T-Rex, Thanks for all of the feedback! It's been over a year since I built a can, so I'm still getting back into the swing of things. I'm really excited though. Hoping to start making chips this weekend.304 and 316 always want to warp. You need to either design around it or compensate with weld fixtures and setups. If need be, I'll attach large Al blocks near the weld, to absorb heat. I always do a couple test pieces to ensure I have the setting correct. The fixture works perfectly. It took a couple tweaks, but I've used it for several projects.
I had read that 304 warped before trying, but I guess I didn't realize just how much 300 series could warp. This was also my first try at welding stainless, so many lessons were learned in general. I had considered doing heat-sinks on either side, but opted not to since I thought I had enough meat there to minimize warp already.
I am planning to make a few weld test pieces to prove in my weld schedule before going for the real thing. I figure I'll replicate the bases of my baffles and a portion of the cone (but not in a way to make it a conceivable suppressor part), and then weld ~90 degrees around for each set of parameters. I figure 2 to 3 joints would then give me plenty of tries to find the best one. I'll of course do a little research online to find a good guess to start with too.
On welding 17-4, do you think heat sinks would help? Also, do you know if doing a post weld anneal and heat treat that that would remove any warp from the welding? I'm planning to start with annealed 17-4. I do have a HT oven, so I'm considering making the part blanks ~H1100 to improve machinability, but haven't decided if it's worth the time. Might do one just to see.
K2
). Waiting on tooling and materials to arrive and then Ill start going on this can!
