Welding Tips and Tricks

I have some trouble finding the tig rods that Jody recommends as I am located in Germany and we seem to like complex numbers...
"1. 312 stainless ( I previously recommended Hastelloy W but the price has gone to over 100 us dollars per lb.)
2. Aluminum Bronze
3. 4043 Aluminum"

What would help me a lot is naming the actual alloy of each or the code under which these rods are listed. (is it ER?)

Here is what I found so far: for those of you speaking german
1. 312 stainless http://www.technolit.de/App/WebObjects/ ... IG-22.html
they say "similar to" ER 312
2. Aluminum Bronze http://www.technolit.de/App/WebObjects/ ... ronze.html
ER CuAl–A 1
3. 4043 Aluminum http://www.technolit.de/App/WebObjects/ ... lusil.html
ER 4043

Also there are mild steel
ER 70 S-6 http://www.technolit.de/App/WebObjects/ ... WIG-N.html

and stainless
ER 308 L Si http://www.technolit.de/App/WebObjects/ ... -19-9.html

also, I found this which seems great for welding brass:http://www.technolit.de/App/WebObjects/ ... ronze.html
Anyone got any experience with this stuff?

I am mighty confused by too many numbers, but I think those may be the equivalent of the ones recommended. I would love your input on this.

Pete

(I am a model maker, I will not weld anything structural - so don't be scared by my lack of knowledge)

Tekkie - you are correct, the ER designation stands for "electrode, rod." Most other electrodes simply use an "E" for electrode (MIG, STICK). It appears you have found these products (from what I could gather) on the German site. Here's some insight on the alloy designations:

Steel: Low alloy steels are basically classified on a 3 digit base number for related to the tensile strength of the material. Technically, ER 70S indicates a bare rode electrode, 70,000 psi tensile strength & is a solid wire. A "T" would indicate a tubular wire (such as flux core). Usually, there will be a suffix designation to indicate deoxidizing properties. I've used ER 70S-2, ER70S-3, ER70S-6 & ER80S-D2 quite often for TIG welding steel.

Stainless: 3-digit designations are typical. 2XX, 3XX, 4XX are common designations, related to alloy content. 3XX is used for high purity applications like food & beverage. Common base metals in this series are 304 & 316 grades - which differ slightly by alloy content. Most often, the stainless filler alloy is similar to the base metal. In the case of 304 or 316, ER 308 would be a good choice - with similar properties. You may see a suffix to filler, incidating carbon content or other alloy difference.

Aluminum: 4-digit designations, related to alloy content. Aluminum is interesting, because the filler metal may differ from the base metal in order to improve mechanical properties. Most extrusions and sheet are 6XXX series (ie: 6061). Most often, you would use a general alloy like 4043 or 5356 as a filler.

The other alloys you mentioned - silicon bronze & aluminum bronze weld like butter because they have a low melting temperature. The can used to weld everything from galvanized steel to brass as you mentioned. However, it can be a little pricey.

Happy welding - hope this helps!