Soldering cast iron

[Brian WoodParticipant @brianwood45127]

Hello David,

Oh, it will certainly be an interesting exercise! Sorry to poke my neb in, I was just thinking of the extra work and time involved. Enjoy!

Best wishes Brian

[Pete.Participant @pete-2]

Posted by David Noble on 22/12/2022 10:09:00:

Posted by Pete. on 21/12/2022 22:48:10:

What are you trying to repair? can we see? I'm curious to know what a professional outfit put off for 3 weeks.

Hello Pete, of course you can see, it's just that I'm a little embarrassed having admitted that I'm trying to soft solder it!

It's a steel gear wheel and a cast iron sleeve on a Mellor lathe that I'm restoring.

David

I'm glad you posted a picture, I'd never have imagined that was your problem without it.

repairing cracked cast iron is generally best tackled by brazing, you can fit the 2 pieces together like a 3d jigsaw piece, tack in place then carve a V along the crack and fill in, welding, as has been mentioned here tends to introduce tension and move things, and crack things very easily if the part isn't heated and cooled in very controlled way, welding as a procedure for repair of cast iron would be at the bottom of my list, Tig Brazing I've played around with and had good results as it gets the heat in quite quickly before thermal expansion becomes a serious problem.

I've played around with MIG bronze brazing also, found this excellent for crack repair but wouldn't use it on anything that didn't need finishing with a carbide burr as it's not pretty.

For your problem if a good fit was possible loctite retaining compound would probably be suitable, I've been pretty impressed with how well it works.

[David NobleParticipant @davidnoble71990]

Here is the final outcome. Before and after!

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Bravo !

MichaelG.

[Brian WoodParticipant @brianwood45127]

Well done. I imagine you found the job satisfying to do as well

Brian

[Jeff DaymanParticipant @jeffdayman43397]

Very nice David!

Was there a magic wand or a top hat involved at all? 8^)

[David NobleParticipant @davidnoble71990]

Thank you. It’s surprising how a job can evolve!!!

David

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