manureman Posted October 10, 2006 Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 Awhile back my son-inlaw brought me some pieces of sheet stainless and if I can find someone with a brake I intend on making some tanks for parkerizing and rust blueing.One piece is sure thick enough to weld and I figure on using that one for the park tank,the other piece I'll try to make hot water tanks out of,it looks to be about .035 + or - and I'm guessing that around here that will have to be soldered.What type of solder do you'all reckomend and where do you get it. Thanks Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z1r Posted October 10, 2006 Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 I welded mine and they are about .035". Stainnless likes to walk so tack it up in many places first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fritz Posted October 10, 2006 Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 Jim, I'm like z1r, weld it. And TIG is the best way to weld thin metal. Damned, I used to be good at it. Stainless, monel, titanium, inconel, magnesium, whatever there was--we welded with TIG. I use an iron tank for parkerizing, but a stainless one would be better I hear. All my hot salt tanks are welded mild steel (bent by a fellow with a metal break). I think they are 12 guage steel. And that's thicker than the commercial tanks from Brownell's. But what the heck---the thicker the better. If I could get some stainless steel in the thicker guages, I could arc weld it. That's thick stuff, but it would hold the heat well. fritz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manureman Posted October 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 How ,or what did you use to weld that .035 with?I welded up that reciever on that .257 Imp. yesterday and today,man it sure looks better with a decent bolt in it,think I'll use the ugly one to practice opening up for a mag face. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z1r Posted October 10, 2006 Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 Like Fritz said, I tig welded it. Stainless rod and a thin tungsten (maybe 1/16"). Make the tanks bigger than. Mine ended up smaller than I would have liked.. Then again, I already bought the sheet of stainless and the bender did a fine job of making nice tanks out of what I had. We used a plasma cutter to cut the end pieces. I bet Fritz coulda welded beads around me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manureman Posted October 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 fritz I'm sure there are some tig welders around but I cant find em',close anyhow, I've asked around a couple years now hoping to find someone to weld bolt handles but gave up and I just mig them myself,sure wish I was a better welder.I was thinking silver solder was what is used to solder stainless but the only stainless I've ever fooled with was a old single cow milking machine that we worked over to change corn into ...something a little stronger than milk,that maybe why I'm having trouble remembering what we used in our plumbing chore. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fritz Posted October 10, 2006 Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 I forgot about silver solder. But I never used it on stainless steel. Old age is getting to me. I'll try some and see how it works on stainless, thin sections should work fine. fritz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donmarkey Posted October 10, 2006 Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 I used stainless wire in my mig and did mine. No problems. -Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manureman Posted October 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 Don, I'm not the best welder by a long shot but I might give it a shot,Ive got a 250 miller that I've had for about ten years and I'm still on the second roll of wire.For some reason my rollers are .035 in both grooves so I'll probably have to buy a set for smaller wire.What do you real welders think?I don't even know how small you can get stainless wire in ... .023???any suggesstions. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donmarkey Posted October 10, 2006 Report Share Posted October 10, 2006 Don, I'm not the best welder by a long shot but I might give it a shot,Ive got a 250 miller that I've had for about ten years and I'm still on the second roll of wire.For some reason my rollers are .035 in both grooves so I'll probably have to buy a set for smaller wire.What do you real welders think?I don't even know how small you can get stainless wire in ... .023???any suggesstions. Jim I have a roll of .030 think. I can send it to you, just return it when you are done. I also use tri-gas for stainless, some people say you can use standard argo/co2 mix. But a pipefitter friend of mine said it would pin hole. Email me your address. -Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manureman Posted October 11, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2006 Don thanks a million for your more than kind offer I really appreciate it and would take you up on it in a heart beat if I hadn't already bought me a two pound roll of .030 this evening,your post really perked me up and I ran up and took a look at the decale under the hood of my welder to see what it said about stainless and .030 was the only size listed so I ran over to town and went to Napa just as they were closing,bought a roll of wire and some tips and they loaned me a set of old .030 rollers,I talked to one of the boys about gas as I figured it took something different but had a brain fart and didn't think to look at what my welder said when I was looking at wire size,the kid said he didn't know for sure as the only stainless he had welded he just used steel mix on but that it was a bar-b-que grill and was no big deal..his dad owns the place and is pretty sharp on that stuff but he was gone,I'll come up with the gas,thanks for the heads up and thanks again for your offer it was awfull good of you. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donmarkey Posted October 11, 2006 Report Share Posted October 11, 2006 Don thanks a million for your more than kind offer I really appreciate it and would take you up on it in a heart beat if I hadn't already bought me a two pound roll of .030 this evening,your post really perked me up and I ran up and took a look at the decale under the hood of my welder to see what it said about stainless and .030 was the only size listed so I ran over to town and went to Napa just as they were closing,bought a roll of wire and some tips and they loaned me a set of old .030 rollers,I talked to one of the boys about gas as I figured it took something different but had a brain fart and didn't think to look at what my welder said when I was looking at wire size,the kid said he didn't know for sure as the only stainless he had welded he just used steel mix on but that it was a bar-b-que grill and was no big deal..his dad owns the place and is pretty sharp on that stuff but he was gone,I'll come up with the gas,thanks for the heads up and thanks again for your offer it was awfull good of you. Jim No problem, that is what this forum is for, to help each other out. -Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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