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Tig welding
jimmy - 25/7/02 at 05:53 PM

David , Have you tried using your TIG for welding mild steel?
I am a TIG welder by trade and I also have a DC TIG at home for my locost build.
If you use PURE ARGON and stainless filler rods you can weld mild steel and get very strong weld and clean welds.
Also by the nature of TIG you will get less heat distortion ,and also I have been told that you can weld aluminium DC using pure helium but how good it is I don't know.

stephen_gusterson - 25/7/02 at 07:53 PM

i heard that you cant mix stainless and mild steel welds cos they react? They weld fine, as I have done so with my mig on non structural parts, but they are eventually supposed to electrochemically react.

atb

steve

David Jenkins - 26/7/02 at 07:30 AM

quote:
David , Have you tried using your TIG for welding mild steel?


That's what I normally use it for. Argon + mild steel filler rods (TIG quality). All my suspension bits were done with TIG.

I'm planning to make my petrol tank soon (see separate thread) and was considering using stainless - it just depends whether I can identify the grade of SS sold by my local stockist, so I can get the right filler rods. I reckon TIG is easier on SS!

Steve - you can use mild steel wire on SS, and it is recommended when you want to weld SS bits to MS. I do believe that there is a corrosion problem, but I'm not sure of the mechanism. I would try using my MIG on SS, but I would have the same problem - getting the correct grade of wire for whatever SS I buy.

David

jimmy - 26/7/02 at 07:39 PM

David ,Have you tried welding ss with ms rods as I have never tried this as I have always been told that you can weld ss to ms using ss filler rods or wire but not ss to ms using ms rods or wire if you see what I mean?
I cannot try the theory as I don't have any ms rods to try.