When welding SS 304 .065 tubing with a 135 Lincoln mig w/gas. Are you using SS wire ?

 

Heres some down pipes i made for my exhaust.4" sanitary SS tube(304)

 

Ok, I'm clueless as to welding, but can SS be welded to aluminized and can it be done with a MIG?

btw, DP's pictured above look INCREDIBLE! Will you weld mine!?!?!

 

no SS and aluminized are not compatible metals u can weld it but it will just snap or the aluminized will just melt and yes FNFastS10's welds are insane

 

crap! Ok, thanks.... bummer, cause I have aluminzed for my dp's and stainless v-band flanges... So if I get mild steel v-bands, could I weld these to my aluminized pipe with a MIG?

 

You can weld aluminized to stainless no problem. Aluminizing is just a spray coating, you simply grind the coating off beforehand, which you do any time you weld anything that's aluminized.

 

Use 309 stainless wire when welding plain carbon steel to stainless. Back purging (block the end of the pipes with aluminum foil and flow argon into the pipe) wouldn't hurt either if you have the option.
John

 

OK so i just picked up a Miller Synchrowave 250DX to learn welding with (overkill, i know, oh well).

I've been playing around with it by just practicing making 'beads' on pieces of aluminum. I seem to be pretty good at that...

I did try welding 2 pieces of aluminum pipe together and I cant seem to get the 2 to melt at the same time and accept the filler rod...is this just a n00b process? Practice makes perfect...

 

Are they the same wall thickness? If so, it's probably a matter of arc length and torch angle. Also, make sure that you've hit each piece of tubing with a stainless steel wire brush until it reaches a dull, matte finish. This ensures that the oxide layer has been removed, and the puddle will wet out substantially better. With aluminum tubing, it's also a good idea to back with a solar flux in the event that you can not back purge with argon.

 

i came upon this thread for you harbor freight users http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/harbor-freight-tig-67360-3.html LOOK AT THE few lasst posts

 

Nice welds-good color... You can tell by the finish that whoever welded this was "Walking the Cup" on the tube..... What do the insides look like?-The "Bead"? Nice welds.

 

True, there are obvious signs of the cup following the pipe...however the welds to look damn good. Personally i wouldn't complain about that though as long as penetration was good and the weld looked like that.

 

I have no welder and i need to tack my tubing together and then i will take it some where to have it finished. I am using 16ga mild steele. What are my options?

 

.

 

What size tungsten and rod would you use to tig 18 gauge mild steel?

 

1/16 tungsten, and the smallest rod you can find. Tig welding material that thin is not an easy task.

 

I am going to be fabbing up a set of turbo headers out of stainless. From this board and others I was told to try Solar Flux to keep the "sugaring" to a minimum on the inside. I went a local welding supply shop and asked for it. They gave me some flux stuff and said it would work the same. It is like a paste and worked well on a sample piece. My question is, can I leave that baked on like a glaze stuff inside it after it is welded or is it easily cleaned out. How can I clean it out? Also, it would be easy to do when working on one weld at a time, but if I tack all the pieces together then go back and weld them, can I put the paste inside as I tack them, or do I need to put the paste inside after everything is tacked together and right before I weld?

 

Those fluxes are water soluble, so you should be able to rinse it out after the fact. You can also put it on while its being tacked. You put it on wet and it needs to dry before you weld it anyways. Don't just put it on the backside of the tube, put it where the joint meets as well. That way you ensure complete coverage, and it isn't detrimental to the weld at all.

 

Thanks Supe. I tried a practice weld using it, but didn't let the flux dry and it just turned to a hard glazed surface. I'll try it again, but let it dry this time. Also, I didn't know about it being water soluble. That will help a bunch.

 

I was wondering if I could tig mild steel using 307 stainless. I have it avaliable and wondered if it was a bad idea. I also have la100 steel rod which is most likely the better choice. I just wondered.