I am working on a project that involves the welding of end caps on the ends of tubes. The material is a tube of 304 SS and two end caps also of
304. The end caps are turned to have two diameters, the smaller diameter fits into the ID of the tube and the other diameter is slightly larger than the OD of the tube.The end caps are welded and then the whole tube is ground and polished (this is an appearance part) to the proper OD and finish.
We talked to a friction welding Company they gave us a quote of about $2.00 per tube, but I was wondering if there might be a different welding method (TIG, MIG) that could be automated and produce welds at a lower cost.
We do anticipate having to grind and polish for the final finish, no matter what process is used.