Welding cast iron

[fried1765]

This is a forge blower that I want to fix. It is some kind of a cast iron, never welded it in my life. I was going to use a stick welder but not sure about the rod. Nickel 99? Should I grind it to make space for the weld? I don't have the capacity to heat it up, was planning to weld it cold.

What rod would you use? Any special settings?

With zero experience, you will almost certainly bugger this up, if you try to do it yourself!

 

[flusher]

Is it cast iron or cast steel? See this video

IS IT CAST IRON OR CAST STEEL? 5 Ways To identify Before Welding - YouTube

There are a ton of YouTube videos that will teach you how to weld cast iron.

Good luck

 

[jaxs]

If you want that to be a lasting fix......take it to an experienced PROFESSIONAL welder!

No need for a professional for a simple fix like this.

 

[fried1765]

No need for a professional for a simple fix like this.

I totally disagree!
A QUALITY cast iron welding repair is not likely from a novice!

 

[Oldpath05]

Unless a tractor part I'd rather see you weld it yourself, that way you can post pictures of how you did and may help someone. The cast that gives me the most trouble is stove parts, but this appears separated from high heat so should weld fairly easy, it's just that Nickle rods are very pricy but seem so 1 lb should fix it.

I recommend a little bevel, needs to be shinny anyways, I wouldn't worry about preheat I think post heat/cooling is more important. I suggest 3/32 rods and skip around in 1-2" welds, let cool very slowly when done.......... Nickel 55 ENiFe-CI Cast Iron Stick Electrodes Welding Rods 3/32" 1/8" Nickel 55% | eBay

 

[jaxs]

This is a forge blower that I want to fix. It is some kind of a cast iron, never welded it in my life. I was going to use a stick welder but not sure about the rod. Nickel 99? Should I grind it to make space for the weld? I don't have the capacity to heat it up, was planning to weld it cold.

What rod would you use? Any special settings?

With zero experience, you will almost certainly bugger this up, if you try to do it yourself!

Only one with low self-esteem and lack of confidence would hire it out after buying equipment to do it them selves. Go for it and ask for help if you don't like how it's looking.

 

[user.69169]

Just off de cuff here, every piece cast is a whole new adventure, but what do I know, only been doin such since I learned to back when done with war surplus airplane piston rings and a O/A torch. Pretty much how it done back den. Course we didn't know it couldn't be done so dat how it was done.

Ders 2 kinds cast iron, good and CRAP. You generally tell by lookin at what casting was designed for to do. 7 dollar word 'metalurgy' gets thrown around a lot. Dat generally translate to your guess as god as mine. Go back to design purpose and calculate what was cheapest for maker. Engine blocks is good quality cause dey gotta be, pots & dutch ovens generally crap. Stove parts wid baked on porcelain absolutely NOT gonna weld or braze. You dont wanna know how dat porcelain fly off and stick to you either. Whole special group wood & coal burning stoves and boilers. You only gonna know how good casting was when it cold and hopefully not cracked to #e!!.

How you gonna connect hunks back together absolutely depends on how much customer willing to spend and how mad he gonna be if repair don't work. Next step in job is knowing or figuring out what process got best chance of success dat gonna endure when put back in service. I can stick together pot can be ground up and painted to sit in corner for decoration probably 90% of time, but same pot going back to work on top of stove or in fire success be maybe 5%. Either way gonna take time and time = money. Got a old cast iron coal fired water heater sittin on porch wid a plant growin out of it. Price was no object when fellow dropped off for fixin to make his wife happy. No way was he payin for 10 hours of fittin & fussin when he came to get, so I kept.. OK, I find a use, and I chalk dem hours up to tuition.

Flange on blower in picture, we can all see it broke. Can I 'fix' it? SURE Before I start tho, what does flange do? Is it suport dat holds blower to bottom of forge or just connection between blower & tyre? Makes big difference in fix.
How I make repair? Depends. What flange does and what mate looks like kind of governs decision. How much $$$ you want to spend big part of decision too. Come to pick up and yell at me how you could have bought new for less and my 18 pound hammer make it real easy for you to go buy new. Truth is if casting stays below 400f, best & cheapest repair is JB Weld.

