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H. L. Chauvin · 05-22-2012, 10:28 AM

Seeing beautiful cast iron welding repair in the past on engines, especially on tractors & agrucultural equipment was very common in the past.

It was an era where people had more time than money.

Years ago, remember two (2) brothers who specialized in welding cast iron as a sideline business.

They explained that in welding cast iron, when heat from welding, (gas or electric), was concentrated in the crack area, this particular area would quickly expand with heat, (at the rate for the coefficient of expansion for cast iron), while the crack was filled & sealed. This first part of welding, i.e., the heat expansion, was not the real problem with welding cast iron.

The real problem they reported occurred very shortly after, as this cracked cast iron welded area cooled & began to shrink whereby the adjacent cast iron areas would crack from shrinkage forces as the cast iron cooled too rapidly.

To avoid cast iron shrinking, they built a wood fire inside a smal brick enclosure, (about 48" square with 24 " high walls), & allowed the fire to burn down into embers, then placed the cast iron, (heads, manifolds, engines etc.) in the enclosure & covered it with burning embers.

After the cast iron was hot enough, they removed it, welded it, returned it to the embers, & allowed it to gradually cool.

Smaller cast iron parts were prepared by two (2) persons. One heated the part with a torch, the other welded, & the torch man subsequently continued to heat the part to allow it to cool gradually. The welds were neatly finished off with grinding wheels.

Engines with babbitt had to be re-babbitted -- no problem for these two (2) guys who were experts at pouring & scraping babbitt for the old time large flywheel steam engines prior to today's industrial steam turbines.

This was a time when men had time to form wood joints with hand tools & where they built boats with multiple planks with joinery that never leaked.

Difficult today to find a carpenter who can provide a tight fitting mitre joint on a door frame -- if these particular guys had to built a boat, they would quickly learn it would sink.

05-22-2012, 10:28 AM	#7
H. L. Chauvin Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 4,179	Re: Head Crack Stitching the Old Way Seeing beautiful cast iron welding repair in the past on engines, especially on tractors & agrucultural equipment was very common in the past. It was an era where people had more time than money. Years ago, remember two (2) brothers who specialized in welding cast iron as a sideline business. They explained that in welding cast iron, when heat from welding, (gas or electric), was concentrated in the crack area, this particular area would quickly expand with heat, (at the rate for the coefficient of expansion for cast iron), while the crack was filled & sealed. This first part of welding, i.e., the heat expansion, was not the real problem with welding cast iron. The real problem they reported occurred very shortly after, as this cracked cast iron welded area cooled & began to shrink whereby the adjacent cast iron areas would crack from shrinkage forces as the cast iron cooled too rapidly. To avoid cast iron shrinking, they built a wood fire inside a smal brick enclosure, (about 48" square with 24 " high walls), & allowed the fire to burn down into embers, then placed the cast iron, (heads, manifolds, engines etc.) in the enclosure & covered it with burning embers. After the cast iron was hot enough, they removed it, welded it, returned it to the embers, & allowed it to gradually cool. Smaller cast iron parts were prepared by two (2) persons. One heated the part with a torch, the other welded, & the torch man subsequently continued to heat the part to allow it to cool gradually. The welds were neatly finished off with grinding wheels. Engines with babbitt had to be re-babbitted -- no problem for these two (2) guys who were experts at pouring & scraping babbitt for the old time large flywheel steam engines prior to today's industrial steam turbines. This was a time when men had time to form wood joints with hand tools & where they built boats with multiple planks with joinery that never leaked. Difficult today to find a carpenter who can provide a tight fitting mitre joint on a door frame -- if these particular guys had to built a boat, they would quickly learn it would sink.