Welding Tips and Tricks

Finally had a chance to finish the .036", 304 stainless tray for a bee keeper.
It didn't turn out as good as I hoped but it serves the purpose and I got some practice.

Is it water tight??

Yes, I tested it to make sure. It did have one pinhole at a restart, but that was easily fixed.

Looks good to me. Really doesn't matter if the welds are not to your liking as long as it works and the customer is happy. Great job!
-Jonathan

This was also the first time actually doing outside corner joints like this, first time really dealing with thin stainless, 1st project for someone besides myself, 2nd time ever welding stainless.
So far I learned I really need a plasma cutter next time I need to cut stainless, and I still need a lot more tools.

that is not a bad first timer

A good welder is their own worst critique

just curious what rod and rod size you used?

Most was just fusion, but the few spots I had to use filler, I used 1/16 308. I wanted smaller filler but that was the smallest my supply store had.

Mig wire is great for projects with such thin sheet.
Did some outside corners on 0,7 mm mild steel yesterday, wouldnt use anything but 0,6-0,8 mm mig wire for that.

I've heard of that before but I only have my everlast powertig 185, and my first welder, a Lincoln WeldPak HD. It's a 110v flux core welder. I did try using flux core as filler on a piece of scrap. That was comical, followed by a direct trip to regrind the tungsten!

You can puchase 308 MIG wire in spools as small as one pound for "spool gun" use...

It's still not cheap, despite the smal size, but it will last you forever in these edge-welds where you need a "little bit" of filler.

Steve S

Found one site that had mig wire "similar to 308", $26 for .025".