Strange

[Rambozo]

I did a strange repair. There was a weld involved, so here it is. An in-wall folding ironing board was steam damaged and the pivot bolt tore out the bottom. Not the greatest design.



I decided to make something a bit larger to hold it in. I cut a plug to fill the damaged area and cut out a plate for the top. Turned a step on the plug for the top plate to press on and drilled and tapped the center for a new pivot bolt. Bored a center hole in the top plate and drilled and countersunk some attachment holes. Chamfered the plug and the plate to create a groove for the weld.



Pressed the plate on and welded it. My TIG gloves were somewhere else so I thought I could do without. Started out ok, but got a lil too hot near the end and burning fingers got kinda shakey. Oh well. 3/32 tungsten and about 150 Amps did the trick.



Machined down the excess.



Bore out the damaged MDF, and install the new part.



That should outlast everything else on this. I'll put a couple of coats of varnish on, so the steam doesn't do more damage.
Not exactly a welding project, but...

[CGCINC]

Turned out good!

[Brian Ski]

I'll put a couple of coats of varnish on, so the steam doesn't do more damage.
Not exactly a welding project, but...

How does the varnish react to steam???? Would think it would get soft.

[Rambozo]

How does the varnish react to steam???? Would think it would get soft.

Good question. I have no idea. I did pick a waterproof one, but I'm not sure what temp gets through the cover. The MDF looked like typical water damage. My first thought was engine enamel as it should hold up to the heat, but the cover should block most of that, otherwise the MDF would have been in much worse shape. I figure worst case is the varnish softens and ends up bonding the cover to the board. Should have been made out of metal in the first place.

[undercut]

Pressed the plate on and welded it. My TIG gloves were somewhere else so I thought I could do without. Started out ok, but got a lil too hot near the end and burning fingers got kinda shakey. Oh well. 3/32 tungsten and about 150 Amps did the trick.

Yeah, I think I see where you said, "OUCH!" .... LOL. Nice project. Turned out really nice.

[redbeard]

Looks nice, craftsmanship is craftsmanship even if the welding is minimal. At least you got a bit of lathe time in.

What did you use use to bore the recess for the flange? Unless that is quite a bit smaller than I think it is, my set of Forstner bits doesn't get anywhere near that size.

[Rambozo]

Looks nice, craftsmanship is craftsmanship even if the welding is minimal. At least you got a bit of lathe time in.

I'd call this more functional than craftsmanship. Even though it's totally hidden and no one will see it, I will know all the mistakes.

What did you use use to bore the recess for the flange? Unless that is quite a bit smaller than I think it is, my set of Forstner bits doesn't get anywhere near that size.

I used a 3/4" end mill to do the bore and the counterbore.