A Newbie Question

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I am new to this forum, so I'm not quite sure if I'm in the right place. I have a tough welding project, or so it seems  to me, and I'm hoping someone out there can help me.I need to weld a 3 1/2" ball bearing to the end of a 1 1/4" stainless pipe. The ball is E52100 aircraft grade steel. I will be using an ESAB Tig welder.  How difficult will this be?  Any experience with this grade of steel? I think the ball bearing will need to be annealed, at least the area of the weld. Is there a special filler rod for the two different steels? Any help would be appreciated.
Reply:welcome to the forum dawgyou might want to ask in the tig section or just in the general question section not many read support/sugg section unless it to improve the forummaybe pre  heat the bearingidealarc 250/250 ac-dc tigidealarc 250/250 ac-dc tig #2 used for sticklincoln sp100hh125dual arbor grinder polisher30 yrs of hand tools52 pitch blocks 6p-26prake gauge -pitch gaugeG&D prop repair 918-207-6938Hulbert,okla 74441
Reply:I also need to weld some ball bearings to make some universal-joint thingies for welding clamps.I was told that you need to anneal or normalize the ball bearing before welding or else the shrinkage/stresses after welding could cause it to break or even explode.I just threw my ball bearings into the woodstove and fished them out the next day. Have not welded them yet (too cold in the shop) so I don't know if it worked, but it sounded good on the internet!