Cast Iron

[Redfishtony]

May be a stupid question, but can you mig weld cast iron. If so is there a certain wire or anything special I would need to know. Have an old syrup pot that has a crack in it. Any ideas????? Thank for the advise. TW

[walker]

Crown alloys 44-30 wire. $80 for a 2# spool.

[bubbaweld]

Cast Iron

You should be preheating it first. And it will need it to cool slowly. If it will fit you can preheat it in a bucket of sand on a gas grill. Arc rods for cast work the best and cost only a few dollars.

[gnforge]

Cast Iron

If memory serves me correct (it doesn't) the last time I ran out of Ni-Rod & walked up to local auto-parts store who carry small amount welding supply's (LWS-20 mile away) I paid $68.00 a Lb.

[Helios]

Any ideas?????

Braze it?????

[big mike]

Weld Mold 750
Eureka 5545

[stickermigtigger]

Check out Chucke2009 on YouTube. He has 2 or 3 good videos on this topic.

[Redfishtony]

Thanks for the info. I'll have to preheat with torch and see what happens.

[6g 7018]

preheat weld with weldmold 705 or 706 post heat rap in fiberglass insulation let cool overnight

[Fireman]

Hey guy's not to say i did right but i welded a John Deere disc with regular wire. The part i welded was the bottom axle retainer which was cast. I ground the edges preheated with a propane torch and welded it hot and fast. I pinged on it with a small ball peen hammer for 5 minutes and then buried it in a bucket of sand that i warmed up in the microwave. Let it cool all night and the next evening i installed it with no issues. This was 2 years ago and so far it's fine. Maybe i'm just lucky.

[Hardrock40]

Maybe it wasn't luck, you just done a good job. I'm thinking it may have been ok without doing any preheat or slow cool.

Just my opinion,
I know everybody gets into that preheat thing with cast. I did too.

But for the life of me I can't understand how it would make a difference unless the part was heated almost to melting point, kept there during welding and controlled cooled in a furnace.

If the molecules / atoms / space lattices or what ever are not able to move how can the preheat help? Glowing red at close to liquid during welding would allow expansion and contraction but just hot wouldn't do that.

Now to contradict myself, at work we measure in microns, just picking up a part, the warmth of your hand expands the size, this is steel. I can not understand.

I've Tig welded cast, no preheat no problem, next time may be different.

[Fireman]

Hardrock40 i hear ya. I haven't welded much cast iron or steel but so far ive been blessed with good results. The vice i welded up with 7018 is still working but i make sure i don't wack on it with a big hammer. I do find that i am learning everyday the more i weld and i must say i do need more skill to make my welding as good as most on this site........

[gnforge]

Cast Iron

It's not that it can't be done cold, but for me it's how it can be done best. In welding almost always Preheat is one of your closest friends. Very rarely will it hurt u and almost always it will help you. Like wise with post heat or simply cooling slowly.
If you work with alloy steels 4130 - 4140, heat treated, Preheat and slow cool is a must unless working with thin metal.
Personally I put cast iron in same class and for me I just always use preheat & slow cool. Even when I Tig cast.
Do a search and type in "Weld HAZ" read and understand the heat affected zone and how it applies to almost all weld beads.
Was just talking to a older timer than me :-)
Week or so ago. He told me he always Pre heated any metal 1/2" or thicker.
Well I can't say that cause I'm always in a hurry and I don't preheat as I should but I respect him for his dedication to quality.

[Hardrock40]

Yes I like preheated welding also, but like you say I don't always take the time to do it.

I'm just not sure it helps with cast you expect might crack unless you take it to the limit.

HAZ is the most scary thing in my life.

[jpence38]

Good Ole Cast Iron

You can weld cast iron "hot" or "cold".

Hot means that you preheat as much of the piece as possible as hot as possible without going over 1400 deg. F. After every pass, while the bead is still glowing if possible, peen several times. And then slowwwww cool. The preheat is done to help aleviate carbon migration in the HAZ and causing brittleness and the peening is done to help stress relieve so the brittle HAZ is not overstressed and crack.

Cold means to preheat to a minimum of 400 deg. F and weld just 1/2 to 3/4 inches at a time, peen, reheat, weld. Do this till your done and slowww cool.

It is all about reducing the amount of carbon that will migrate to HAZ after welding.Which we all should know what happens when there is too much carbon in one spot.

And always use a nickel filler. Whether it is a 55% or a 99% nickel filler will depend on the situation.

And those of you that have welded what you think was cast iron with a mild steel filler, was probably cast steel not cast iron. If it was cast iron, consider yourself one of the luckiest people in the world that it hasn't cracked.