Quick info on joining stainess and carbon

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Need to weld stainless to mild steel.  Can use either MIG or 308L stick, but MIG would be a lot easier and task is really elementary.  Details:  Need to weld a piece of carbon steel 3/8 inch round rod to a piece of stainess to extend the metal handle of a pizza cutter.  The cutter handle is made to glue into a wooden handle but the insert length is too short to provide adequate strength, so I want to extend the inserted part.  So...all I really need is for the two metals to stick together well so I can insert and glue the assembly into the wood handle.Can this be done with MIG?  Are the two metals joinable with MIG?  I would just try it but don't want to mess up the pizza cutters (Christmas gifts)ThanksChris
Reply:I think if looks are not an issue, you can mig them together. Dont take my word for it, I am sure someone will chime in here.
Reply:You can use mig to do this. The weld will rust if you use standard mig wire instead of SS, but since you are welding to mild steel, so will the steel. You might want to think about the steel rusting if someone leaves this soak in water in a pot. I would either get a small piece of SS, or make sure that you seal it up well with ureathane or paint so that water does not reach the carbon steel. I'd also be sure that you get plenty of glue in to seal up the area between the two so bacteria can't get in and grow..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:You can 'sort of' weld the two metals together, but for kitchen stuff I really-really think you should just keep it all stainless steel.Because somewhere down the line, someone -IS- going to soak the thing in water.  Wood handle + water + plain steel = rust on the inside.  The rust, in addition to being rust and thus weakening the steel itself, is usually dimensionally -bigger- that the original steel.  So the swelling rust inside the wooden handle will spread and split the wood from the inside.  That means more water gets in to the plain steel and makes more rust as well as trapping all sorts of crud and goo (hey, it -is- a kitchen tool!).  So your nice wood handle splits and drips rusty bacteria goo all over the pizza.  Yuk!Keep it all stainless.Oh, and the 'prefered' filler for joining mild steel to 'mild' stainless like 304 is 309 filler.  308 is typical for welding 304 to itself.  Check the product descriptions in the product listing here:  http://www.mylincolnelectric.com/Cat...3|&locale=1033 Or read up on stainless and welding it here:  http://content.lincolnelectric.com/p...ure/c64000.pdfLast edited by MoonRise; 12-18-2009 at 10:35 AM.  The best laid schemes ... Gang oft agley ...
Reply:Thanks guys...very much.  Don't have any stainless MIG wire (probably $30 at LWS) but do have stainless I can adopt (old stainless tableware knife used in camping) for good use.  That means to do it right, use 308L stick to join cutter with the knife handle.Thanks againChris
Reply:Used spare carbon steel instead of stainless; had some trouble ss not sticking to carbon so had to redo a few places.  So small I could not really develop much of a puddle, but MIG cranked down seems so much more controllable than the stick!  It's all encapsulated inside epoxy so corrosion is not an issue.
Reply:no picts?.No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan