Stainless Steel Sheet Welding ??

[twocik]

I've recently bought a Husky stainless steel tool chest and notice that my top stack drawers were a little loose and wobbly. I've taken the drawers out and noticed that two of the two of the four welds that hold it up are cracked. These welds were holding up the inside panel to the cabinets inside wall. This is the panel that held the hinge sliders for the drawer. Here are a few pictures of what I'm seeing.




My question is could I re-weld the insides with a propane torch and a 304/409 mig stick? I can't remember how hot a propane torch gets or even how hot a piece of stainless needs to be to weld, so thought I'd ask here first. It's really thin sheet metal so i would imagine it doesn't need to much heat to get it hot. I've also read that I might need to use a arc mig welder, something about gas will not work. I've never really welded anything before, but would love to learn. This is just a quick fix, and need something to fix this asap.




Here's the torch I own at the moment

http://hand-tools.hardwarestore.com/...it-225466.aspx



Or could I use something like JB Weld ?


I have no experience in the area at all, but do understand how it works, any help or advice would be greatly appreciated

[DareBee]

Take it back and get a new one. It will have warranty.

Even an expert welder would have great difficulty trying to weld that with a gas torch (especially propane).

TIG would be best welding method.
MIG can get by with.

[Geof]

When you weld, braze or silver solder with a gas torch in thin sheet you can get a horrible mess. You cannot avoid putting a lot of heat into the metal so in the region of the flame it expands and buckles and does not return to the same condition when it cools because the buckling stretches the metal.

Mig or Tig can work with less distortion because there is less heat put in and it is faster so the heat does not spread.

But the simple answer is take it back it is defective.

[twocik]

I bought it as a defected item, that I thought was only a dent in the upper right-hand outside corner. I didn't know when I bought it that the inside was defective as well, it was a as is deal so I guess I'm stuck with it. It was $400.00 bucks and got it for $200.00 + cover. I really don't have the extra $200.00 for a brand new one.

Now I can see what I didn't show in the pictures. If you take a closer look at the main box inside, and on the door that holds the slides (2nd piece), you'll see an extended bar that goes pass the joints and is place behind the main box weld (the one that looks a torn joint). So it's basically welding that piece that looks like it's torn, onto a flat surface. I know this can be done, but is it possibly to do the way that I'm wanting to attempt? I hope that make sense

Or do I need to buy an welder?


I was in the market for a welder (maybe one that will TIG & Mig combo), so maybe this could be my first project.

[307startup]

Go ahead and buy that stick/tig welder, then buy a spot-welder attachment, because that's the only thing that will weld that think material quickly without making it ugly and warp. I know because I have worked for a company that makes stainless accessories (commercial kitchens, bakeries, etc.) A tig will work...if you know the process and material inside and out and are willing to "massage" the weld after word...ie, blending the weld, re-dressing the sheet to get that brushed look, etc, etc

[DareBee]

Exactly as they said (and I earlier).
If it were mine I would spot weld it or TIG only.
I am a somewhat experienced TIG welder though.
If you want your box to look nice take it to an experienced shop and get it welded.
Otherwise - do as you wish.

[DSL PWR]

Do you have enough clearance in there for some angle brackets? If you do go back to home depot and get some then pop rivet them in. It won't look as nice, but it should work.

[probinson]

OK, For this type of repair you really want to use a spot welder and here is how you can do it yourself.
The electrical resistance of steel is much higher than copper so you can use copper electrodes to run power through a small point in the steel and the steel will get hot enough to melt. You will need to run about 100 amps through a small point where the two pieces of steel are to be joined. A car battery has just enough surge current to do the job but you will need to dimple the steel with a punch then clamp the 2 pieces between heavy copper electrodes so that you can run almost all the power through a small enough spot. You can prepare several dimples in the same two pieces but you must weld one dimple at a time.

Copper ====
Steel =====V====== (small point of contact created with a punch)
Steel ============
Copper ====


¼ inch copper tubing works real well as the electrodes. You can clamp the stack or place something heavy on it (4 or 5 pounds) to press them together, just don’t over do the pressure. The dimple you made with the punch will need to get orange hot for the steel to fuse together. If you clamp the pieces too tightly the dimple will crush before the steel fully melts and once the two pieces of steel come together the current will be spread out over too large an area for the limited power of the battery.
So now you only need to apply power to the copper electrodes for about 2 seconds to make the weld.
Most jumper-cables will be too small to provide enough power so you will probably need to use 2 sets in parallel. You connect one of the battery terminals to one of the copper electrodes and the other you will just hold on the electrode for a couple seconds but don’t use the clamp directly. When you make that last connection, and again when you yank it off, there is going to be an arc that can leave a hefty divot, depending on how fast or jumpy you are. Use a small piece the copper you used for the electrodes so it gets the nasty mark instead of your cables.

It wouldn't hurt to have someone at the battery to connect power to the cables only when you are ready. It is pretty easy to touch the wrong cable to something you and you didn't intend and leave a nasty mark.

[twocik]

Hi gentlemen,
Thank you for your help and ideas. I've actually finished the box yesterday and everything went very well. The box works as if it was brand new and never had a dent or cracked welds.

Now what I did was, I first beat out the dent with a hammer and then used clamps with fixtures to straighten the metal. I used a rivet gun to seal the box from the inside back together. I put the slider wall back up inside with four rivets and wow is it strong now. I also used a bunch of JB Weld, damn I love this stuff!!!!!


I'll take a few photos and post them up.


I'm definitely wanting to learn how to weld, and completely forgot that I knew someone that does this for a living.




Can someone point me in the right direction with purchasing a MIG & TIG welder and what else I would need?

[probinson]

Congratulations. It always feels good to get a bargain and end up with a great piece you fixed yourself.

As for purchasing a welder, start by finding your local welding supply shop. You are going to need supplies and the people there will be an invaluable resource. They will help you in selecting the correct gas mixture, filler rods, safety gear, and will also be glad to help find a good used welder. Everyone who welds needs supplies so the supplier will know where they are, who just upgraded, and who is looking to sell.

If you are seriously interested in learning to weld then you should ask who might need some help. You can probably find someone to teach you in exchange for helping out around the shop. You could get years worth of experience, with all kinds of equipment, in exchange for a little grunt work.

[probinson]

Oh, and if you do find a shop that will let you help out in exchange for training you won’t even need to buy the welder because you will have access to equipment that is likely way better than you could ever afford.