Stainless 55gal Drums on CL

[Norcoredneck]

First there are different grades of stainless. Some rust, some don't. Ever see something advertising "surgical stainless"? We have all types of thermal chambers and they don't rust.
As far as welding goes you can use just about any welder provided you have the right equipment/filler rod. Wrong filler rod is a cause of rust also. You can silver solder steel fittings to stainless, I do it all the time. Someone is going to say the solder will melt, noticr I said silver solder. Sure the solder will melt, but I will give anyone a truckload of wood and matches so they can try. Kinda like a survivor challenge. Back to welding, to weld steel to stainless you have to use stainless filler.

 

[thirdeye]

The issue with welding stainless is that you aren't going to be able to do it with a stick welder. My experience is that they use a TIG (tungsten inert gas) welder. When welding stainless and all sorts of other metals, you cannot let oxygen come in contact with the surfaces to be joined. In regards to the heat, charcoal isn't going to get hot enough to cause problems with a stainless drum. Welding temps are in the 10k* to 20k* range, which is considerably hotter than your grill wil get.

There are others here that are much more versued in the details of welding than I, but this is the general issue.

Oh I don't know, I do okay stick welding stainless.

Until it gets small diameter, then the TIG works good.

1

I don't have the slick touch that some hands do....

 

[nonthink]

Is welding needed in the construction of a UDS?
This guy has the same area code as me. If I can get it approved from the boss (my wife) and no welding is needed. I may grab one

 

[RichardF]

Oh I don't know, I do okay stick welding stainless.

I stand corrected - THey guy who has done my welding has said you can't do it with what I have , which is an old Lincoln AC unit because you couldn't do it with stick. I may have to try it when and if I get my welder out of storage.

Is welding needed in the construction of a UDS?
This guy has the same area code as me. If I can get it approved from the boss (my wife) and no welding is needed. I may grab one

You can put them together with nuts and bolts, but you will also need to cut a drill. Seems to be a number of examples posted that have no welds at all.

 

[backyardchef]

That stainless drum would make one helluva stock pot....I wonder if Billinois is gonna snatch that one up.....

 

[thirdeye]

I stand corrected - THey guy who has done my welding has said you can't do it with what I have , which is an old Lincoln AC unit because you couldn't do it with stick. I may have to try it when and if I get my welder out of storage.

Yeah, I didn't think of that. My machines output is DC (it plugs into AC). It is a very small inverter (13 pounds), the sucker looks like a toaster and the output is 150 amps which will run up to 1/8" rod. Maybe some 5/32". It is a stick/TIG unit. The TIG is DC, so aluminum is not possible for me. That is why I posted the pic of the soda cans, that is where some fancy AC TIG work and skill come into play. I'm more of a hobby welder, not a real good hand with the stick but still a novice with the TIG. Just another way to play with fire and smoke. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

There are a lot of rods now that are made to run on either AC or DC, I don't know about stainless. I use 3/32" 309L rods.