Cast Iron

[Estarial]

Any ideas on the best way to work with cast iron?

[Rugar]

You need to be a little more specific. Are you wanting to weld it, cut it, cast it.....ect
My favorite way to work with cast iron comes around dinner time!

[geezer]

There are just too many types of cast iron and too many variables in the repair, some jobs can be preheated some are too large and cannot, there is coarse grained cast and fine grained cast. No single method will do all of the jobs, On some jobs you can preheat and use a cast rod others can be done with a niickel rod and a hammer to beat on the weld as it cools to stress relieve the weld and on some jobs they use staples across the crack and either fill the crack with weld or some epoxy like JB weld and then staple it (drill holes on either side of the crack and lay a patch over it that is pinned in place). Nickel rod is popular because it will stick like ####e to a blanket on most metals.

Cast welding is a crap shoot, take you best shot at it and pray.

[jameswswanson]

Clean, Preheat, use AC with the balance control maxed out and use Aluminum Bronze filler metal.

[Wookie]

Preheat and post heat are important with cast iron prep it and follow the polarity and ac or dc as to the cast iron fillers requirements sometimes you can use 7018 dc as said its a real crap shoot with cast iron repairs
It all really depends on what you got

[Estarial]

I tried brazing a crack on a cast iron water lawn pump and it cracked right in back of it or broke behind the crack. I was using a oxyacetylene and brazing rod, brass. the brass stuck but maybe it was too hot or something I even preheated it. It may have cooled off too fast. Maybe I should have done it slowly by hit it and let it cool and repeat

[I_Love_Plasma]

I've done some research before on welding cast. If the crack is whitish and kinda flaky then don't expect it to hold. If by chance you have gray cast iron, there is a better shot at it holding. You are supposed to preheat the entire cast to a minimum of 450-500 degrees. What most farmers do is, grab a bag of charcoal, put some in a fire ring, light, preheat and weld it right there. Then they cover it up with sand or ash to smother the coals and trap the heat.

Hope this helps

[Estarial]

A friend gave us a housing, problem solved. I am still going to keep practicing and get it right. It is hard for me to do. Any more advice I would appreciate it.

I remember watching Bonanza and they had a broken gear and Ben took and made a mold out of the broken gear with sand, and then they smelter the iron and pored the casting full of molted metal, then covered the whole thing up with sand. It took about three tries to get it right. Wonder if that would really work.

[Mikeymetal]

I'd like to know what kind of housing. My brother fancys hisself to be some kind of cast iron "guru". but I say he just got lucky a time or 2. The previous poster with the charcoal idea makes the most sense to me. I'll be giving that a try sometime.

[Estarial]

Hello,
I like the charcoal idea too. The color of the housing is gray. It is about a 2 horse. It seems that when I welded on it it was white and flaky, Don't remember for sure. Nickle and brass stuck good. It just cracked behind the weld. As they said it probable had to do with the cooling process and the white flakes.
Thanks everyone for the great ideas, I will surely give them a try next time.
Happy Welding

I'd like to know what kind of housing. My brother fancys hisself to be some kind of cast iron "guru". but I say he just got lucky a time or 2. The previous poster with the charcoal idea makes the most sense to me. I'll be giving that a try sometime.

[Estarial]

Hello,
Aluminum Bronze filler metal, hmm, surely give that a try.
Thanks,
Happy Welding

Clean, Preheat, use AC with the balance control maxed out and use Aluminum Bronze filler metal.

[Estarial]

Thanks to all of you!
Seems the advice will work on more than just housing!
I appreciate all of your comments!
Have a great day

[Jason]

Well this is a topic I have been learning about sort of. I have not been looking into welding cast iron but I was looking at casting parts. The process is very interesting to me and seems that it can be very useful to know how it is done. I have been following a thread on a forum where a guy is casting parts in aluminum by melting down old parts that he has to make new ones. I know there was some talk about cast iron but I don't remember what the talk was about. If anyone wants a good long read I am posting the thread that I have been watching but it is on a car forum that I visit very often. Casting Thread..

[Estarial]

Everlast also has an article on casting if you would like to read it. Cast Iron welding