re broken parts on lathe

[hughie]

If you have a broken part and its cast iron. Look around for a welder who has a TIG set up. This is by far the quickest and does involve the time consuming practice required of stick welding and preheating and slow cooling etc.

The filler rod is a cast iron arc rod with the flux removed, use with some preheat just to getit up to blood heat and away you go.

I have done this several times in the past wuth great success and have never had a failure to date.
On one occaision a friend brought me his shattered Hills hoist, the grandkids had swung on it till the lift handle body burst into a pile of shrapnell. :C Took a few hours to prepare and weld 5years later still in service with no signs of weakness or fracture.

[Old Croc]

Hughie,
When you say preheat to "bloodheat" does that mean really warm or really hot. I tried to do a job like this with my TIG and the arc appeared to burn the cast iron away before I could weld it?
regards,
Crocy.

[wheelinround]

Hughie wish I knew you did that a few weeks ago mate broke manifold on tractor right at the head.
Thanks for the reminder of how to though

Good info:2tsup:

[hughie]

[When you say preheat to "bloodheat" does that mean really warm or really hot. I tried to do a job like this with my TIG and the arc appeared to burn the cast iron away before I could weld it?




Crocy, Just hot enough to touch it, if the arc blows away the cast you may have contaminated cast iron. That being the case you may have really heat it up to boil or burn out the krud. Cast iron soaks up all manner of crap and krud, wood lathe parts are easy as they seldom get contaminated.


Ray,

Dont do allot these days, no longer have a TIG welder :U

[wheelinround]

Crocy, Just hot enough to touch it, if the arc blows away the cast you may have contaminated cast iron. That being the case you may have really heat it up to boil or burn out the krud. Cast iron soaks up all manner of crap and krud, wood lathe parts are easy as they seldom get contaminated.


Ray,

Dont do allot these days, no longer have a TIG welder :U

Hughie I was learning cast welding during my time but never really got much time to do it so never went back to it. I have seen some real pro's weld cast or even braze and seen some try and mess it right up.

[Sawdust Maker]

I thought I'd posted here, oh well

the gist of it was ...

why didn't you tell us this when I had my MC 900 clone, broke the banjo after one of my practice catches. But then again I think they are of such a design that they are inherently weak anyway :U

[mitchell27]

i didnt see this thread, but im assuming its a reply to the thread i tried to make, which didnt work (i tried again and succeeded, so there is a post with a picture of the part i broke). so thanks for the replies. welding is not an option for me unfortunately, im only 19 and the only experience i've had with a welder was at school and the results dont give me any confidence, plus it was oxyacetylene welding and we've only got an arc welder at home that i have never used. anyway the piece i broke has a thread, here's the picture :
http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachments/f8/195263d1327021631-broken-lathe-part-img_1457.jpg
so i'm looking to buy a new one...if possible :/

[hughie]

why didn't you tell us this when I had my MC 900 clone



I havent had access to a TIG for private work for afew years, Most of the welding I am talking about occurred quite sometime ago unfortunately. I have posted some comments on the TIG welding of cast iron in the welding section

Mitchell, that is repairable, but it will depend on how much the replacement will cost.

[mitchell27]

hughie, i think i've managed to source a replacement, compliments of the users on this forum and their advice. but if no replacement is available, would you recommend taking it to a welding specialist? i truly believe this repair job would be beyond me, i particularly hate working with metal (apologies to all metal workers!) and have little to no understanding of its properties/application. thank you again for the feedback, it is all constructive!

[hughie]

Mitch check the welding forum, the part is small enough to be mailed anywhere.

[robyn2839]

dont know if this helps,i broke a cast piece on my table saw so i welded it back together using a stainless steel rod ,this part is under a reasonable amount of stress but is still going and that was two years ago.........bob