Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Tips On How To Do Stainless Steel Welding

By Debra Wood


Welding is usually the process of joining two metals by applying heat on them and it is used in auto repairs, homes, craft projects and boats. Every metal type has a significantly different method of joining it to other metals. Below are some important steps to follow during stainless steel welding.

The first step would be to ensure your own personal safety before embarking on this exercise. Make sure that you wear some protective clothing like full-length pants and shirts that expose as little skin as possible. You can also invest in a pair of gloves, protective eyewear and ear protection.

There are various joining methods that you ought to choose for the base metals. The most common of these joining methods are the edge, T, lap, butt and corner. In order to choose the best method, you should consider the thickness of the metal you wish to weld, the strength required for the job and the joint accessibility.

You should also consider the welding process that you would prefer to use on your project. There are several processes available for you to choose like the GTAW, GMAW, FCAW and the SMAW. It is also important to find the most appropriate inert gas that you could use in the process except for the case where you choose SMAW but for the rest you will choose a gas between argon to helium.

A filler metal ought to be chosen for this process especially if the metals to be fused are same. It is important for the base metal to mirror the composition of the base metals. If your metals are different then ensure that the filler metal you choose is the one that has the least likeliness to crack and it should be compatible to the base metal.

Make sure that you clean the base metal well to minimize the chances of oxide formation on the base metal. A stainless wire brush would be appropriate to gently brush over the metal to eradicate all the oxides that could be existing and burrs. You should also be wearing your gloves to prevent transferring any oils present on the surface of your hands to the stainless steel.

The next thing to do would be to ensure that you bring the metal you will be using to room temperature. You should note that this is done on martensitic and ferritic metal only but for the austenic metal you will not need to preheat it. It would also be appropriate to preheat your metal if it is thick or even high in carbon.

Lastly, you should apply the welding torch to the two pieces of metal you would be welding together. You should also see to it that you also apply some post heating after the process as this metal cools down rapidly causing lots of internal stress which could lead to cracking. The post-heating process is therefore essential to eliminate chances of cracking and especially more so when thick metal pieces are joined together. Ensure that you remove any slag that is left on the weld spot.




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