another welding question

[woody1]

I just got an old frick edger from a friend and he broke the top pressure roller off. The casting is broke clean on both sides. Is it a big deal to weld cast iron ? The leg is broken too, but I'm not to worried about that.  Thanks, Woody

[Chris Burchfield]

Go to a "Welding Supply House." Ask for a High content Nickle rod for welding cast iron. under grind the area to be welded, then preheat with a torch to a cherry red in under cover, then stick it to it. Assuming, will get us in trouble, that you have a stick welder and some experience. If not find an older, experienced welder who say's, that's  the way to fix it. Hope this helps, Chris B. Memphis TN.

[woody1]

Thanks Chris..I am assumimg that under grind you mean v out ? And when you say cherry red under cover...meaning cherry red around the v ? Thanks, Dumb Woody 

[Gary_C]

A lot depends on how the part looks, how thick the cast is, and how it is loaded. Do you have any pictures?

[Dan_Shade]

cast iron can be brazed too.  welding cast iron can be a bit tricky...

[Daren]

After you weld it you have to put the torch back on it and gradually let it cool back down by moving the torch on and off the piece. You shouldn't just weld it and walk away, the cooling  is the part that makes cast crack the filler material and the base metal contract at different rates as they cool and it will bust right beside the weld.

[Dana]

As was said,  prep weld,  heat up with a torch, weld, then rewarm with torch. Now here is the part that I was tought. If the part is small enough, put it in a container of sand that has been kept hot in an oven. Let the part cool slowly in the sand overnight.

[isawlogs]

 
  You can also weld cast with stainless steel rods ...
     Rods are specifickly made for cast iron , and by golly they are spensive    ya dont get many for fifty bucks , so , if you are not too familiar with welding , I would recomend you give someone that is a call .. it is tricky enough to weld steel .. cast is a whole lot different and a whole new ball park .

  Cast iron, everything needs to be right , temperature of the part , the bevel , the rods , the cooling after .. not much room for error . But if you want to give it a shot , go for it . Worst that can hapen is that you start over 
     If you do like it is mentionned by others here ... ya got a good shot at getting it right 

[johnjbc]

When I need to weld Cast Iron. What I do is get a good fire going in the wood stove in the work shop and let it heat up the metal. After it is good and hot, Pull it out and weld it.
If there is a lot of welding you may need to re heat it. After you are done put it back in the wood stove and let the fire go out. This lets it cool slowly so it doesn’t crack.

[scsmith42]

Lots of good info on this string.

One other alternative to reheating the cast after welding, is to stress-relieve it using a needle scaler.  When using this method, you usually pre-heat, weld an inch or so, then use the scaler on the weld and surrounding area for 30 - 60 seconds.  Then repeat by welding the next inch.  Granted, I usually use this technique with a TIG welder, as opposed to arc.

I used to weld up a lot of engine heads, and stainless steel arc rod was my preferred choice.

I've also brazed a lot of small parts, and if you look at a lot of the repairs done on cast iron around the turn of the century brazing was the method of choice.  I think that if your cast iron is porous, or if it's been exposed to a lot of oil, you will need to experiment between the two.

Quinton - I noticed that you've been unusually silent on this thread... can you share any advice from a pro here?

Scott

[Daren]

Some guys have mentioned SS welding rod, 309 stainless works best, not all SS rods will work. That is good advice to "stitch" if you have a long weld to do, make short beads don't burn a whole rod it will make too much heat that is concentrated in one spot.

[KGNC]

I'm assuming since it is a roller mount that alignment will be critical.  Getting the two sides to align could be tricky. After you get the parts welded you may need to find a machine shop to stack up the sides and bore the bores true.

[woody1]

much thanks for the info...we tore it apart this evening. going to haul it to the shop tommorrow, and weld it saturday. I will let you know. Thanks again. It is amazing how much knowledge is on this site about everything. One more question... The batter gets a hit to short left field, the runner from first slides past second base, missing the base. The shortstop catches the throw from the left fielder while standing on second base, before the runner gets back to second. then the runner gets back to second, no tag. Is he out ? 

[Larry]

In answer to woody1...no...but it is a guess.

I’ve used nickel rod on cast iron but never was good at laying a bead and it was also quite expensive.  My first choice is brazing as I can do that...I think quite well.  Is the stainless steel rod a better choice?  Never have tried that.

