Welding Thin Stainless Steel Sheets

The butt weld page showed how to do a seam weld using a continuous torch movement.

Welding thin stainless steel sheets.

Remember that you won t be able to weld thin sheets of stainless steel. To weld sheet metal with solid wires use electrode positive ep or reverse polarity. Put on your safety gears. The photo is 1mm steel welded at a power setting normally reserved for 2mm steel.

At first you need to put on. This is the number one most crucial thing every welder must do before beginning to weld. For these types of materials a tri gas mixture is recommended which consists of 90 helium 8 argon and 2 co2. 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.

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. Most of the thin gauge sheet metal are made from steel stainless steel aluminum or galvanized. Carbon steel and 18 ga. Try applying that technique to steel less than 1mm in thickness and you are likely to blow a hole in the metal.

It s all down to the lower controllability of mma arc welding for such applications. Thin sheet may be a struggle. Furthermore if you plan to weld stainless steel er308 er308l and er308lsi welding wire are best used. With these materials use a tri mix gas 90 helium 8 argon and 2 co 2.

Continue the same way along the sides of the piece of sheet metal. Gas metal arc welding gmaw is an effective method for joining light gauge metals such as carbon steel and austenitic stainless steel. Many welders struggle with stainless sheet less than 2mm thick. It is imperative you consider the shielding gas welding process and electrode before welding 20 gauge sheet metals.

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 comparison welding mild steel to stainless steels or high carbon tool steels really.