Can You Weld Stainless Steel to Mild Steel?
Yes welding stainless steel to mild steel is a well established technique used in fabrication piping exhaust systems and structural work It’s a dissimilar metal weld though which means the filler metal and a few other details need to be handled differently than welding stainless to itself
What Is Interference Fit?
An interference fit also called a press fit force fit or friction fit is a shaft and hole combination where the shaft is always slightly larger than the hole even at the loosest allowed tolerance combination Assembling the two requires force heat or cold to elastically deform the parts as they go…
What Is Bore Size?
Bore size is the diameter measurement of the inside of a hollow cylindrical object a pipe cylinder hole or bearing The term shows up across several unrelated industries with the same basic meaning applied to different objects so the first step in answering what’s the bore size is figuring out which context…
What Is Black Oxide Coating?
Black oxide coating is a chemical conversion finish that turns the surface iron of steel and other ferrous metals into a thin layer of magnetite Fe O giving the part a deep matte black appearance and mild corrosion resistance Unlike paint or electroplating it doesn’t add a separate layer on top of…
Can You Weld Cast Aluminium?
Yes most aluminum castings are weldable but not all and it takes more equipment and technique than welding wrought or extruded aluminum Whether a specific casting welds well depends on its alloy composition and how it was originally cast
Can You Powder Coat Over Paint? Why It’s Possible but Not Recommended
Yes powder coating over existing paint is technically possible but it’s strongly discouraged The problem is heat powder coat cures in an oven at roughly 325 400 F 163 204 C and standard liquid paint blisters cracks or outgasses at those temperatures which usually ruins the finish before it ever leaves the…
What Temperature Does Carbon Steel Melt?
Carbon steel melts across a range of roughly 1 425 C 1 540 C 2 600 F 2 800 F It’s a range rather than a single figure because carbon steel is an alloy not a pure metal the exact melting point shifts depending on how much carbon the specific grade contains
Can a Plasma Cutter Cut Stainless Steel?
Yes plasma cutting is a common fast and relatively affordable way to cut stainless steel from thin sheet up to thick plate depending on the machine’s amperage The main thing to get right isn’t whether it works but which shielding gas to use and what to expect for edge quality since stainless…
Can You Weld Grade 8 Bolts?
Technically yes Structurally no not in any load bearing safety critical application A Grade 8 bolt that’s been welded loses the heat treated strength that makes it a Grade 8 bolt in the first place and that loss shows up right where you can’t see it inside the joint
Can You Weld Onto Cast Iron?
Yes cast iron can be welded but it’s harder to do well than welding steel and it cracks more easily if the job is rushed The one hard exception white cast iron is generally considered unweldable and shouldn’t be attempted with standard welding processes
How to Measure BSP Fittings
The one rule that trips people up a BSP fitting’s stated size is not its measured size For a male external fitting the nominal BSP size equals the measured outside diameter minus roughly 1 4 inch 0 25 Get that backwards and every subsequent step matching it to a chart ordering a…
NPT vs. BSPP: Why They Don’t Interchange
NPT and BSPP are both common pipe thread standards but they’re incompatible different thread angle different thread shape and a completely different sealing approach Even in the rare case where thread counts happen to line up the geometry doesn’t and forcing them together risks a leak or damaged threads