I agree. Those headers I posted earlier in this thread have quite a bit of MIG weld in them along with the TIG welds and not a single pinhole...and they're high polished to a mirror finish. Can't tell the difference.
Just a question. When you weld stainless do you need stainless files and wire brushes? Do you need to pickle or passivate?
I've never understood why an interesting thread like this has to be turned in to some sort of shit storm by some people. Ebfabman I've been aware of your welding skills for many years through another board. Mig seems to be your weld style of choice, and you have it down for sure! Nice job!
I don't have a TIG so this is of some interest to me. Its unfortunate when someone pees in the pool sort of speak with this method is better, faster, etc. I could take it to someone and pay to have my stainless done but that kind of goes against my intent and pocket book . Thanks for posting this.
Thanks for hanging in and answering the OP's question(s)! Your skills are phenomenal! I'd be interested in seeing a how-to video...do you also torch (oxy-fuel) weld (I'm trying to learn).
A craftsman doesn't blame his tools. Granted the right tools can make a job easier. Yet I've seen many impressive things done with very meager means. Better or easier to work with often determined by how much you need to do and when. Again thanks for posting.
One tips accoring mig welding smal things is to put copper behind the welding place works good on stainless and "farmers steel" and on aluminum on aluminum it works even well with stainless steel Thats importanet to get rid of all blue or discororation if you need full rust stablisation and should use same grinding tools that have been used to normal steel thats even good to pickel the welds so it will passivated But this is normaly not necsarry to cars or motorcycles This for pharmaceptical use
I've welded a couple A grill shells for a friend with tig....Color match and grinding/buffing of the welds was good....chasing all the stress cracks and keeping from making a bigger mess was not, damn shell was thinner than I thought it should have been made!! recently I made a 304 SS grill for my shoebox, I used wisdom [yeah, amazed me too!] and used .060 wall tube so I could bend and grind to my hearts content and not bend it buffing...I used mig to tack pieces [since my mig welding experience is short I only tacked but with the .023 SS wire it probably would have been great with some practice] when in place and removed and finished with tig...I'd love to see a video...Maybe a tall tale but a guy at work whose father was a Welder said that he [his father] could put a .010 bead of weld on the edge of a razor blade .
Looks good. My thoughts? Every time I've welded SS trim I've used a TIG and drop pieces of the same trim as filler rod. The idea behind this is that you're using the exact same material as filler so it will be invisible once polished. I've welded & polished plenty of stainless for non-car projects and I can always find the weld joint when using off the shelf filler rod. Usually it's just a slight tint darker or lighter than the base metal, but I've never had a perfect match. It's obvious that MIG welding SS trim is possible but I'd bet you could find a ghost of the joint in the finished product. Thoughts?
Up until this 2nd post, after I asked the questions, all this thread was, was a "look what I can do" thread. Thank you for the information. Looks like all I have to do now is wait for a cup team to give me a 230V, 4 welding position setting, Lincoln welder, so I can set it on the lowest power position. Then all I need to do is buy (unless you care to donate some to me, since I don't buy anything I might need) some .020 302/304 Stainless filler wire (which my local welding supply doesn't carry), and I will be all set. Good thing no one has ever helped you before. Thanks for the info. Gene
I already had 2 mig welders when I got the Lincoln, the others work equally as well. The lincolns were only given to a few of us. Easy to figure out who they decided who to give them to. Any help I EVER got I either paid for or exchanged work for. I had no mommy daddy to ask for anything or help when I needed something. Had to use whatever resources were available. Now you have the world wide web at your finger tips and a wealth of information. The techniques and methods I use are what I developed by spending a lot of time trying different ways to get the results I was after.
302/304 stainless wire you can find, I'm looking at a roll right now, of .025 dia. Also has on the label other "boxes" to denote the size, 2 of which are .020 and .021 dia. It's known in the aircraft bidness' as "safety wire", and this particular brand is from the "Malin Company", of Brookpark , Ohio. Their website shows as : www.malinco.com There's your filler wire, now get busy practicin', 50dodge4X4 !...... ; )
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