I bought a grill to put into the compressor that I aom converting into
a grill/pig roaster.

It is described as "stainless", but I recall that Chinese grill
stainless steel is something special.

As I may need to alter it a little bit, add tabs or drill holes, I
want to know what kind of stainless is it and what kind of welding rod
to use on it, and also, how can I drill it.

i

On Thu, 28 Jul 2011 21:47:32 -0500, Ignoramus6004
wrote:

I bought a grill to put into the compressor that I aom converting into
a grill/pig roaster.

It is described as "stainless", but I recall that Chinese grill
stainless steel is something special.

As I may need to alter it a little bit, add tabs or drill holes, I
want to know what kind of stainless is it and what kind of welding rod
to use on it, and also, how can I drill it.

i
Chinese "anything" is a crap-shoot. Drilling stainless requires a
sharp bit, a slow cutting speed,and lots of pressure. You want the bit
to bite ALL the time. If it slides and heats, you are finished -
generally speaking.
As for welding, using the same alloy as the project works best - but
any stainless rod will likely be "good enough" since it is not
something that needs to look good close up. Best to stay with either
magnetic or non-magnetic, whichever the project is.
I'm not a professional welder - nor do I play one on TV - but I have
done some welding - including stainless - and a good friend of mine is
a real tig artist with SS.

wrote:
On Thu, 28 Jul 2011 21:47:32 -0500, Ignoramus6004
wrote:

I bought a grill to put into the compressor that I aom converting into
a grill/pig roaster.

It is described as "stainless", but I recall that Chinese grill
stainless steel is something special.

As I may need to alter it a little bit, add tabs or drill holes, I
want to know what kind of stainless is it and what kind of welding rod
to use on it, and also, how can I drill it.

i
Chinese "anything" is a crap-shoot. Drilling stainless requires a
sharp bit, a slow cutting speed,and lots of pressure. You want the bit
to bite ALL the time. If it slides and heats, you are finished -
generally speaking.
As for welding, using the same alloy as the project works best - but
any stainless rod will likely be "good enough" since it is not
something that needs to look good close up. Best to stay with either
magnetic or non-magnetic, whichever the project is.
I'm not a professional welder - nor do I play one on TV - but I have
done some welding - including stainless - and a good friend of mine is
a real tig artist with SS.

Also, the thermal conductivity of SS is higher than plain
steel. It welds beautifully and you will be tempted to
weld without filler. As Ed Huntress mentioned, this is a
bad idea because element depletion will result in rust
surrounding the HAZ.

--Winston

On 29/07/2011 05:14, Winston wrote:
Also, the thermal conductivity of SS is higher than plain
steel. It welds beautifully and you will be tempted to
weld without filler.
Sorry, you got it the wrong way round; the thermal conductivity of SS is
less (about a quarter in some cases) than plain steel, *that* is why it
welds nicely.

--
Regards, Gary Wooding
(To reply by email, change gug to goog in my address)

"Winston" wrote in message
...
wrote:
On Thu, 28 Jul 2011 21:47:32 -0500, Ignoramus6004
wrote:

I bought a grill to put into the compressor that I aom converting into
a grill/pig roaster.

It is described as "stainless", but I recall that Chinese grill
stainless steel is something special.

As I may need to alter it a little bit, add tabs or drill holes, I
want to know what kind of stainless is it and what kind of welding rod
to use on it, and also, how can I drill it.

i
Chinese "anything" is a crap-shoot. Drilling stainless requires a
sharp bit, a slow cutting speed,and lots of pressure. You want the bit
to bite ALL the time. If it slides and heats, you are finished -
generally speaking.
As for welding, using the same alloy as the project works best - but
any stainless rod will likely be "good enough" since it is not
something that needs to look good close up. Best to stay with either
magnetic or non-magnetic, whichever the project is.
I'm not a professional welder - nor do I play one on TV - but I have
done some welding - including stainless - and a good friend of mine is
a real tig artist with SS.

Also, the thermal conductivity of SS is higher than plain
steel.

Uh, lower. By quite a bit.

--
Ed Huntress

It welds beautifully and you will be tempted to
weld without filler. As Ed Huntress mentioned, this is a
bad idea because element depletion will result in rust
surrounding the HAZ.

--Winston

On Jul 29, 12:03*am, wrote:


As for welding, using the same alloy as the project works best - but
any stainless rod will likely be "good enough" since it is not
something that needs to look good close up.

