What welder to use to butt weld 1/8" wire

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I need to weld rings made from 1/8" 304 Stainless.  The end use is lamp shade frames. While I'm at it I'd like to be able to weld the "spider" (part that connects a lamp shade to the lamp) to the ring. We've used a small wire feed MIG for the prototypes but for higher volume production I'd prefer something that requires a bit less skill to get repeatable visually apealing results.Budget is flexible but in the $1-$3K range.Suggestions, questions and discussion welcome.The Ring [email protected]
Reply:what your basically doing is joining welding wire to welding wire  1/8 304 stainless...tig with straight argon..no filler  nice nice......zap!Last edited by zapster; 06-06-2006 at 09:44 PM.I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:Originally Posted by The Ring LordWe've used a small wire feed MIG for the prototypes but for higher volume production I'd prefer something that requires a bit less skill to get repeatable visually apealing results.
Reply:In a production environment couldn't he just resistance weld them.    More specfically use a spot welder.    It could even be mechanized.    My second chice would be MIG, in a fixture that can automatically weld the joint.    I think automation with a MIG can be done cheaply atleast for a prototype machine.   Of course with MIG you are adding metal but that can make the part look more substantial.    I geuss it depends on wether or not you want to see the weld.I would agree that if you are doing this by hand TIG might be the way to go but I don't see it as quick.    It is only the mention of production that has me discounting the TIG, related to that is the skill required.The other thing that will dictate which rpcess to use is the amount of warpage you can tollerate.    To much distortion is something you would want to avoid in a produciton set up.   I'm still thinking that resistance welding makes sense from this perspective.    That of course implies that the two parts overlap.   If the spider arms are butted up against the inside of the ring this won't work.    If so then you are back to selection the process that is easiest to automate and gives minimal distortion.ThanksDave
Reply:I was hoping resistance welding would work....  I talked to a local distributor of welding equipment and they didn't agree but they also sounded like they didn't know what they were talking about.I had my eye on something like:http://www.hobartwelders.com/product...s/HSW15-25.pdfIf we assume that I make the rings such that butted ends are pushing against each other do you think such a welder would give a clean looking weld?Another product that has the type of weld I want are the welded rings you find in hardware stores - typically about 1" diameter and made from 3/16" bar. Typically around $1.Just as a bit of semi-relavent info... We use small resistance welders to weld small rings (0.025" and smaller wire).  One Elkonite electrode pushes against each side of the butt and the welder pulses.  There is almost no flow and the weld is the weak point but its still resonably strong.  This process is completely automated and seems to depend heavily on perfect alignment and even pressure on the electrodes.
Reply:Joining the ends of wire is one of oxy acetylene's strong points.  For the best appearance and easiest use, try 50N silver brazing wire.  It's expensive at $9-$20 per troy ounce, but in this application it you should be able to get 30-40 joints per ounce.  This is the same process used to join the ends of bandsaw blades.
Reply:Hi Ring Lord;Frankly we are going beyond (well beyond) my experience here so take what I say in moderation.   As you note there are examples that exist of what surely appears to be resistance welded rings.   I do not know the specfics of the machinery required to do this.    I'm thininking it is probably outside your budget.    In any event I'd get on some of the commercial welding sites and start looking.For the spiders if you are willing to ket the arms overlap the ring a simple spot weld would seem to be possible.    That of course is dependant on how you want the spiders fixed to the ring.If you want the spiders on the inner radious of the ring, I suspect that you will have to weld with a method that adds filler.     Not as bad as it sounds.    The issue of the butt weld in the ring stil exists but can be dealt with along with the spiders.    What I'm thinking about here is aligning one of the spider arms with the butt joint on the ring just before welding it.    The idea being to have the three pieces come together such that the same fixture that welds the other legs of the spider also effectively joins the ends of the ring together.    In other words you explicitly remove the task of butt welding from the assembly procedure.    Would this be as strong as a hand welded butt joint?    Probably not but it may be considerably stronger than some of the alternatives.     The big trick is automating this in such a way that the line of the butt joint ends up centered on the spider leg wire.Unfortunately my automation experience isn't with welding so I'm not to sure where we would be cost wise.    Nor do I know where you production numbers are at the moment.    I'm almost certain that even a very modest attempt at automating this would blow your budget.     Even a substantial fixture for hand welding would cost more than a few dollars.My feeling at the moment is that you will need to employ a good welder to do these unless your budget can be expanded.    I would however look into how the industry does this as a norm.    There must be machinery to do what you want, I simply can't imagine such work being done by hand.    The proble would be the machinery price.ThanksDave
Reply:Brazing definetly sounds worth looking into.  If I can live with the color would a cheaper brazing rod work on 300 series stainless?
Reply:The silver stuff works best for stainless.  Most will finish with a slightly gold tint to it, but I believe the 50N is a pretty close match to the color of the stainless.  It will be tricky heating the ends of the wire to the point the silver alloy will flow without them glowing red hot.  Once they glow, you've cooked all of the flux off and you'll have to start over.