Filling holes in cast steel

[JD1]

I've had more than a few stupid moments and drilled right through some stock and into my drill press vise. Very irritating. I could leave all the "character marks" or I'm wondering if I could fill the holes in with solid or flux core weld and grind it smooth. I believe it's cast steel. Should that work OK?

[M J D]

I would just use epoxy like jb weld.

[CEP]

I use to repair a lot of pile driving followers. Some were 4-inches thick under the bowl. Used Super Missile Weld, or 312 stainless steel rod. pre-heat, and wrap with insulation for slow cool down.

[Showdog75]

For your superficial repair I'd use silicon bronze as it'll be much easier to grind/machine down and strength isn't a issue. No need to put unnecessary heat into this. Jmo

[flushcut]

I'd leave'em.

[MinnesotaDave]

For your superficial repair I'd use silicon bronze as it'll be much easier to grind/machine down and strength isn't a issue. No need to put unnecessary heat into this. Jmo

My thoughts as well.

Or just leave them as a reminder to not drill the vise

[paul. m]

Like the others have said , if its not affecting it structurally leave it alone .

[walker]

It is likely cast iron and not cast steel, mig will make a mess. Just leave it.

[Hobbytime]

do what harbor freight does..bondo....or as said above leave em for character...

[flushcut]

Harbor Freight doesn't use bondo! Never ever with such high quality castings and vastly superior machining, never.

[shovelon]

Drill press table? That is cast iron most likely. Leave it.

[G-son]

Welding may cause warping. Maybe an issue, maybe not, but as long as the hole doesn't cause a problem it isn't worth taking the risk.

[VPT]

What some do is drill out the hole, tap, thread bolt it with loctite, then grind the top down flush with the table.

[Kelvin]

Drill press table? That is cast iron most likely. Leave it.

+1 Pretty sure my DP table and DP vise are CI. In fact, I'm certain, since I also use the vise to hold small parts for tigging, and I've lit up on it a few times...

I would also leave it as-is. Or use epoxy or bondo or band-aids.

[JD1]

After hearing all the opinions, maybe what I'll do is fill all of them with JB Weld except the biggest one which i'll fill with Bondo so the red will be a constant reminder to not be stupid.

The comments about silicon bronze were interesting. I didn't know you could MIG silicon bronze, which I found out from an article on the Miller site. I'll be studying on that further.

BTW, how could I tell if the vise was cast steel or cast iron? Any easy way to do that?

[Oldendum]

... BTW, how could I tell if the vise was cast steel or cast iron? Any easy way to do that?

Drill another hole in it. Steel should make curly chips. Cast iron tends to crumble off and create small, flaky chips. Or use a file.

[JD1]

Thank you.

[Bonzoo]

Melt some wheel weights(or bullets) and filler-upper