309 stick is probably the best and you can get away with 308 as well. Welded lots of mild steel to ss with 308 and in wet conditions the weld never rusted, there probably ain`t that much carbon in the weld itself.

If you`re running rutile then starts would be as previous poster mentioned - on the start of the weld. Rutile ss stick requires tight arc all the time, best is to just practice vertical stringers with no pausing on let`s say 5mm plate with 2,5 mm rod. Amperage for vertical is usually pretty low comp...

After a long time welding stick I decided it is time to go the tig route but have a couple of questions for the veterans. 1: How do you assure that you`re not overfeeding the wire in relation to weld penetration so you don`t just overlap metal (cold welding)? 2: I`m having troubles getting weld buil...

As the previous poster mentioned, base metal thickness can be a factor too when you have weld sagging. For 1/8 vertical stringer you could go below 100 amps, the lower the better since travel speed will be slow. When you strike the arc and get a good "burn" of the rod, get a really tight a...

With that diameter of rod and plate thickness you shouldn`t of have too much problem. You just have to solve amp and landing settings which is a bit of trial and error. Machine settings can vary though, can`t say that what works on on one, works on all. Since you will be able to grind the back side,...

Make sure to have the weld area cleaned good - clean more then just where you will deposit the weld so you won`t get nasty stuff burning away because of the heat. How thick is the base material? - if it is 3mm or more then it is not such a big problem with burning the chromium away on the other side...

From my experience drinking milk helps but best to do also before welding. Milk is helpful because it binds the bad stuff on its fats - it is not an old wives` tales. When I`m welding something zinc coated I remove what I can with a grinder and weld the piece on my plasma table (thank you Jody:) ). ...

It may sound strange but for learning to control the puddle on vertical welding, stainless steel with rutile electrodes is the best learning tool. You lower the amperage (a lot), hold a tight arc and get the feel for it just moving up with no or very little weaving. Up and down motion with the elect...

Every hole saw should have a rpm chart for the selected material and according to its diameter otherwise look on the net for more information. Secure the pipe in a way that the part you want to drill is as close to the end of jaws of the vice grip as possible to prevent vibrations. The most problema...

Welding stainless with stick is not always an easy task. If you are using a rutile type coating I would suggest you try some rutile-basic type. The rutile coated electrodes can create a problem with fusion when you are not careful with out of position welding, probably because the weld puddle is mor...

I think this is a good video for showing sanitary pipe welding:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL1A8vZ9Fqk

Don`t forget to turn the subtitles on.

Warning, wall of text approaching :) Problem with welding ss with stick is a lot of heat. I think your puddle is getting very hot towards the end of the bead and the filler metal is somewhat sinking into the base metal more. Try with the rod angle - when nearing the edge slowly turn the rod in the o...

You could use Jodys cutting table design as a base only with the front where you access the table to have a whistle kind of shape. This part could have a door for you to access the area with slag. Just mount a radial blower to the table. I attached mine on a hinge so it is easy to remove and taped t...

If your welding stainless I would definitely recommend you to get yourself a welding helmet with air respirator. It is worth every cent and when you weld all day and in the hot weather you get to appreciate it`s cooling effect. Plus you don`t have to worry about facial hair. The mask itself acts as ...

Definitely use some kind of filter for breathing when plasma cutting ss. Best thing is to blow the contaminated air away with some kind of a blower because there is a LOT of fumes and particles with plasma cutting. I remember when I was stick welding ss and left the part rest on the open through the...

You might want to consider an old dry heat sterilizer. You can buy used ones online.

I can`t remember how many times I have seen fences welded outside with a tig procedure. People pay lots of money for sth that is not really safe to use. I remember one time when one of the construction sites supervisor was explaining to me how he sent some welder off the site because he was welding ...

I just like to take pictures of welds that are interesting to me. Sometimes you should just use stick for stainless:

Since we are already talking about weld cracks here are some pics of cracks on aluminum gates for track&field. The wind caused the gates to break.

I never thought of it that way. Back to the crack :) it is actually a millscale, but the picture is not of good quality so maybe that`s why it looks like it. As I said earlier, crack like that doesn`t disappear after using flap disc on it just for deburring the edge. The tie in wasn`t perfect so the...

Which do you prefer for backing when welding: aluminum or copper?

It`s just metal poured over from the heat. It was grinded out and welded over with no problem whatsoever. The part under the bulge on the left is actually millscale. Should of grinded it before welding and use 3/32" instead of 1/8" but wanted to weld a bit hotter on the corners. A crack th...

If you mean the highlighted area, it is just a part where the weld stops and the backing is visible. Sorry to burst your bubble...

It`s a strongman tool. For lifts like this:

http://www.ironmind.com/ironmind/opencm ... ctory.html

Well, it`s all welded and there is almost no warpage. I welded the corners first and then welded the center part of the longer side then moved to the shorter side. I welded those welds from the center out to the corners and moved diagonally for the next weld. Then flip it over, repeat and eventually...