Welding Stainless Steel - shielding gas question

[cm-67]

Matt, I disagree. There are gasses that will produce better results than others. I say A-1025 because it gives me the cleanest, best looking weld of all the gasses I have tried. Sure you can use other types but results will be different. When I use A-1025, it produces a flat (minimal buildup) weld with virtually no splatter. Whereas with other gasses the weld will not penetrate into the base metal as well and may splatter badly regardless of the settings.

A-1025 contains 90% helium, 7.5% argon and 2.5% co2

I can tell you that I have used it on 304, 310, 316, and also 321 stainless steels all producing the same results

As far as using it on other metals, I do not. I know that 75/25 is going to give me the best results with mild steel. At my shop we have a pulse mig that we use if we have to mig weld aluminum.

When I am tig welding I always use straight argon for ss, cs, and aluminum.

I always prefer to tig stainless and aluminum. Tig welding produces a much cleaner weld with more control, better penetration into the base metal and less cleanup. Mild steel I could go either way.

Chris