MIG Welding - Pushpit

[PhilipMcLaughlin]

Does anybody have experience of using MIG welders for stainless steel pipe fabrication on a DIY basis. I would rate myself mechanicaly competent but little welding experience. I plan to fit a set of goal posts to the existing pushfit. Qutations for commercial fabrication have all seemed quite expensive.

Cheers - Phil

 

[boatbuilder]

For stainless ,TIG is usually the answer . A skilled job with expensive kit , hence the price.

 

[popswoo]

Dont try it unless you want your post to look as if pidgeons have dropped there message.Welding stainless is a pros job and done right is worth every penny.
Popswoo .

 

[Lakesailor]

[ QUOTE ]
little welding experience.

[/ QUOTE ] Try welding some mild steel and then consider how much more difficult stainless will be. If you haven't the skill, getting those lovely flow marks in the weld is impossible. I certainly wouldn't muck up my pushpit for the sake of a few quid, and I'm a tidy welder.

 

[pjs100]

Not only are the flow marks difficult to achieve you need to be able to maintain a gas shield around the work which in some cases may be difficult with MIG. You will also need to use argon rather than the mix used on MS.
JJTOP

 

[ShipsWoofy]

If you are in the NW or maybe not as Dave might come to you for a free sail on Sath coast,

Anyhow, Dave Snelson who posts on the mobo forum built my pushpits for me. He is very good and will clear out your supplies of jammy dodgers so keep them well hidden!

He posts regularly so you should have no trouble finding him, he does not generally post on PBO though.

 

[Niord]

Give it a go! ........... After lots & lots of practice, preferably with stainless pipe. However given the time effort and materials required for the practice you may find it easier (and cheaper) to pay someone to TIG weld it for you.
I have had some sucess in fabricating bits for my boat - mostly out of sight!
The most useful tools are an angle grinder and powerfile to remove the blobs!

Best of luck

By the way you may not find it easy to get someone to weld on the pushpit whilst the boat is in the water ( Health & Safety?).

Some time ago Carrisbrooke of Fareham,Hants did a brilliant job on a radar arch for my boat.

 

[Steve_N]

I don't understand why people think welding SS is so difficult - perhaps they read and believe the recent feature in PBO.. If you can MIG weld mild steel then moving onto SS (using the correct shield gas and wire) should not be a problem. Equally SMAW (arc welding) SS is straightforward too, using the corrrect electrodes.

Only the necessary pickling and polishing of the finshed article is a little tiresome.

 

[Dave_Snelson]

I just picked this up. In truth, I am actually too busy right now to get involved in actually doing this job - although I would have liked to.

No, do not jump in with cheap toy shop welders and do not attempt MIG unless very experienced. IMHO TIG is the best as you can control the rod flow rate and other factors such as current and gas. BTW, you do need to back purge any interior tube sections as they "coke up". The coke being burnt Cr from the steel. You also need to pickle using pickling paste which is nowt more than 5% Hydroflouric acis mixed with Nitric acid.

This ain't a DIY job, otherwise it will look crap and have no strength. In this case DIY stands for Dont Involve Yourself.

On the subject of Jammy Dodgers, I did try and eat all Julian's stock, but Tipper (the Staffs Bull Terrier) beat me to it. I did get great tea though /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[William_H]

I can fully understand and respect your DIY urges. At least if the steel is not too dear you can scrap it all after trying yourself. Some of us are just grimly determied DIY and even if it looks terrible it is your own. I have a real phobia of tradesmen. (sorry Dave)
You certainly can use SS welding rods as I have with a flux coating in an ordinary arc welder and the result will not be all that bad. There is no reason for it to be unsafe especially if you can over engineer a bit with extra support. That doesn't mean I disagree with the others however. good luck olewill

 

[PCUK]

The main problem with DIY SS welding is keeping the heat down and this mean keeping the amps down which makes the job much more difficult. Too much heat weakens the material and you should also only use SS designed for welding.