Читать книгу Welding For Dummies - Steven Robert Farnsworth - Страница 43

If you want to weld stainless steel, your three best options (by a mile) are stick welding, tig welding, and mig welding. Generally speaking, stainless steels are slightly more difficult to weld than carbon steels. That’s because stainless steels have lower melting temperatures, and more thermal expansion (they expand more than steel when heat is applied).

 To stick weld stainless steel, you have to use a flux-coated electrode, which protects the metal from the air while you’re welding and helps make the weld even more corrosion resistant. Keep in mind that stick welding is the messiest of the arc welding methods, and that can be a drawback when you’re welding stainless steel. The random arc marks and spatter caused by stick welding can compromise stainless steel’s pristine surface and appearance. When selecting stick welding electrodes for stainless steel welding projects, make sure you pick electrodes that have a -15 or -16 suffix. For example, a commonly used electrode for stick welding stainless steel is E-308-16. For more information on picking out stick welding electrodes, take a look at Chapters 5 and 6.

 Tig welding stainless steel is a great option when you’re looking to weld thin pieces. I recommend using argon as your shielding gas. You can read more about shielding gases for tig welding in Chapters 7 and 8.

 Mig welding is nice and fast, so it’s the ticket if you want to weld thicker pieces of stainless steel. In those cases, tig welding can just take too long.