Spot Weld hard stainless steel wire?????

wilby

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Feb 7, 2012, 8:09:57 PM2/7/12

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I have an application for rings made of 1/16 inch diameter hard ss wire.
The rings are around 3/8 to 1/2 inch in diamater and the ends butt together.

I have been connecting them with Harris 56% silver allow using Harris
white flux, heating with a simple butane torch. This works great and the
rings are strong, a requirement.

Now I'm wondering if I can use a small spotwelding machine that I bought
at Harbor Freight. I'd form the ring and place the joint of the ring in
the spotwelder's electrodes, zap it, and then hope it works.

Sometimes I use either smaller or larger wire, 1/8 inch diameter max.

I bought the wire from McMaster Carr.

Any suggestions as to how to do this?

Thanks in advance,

Wilby

dca...@krl.org

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Feb 9, 2012, 7:15:42 AM2/9/12

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Stainless should be no problem to spot weld. But may be hard to get
something that looks nice. You could overlap the ends and get a
strong weld, but might not be good looking. Or you could spend a lot
of effort to make something similar to a bandsaw welder. Something
that would hold the ends butted against each other and push the ends
as it welds.

Dan

wilby

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Feb 11, 2012, 6:40:52 PM2/11/12

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Hi Dan:

Thanks for the response, I'll play with this and at least learn something.

Wilby

Jim Wilkins

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Feb 11, 2012, 9:13:31 PM2/11/12

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"wilby" <bold...@marchfail.com> wrote in message
news:jh6ua2$fj1$1...@dont-email.me...

> On 2/9/2012 5:15 AM, dca...@krl.org wrote:
>> On Feb 7, 8:09 pm, wilby<bolda...@marchfail.com> wrote:
>>> I have an application for rings made of 1/16 inch diameter hard ss wire.
>>> The rings are around 3/8 to 1/2 inch in diamater and the ends butt
>>> together.
>>>
>

> Wilby

Sounds like chain mail.

Mine snags on cloth so I have to wear a leather jerkin under it and a cloak
over. How easy is it to smooth the spotwelds?

jsw

wilby

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Feb 12, 2012, 11:20:33 PM2/12/12

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My application is in the construction of salt water fishing gear. I
suppose wearing chain mail might protect me from shark bites?

Wilby

Jim Wilkins

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Feb 13, 2012, 7:46:13 AM2/13/12

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"wilby" <bold...@marchfail.com> wrote in message

news:jha32g$8be$1...@dont-email.me...

> On 2/11/2012 7:13 PM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
>> "wilby"<bold...@marchfail.com> wrote in message
>> news:jh6ua2$fj1$1...@dont-email.me...
>>> On 2/9/2012 5:15 AM, dca...@krl.org wrote:
>>>> On Feb 7, 8:09 pm, wilby<bolda...@marchfail.com> wrote:
>>>>> I have an application for rings made of 1/16 inch diameter hard ss
>>>>> wire.
>>>>> The rings are around 3/8 to 1/2 inch in diamater and the ends butt
>>>>> together.
>>> Wilby
>>
>> Sounds like chain mail.

>> jsw

> My application is in the construction of salt water fishing gear. I
> suppose wearing chain mail might protect me from shark bites?
> Wilby

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shark_suit

jsw

wilby

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Feb 13, 2012, 9:07:58 PM2/13/12

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On 2/13/2012 5:46 AM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
> "wilby"<bold...@marchfail.com> wrote in message
> news:jha32g$8be$1...@dont-email.me...
>> On 2/11/2012 7:13 PM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
>>> "wilby"<bold...@marchfail.com> wrote in message
>>> news:jh6ua2$fj1$1...@dont-email.me...
>>>> On 2/9/2012 5:15 AM, dca...@krl.org wrote:
>>>>> On Feb 7, 8:09 pm, wilby<bolda...@marchfail.com> wrote:
>>>>>> I have an application for rings made of 1/16 inch diameter hard ss
>>>>>> wire.
>>>>>> The rings are around 3/8 to 1/2 inch in diamater and the ends butt
>>>>>> together.
>>>> Wilby
>>>
>>> Sounds like chain mail.
>>> jsw
>
>> My application is in the construction of salt water fishing gear. I
>> suppose wearing chain mail might protect me from shark bites?
>> Wilby
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shark_suit
>
> jsw
>
>

Well, I just read "... Similar to chainmail, divers wearing sharksuits
can suffer from broken bones from the sheer force of a shark chomping
down on a limb."

I think I'll stay in the boat, thanks anyway. I'm a whimp when it comes
to jumping in the ocean with large toothed creatures.

Several years ago I was fishing near an island off Mexico in the
Pacific. We were trying to catch yellow fin tuna but all we were getting
on deck were big bloody tuna heads. The reef sharks were thick and right
on the surface, they ate all but the head. Big white smiling teeth all
around us.

I could imagine that this is exactly what it looked like when pirates
threw their enemies to the sharks. A person would have lasted about
three seconds before they were in several different shark stomachs.

We pulled the anchor and headed to another island.

Wilby