Stainless Steel Soldering Help Needed !

Deluxe Delivery

Deluxe Delivery

Senior Member
I've had sucess soldering stainless using a flux from Superior Flux & Mfg Co.that I ordered off the internet from California. The solder I have used is silver solder such as is used in jewelry to join silver. The color, however is rather brassy and contrasts with Model A Stainless which is much whiter in color. As I have just abraded a hole through the "peak " of my last 31 shell ( I ruined the other one earlier):mad: , does anyone know of a "white" silver solder or stainless solder that can be used on these fragile A parts?:confused:
 
I'm rather ashamed to admit that I'm so "old school" that I am not familiar with the TIG process. ( I'm kinda stuck in the 50's). Would that work on the thin stainless radiator shell?
 
By a very skilled craftsman, it can be welded. Folks like Doug Bruce have mastered it but you can ruin stuff, too. Find a craftsman or find a rag of a grill shell to work on for a good while!
 
I have done ALOT of welding and am certified in tig welding

I can do razor blades but there is something about the model a grill shell that has given me a hard time to weld

I suggest if u can have a skilled welder do it. CLEAN it and then clean it some more....

then clean it again before welding it and clean atleast an inch away from the are to be welded...and clean on both sides

I would also suggest putting a backer in the form or a piece of copper ..maybe aluminum behind it and "c" clamp it.

the snap clamps don't pull the heat off like the clamps do

I have welded them and ground them down, so they can be done

I wish you luck with repairing your shell =)

and lastly one guy in our club used pieces of another shell as filler material for his shel to be repaired

it makes sense to me but i havent tryed it yet
 
Jim Parker Toronto said:
Ya, but can he fix the crack of dawn, or mend a broken heart? If you really want to see how good he is, give him some stainless steel wool, and some knitting needles, and see what he comes up with.... :)
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Something like this?
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I have welded up several model A radiator shells with my mig welder. I use stainless steel wire and carbon dioxide. I back up the crack with a carbon block. A brass backing will work well too. Clean, hospital clean, always gives you the best weld. Practice on a piece of stainless sheet first, to get the correct heat and wire feed rates. It is amazing in that after the weld has been ground down and polished, no one can tell where the radiator shell was cracked. All your weld shops carry the spools of stainless welding wire for your spool gun.
 
Deluxe Delivery said:
I'm rather ashamed to admit that I'm so "old school" that I am not familiar with the TIG process. ( I'm kinda stuck in the 50's). Would that work on the thin stainless radiator shell?
Click to expand...


You can still be old school and TIG weld. It was known as Heliarc welding when it was developed in the 40s. I have an original pair of seats from a Martin Mars that were welded this way (aluminum, though), it is amazing the quality of work that was being done 60+ years ago.
 
Lots of good advice about SS welding, but with one glaring omission.
If the cleaning requires wire brushing or grinding, it requires stainless steel
hand or power wire brushes and grinding must be done with discs or wheels
specifically for stainless. These should not previously been used on non stainless.
Otherwise the cross contamination will result in rusting or pitting of the welds.
Custom restaurant equipment suppliers are a good place to find good ss weldors.

Regards
Art
 
For the record, I use "tinner's acid" for soldering S.S. It's the best thing I've found for a flux. "Silver Solder" is "German Silver" and contain's no silver, it's primarily Nickel.
MIG or TIG welding is fine. However, once the welding is done, How do you polish the weld to match the rest of the work? This is the tricky part. Carefully work the weld down with a file then increasingly finer grades of wet or dry till a final buffing ? I admit, I don't know. Maybe someone can fill us in.
Terry



Deluxe Delivery said:
I've had sucess soldering stainless using a flux from Superior Flux & Mfg Co.that I ordered off the internet from California. The solder I have used is silver solder such as is used in jewelry to join silver. The color, however is rather brassy and contrasts with Model A Stainless which is much whiter in color. As I have just abraded a hole through the "peak " of my last 31 shell ( I ruined the other one earlier):mad: , does anyone know of a "white" silver solder or stainless solder that can be used on these fragile A parts?:confused:
Click to expand...
 
Finishing the weld is time consuming but the results can be very rewarding. I start with a file, then a finer jeweler's file, then 220 paper followed by 400 , 600, 1200, and 2000, all backed with a wooden stir stick. Then when no scratches are visible, off to the Baldor buffer with two steps of stainless buffing compound. When done correctly, the repairs are invisible. I just pushed my luck and filed them too thin, creating the hole I now want to fill. The rest of the shell is like a mirror!
Thanks to all for their welding advise and well wishes, I just don't know any local welders I can trust with such a delicate job.
 
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