Home shop crack detection?

Cord · Dec 28, 2017

My machine is capable of TIG, but I'm not set up for it and I haven't done the process in 20+ years. Got talking with Lincoln Electric and they suggested I try Silicon Bronze MIG wire with 100% Argon. I love the idea of MIG but a 10lb spool is over $100! Silicon Bronze (MIG) | The Harris Products Group I'm very tempted because the SB will be much softer than the nickle which I think will be important to this weld being sucessful.

yomax4 · Dec 28, 2017

Nice project. I wish I could work on it. Easy repair with spray powder. ALB and SIB would maybe work but ALB comes in 2 varieties. 1 for joining and 1 for overlay. You need to get the correct one. Still. Tig would be my choice over Mig but you may also want to consider Kast-Weld 111 with an Oxy-Fuel torch. All in all Spray Powder gets my vote for several reasons. One is because you won't be blasting the work with Amps or Volts causing cracks when it tries to cool. Some of the other filler materials listed will expand and contract differently than the cast and will eventually let go leak. Some leaks are easy fixes, some never fix. It's all about what happens after you put the motor back in.

Arc weld · Dec 29, 2017

One thing with grinding cast iron is to use a die grinder or file for the final finishing because a grinding wheel can smear the carbon in the cast iron which can cause problems when welding.

Cord · Jan 1, 2018

When using silicon bronze, is there a backer metal which can be used to support the bead without the bead sticking to it? Typically I'd use a copper bar for this, but I know the SiBr will stick to it.

yomax4 · Jan 1, 2018

SIB will likely stick to everything. Maybe Ceramic or pure carbon. Do you really need a backer?

Cord · Jan 1, 2018

Probably. Have a parallel project where I need to close a bullet hole in a sheetmetal tank. Thought the sil bronze would work good for that task. It was probably a .38 or .45 pistol round because it put a pretty good size hole in the tank, but didn稚 go all the way through.

CincyFlyer · Jan 1, 2018

Cord said:
Probably. Have a parallel project where I need to close a bullet hole in a sheetmetal tank. Thought the sil bronze would work good for that task. It was probably a .38 or .45 pistol round because it put a pretty good size hole in the tank, but didnç¨š go all the way through.

I'd consider sticking a short piece of rod in the hole, and brazing that in, and then cutting it off.

Cord · Jan 1, 2018

Great idea. I'll be using it!

Cord · Jan 5, 2018

Well, I ordered 11lb of Blue Demon wire yesterday. I hope I didn't make a mistake going with a cheap wire. Based on my internet search, some people loved the stuff, while others hated it. At $80 for just 11lb, it was half the cost of the competition so I didn't have much of a choice. The good news is that I did find a guarantee. If I ran the whole spool out and still didn't like the wire, they would refund my purchase. At that point, I thought it would be worth the risk.

yomax4 · Jan 5, 2018

Cord said:
Well, I ordered 11lb of Blue Demon wire yesterday. I hope I didn't make a mistake going with a cheap wire. Based on my internet search, some people loved the stuff, while others hated it. At $80 for just 11lb, it was half the cost of the competition so I didn't have much of a choice. The good news is that I did find a guarantee. If I ran the whole spool out and still didn't like the wire, they would refund my purchase. At that point, I thought it would be worth the risk.

Man I wish I had followed this post. I have some assorted SIB on 10# and 2# spools I would have sold you cheap. I'm not that far away either we could have met somewhere. Good Luck anyway. If short arc is too messy ( and it likely will be ) go into a near spray to tame the spatter beads.