[kerosene]

I am about to start practicing TIG welding stainless. The goal is to make most fantastic header for my honda s90.


I was gonna order tubing from:
http://www.mandrel-bends.com/catalog/mandrel-bends-34/304-stainless-steel-16-gauge-53/

What is appropriate filler rod to be used with 304 stainless? Any other tips? Is filling the tube with gas recommended (or something like that) for good seams. I am a novice and will be doing just practice joints for the time being but insist on doing the header myself.

thanks,

oh also - where to get filler rods etc. welding stuff cheap online?

 

[sdurand76]

if you poke through the burns stainless website, they have a few 'how to weld headers' guides.

if you can't find it I think I have the compiled pdf somewhere on my hard drive

 

[kerosene]

like these?
http://www.burnsstainless.com/techarticles.aspx

Thanks for the tip.

 

[sdurand76]

that's them... also, those guys are pretty great to work with if you haven't ordered your bends and tubing yet

 

[roccitycafe]

308L is a good choice

 

[kerosene]

thanks - Rocccitycafe. Seen your work on the forum - very nice.

Back purging - I thought that its for hifi people only but now thinking that it might be something I need to consider. The articles linked above suggest constant flow purging - Is it of any use to try to flood the tube with argon and then plug it - with hopes that not much will leak out before you are done.

 

[roccitycafe]

depends really on what it's being used for... don't even think nuclear plant plumbing requires back purge. tried using it on a header once, didn't notice a difference, chances are unless you're doing a full penetration gap weld, it won't make a difference

 

[kerosene]

sweet - yeah this is for a 89cc Honda. So not quite that high end... On the other hand when you have 8hp you can't afford to lose any...

 

[ROSKO]

Kero- backpurge is not always required for stainless but for this application where you will presumably be doing butt welds on tubing you will want to. If you are going to the extra expense of using stainless for a header you might as well do it right. Whether you choose backpurge, a dam or solarflux they are not that complicated and well worth the few extra minutes to guarantee a good result. Instead of babbling on about backpurge I'll suggest you read the links below- they cut to the chase.

http://www.millerwelds.com/resources/communities/mboard/showthread.php?t=1255&page=2

http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/welding-stainless-steel.html