One of the biggest joys and frustrations in TIG welding is welding stainless steel. It can go great or it can go awful. Welds can look smooth as silk or look like burnt sugar. But one of the things that can help ease the process some is having the right filler rod to start with. ER 308 is a common stainless steel filler rod that can be used to join many Stainless metals that are common to restaurants, chemical storage and application equipment and all sorts of tanks and industrial equipment where high quality metal is used. It is used to join many other metals as well. Using the ER 308L will improve the final corrosion resistance as it designates a lower carbon content filler rod. The 308and 308-L are used on 308 stainless steels. In fact it can be used to weld all metals considered an 18-8 steel such as 301,302,302B, 303, 304, 305,308, 302, and 202. As you can see the range is quite large for the 308 series. If budget is a concern, consider just using the 308L. It blends well, and flows easily into the base metals of the metals listed above. When using this one, consider your average potential for use that you may have in restaurant equipment repair or in chemical or certain food grade storage tanks. Also think of the diameter that you will need. Ordinarily, a 3/32 welding rod will get the job done in many other steels, and in aluminum, but with stainless, having a correctly matched diameter filler rod is critical due to the heat conducting properties that make it difficult to wet the rod into the puddle.

If you have got room for it in your budget, and want to complete your line of “necessary” welding rods you’re going to need for welding most grades of Aluminum, the ER 5356 is right next to the ER 4043. Most TIG welders find the 5356 relatively easy to lay a nice bead. Comparatively, the strength of the 5356 is fairly high. Comparatively, the strength of the 5356 is fairly high. It doesn’t mean that it would replace the 4043 in many cases as the 4043 is a good match for strength and ductility of many parent aluminum alloy metals, but when a weld will be subjected to more than average shear stresses, the 5356 is worth considering. The addition of magnesium helps to increase the overall tensile strength. Conversely, the 5356 is more susceptible to post weld cracking. Thick plates will need to be preheated to at least 300 degrees Fahrenheit to get the best fusion. It is also a desirable choice for any weld that will be anodized after welding or for welding on anodized metal. The color is a good match after it cools and when anodized does not get a dull gray cast as 4043 does. Of course, this is a summary of its strengths. If you think you need to use a stronger filler metal, just as you would with 4043, try to determine the parent material before using. Then cross reference it with the manufacturer’s summary list of weldable aluminum alloys that is usually available before purchase online or attached to the box to make sure the 5356 is a good match for your application.

So you want to TIG weld aluminum but don’t know where to start or what classification metal you are dealing with? After making sure that your TIG welder has AC capabilities with HF start, the next thing is to find a welding rod (filler metal) that will best suits your needs The ER 4043 filler metal is considered the “general purpose” rod for aluminum TIG welding. In most circumstances, the soft ER 4043 is a dream to weld with. The rod flows easily and quickly so forward speed is fast and dipping motion is rapid. It’s a great choice for someone wanting to keep one rod around. No, it won’t weld all aluminum, as some aluminum alloys just aren’t all that weldable. But chances are if you have a repair or some fabrication to do, this is the rod of choice. The color can be a little off with some aluminum alloys and may not match well when it will be anodized afterwards, but with its resistance to cracking, it does offer an advantage where fit up or shrinkage is a challenge. Again, Silicon is a primary deoxidizing agent used in this rod, so the welds are relatively clean and free of soot and the Silicon reduces the melting point, preventing overheating of the base metal. It’s very stable and resists cracking well if the weld is properly filled. However, the puddle can grow quite large if travel speed is slow and be difficult to manage because of its ability to wet in and the ease of which it melts into the base metal. Overall the 4043 is probably the number one most used aluminum filler rod in the industry. Because of the expense of filler metal, the average hobbyist or a small shop may only have the budget to stock one aluminum rod. The ER4043 will typically work well in that situation. It’s definitely a utility player when it comes to welding Aluminum.