When you weld stainless you want to use a rod that has higher nickel
and chrome content then the part you are welding and that has lower
amounts of carbon. Since you do not know exactly what alloy of
stainless you have in the grill, which rod to use for the lowest cost
is unknown. But the more chrome and nickel the better, but more
expensive.

Is the grill magnetic? If it is fairly strongly magnetic , that would
indicate a 400 series stainless. Not strongly magnetic would be 300
series.

I would expert 308L would be fine as I doubt the grill is a high
chrome alloy. 309, 310, or 312 would probably be over kill.

Dan

lemel_man wrote:
On 29/07/2011 05:14, Winston wrote:
Also, the thermal conductivity of SS is higher than plain
steel. It welds beautifully and you will be tempted to
weld without filler.
Sorry, you got it the wrong way round; the thermal conductivity of SS is
less (about a quarter in some cases) than plain steel, *that* is why it
welds nicely.

Yes. Both you and Ed are right.
Senior Moment.

I *meant* to say 'lower'.

--Winston

Ed Huntress wrote:
wrote in message
...

(...)

Also, the thermal conductivity of SS is higher than plain
steel.

Uh, lower. By quite a bit.

Exactly right. My error.

I looked up the thermal conductivity after I welded my chef's knife
because the SS was acting as if it was dissipating heat even worse
than regular steel. Indeed it's thermal conductivity was *lower*.

--Winston

On Thu, 28 Jul 2011 21:47:32 -0500, Ignoramus6004
wrote:

I bought a grill to put into the compressor that I aom converting into
a grill/pig roaster.

It is described as "stainless", but I recall that Chinese grill
stainless steel is something special.

As I may need to alter it a little bit, add tabs or drill holes, I
want to know what kind of stainless is it and what kind of welding rod
to use on it, and also, how can I drill it.

i

The safest choice for unknown ferrous or nickel based alloys is
Inconel 625. Inconel 82 is also quite forgiving. If the grill is
strongly magnetic, most any Inconel alloy would probably work somewhat
better than a 3xx (austenitic) rod. If the metal is non-magnetic, or
only weakly so, it's probably austenitic and any 3xx rod will work.

--
Ned Simmons

On 2011-07-29, Ned Simmons wrote:
On Thu, 28 Jul 2011 21:47:32 -0500, Ignoramus6004
wrote:

I bought a grill to put into the compressor that I aom converting into
a grill/pig roaster.

It is described as "stainless", but I recall that Chinese grill
stainless steel is something special.

As I may need to alter it a little bit, add tabs or drill holes, I
want to know what kind of stainless is it and what kind of welding rod
to use on it, and also, how can I drill it.

i

The safest choice for unknown ferrous or nickel based alloys is
Inconel 625. Inconel 82 is also quite forgiving. If the grill is
strongly magnetic, most any Inconel alloy would probably work somewhat
better than a 3xx (austenitic) rod. If the metal is non-magnetic, or
only weakly so, it's probably austenitic and any 3xx rod will work.


I am very happy to hear it, because I have a nice assortment of
inconel rods.

i

Ignoramus6004 wrote:
... drill holes, ...

I hate drilling ss, so if the material is thin enough & the number of
holes large enough, I use the plasma cutter. Make a template by
drilling a larger, right-size, hole in a piece of MDF or whatever's
handy. Bob's yur uncle.

Bob

On Fri, 29 Jul 2011 11:48:26 -0400, Bob Engelhardt
wrote:

Ignoramus6004 wrote:
... drill holes, ...

I hate drilling ss, so if the material is thin enough & the number of
holes large enough, I use the plasma cutter. Make a template by
drilling a larger, right-size, hole in a piece of MDF or whatever's
handy. Bob's yur uncle.

Bob

Avoid marking hole locations with a center punch. Use a felt tip or
pencil, follow previous guidance, slow speed, cutting fluid, lots of
pressure. If you use a center punch, that'll be the one place your
hole won't go because of work hardening.

Pete Keillor

On Thu, 28 Jul 2011 21:14:32 -0700, Winston
wrote:

wrote:
On Thu, 28 Jul 2011 21:47:32 -0500, Ignoramus6004
wrote:

I bought a grill to put into the compressor that I aom converting into
a grill/pig roaster.

It is described as "stainless", but I recall that Chinese grill
stainless steel is something special.

