Welding Thin Stainless Steel Sheets
When welding 304 stainless steel er308 er308l and er308lsi wires are compatible but for welding 316l stainless you need a 316l wire.
Welding thin stainless steel sheets. It is imperative you consider the shielding gas welding process and electrode before welding 20 gauge sheet metals. You also have to avoid excessive heat affected areas while still ensuring the weld is strong enough. The photo is 1mm steel welded at a power setting normally reserved for 2mm steel. The butt weld page showed how to do a seam weld using a continuous torch movement.
It s all down to the lower controllability of mma arc welding for such applications. Continue the same way along the sides of the piece of sheet metal. This is the number one most crucial thing every welder must do before beginning to weld. To weld sheet metal with solid wires use electrode positive ep or reverse polarity.
With these materials use a tri mix gas 90 helium 8 argon and 2 co 2. Gas metal arc welding gmaw is an effective method for joining light gauge metals such as carbon steel and austenitic stainless steel. Remember that you won t be able to weld thin sheets of stainless steel. Put on your safety gears.
Stainless steel are used in applications such as hvac automotive mobile machinery guards and cabs and small parts as well as stainless steel food service and processing. But in the case of 316l stainless you will need to incorporate a 316l wire. Say if you are welding an 18 gauge stainless steel sheet that is 2 2 feet in size to repair the side of your tank start by creating a weld that is 1inch long then skip 6 inches and then create a 1 inch long weld. Thin sheet may be a struggle.
But in comparison welding mild steel to stainless steels or high carbon tool steels really. The step by step process to weld stainless steel both mig tig welding so now that we have all the pieces in place let s combine them and get the actual job done. Carbon steel and 18 ga. Many welders struggle with stainless sheet less than 2mm thick.
At first you need to put on. Try applying that technique to steel less than 1mm in thickness and you are likely to blow a hole in the metal.