Help with fixing a stainless steel fish kettle

[Lola Johnson]

Recently got a fish kettle off ebay, went to use it and discovered a hole. i got a refund off ebay but would like to give fixing it a go, as it seems a bit of a waste. Any suggestions for how to close up this hole?

Will be used for dyeing yarn on a gas hob, so whatever fix will be exposed to lots of water and heat. it's right near the bottom, so anything that will burn is probably not a good idea.

[chrisbob12]

you could plug it with a bolt. if the kettle wall is thick enough, you could tap a thread in the hole, otherwise, you'd have to use a nut.
I think welding, whilst possible, might be too difficult.

[Billy]

Welding stainless, we cannot do safely. Fumes from the additives that makes it stainless aren't good for anything that likes to breathe. The additives will vary with the grade of steel.

[Lola Johnson]

i don't think it is particularly thick, but i'll bring it up with my tomorrow and see what i can do with it.

[Lola Johnson]

ok, thanks i would even know where to start with welding anyway, so good to know

[Ian Henderson]

Braze it with JM silver solder?

[Simon Howes]

There exists a solder which can do this.
if you do a search on ebay for food-grade stainless solder it can be had. You'll probably need to put a thin bit of copper over the hole and bond to that to close the hole up.

And you'll need a beefy soldering iron (the big metal kind, not the electronics ones). A blowtorch causes too much oxidisation and stops the solder sticking

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[Adrian Godwin]

What's the melting point of that, though ? I wouldn't trust something that can be melted with an electric soldering iron to hold out over a gas flame (though the kettle being full of water does help a lot).

Note that it's not going to be used for food, so that might permit a wider choice of materials.

I think brazing is best - but have no experience of doing that to stainless steel so am unsure whether to recommend it.

The bolt method should work well if the hole is on a flat portion - this used to be the standard tinker's way to mend a kettle - but not so good if it's on a corner.

Here's a thread on a similar problem. The suggestion of a rivet sounds good - same problems as a bolt, but a neater result.

 http://www.techimo.com/forum/imo-community/239054-food-safe-options-patching-small-hole-stainless-steel-sauce-pan.html

[Peter "Sci" Turpin]

It's a bit hard to tell what the material in from the photo. Is it
copper or stainless?

Either way, I'd say brazing is probably the way to go. If you're filling
it with water, the metal is never going to go much above boiling point
while it's in use. And if you're not using it for food, then it doesn't
really matter what brazing material you use.

Related: I hope to get in this week to get a new tank of gas for the
brazing hearth. I'm a bit short on cash though, so contributions for it
would be welcomed.

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