Welding Tips and Tricks

My friend brought over some steel plates, 1/8", 3'x3' and asked me if I wanted them. He got them as scrap and the place he got them from said they were stainless. I wasn't sure so I put a magnet on one and it is magnetic. Further research has lead me to them being ferritic or martensitic. How do I identify what it is? I hit it with a grinder and it hardly throws any sparks and they burn out fast with a V at the end. I would like to play around with it but want to identify what it is and what filler rod I need to weld it. The plan I have for it involves welding mild steel to it...I have some 309 and its just a simple project, nothing critical. Appreciate any help.

austenitic stainless can develop a degree of magnetism from work hardening but I doubt that is your problem.

try cutting it with an oxy/acetylene torch.

either way I would simply weld it with anything you have available. no need for the 309, unnecessary and too expensive

to waste.

Angus, after talking to the guy who the project was for, all the pieces are going to be silicon bronzed together as he wants the contrast of the stainless and the brass color, Ill post pics when I'm done. Its actually going to be a fun project.

Silicon bronze would be good as your are not melting the metal

309 filler and be done...

weldin mike 27 wrote:Silicon bronze would be good as your are not melting the metal

Why are you not melting the metal?

Silicon Bronze is actually considered a braze welding process because (when done correctly) the parent material is never actually melted. The SiCu filler material is melted flowing into and on top of the joint creating a bond. The bond is due to the SiCu flowing into the surface aspirations of the two parts to be joined. When the filler is solidified it is unable to separate completely from the parent material because it is stuck in the surface aspirations and this creates the bond. It is not a metallurgical bond like welding, where the filler and parent material combine to make the weld bead, creating a coalescence of the parent and filler material. That is why SiCu is so good for joining dissimaler metals.

If the metal is accidently melted too much, there would be trouble later on with copper inclusion. (maybe)