[Tim L]

Try running a bead with ni-cad as best you can, grind it then lay another bead over it that sometimes works good. Of course pre-heating as listed above, also peening was how I was taught by the old-timers

[woody1]

Please describe peening  Thanks, woody

[Slabs]

The application of the needle scaler is probably the modern version of "peening" that I was taught from a very old welding book.  After a scection of weld is completed, peen the weld for a few minutes to relieve the stresses.  A manual version of the "shot peening" process used in an enclosure with small steel shot like a sand-blasting cabinet.

The "hammer peening" process worked well for me many years ago.  Pump housings and such.  I used the nickle cast rods and AC welder.

[Tim L]

Well said Slabs , I used the hammer method with AC too. I have had pretty good success with it.

[Sprucegum]

PEENING is when you hammer the weld with your chipping hammer or peening hammer til it looks squashed out of shape. What that does is stretch the weld metal so it doesn't stress the cast iron as it cools and shrinks. If you have a hammer with a normal head on one side and a round ball where the claws usually are - that ball is a peener. I just use my chipper.

Stainless steel rods are almost pure nickel as are Ni-cad and Ni-rod 99 so they will all work on cast iron.

The preheat and slow cool down is extra insurance but not as critical if you take it easy and don't get too hot.

[Don_Papenburg]

Another  option  if the welding does not pan out  or stress cracks show up.  Cast a new part .   I use  Can Do metals  in St Anne , Illinois     1 815 422 0176

[scsmith42]

Slabs - you hit the nail on the head - the needle scaler is the same as peening, but on steroids! 

[Qweaver]

It's been awhile since I've welded cast iron but there are some really good electrodes available now that are easy to use and can even be used with a minium of preheat.  I have some in my shop that work great but I'm in WV and the shop is in Texas and I can't remember exactly what they are.  I think they were made by Eutectoid but I'm sure that there are other brands that work well also.  The old nickle based rods are really outdated now...they would work but they were a pain to use.  If you don't want to buy a bunch of expensive rods, brazing is an easy (and good) fix.  I think stainless is a bad choice for a long term fix due to the carbon/chromium corrosion problem. 
Quinton

[woody1]

Well, today I was going to weld the infeed roller. After looking things over, I was afraid that the constant slamming of the roller, when the board passes, would be hard on the weld. If the weld would fail it would not be a pretty site, seeing it would probably hit the blades. I was very discouraged. and then I noticed that the edger is made so that it can be run left or right feed. So I am taking it apart, and switching everything around. If you look you may be able to see the holes at the top right hand side of the picture for the infeed roller to be changed. Plus taking it apart will give me a chance to clean and paint the edger. Thanks for all the help...Woody

[Slabs]

Ahhhhhhh!!!

I still love old iron!   Wonder if thermite welding stuff is still available???

[woody1]

started tearing it down..removed the infeed and outfeed rollers and shafts. I have the blade shaft ready to come out, but going to get some help. It is amazing the simplicity of these well built machines. I will get some pictures before I blast it and paint.

[Fla._Deadheader]

 Why couldn't ya drill a few holes, and weld it, then bolt a plate cutout the same shape   That will definitely take the strain off the weld

[woody1]

Well, the blade shaft gave me problems. The bearing would not budge. I had to cut out one bearing, now I have the shaft off and the blades removed. Hope I can find a new bearing, it's a rex 2200. I welded the leg and leg brace using the instructions on this thread, worked great. Tommorrow I am going to start blasting and painting.

[jokers]

One more question... The batter gets a hit to short left field, the runner from first slides past second base, missing the base. The shortstop catches the throw from the left fielder while standing on second base, before the runner gets back to second. then the runner gets back to second, no tag. Is he out ? 

Yes, since the guy from first base is forced to second in this scenario he must touch second base before he is considered safely there and tagging the base is as good as tagging the runner. You cannot overrun(or slide) second or third base the way that you can "run through" the first baseman. What is your opinion on this?

[woody1]

good answer joker.
The edger is finished. I put everything together today and painted it. The only money I had in it was the $140.00 for the bearing, a little bit of paint, pb blaster and some rods. Thanks alot for all the help, the welding came out good, but I wouldn't want to do alot of cast iron. I uncovered my mill today and hope to have it running by the end of the month. My best friend has already picked out the white pine off MY property to cut on MY mill to take to HIS addition..go figure. Just kidding, he could have anything I own. Thanks again !!!!

[Skytramp]

The answer to the baseball question is, Yes he is out.  Since he came from first base he will have to return to first base.
Sky