quick question about welding kitchen grade SS

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I bought a ss commercial sink/counter that is one foot too long. I would like to trim the foot off and attached the ends and splash guard. My question is what grade ss is this made of?  I have some ss filler rods but would like for the finish product to look good and not a patch job.  If I took a scap piece to my LWS would they be able to suggest a filler rod or should I just practice weld on a piece of the scrap with my filler rod and make the call from there. When dealing with the kitchen grade type SS how close does a man need to be with the filler rod? Thanks in advanceRandyLincoln Power Mig 300 with PythonLincoln SquareWave Tig 255 Hypertherm Powermax 45 HH120 w/argon
Reply:Im sure most food grade SS is 316.Someone will correct me if ime wrong.
Reply:If you bought it, just call the manufacturer and ask them.  It could be 316, but it could also just be plain 304.  Or it could be something else.If it is 304, the usual filler of choice is 308.If it is 316, the usual filler of choice is 316.To make the seam disappear, it is more in shielding the surrounding stainless during the weld (gas shield or some flux like SolarFlux? ) and in smoothing and polishing and graining the steel to match/blend afterwards.  The best laid schemes ... Gang oft agley ...
Reply:316 is usually reserved for special stuff, i'm guessing this thing came out of a kitchen and not a food processing plant? If so, I'm 90% sure its 304. Unless it's chinese, then who knows? Either way 308 filler should do the job. Filler is not that important unless your in a really corrosive environment, like near the ocean or working with nasty chemicals, or if it's structural. I don't think you will be able to tell the difference between different filler just by welding with them, it will take some testing of the weld joint to see the differences. The lws might have a testing kit, but I doubt it.If you really want to be sure, check this out:http://www.finishing.com/60/60.shtmlIan TannerKawasaki KX450 and many other fine tools
Reply:Thank you for the responses and information.  I'm sure the sink/counter is from a resturant kitchen somewhere as I bought it out of a guys front yard. He said it was too long for his needs and was going to cut it down himself but found another ss counter the right length. I am building  a catfish processing facility and this will be used for processing of catfish.The ss is heavy duty but not of some commercial processing facility. There is fittings on the ends for the big heavy duty can openers.ThanksRandyLincoln Power Mig 300 with PythonLincoln SquareWave Tig 255 Hypertherm Powermax 45 HH120 w/argon
Reply:If you want it to look professional, then a professional needs to do it.  Take it from someone who does things like that on a daily basis, it is not something that an amateur can accomplish and even come reasonably close to a good looking job. IMO anyways.It takes skill and experience to make the welds and be able to blend them back out, without warping the entire piece which is very easy to do.  It also takes special tools to be able to match the grain through the different radii.Have we all gone mad?
Reply:It may be easier to cut less than a foot off, and bend the end up to form a new splash guard.  Then you would only have to weld the vertical corner, instead of the entire end.  Much less chance of warping, and less to blend.
Reply:Food grade stainless is 304 or 316.
Reply:Almost all mass produced sinks designed for food prep are made from 430 grade. Custom sinks I make are split between 304 ,316 and 430. All can be welded using 316L filler.
Reply:Got the table cut off and a splash guard welded on. I had some old ss filler rods and noticed some flowed better than others but got the job done. Thanks for the help. I burned all my old rods up and will need to buy some new filler rods. The old ones were part of the deal when I  bought my Lincoln Squarewave and there was no tags on the rods. I used them up and plan to stock up on a few pounds with numbers/tags. Thanks againRandyLincoln Power Mig 300 with PythonLincoln SquareWave Tig 255 Hypertherm Powermax 45 HH120 w/argon
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