Woodstove Repairs???

[Crofter]

Logbutcher, I hadnt seen your post when I made mine. How did you get that time stamp on yours. Welding on cast iron is a bit of a crap shoot unless it is a good grey machinery casting. Stove castings are often much more brittle. Sometimes Ni Rod etc will flow out onto it sometimes you might as well try to weld particle board. I had some rod given to me years ago that was a torch fusion weld rod for cast that usually melted a fair bit before the base metal and actually went on something like bronze but was a ferrous alloy.
The little lunch box SCR welders are great for in house jobs as they will put out about 100 amps out of a 120 receptacle or 180 or so plugged into a dryer or stove outlet. I dont know whether they call them lunchbox because of their size or because they dissappear from job sites in lunch boxes but they are slick.

 

[itn]

like i said earlier, for hot and cold cycles use refractory. looks like crap but works. otherwise pitch it. welding works ok but doesn't hold up over time.

 

[Old_School_Nut]

I have welded all kinds of cast iron things from tractor 3 point lift arms to cast wood stove lids... none has failed yet!(knock on wood) what I do first is prep the area, vee the area almost through,grind the area around the weld clean, then I get several oxy acetylene torches and heat the part as evenly as I can so its a medium red color, then I heat and dip my CAST IRON FILLER ROD in flux and start welding with my oxy acetylene torch set with a neutral flame... the bead is never pretty like you would get on aluminum or steel, but it is fusing the cast iron together, I Typically do several tack welds then I stitch between the welds, alternating to even out the heat. I don't know if this really helps, or even the right way, its just the way I have always done it and it seems to work.... then like every1 else says, you have to slowly remove the heat, time spent here is worth it in the end, good luck, hopefully your part didn't warp or crack as it cooled down.

BTW you can order cast iron filler rod at your local welding supply for oxy acetylene welding, its a square rod with a very ruff texture....
-Leo-

 

[bassman]

Is the crack causing any kind of problems????

 

[logbutcher]

I have welded all kinds of cast iron things from tractor 3 point lift arms to cast wood stove lids... none has failed yet!(knock on wood) what I do first is prep the area, vee the area almost through,grind the area around the weld clean, then I get several oxy acetylene torches and heat the part as evenly as I can so its a medium red color, then I heat and dip my CAST IRON FILLER ROD in flux and start welding with my oxy acetylene torch set with a neutral flame... the bead is never pretty like you would get on aluminum or steel, but it is fusing the cast iron together, I Typically do several tack welds then I stitch between the welds, alternating to even out the heat. I don't know if this really helps, or even the right way, its just the way I have always done it and it seems to work.... then like every1 else says, you have to slowly remove the heat, time spent here is worth it in the end, good luck, hopefully your part didn't warp or crack as it cooled down.
BTW you can order cast iron filler rod at your local welding supply for oxy acetylene welding, its a square rod with a very ruff texture....
-Leo-

Leo baby, you nailed it ! Big rep.
Never heard of that method...makes sense that you're actually "re-casting" by fusing. If it's OK with you, I'm showing your method to my friend the pro TIG/MIG all-around welder. Thx.

 

[Crofter]

I have some old cast iron drain pipe that I rip into strips with a zip cut/angle grinder. It is a fairly decent grey cast. For flux common gillets lye works good. Just heat the rod and dip. Needless to say the fumes are meaner than a bulldog b.i.t.c.h! That will work on some castings that you cannot arc weld.

 

[cmetalbend]

Ah, hello ----------Addict never mentioned whether it's cast iron or steel. He didn't say it was in the door. Which is usually one of the few cast parts. This is why a person needs to bring pics to the discussion.

 

[cat10ken]

Just about every wood stove I've ever owned has cracked out from the corners of the door openings. It isn't cast iron its steel. It just lets a little more air get to the fire. If you have a good draft through your chimney it will never smoke out of the crack. I would leave it alone.

 

[Old_School_Nut]

Leo baby, you nailed it ! Big rep.
Never heard of that method...makes sense that you're actually "re-casting" by fusing. If it's OK with you, I'm showing your method to my friend the pro TIG/MIG all-around welder. Thx.

lol go for it, i have had good luck doing it this way so far, if other people can benefit from it great! that's why i posted

 

[straight6jeff]

Check out www.weldingweb.com

Lot's of good info on that site. There has been a running thread on cast repairs.