Cast Is A B*#CH!

[Willie B]

I wanted to bend an aluminum 16 Gauge pan yesterday sort of impromptu. In my world nothing is ever that simple. The new to me brake had a clamp handle welded on in the wrong place. To bring it past center where it'd stay clamped, I had to grind.
I wonder what the filler was. It ground easily, didn't clog the stone, and no sparks at all. Throughout the process of grinding I could see tiny cracks in the cast oosing a dark liquid. Water or oil I don't know.
Ground it, it fit, it worked well, then it broke! The original weldor had only welded the outer shell of the break.
Repair was extensive, I failed to take pictures. It involved cutting away enough material to get to center with 308L filler.
Welding went well with plenty of preheat. As it cooled slowly I could hear crackling sound.

So far it is holding. If it breaks again, I'll replace it with steel.

[metalman21]

Cast iron? Was that lever broken and repaired in 2 places?

[Willie B]

Yeah. The Brake was once owned by the US Air Force. I expect USAF personnel are typically young, strong men, with little experience.

[Kelvin]

Huh. Cast steel would have been my guess.

[G-ManBart]

I've had really good luck using Inconel 62 (an older spec from what I understand) on both cast iron and ductile iron running TIG. My mentor is a guy who's been running TIG since the 1960s and he gave me some of the Inconel 62 and walked me through the process he's been using on cast for years. Die grind to bare metal, the run just an arc with no filler at a low amperage to cook out the carbon....brush the soot out with a stainless brush in between passes. After two or three passes with just an arc you can start laying beads. Most of the time I don't have to pre-heat and then just cover the work with a welding blanket to help slow the cooling, but that's mostly pieces a bit smaller than what you're doing (and pre-heat certainly won't hurt). I think the fact that Inconel has so much nickel makes it stick to cast well, and I suspect might be better than stainless filler in that regard. I actually found someone selling a 10lb tube of old Inconel 62 on eBay and got it cheap...something like $50 shipped.

[Willie B]

Huh. Cast steel would have been my guess.

Nearly no sparks grinding it. Cast steel would spark more.

[metalman21]

Sometimes on cast iron good old brazing works fine. I've used nickel both stick and TIG successfully but also repaired quite a few iron parts with braze. Getting the heat up and slow cool down is key.
Someone brazed the link on my old iron brake way before I bought it about 38 years ago and it held up great.

Not pretty but proven to hold up.

[MinnesotaDave]

Yeah. The Brake was once owned by the US Air Force. I expect USAF personnel are typically young, strong men, with little experience.

Yes we were...lots of piss and vinegar, not much for thinking when that young - brute force all the way

[Willie B]

Yes we were...lots of piss and vinegar, not much for thinking when that young - brute force all the way

I used that same phrase myself. It was my father's most used phrase. He usually followed with "You don't know your own strength." I sometimes wonder how that piece got broken first time. Yes the other end is broken & repaired too.

When VT first passed the law you had to go to code school to renew your electricians license, we sat in a classroom with 30 other electricians. Instructor asked: "How many of you carry a torque wrench in the truck?" I was the only hand up. Instructor: "Why?"
"if you had ever explained to him a stripped terminal, you'd understand!" The whole room roared with laughter!

I have come alongs with sacrificial handles. Bend the handle instead of the mechanism.

At 63 I don't have the strength to damage it, I'll replace with steel if necessary. I can weld steel.

Did see a video where Jody suggests aluminum bronze. Stainless welded very nicely, but I am concerned about the noise while cooling.