Welding Question Cast Iron to Steel | GTAMotorcycle.com

Welding Question Cast Iron to Steel

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nobbie48

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Not M/C related but since a few members had welding aspirations I thought I'd throw it in here.

I picked up some cast iron railing sections and have tacked them into mild steel frames with MIG. They are not structural / safety items. At worst one could fall on your foot. I've read on the preheat and slow cooling but the sizes are impractical to do the cooling for the one off.

Am I better to braze or to take a chance on just going for it with MIG, hoping for the best?

Would stitching them be better or worse?

The castings have feet about 1/2"X 3/4" and would be welded to 1"X1"X.060" tube.
 
You shouldn’t have a problem with stuff that small, I find small cast prices don’t crack as easily as big things like manifolds.

I would stitch it to keep the heat down.
 
Another thought is JB steel weld. If it’s an ornamental item, this is quick and easy. I’ve used it to repair broken welds fixing branches onto the core of 3’ diameter chandeliers. The stems were were gold plated cast, the branches carbon steel sq tube, welding wasn’t an option - held for 10 years so far.
 
J_F said:
another vote for braze

practice on 2 scrap pieces first if you can
to get the heat and bronze flow right
Click to expand...
I didn't have a piece of iron so just dove in. The first few were a bit rough but got better as I targeted the heat. My welding has never been weld porn so I have a lot of grinding to do. My consumables are more abrasives than rods.
 
nobbie48 said:
I didn't have a piece of iron so just dove in. The first few were a bit rough but got better as I targeted the heat. My welding has never been weld porn so I have a lot of grinding to do. My consumables are more abrasives than rods.
Click to expand...
A cvmg member said "anyone with a grinder can be a good welder". So I looked at his welds and suggested he buy a grinder.
 
Mad Mike said:
Another thought is JB steel weld. If it’s an ornamental item, this is quick and easy. I’ve used it to repair broken welds fixing branches onto the core of 3’ diameter chandeliers. The stems were were gold plated cast, the branches carbon steel sq tube, welding wasn’t an option - held for 10 years so far.
Click to expand...
The job is done but if I was doing it again I would MIG weld mild steel"U" bracket into place and epoxy the cast iron into the brackets. All welding would be easy mind steel and the epoxy covers any sins of inability.
 
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