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Thread: Broken Cast Iron. I need help.
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2nd Feb 2017, 04:35 PM #1
Broken Cast Iron. I need help.
Hi,
HELP!
I'm working on restoring a very old cast iron sewing table for my wife. Everything was going great until I dropped the last piece and it snapped in 3 places!
I am told Brazing is the way to go to fix this. I don't know because I cant weld.
- Opinions on welding vs brazing cast iron?
- I have a small gas torch. It's a Tradeflame Butane gas torch. See Picture. Will it get hot enough to braze? Is this something I can tackle, as someone who has never brazed anything?
- What type of welding rod do I braze with?
- Can anyone suggest a welder around Oakleigh, Victoria, who could braze this back together? I am prepared to pay. Anyone have an idea of the cost?
Thank you,
Steck
IMG_2069.jpgIMG_3017.jpgIMG_9750.jpgCheers,
Steck
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2nd Feb 2017, 06:13 PM #2Senior Member
- Join Date
- Nov 2008
- Location
- Sydney
- Posts
- 112
1. Options are: Oxy-acetylene fusion welding using silicon CI filler rod; properly done, the repair will be almost invisible when painted. Needs a skilled welder with understanding of expansion, contraction & characteristics of CI.
Electric arc stick welding using a nickel alloy electrode. Skilled welder as above but not quite as critical.
Oxy- acetylene brazing using manganese-bronze filler rod. Probably the most forgiving process, but expansion/contraction control is still important. The resulting joint is usually ugly due to required reinforcement.
2. No.
3. Manganese bronze.
4. Sorry, I am in Sydney.
Chas.
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2nd Feb 2017, 06:54 PM #3
can't help with a recommendation of who could do the job,
but the brazing is the easy part -- the hard part is pre-heating and then cooling the cast iron in a controlled manner. Get the preheating and cooling right and the repair can be made to disappear, get it wrong and ...regards from Canmore
ian
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2nd Feb 2017, 07:59 PM #4Golden Member
- Join Date
- Mar 2009
- Location
- Melbourne
- Age
- 54
- Posts
- 825
G'day Steck,
That should be a pretty straight forward bronze brazing repair. Your little butane torch will not be up to the job as you'll need oxy acetylene temperatures to bronze something like that.
I reckon TIG with 316 filler would give you a good workable repair as you have small relatively thick sections with plenty of room to manage expansion & contraction issues.
CI stick welding rods would do the job ok but they would be my least preferred option for fine repairs like this, harder to get small deposits and cost as they're bloody expensive.
I'm in Fawkner and would be happy to do the repair if you don't mind coming up to the wild north.
Cheers,
Greg.
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2nd Feb 2017, 09:37 PM #5Mechanical Butcher
- Join Date
- Oct 2004
- Location
- Southern Highlands NSW
- Posts
- 1,894
I have a cast iron bench seat here, that had a leg snap off when moving house, back in the '80s.
It was repaired in such a way as to be invisible when painted.
I resisted advice to grind a "V" at the joint, just heated the pre-fluxed joint with oxy-acetylene to glowing hot, then the bronze filler rod was introduced, which got right into the joint by capillary action.
I've been sitting on that bench ever since!
Jordan
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2nd Feb 2017, 10:16 PM #6
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3rd Feb 2017, 09:46 AM #7
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10th Feb 2017, 11:59 PM #8
I just took my broken cast iron over to kwijibo99 who did an excellent job saving my cast iron with a TIG welder.
Many many thank yous!Cheers,
Steck
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