Choosing the Right TIG Rod for Stainless Steels
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While there are certain tig welding jobs that can be welded without filler metal, most call for using filler metal.
Filler metal selection is important and fortunately when it comes to tig welding stainless, here is a good stainless steel filler metal selection chart to guide you.
https://www.washingtonalloy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/stainless-selector-guide.pdf
It is usually a good practice to use a filler metal that most closely matches the base metal.
For example, 316L should be welded using 316L filler rod.
But with stainless steels, there are a few exceptions.
For example, er308L filler metal is recommended for tig welding 304 stainless because 304 filler metal is not even readily available.
303 free machining grade can be welded for certain applications but does not have a matching filler metal and is best welded using er308L, er309, or er312 Stainless TIG Rod.
321 is often welded with 347 filler rod due to availability and a few other engineering concerns.
When is it acceptable to tig weld stainless steel without filler metal?
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There are a few applications where filler metal is not required.
One example of that is sanitary stainless tubing.
The main reason for not using filler metal on sanitary stainless tubing is that many joints are around .063” wall thickness and can easily be welded without filler metal and still be strong enough for the application.
For sanitary stainless tubing, adding filler metal can increase the possibility of some contamination on the inside of the root pass.
Another example is certain food processing equipment where a smooth weld that won’t trap bacteria is paramount over plain weld strength.