As I may need to alter it a little bit, add tabs or drill holes, I
want to know what kind of stainless is it and what kind of welding rod
to use on it, and also, how can I drill it.

i
Chinese "anything" is a crap-shoot. Drilling stainless requires a
sharp bit, a slow cutting speed,and lots of pressure. You want the bit
to bite ALL the time. If it slides and heats, you are finished -
generally speaking.
As for welding, using the same alloy as the project works best - but
any stainless rod will likely be "good enough" since it is not
something that needs to look good close up. Best to stay with either
magnetic or non-magnetic, whichever the project is.
I'm not a professional welder - nor do I play one on TV - but I have
done some welding - including stainless - and a good friend of mine is
a real tig artist with SS.

Also, the thermal conductivity of SS is higher than plain
steel. It welds beautifully and you will be tempted to
weld without filler. As Ed Huntress mentioned, this is a
bad idea because element depletion will result in rust
surrounding the HAZ.

--Winston
I HOPE it was just a brain fart - thermal conductivity of stainless is
SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER than plain steel. And
autogeneous" welding of stainless is SIP in MANY situations (welding
with no filler). Passivating the weld is sometimes required to avoid
rusting.

wrote in message
...
On Thu, 28 Jul 2011 21:14:32 -0700, Winston
wrote:

wrote:
On Thu, 28 Jul 2011 21:47:32 -0500, Ignoramus6004
wrote:

I bought a grill to put into the compressor that I aom converting into
a grill/pig roaster.

It is described as "stainless", but I recall that Chinese grill
stainless steel is something special.

As I may need to alter it a little bit, add tabs or drill holes, I
want to know what kind of stainless is it and what kind of welding rod
to use on it, and also, how can I drill it.

i
Chinese "anything" is a crap-shoot. Drilling stainless requires a
sharp bit, a slow cutting speed,and lots of pressure. You want the bit
to bite ALL the time. If it slides and heats, you are finished -
generally speaking.
As for welding, using the same alloy as the project works best - but
any stainless rod will likely be "good enough" since it is not
something that needs to look good close up. Best to stay with either
magnetic or non-magnetic, whichever the project is.
I'm not a professional welder - nor do I play one on TV - but I have
done some welding - including stainless - and a good friend of mine is
a real tig artist with SS.

Also, the thermal conductivity of SS is higher than plain
steel. It welds beautifully and you will be tempted to
weld without filler. As Ed Huntress mentioned, this is a
bad idea because element depletion will result in rust
surrounding the HAZ.

--Winston
I HOPE it was just a brain fart - thermal conductivity of stainless is
SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER than plain steel. And
autogeneous" welding of stainless is SIP in MANY situations (welding
with no filler). Passivating the weld is sometimes required to avoid
rusting.

Autogeneous welding of stainless is risky unless you know the steel you're
dealing with and you're using the right technique. With duplex stainless,
you get a variety of precipitates if you don't swamp them with extra
chromium and nickel. In austenitic stainless, you can get nitrides.

Some classes of stainless welding are usually done without filler, but for
the hobbyist, especially with unknown grades of stainless, extra nickel,
particularly, can solve some potential problems -- including diffusion of
nickel and/or chromium that leads to corrosion.

--
Ed Huntress

On 7/29/2011 12:09 PM, Pete Keillor wrote:
On Fri, 29 Jul 2011 11:48:26 -0400, Bob Engelhardt
wrote:

Ignoramus6004 wrote:
... drill holes, ...

I hate drilling ss, so if the material is thin enough& the number of
holes large enough, I use the plasma cutter. Make a template by
drilling a larger, right-size, hole in a piece of MDF or whatever's
handy. Bob's yur uncle.

Bob

Avoid marking hole locations with a center punch. Use a felt tip or
pencil, follow previous guidance, slow speed, cutting fluid, lots of
pressure. If you use a center punch, that'll be the one place your
hole won't go because of work hardening.

Pete Keillor
Sure makes sense, once you think about it, and I never considered that
before. Good point!

Paul

wrote:
(...)

I HOPE it was just a brain fart - thermal conductivity of stainless is
SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER than plain steel.

Correct! I cop to the boo-boo. 'Significantly lower', yes.
I forfeit two RCM 'attaboys'.

And autogeneous"welding of stainless is SIP in MANY situations
(welding with no filler). Passivating the weld is sometimes required
to avoid rusting.

I found that to be the case after I autogenously welded my
chef's knife back together. (Note to self. Use something
else for chopping.)

It rusted on both sides of the HAZ for months.
With continuous cleaning using a non-metal scrubber, it isn't
rusting and it is nice and shiny again.
It is my favorite knife once more.

My thanks to Ed for explaining the metallurgy in simple terms.

--Winston