[TheForge] Welding advice needed pronto

[Ries Niemi]

I think when "mix" was refered to, for stainless, it was probably a 
helium mix. These are often Helium, argon mixes, sometimes with a 
really small percentage of CO2.
They are specifically for welding stainless and aluminum, because 
helium mixes are hotter than straight argon. I have used a trimix when 
mig welding stainless, and while it is slightly better, I am not sure 
it is worth the extra cost.
Originally, of course, all tig was helium sheilded, which is why the 
old name was "Heli-Arc" welding.
But they found they could use argon, and it is cheaper.

The argon/co2 mixes are for mig welding steel. They dont work as well 
on stainless.

I did a big project once mig welding stainless, and I didnt like it at 
all- lots of spatter, and the spatter wont chip off, it must be ground 
off. Yes, it was quicker than Tig welding, but in any application where 
you need to clean up the weld, Tig is better in my opinion.
And I would not try mig welding a thin stainless sink together- tig is 
the way to go.

ries