RECOMENDATION: Best all arround stainless TIG filler rod

[Mikel_24]

First of all, Merry Christmas to you all!

Now I got a question. I am totally green regarding TIG welding. Even though I have had a bottle of argon for a year now, it has not been much use. A few practice beads here and there, some brackets that I decided to TIG instead of MIG or STICK... but thats about it.

Recently I have been working on some wooden spearguns and as you can imagine, all the hardware involved needs to be stainless. I am talking about the muzzle, mechanism, trigger guard, etc.

Yesterday I made this tiny piece and I used to TIG to fuse the extra lenght of the rod into the base stainless piece. It came out ok by my standars, but nowhere close to the pretty colors and clean beads I see you guys getting. i didn't use filler this time.








Question is: IF I WERE TO USE FILLER FOR THIS KIND OF STUFF... WHICH FILLER SHOULD I USE?

For rods I usually strip some stick welding rod from its flux,and for sheet I have tons of leftovers from 316 in 4mm and 1,6mm thickness.

I would like to buy some filler in 2,5mm thickness but... which kind? 308? 304? 316?

Thanks in advance!


Mikel

[Oscar]

Er312

[shovelon]

Er312

Bingo! er312.

312 is a high strength stainless filler with a generous amount of ferrites to prevent cracking. As an all purpose maintainance filler it is recommended for welding steel to steel, steel to stainless steel, and stainless steels of unknown composition.

Some offroad 4130 chassis builders use 312 for it's excellent wetting and stability as well as a good strength match, and resistance to porosity formation and cracking.

The downside is it is not quite as corrosion resistant as the others.

[Mikel_24]

Thanks a lot guys! Now I have to locate that locally and see if they want an arm and a leg for it.

How LESS corrosion resistant than 316 it could be? Is it going to mean trouble for my underwater use? I rinse my gear everyday after going fishing.

Mikel

[A_DAB_will_do]

As a rule of thumb, compare PREN values for the different grades.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittin...ivalent_number

"The PREN-value is calculated using the following formula: PREN = 1 x %Cr + 3.3 x %Mo + 16 x %N (w/w) Steels with PREN-values above 32 are considered seawater (corrosion) resistant.

I believe the context for the statement above(PREN>32) is for continuous exposure to salt water.

SS304 PREN is about 18, depending on the composition
SS316 PREN is about 22, "
SS312 PREN is about 29, "

If you are thoroughly rinsing your gear with clean, clear water after every use, you should see minimal corrosion with any common stainless steel. However, if you let the water evaporate and leave salt deposits behind, the Chloride in the salt will cause all sorts of corrosion activity; especially in any cracks or crevices present.

If you see corrosion issues, Duplex stainless steels like 2209 and 2594 are much more resistant to pitting and crevice corrosion from Chloride(Salt) solutions. They are a little trickier to weld; but not impossible.

[A_DAB_will_do]

Thanks a lot guys! Now I have to locate that locally and see if they want an arm and a leg for it.

How LESS corrosion resistant than 316 it could be? Is it going to mean trouble for my underwater use? I rinse my gear everyday after going fishing.

Mikel

https://www.arc-zone.com/stainless-steel-tig-rod-er-312

$20 per lb for a 1lb tube. Here I think you're paying a premium for small packaging.

Expect to pay $7-$10 per pound if you buy in 5-10lb quantities from a high quality source.

[HT2-4956]

For rods I usually strip some stick welding rod from its flux,and for sheet I have tons of leftovers from 316 in 4mm and 1,6mm thickness.

Just a cautionary note here about stripping the flux off of a stainless steel stick rod and using it for a tig filler rod.

I seem to want to recall from some where in my past reading that the core wire in a stainless steel stick rod isn't necessarily the grade of stainless that's printed on the side of the rod. Some of the alloying elements that result in it putting down a certain grade stainless steel weld bead can be contained in the flux coating of the rod.

Being as I just happen to have some 309L-16 here at the house I checked it with a magnet and found that the core wire in it is slightly magnetic. Unfortunetly I don't have any 309L tig rod close at hand I can do a comparison test with.

@DAB...If any one here would be able to shed some more light on this subject I'd have to think it'd be you.

[mad welder 4]

316 is all we use for food grade.
It is highly corrosion resist. It gets sprayed with chlorinated caustic wash and it gets left and dried up all the time.
I don't think salt water would do hardly anything to 316.

[TheBFA]

I haven't done much with 312, but I've used 316 for 90% of my stainless welding. Most decorative stainless is 316, most likely because of the cost vs corrosion resistance. I've done a lot of work doing handrails on ferry wharfs and that's what all the material was. I had to pickle the welds afterwards too. I'm not sure if that was just to clean the welds or helps with corrosion resistance.

[Silicon-based]

If you are welding 316 to itself, use 316 filler. If you are welding 316 to other stainless grades, use 309. 312 is good where strength is more important than corrosion resistance. 309 or 312 for welding stainless to mild steel.

John

[shovelon]

If you are welding 316 to itself, use 316 filler. If you are welding 316 to other stainless grades, use 309. 312 is good where strength is more important than corrosion resistance. 309 or 312 for welding stainless to mild steel.

John

That's what I thought too. But now with those PREN values, 312 has a very high corrosion resistance as well as high strength. That surprised me.

[Mikel_24]

Just a cautionary note here about stripping the flux off of a stainless steel stick rod and using it for a tig filler rod.

Thanks for the clarification. I meant that for a piece or hardware which required some rod (line guide, or something) I strip a rod and use it as if it was thin round stock, not for filler. Usually I just plug weld stuff using the extra material protruding above as filler since I don't have any.

I talked to my LWS and he told me that for my use I would be better served with 316 better than 312. But sometimes I don't know if they just try to sell you whatever is more conveniente for them. My LWS didn't stock any, he had to order everthing so... I don't think that's the case now.

[shovelon]

Can't go wrong with 316. And yes LWS will try to push what they stock. I bet they have no clue between the grades. No way would they want to special order if possible. But 316 is good stuff. I use a ton of it and can be used on 304.

[Mikel_24]

My LWS was supposed to call me yesterday with a quote but he didn't. I have found a place online which would sell me 1kg of rods instead of the whole 5kg package, which will probably last me my whole life and then some. Will probably go the Ebay route this time...