Woodworker needs some help

[whillyjo]

Guys, looking for some advice.

I have the need for attaching 3/16" and 1/4" diameter sst rod in a grid pattern. Looking for a fast and reliable means to do this. With my limited knowledge of welding, it seems like if I could rig up the tips of a spot welder to have good contact on these rounds, and I could get good force to these tips, I could spot weld these joints.

Any thoughts or am I way off base with this idea?

[aametalmaster]

Don't know what size spot welder you have but you may be under powered....Bob

[whillyjo]

Thanks Bob for the reply, but I don't have a spot welder yet. I'm just trying to get input on if a spot welder could do the job, what size I need and if two steel rods at 90 degrees have enough contact area for a spot welder to work....?

[WyoRoy]

Your typical spot welder, even the 220v variety, isn't going to give you the penetration necessary for your job. About the best you could hope for would be a bond similar to that a tube of JB Weld.

I believe that if you click on the link below you'll see that the maximum capacity of a Miller 220v spot welder is 3/16". That is 3/16" TOTAL thickness for both parts added together.

If you wish to go cheap...stick welder, easy...MIG welder and precision (but far from inexpensive)...TIG welder.

http://www.millerwelds.com/products/spotwelders/

[Burnt hands]

whillyjo,

Did a real quick and dirty test with my Miller LMSW-52 on 1/4" diam stainless rod.

Pieces are about 3" long.

Tried to get good close up photos but the depth of field suffers the closer I got.

Anyway, one spot weld like this is easy. Took about 1 second.
Drawback is that you get burn marks on the outside surfaces.
I was sloppy so it may be better with practice.
Trade-off is that a cleaner looking short dwell time spot weld may not be as strong as a longer one.

My LMSW-52 has 12" tongs which reduces the amperage at the tips but I had more than enough power.
If I had held the switch down longer, I would have melted both rods.

Stainless has higher electrical resistance than carbon steel so this may make a slight difference.

I think the hardest part may to align your pieces and to hold them securely between the spot welder tips.
May require machining a special set so they won't slip.

Anyway, hope this helps.

http://www.millerwelds.com/products/...__air-cooled_/

[Broccoli1]

maybe you can find something that will work for you

http://www.twpinc.com/wire-mesh/TWPCAT_5

[Whetstone]

maybe you can find something that will work for you

http://www.twpinc.com/wire-mesh/TWPCAT_5

I would go this route too. you can also try mc nickels also