Engineering and fabrication

How difficult/costly is it to weld stainless steel to steel?

I am working on a project designing a hand tool with a body made of stainless steel. Any advice about the best method to fix on a preformed steel handle (like a brick laying trowel handle)? for example is it easier to weld normal steel to steel? Also is it more difficult to weld stainless steel onto stainless steel? Any advice appreciated Cheers

Public Comments

1. it depents on the flux and the rods. stainless needs special wire


2. Stainless steel needs a higher temperature to melt - not recommended to weld carbon steel to stainless steel - a rivetted handle would work best with different metals.


3. Stainless is a pain to work with, it will cost more if you can find someone to do it and it will not look as nice as just getting it done in steel and then plating it.


4. Can't be done that I know of. Each has different melting points.


5. It is as easy welding stainless as it is welding mild steel!!

   I have never tried welding stainless to mild steel. With gas welding i have attached different metals to each other with Silver solder. i believe the secret of welding different metals is the strength of the arc or heat.



6. stainless steel is more dear, harder to machine because of strength.

   so yeh it is abit harder than steel.



7. Rivet or Epoxy Glue (or both) not welding.


8. It would be easier to weld paper to stainless,

   Both different tensile strengths so not advisable, your mild steel will just burn up before your stainless gets anyway near welding temp,

   Mild steel to mild steel no problem, stainless to stainless is not as easy to weld but it works



9. yes you can weld steel to stainless just as easily as welding steel to steel but i wouldn't recommend it because the stainless properties will be lost in the stainless section. your better of using the same metal all the way through.

   welding stainless to stainless is just as simple as welding steel to steel



10. MIG Welding is the best method to join stainless steel. Arc welding for steel to steel... this is not normally used to each other. Stainless requires a higher temperature. Cost wise... steel to steel is cheaper... you can gas weld but the weld is not as hard.


11. Lots of varying answeres.

    From a functional design aspect, when dealing with different metals, a quality solid Rivet is best, but this would depend on the stress requirements.

    As for welding dissimilar metals....its called Brazing and you can do it to practically any two metals.

    and welding Stainless is actually easier and faster than welding either mild steel or Aluminum. you just have to practice, because the melt has a different surface tension.



12. For something as small as a hand tool you should use the same metal all the way through. Stainless steel is more difficult to weld than mild steel. A better option for tools is higher carbon steel which comes in various hardnesses. Use only the hardness needed to do the job, because the harder the steel, the more brittle it is and therefore less suited for tools. Forget about welding stainless to mild steel, or high carbon steel where toolmaking is concerned because the weld will be too brittle to stand up in a tool application.

    Another possibility is to rivet the stainless to the mild steel, but only do this where strength is not a critical factor. Same for brazing - use only where strength is not critical.

    Stick with either mild or higher carbon steels for the tool.

    Also, using stainless will add significantly to the cost of the tool, so if you want to keep costs down use mild steel for the cheapest and higher carbon steel for a little more expense, but also more strength.



13. If you have access to TIG (tungsten inert gas) equipment you can weld stainless steel to carbon steel with disimilar rods.

    Obviously it is easier to weld carbon steel to itself or stainless to stainless.We used this process many times on site work.