Best grade of stainless for coloring

xwrench · Sun Feb 22, 2015 6:32 pm

I have begun experimenting with heat coloring stainless for some of my sculptures. At present I have some 316 and I'm wondering if some grades are easier to coax different colors out of. I keep overshooting and getting it too hot I think. Maybe I just need to experiment more.
Thanks.
-Eldon

exnailpounder · Sun Feb 22, 2015 7:28 pm

The secret of stainless...get in and get out and you will get color. Overheat it and it turns gray. I weld fittings into beer kegs for a bunch of homebrewers who got my number and I have found that stainless welds up great with little heat but if you linger, it will rainbow without a big cup and even with a big cup. I think for sculpture purposes, go with the least amount of amps possible. I weld mostly 304 and I get some color if I get hung up sometimes.

exnailpounder · Sun Feb 22, 2015 7:33 pm

Here is a patch and a fitting on a keg and welding a fitting with a thick shoulder generates some heat into the base metal and I got some color even though I was movin on out.

xwrench · Sun Feb 22, 2015 7:39 pm

I am trying to deliberately get different colors over fairly large (Compared to bead width) areas. My sculptural welds are usually quite small and I'm happy with them. I have been running my tig over certain areas quite rapidly with no filler purely to color it. I think I just need to experiment and practice to get the hues I'm after. Pretty sure careful heat control is the key to what I'm trying t do.

: IMG_2411.JPG (51.64 KiB) Viewed 1472 times

I'd hoped for more amber and/or orange. I'm sure I let it overheat.

Cheers.
-Eldon

exnailpounder · Sun Feb 22, 2015 7:45 pm

Try a small cup. Im sure you already know that the color is oxidation from contact with air. Try a smaller cup and lower amps to introduce more heat and see what happens. That butterfly candle holder is bad@#s!

xwrench · Sun Feb 22, 2015 7:49 pm

Thanks. I hope the girl I made it for likes it.

exnailpounder · Sun Feb 22, 2015 7:56 pm

Well the girl I am married to saw it and I have another project thanks to you

I have no idea how to make the flowers so if you can throw me a bone I would appreciate it...maybe Ill get that new plasma I been wanting out of the deal

xwrench · Sun Feb 22, 2015 8:18 pm

I cut three circles approx 3" in diameter then mark 5 evenly spaced points around the circumference. I just eyeball that part by drawing a star on it. drill a center hole for the stem and cut in from the five marks almost to the center. Leave enough metal to hold the petals.. Then I round the corners and bend the petals in sort of a U shape then fold them around each other making each successive one enough smaller to fit inside the previous one. Tack the smallest one to the stem first then the next, etc. Then I add a few bends and tweaks until I'm happy with the look. Hope this helps.
-Eldon

exnailpounder · Sun Feb 22, 2015 8:29 pm

I would bet alot of guys here would love to see a picture tutorial so they can get themselves out of trouble

Your flowers are some of the nicer ones I have seen so If you want to do a how-to for us I am all ears and Im sure lots of others would like it. What I find is either under-explained or over-explained. What ga. metal and all that would be awesome. My wifes B-Day is coming up and I would love to do a big bouquet of flowers for her...come on Eldon...help us out

xwrench · Sun Feb 22, 2015 9:06 pm

I'll take some pics of the steps I use when I get back in my shop. The gauge is whatever ford truck fenders are made of but any that is easy to bend will work. I think the thinner the more realistic it'll look. Now if I could only get over my brain lock and figure out how to sculpt a bulldog...
Cheers.
-Eldon

Rick_H · Mon Feb 23, 2015 10:03 am

Eldon, I don't notice any big difference from 304 to 316 as far as coloring, try pulsing, will help focus the arc and add a beautiful pattern, narrow and smooth.

motox · Mon Feb 23, 2015 12:46 pm

eldon
looks like you and god have this flower thing
figured out.
i will be waiting for your pictorial before
i try one.
my wife loved it as well !
craig

Mr. Moose · Thu Feb 26, 2015 2:16 pm

Eldon,

What I think you are asking is how you can intentionally cause color in your SS work after it is done, rather than get color in just your weld, is that right?

There are a number of SS parts of various kinds that have been colored by heating (without a welder). You can find color tables of SS welds that would give you some guidance of the heat necessary to get one color as opposed to another when you heat SS. If you use an infrared thermometer and some scrap material, I bet you could tune in the necessary heat input to get close to the color you are shooting for. You could heat it in an oven, with a heat gun, or with a MAPP torch, just to see what you would get if you held the heat steady and the part exposed to atmospheric O2, just like what would happen when your shielding gas stops after a weld....

xwrench · Thu Feb 26, 2015 9:59 pm

Thanks Mr Moose. That is what I'm trying to do. I'll look for one of those charts and do some experimenting. I do have an IR thermometer so I will use that too. Fortunately I am happy with my welds, I just want to add some colors to some parts of the sculptures I make.
Cheers.
-Eldon

TriumphRider · Thu Feb 26, 2015 10:24 pm

Hi,

Another vote for a tutorial on the flower making. That would really help my wife get over the cost of all of my toys!

TriumphRider

TriumphRider · Thu Feb 26, 2015 10:27 pm

Oops, just saw your tutorial thread! Thanks!

TriumphRider

Mr. Moose · Wed Mar 04, 2015 2:17 am

Here's a link for a color chart description:

http://www.bssa.org.uk/topics.php?article=140