Damnit!

[Whitespider]

I toss my firewood into the basement through an old coal chute door... and one of the friggin' hinges broke!!
Now it won't seal worth sour owl crap when I close it.
It's cast iron... I'm gonna' try welding it... likely I'm gonna' haf'ta do the repair while it's mounted on the house foundation.
I ain't never welded cast... any and all advice is welcome, appreciated and needed.

 

[TermiteBuffet]

If I remember correct we used high Nickel rod on cast manifolds, I'm sure a real welder we be around soon with advice

Sent via the computer in my 562xp

 

[pin oak]

Nickel

I was a certified welder, if stick welding nickel rod is the to go.

 

[brenndatomu]

I'm not certified, but I do a lot of welding, I welded up wood stove grates a while back with regular 7018 rod. I read about it on a welding/machining forum, some old timers said it holds up well. So far so good for me! Not sure if you are gonna be able to, but preheating is recommended on cast. I also had a weld shop braze a mounting tab on an exhaust manifold years ago, still holding today....good luck with yours!

 

[mdavlee]

Certanium I think is one type of rod that works good on cast. I've welded some in the past. If you can get it warm and weld it and then wrap it with something to hold the heat on it and let it cool slowly. The rapid cooling is what will crack it.

 

[dave_dj1]

If you are using a MIG welder, pre heat the pieces and post heat and cool slowly, it helps keep the pieces from being brittle and braking.
Good luck!
PICS or it didn't happen

 

[Fifelaker]

I would braze it. If you have to weld it nickel rod with both pre and post heat will be the best. Also peen the weld after every inch or so of weld will help eleminate stress cracking. You also need to U-grove the crack as cast don't like sharp corners. I would braze it. Nickel rod is also $$$.

 

[Locust Cutter]

Pre-heat it slowly though... Old cast behaves a bit differently than newer...

 

[muddstopper]

I just got thru welding up and old cast fruit press. Preheat. I used a propane burner like you would use to start brushpile fires. I heated the entire press to 850deg F. I welded using a wire welder. Weld about an inch and then peen with a hammer. Keep a check on the temp and preheat as needed not letting temp drop below 650degF while you weld. Let cool naturally. I had tried welding before without preheating and it would just continue to crack when it cooled off.

 

[Whitespider]

Ok... I'm gonna' haf'ta stick weld it.
So nickle rod (I'll haf'ta pick some up), preheat (that's gonna' be tough), and peen between sort welds (that I can do).
Yeah, pics!

It ain't gonna' be easy, the door swings up to the outside, but the hinges are on the inside... so I'll be standing on my head to do it.

 

[muddstopper]

I had pretty good luck using nickle 99 stick welding a tractor case. You might try a propane torch for preheat. Grind the break to a Vee and use low heat setting on welder. small dia rods, will help with the low amp settings of the welder. heat, weld, peen and repeat until done.

 

[CWME]

Head over to u-tube, guy named ChuckE2009 has a bunch of vids on different types of cast repair. As already stated, pre-heat, weld, peen, wrap and cool as slow as you can.

 

[griffonks]

Can't you just replace the hinges?

 

[Whitespider]

Nope, can't replace the hinge...
They are cast into the door and door frame... just a raised boss with a hole for a pin.

 

[nathon918]

I would braze it. If you have to weld it nickel rod with both pre and post heat will be the best. Also peen the weld after every inch or so of weld will help eleminate stress cracking. You also need to U-grove the crack as cast don't like sharp corners. I would braze it. Nickel rod is also $$$.

with cast being very brittle to start, sitck, or mig welding it just makes it worse, even with all the pre/post heat and peening, its not the weld that ends up breaking its everything around the weld.
with braze if it were to break again it almost always breaks at the weld, instead of damaging the base material even more.
so i too would braze it...

 

[ft. churchill]

They make some brazing rods just for cast iron, and they are by far the best process for most repairs. I have done welded repairs before, and you will need to preheat. Any of the specialty cast iron rods will work well, and I've used 7018 also.

 

[Hddnis]

Head over to u-tube, guy named ChuckE2009 has a bunch of vids on different types of cast repair. As already stated, pre-heat, weld, peen, wrap and cool as slow as you can.

Why would anybody go to a novice to learn about welding?

He's getting better, but he's a damn rookie by any measure, and a few quick repairs don't an expert make.




Mr. HE

 

[CWME]

Why would anybody go to a novice to learn about welding?

He's getting better, but he's a damn rookie by any measure, and a few quick repairs don't an expert make.




Mr. HE

I figured with WS's "giant pulsating brain" that he could gleen the useful tidbits that are in those vids and weed out the novice crap. IE what rods are available and where to get them. Basic idea of how it's done etc and ignore the yeehaw at the end. Or not because ChuckE is a damn rookie and what could be learned right? I must be a complete moron because I learned a few things from his welding vids.

Anyway, nothing to see here folks...

Back to your sheduled viewing of Mr. Pulsating brain and his cast welding adventures:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[513yj]

All that firewood ya should be able to stacker so high it will barricade er in there :biggrin:

 

[Hddnis]

I figured with WS's "giant pulsating brain" that he could gleen the useful tidbits that are in those vids and weed out the novice crap. IE what rods are available and where to get them. Basic idea of how it's done etc and ignore the yeehaw at the end. Or not because ChuckE is a damn rookie and what could be learned right? I must be a complete moron because I learned a few things from his welding vids.

Anyway, nothing to see here folks...

Back to your sheduled viewing of Mr. Pulsating brain and his cast welding adventures:hmm3grin2orange:

Now that you mention it ChuckE kind of looks like Whitespiders avatar. Hmmmmmm. I'll have the boys check into this.




Mr. HE