Choices = Brass, 309ss rod, high nickel rod, Everdur either gas or carbon arc applied, and ever present E70-s6 MIG wid Co2.
Which choice is function of end result required, nothin else.

BTW, casting in picture looks like real crap dat foundry cast cheap as possible. Flange was designed to fail.

 

[fried1765]

Just off de cuff here, every piece cast is a whole new adventure, but what do I know, only been doin such since I learned to back when done with war surplus airplane piston rings and a O/A torch. Pretty much how it done back den. Course we didn't know it couldn't be done so dat how it was done.

Ders 2 kinds cast iron, good and CRAP. You generally tell by lookin at what casting was designed for to do. 7 dollar word 'metalurgy' gets thrown around a lot. Dat generally translate to your guess as god as mine. Go back to design purpose and calculate what was cheapest for maker. Engine blocks is good quality cause dey gotta be, pots & dutch ovens generally crap. Stove parts wid baked on porcelain absolutely NOT gonna weld or braze. You dont wanna know how dat porcelain fly off and stick to you either. Whole special group wood & coal burning stoves and boilers. You only gonna know how good casting was when it cold and hopefully not cracked to #e!!.

How you gonna connect hunks back together absolutely depends on how much customer willing to spend and how mad he gonna be if repair don't work. Next step in job is knowing or figuring out what process got best chance of success dat gonna endure when put back in service. I can stick together pot can be ground up and painted to sit in corner for decoration probably 90% of time, but same pot going back to work on top of stove or in fire success be maybe 5%. Either way gonna take time and time = money. Got a old cast iron coal fired water heater sittin on porch wid a plant growin out of it. Price was no object when fellow dropped off for fixin to make his wife happy. No way was he payin for 10 hours of fittin & fussin when he came to get, so I kept.. OK, I find a use, and I chalk dem hours up to tuition.

Flange on blower in picture, we can all see it broke. Can I 'fix' it? SURE Before I start tho, what does flange do? Is it suport dat holds blower to bottom of forge or just connection between blower & tyre? Makes big difference in fix.
How I make repair? Depends. What flange does and what mate looks like kind of governs decision. How much $$$ you want to spend big part of decision too. Come to pick up and yell at me how you could have bought new for less and my 18 pound hammer make it real easy for you to go buy new. Truth is if casting stays below 400f, best & cheapest repair is JB Weld.

Choices = Brass, 309ss rod, high nickel rod, Everdur either gas or carbon arc applied, and ever present E70-s6 MIG wid Co2.
Which choice is function of end result required, nothin else.

BTW, casting in picture looks like real crap dat foundry cast cheap as possible. Flange was designed to fail.

And .......the DIY owner of this "real crap" casting has MAYBE a 1% CHANCE of a lasting fix?

 

[yomax4]

Another fun cast repair alloy is cast iron itself. When I was working at JW Harris back in the day I played around with a product called Kastweld 111. Not sure they have it anymore but Weldcote Metals has it called CASTIRON. Uses a flux and is an oxy-fuel product. It is simply ground cast iron stamped into a rod. You can put it on as thick as you want to and it color matches perfectly. So in the end there are a dozen ways to fix this including tacks of 309L stick followed by spray powder. Go ahead and fix it one of the above mention ways. If it breaks just pick another process and fix it again. Soon you won't even need to ask for help. Good Luck.

 

[user.69169]

Sure Yo, there are ways and more ways. Man up de creek gonna put thinkin cap on and find way to get downstream.

Probably possible to use a magnet to grab up iron component of grinder dust, mix wid aluminum grindings and do thermite. Might even be a web site of some fool kid doin so in back yard or garage just before big red trucks show up to put de fire out.

Man who can weld, not one dem Certified welding gun operators gonna know dat way and make weld. Operator fellows just pull skirt up to use for a mask and cry. Ones dat got Degree always start wid "dat outside my discipline"