Cast iron (?) bench side repair

[MMW]

Contacted about fixing a cast iron (?) bench part. He was previously told it was not fixable. I normally tell people "no thanks" when asked to do cast because I have very little success with it. As this was a customers friend and he told me it was his late mother's that he had just finished restoring I decided to see what I could do. At the last minute he decided to straighten out the leg which had a slight bend. Of course on third hammer blow it broke right off. I knew I probably would not make much money on it, if any. After quizing him about the use of the bench I was comfortable that it would be used mostly as a display piece with an occasional person sitting on it.

I vee'd it out and just used bare wire mig. Put a couple tacks then let it cool, a couple more tacks, etc until all welded up. I made plates to screw on as support and touched up the paint as best I could. He had cleaned it a little bit and then cleared it to keep the vintage look. Worked like a charm and will most likely last a very long time but we shall see.

[ryanjones2150]

Did you snap a picture of the finished repair?

[aametalmaster]

Some of the overseas cast has quite a bit of steel in it so a mig could work...Bob

[MMW]

Wow it finally showed up. Look at the date I posted it. When I did it I got a message that it was flagged for some reason and I forgot about it. I think I have more pics. Maybe tomorrow.

[ryanjones2150]

I was wondering how I missed this post for so long.

[MMW]

I must not of taken finished pics but here are some progress pics. I ground bevels on both sides. Clamped it flat and welded one side with multiple tacks and letting it cool each time. Once completely cool I flipped it over and clamped it down again. Ground into it until I hit the weld from the other side and repeated the process. Once done I cut two pcs. of 3/16 plate to fit in the recess and through bolted them to sandwich the joint. No pics of that though. Seemes to work fine. This is the second time I have repaired cast this way. Not saying it is right but It worked in this instance. I wouldn't do this if it was a critical part though. I never let it get hot, maybe only two tacks at a time and then let it cool to the touch.