded on.
The spot welds were about 1mm and there were seven of them.
As it's knackered I've nothing to loose so do you reckon I could plug weld it with Tig (never having welded stainless before )
If I drill out the spots in the handle and countersink to remove the chrome plating on the outside of the handle is it feasible?
If so (knowing nowt about tig but have a scratch start torch for my inverter, just in case ) any ideas of amps/tungsten diameter/shroud diameter etc?
The steel is about 1mm thick BTW and I have a disposable bottle of argon and a couple of 1/16" 316 tig wires.

Thanks in advance,

Paul

 

[Wozzaaah]

You've got nothing to lose as you say. According to the Miller tig calculator you're looking at a 1.6mm tungsten and 60-90 amps. Ceramic says 6.4-9.5mm.
I've got a stainless potato ricer to repair sometime, I got a bit carried away trying to juice some lemons!

 

[Paul.]

My missus has broken my favorite saucepan It's 18/10 stainless and the handle was spot welded on.

If I drill out the spots in the handle and countersink to remove the chrome plating on the outside of the handle is it feasible?

Thanks in advance,

Paul

Hi Paul
I actually have a small contract repairing stainless kitchen implements for a local hospital, usually I re-spot weld them but if your careful Tig should be ok, use a copper chill behind the weld and make sure you have a good joint fit up, many of these things are very thin, Woz is right, its broken anyway so give it a go, although I would be using about 25 -30 amps with your scratch start set, 1mm wire probably better too, chrome plating ?. doubt its that, probably just polished,

 

[HasBean]

Thanks guys,
It's got to be worth a go, nothing ventured etc...

Paul, how do you re-spot weld the broken bits?

 

[runnach]

You need a spot welder mate!

 

[HasBean]

You need a spot welder mate!

No S*it mate

 

[fingers99]

Well worth a go: impress the missus! When I did a bit on the food prep side of catering there were a few TIGistas who would pop in, pick up broken ally and SS stuff and repair it. It was generally just a little bit on the side for them and always cheaper than buying new.

 

[runnach]

No S*it mate

Sorry, was a bit flippant I don't know what type of s/weld tip they use during manufacture, you will probably find the broken spots are very precise? I have done a few repairs for our catering section. I normally pop them back in and, re-spot over them using our not so precise machine. Always worked to date!

Cheers........

 

[Paul.]

Thanks guys,
It's got to be worth a go, nothing ventured etc...

Paul, how do you re-spot weld the broken bits?

I use a hand held spot welder, the trick really is in the preparation of the tips and getting clean joint faces, the machine is similar to this, but a more Industrial version,

 

[Paul.]

It was generally just a little bit on the side for them and always cheaper than buying new.

Actually its not a bad little number, there are all sorts of thing to repair such as trolleys, strainers ladles, split and dented work tops, and anything thats beyond repair gets weighed in as scrap, so paid for mending it and paid for not mending it

 

[runnach]

Hi Paul, how do you prepare the tips? As you will know the spots are minute. Also, do you just re-locate as in 1st manu?

I get pestered all the time with our lot, which reminds me, I'm on a freebie dinner when I return

 

[Paul.]

Hi Paul, how do you prepare the tips? As you will know the spots are minute. Also, do you just re-locate as in 1st manu?

I get pestered all the time with our lot, which reminds me, I'm on a freebie dinner when I return

For general spots I have a tip facing tool which is a cutter that is used in a drill, it actually just cuts a hemisphere on the end of the tip, or for a really fine tip I turn it in the lathe, taper the end with about 60 deg included angle and a 2mm face, they don't last too long but most jobs are only a few spots anyway,
obviously perfect alignment, is vital, Sometimes a large faced button tip is useful one one side, with a conventional tip the other, useful if the spot weld needs to be invisible on one side, can give unpredictable results though, this catering stuff is mass produced, usually assembled by robotic or semi auto welders with water cooling to the tips, therefore they last much longer, I have some water cooled tip mounts for my welder but they always seem to leak and they make a hand held machine pretty cumbersome,

 

[Kiwi K]

Or you could just mig weld just as easy
(that is if you have a mig welder)

 

[HasBean]

Thanks guys, when it stops p*ssing down I'll have a go.
Really depends if I have any argon, a disposable bottle probably costs more than a new saucepan anyway

 

[runnach]

Hi Paul, I use the lathe to touch up worn tips and, make the laddies file them coz they need to know! Although there are a vast array of tips available, offset ect, I have never come across the type that s/w handles ect on to catering equipment, I guess you are correct, will probably be mechanised gear that do the work.

I like the button/swivel tip, great for quality work, especially aluminium s/w'lds. What I do not like about s/w'ldg ali is, insufficient tip cleaning and BOOM, big hole through the ali, kinda sore too if yer hands cop the molten spatter!!

I've used those portable machines, like the one in the pic, heavy brutes after a few spots!

Cheers............

 

[warp speed]

why not go to town and make a fine handle while you're at it? something organic looking like it's growing out of the site of the pot? any opportunity to mess around!

--
warp factor 3?
www.daviddudgeonstudios.com