How to attach SS nut to SS bowl?

[JosienBB]

Hi everyone. I'm trying to figure out a way to attach some new SS bowls I got to my bird tree. I was thinking of attaching a t-nut to the bottom of the bowl and attaching the whole thing to the tree with a carriage bolt. Question is how to attach the nut to the bowl? I want to weld it, but a) I don't know how to weld, b) don't know anyone who can weld, and c) dad says welding it will burn through the SS and ruin the bowl.

Thoughts??? Can I use epoxy to attach the nut to the bowl??? Is it bird safe???

Here's the bowl in question:


The nut...


And how I want it attached:


Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

 

[JosienBB]

@Atomiklan?

 

[JLcribber]

Sure you can epoxy that on. I would. Don't overdue it and wipe away any excess. What are the chances of your bird going underneath the bowl and focusing on that particular spot? (low to none IMO).

 

[JLcribber]

This is my glue of choice. It will stick anything to anything else. Permanently.

PL® Premium® Max | LePage®

 

[JosienBB]

Thanks John!

 

[Atomiklan]

Don't rule out welding. You could either spot weld or tack weld the nut to the bottom. Both would work. Spot welding would be the BEST option by far as this will not burn through the bowl at all and is the common method for joining parts like this everywhere around the world daily. Tack welding will be much easier to find someone that can do it for you. Yes its possible to burn through with an untrained hand, but a professional welder will be able to easily put down three or four tack welds around the perimeter of that T nut without a single problem. Then it will be a permanent attachment. Don't have to worry about glue failing at some point in the future. I would just call around to a few local shops. This is seriously like a 2 second job either way. Most places if they are not busy would probably gladly do it for free. Make sure the nut and bowl are both Stainless. Try to find a spot welder first. That is the PERFECT solution. Here are some examples.

 

[JosienBB]

Thank you so much Andrew! I found somewhere that will spot weld it for me, but he's charging me $50 for four bowls. Which seems a lot for a 2 second job, but what do I know about welding? In any case, I asked him to do it. Okay, so maybe he won't burn through the bowl, but would welding cause the other side of the bowl to discolour? It's silly, but i'm worried about unsightly black spots on the stainless steel. How do I make it nice and shiny again if it does?

 

[JLcribber]

Thank you so much Andrew! I found somewhere that will spot weld it for me, but he's charging me $50 for four bowls. Which seems a lot for a 2 second job, but what do I know about welding? In any case, I asked him to do it. Okay, so maybe he won't burn through the bowl, but would welding cause the other side of the bowl to discolour? It's silly, but i'm worried about unsightly black spots on the stainless steel. How do I make it nice and shiny again if it does?

$50!!!!!!!!

Takes about 20 cents worth of glue.

 

[JosienBB]

Yeah, I know But I want something that can be washed over and over again and not fail. I'm going to have a backup set done in glue though.

 

[Atomiklan]

Wow, $50... Whoever you talked with is pretty cruel. I mean I get it... Welder/welding company that works for a living and their time is expensive, but come on... They should have been much more forgiving... As a result, let me throw out one more option (if its not too late).

Please note, what I am about to suggest is VERY dangerous!!! Disclaimer... I am not responsible if you take this information and get yourself killed.

With that out of the way, you can quite easily build a spot welder at home using a 120v transformer. A common transformer used are old microwave oven transformers (aka the MOT). You just need to remove the transformer and replace the secondary side windings with 2 turns of heavy gauge cable. This converts the MOT from a step up to a step down transformer. Instead of the transformer creating the high voltages necessary for the magnatron inside a typical microwave, the transformer will instead output a very high current low voltage suitable for spot welding. You just need to be VERY careful! MOTs are NOT current limited and have killed countless numbers of people that are careless with them. Just do some research on MOTs and their dangers and then do some reading on converting one to a spot welder. Don't let all my warnings scare you away. You can work very safely with them and people have been modifying these transformers for years for both high and low voltage applications. Just do your research and be careful and you will be just fine. Then you will never have to pay $50 bucks again for professional spot welding...

Quick google search for DYI spot welder and you get stuff like this


By the way, to answer your other question... Depending on how extreme the spot weld is, you will either get slight thermal discoloration which can probably be cleaned up with steel wool, or you might get a small noticeable weld bump. It just depends on a few variables by the welder. Current, electrode size, and duration energized. To be honest, I don't think it will be too bad. Just get some steel wool.

Upload some pics once you get them all finished. Can't wait to see how they came out!

Example of discoloration, but little to no distortion.

 

[JosienBB]

Thank you Andrew for the wealth of information!

I just got the bowls back today. The welder helped me polish off most of the discoloration on the top, which is nice.



The bottom is not polished, so it looks ugly lol. But who cares, it's the bottom.



Here's how they install onto the tree. I used a hanger bolt and a nut.



And here they are installed!

 

[JosienBB]

My birds testing out the bowls!

 

[Atomiklan]

Glad everything worked out. Looks great!

So are you happy with the result?

 

[JosienBB]

Yup! I hope it holds though. The welds look a bit flimsy.

 

[Atomiklan]

Nah, I think they look great (at least in the picture you posted). Looks like a good smooth transition between the two metals. Don't think you have anything to worry about.