# Welding Cast Iron to fill holes..add metal to an old vise



## expressline99 (Jul 22, 2017)

So I got big ole machine/milling vise...not made for use on a rotating base. (I might figure that out anyway.) Anyway, it's got a number of issues. One is that it has a bent acme screw I will get to that later.  It's had a rough life and currently has a lot of drill holes in it.  I've ordered 1 pound of these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hobart-H990...cast-Electrodes-No-Tax-Free-Ship/182380233853 My stick welding isn't too bad. Might be better than my MIG welding. But anyway, I've never welded cast iron before and I'm wondering if I will need to heat it up to cherry red before welding it? It might be near impossible to do that since there is so much mass... Or is that only if you are brazing/TIGing it? 


Paul


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## 4GSR (Jul 22, 2017)

What brand vise is it?  It could be cast steel and not cast iron.  Have you verified that it is cast iron?


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## savarin (Jul 22, 2017)

http://www.lincolnelectric.com/en-us/support/welding-how-to/Pages/welding-cast-iron-detail.aspx


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## chips&more (Jul 22, 2017)

No pics! So sorry, cannot be that helpful. Just guessing because no pics, but I would use Devcon steel instead of welding. It’s a no heat fix, much safer, no machining required,  not as durable though…Dave


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## whitmore (Jul 22, 2017)

expressline99 said:


> So I got big ole machine/milling vise...
> it has a bent acme screw I will get to that later.  It's had a rough life and currently has a lot of drill holes in it.



It may be easiest to deal with the bent screw by inserting money... but fixing holes is reminiscent of this:
<



>


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## benmychree (Jul 22, 2017)

Do yourself a favor and go with the Devcon; inexperience and arc welding cast iron is a recipe for disappointment; I prefer to braze cast iron and am fairly good at it, and it does not require nearly the preheat needed to prevent cracking and hard spots as with nickel rod, whether Tig or stick.  As far as the screw is concerned, straightening a screw is not easy, make a new one.


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## expressline99 (Jul 22, 2017)

4gsr said:


> What brand vise is it?  It could be cast steel and not cast iron.  Have you verified that it is cast iron?



It's really old...I think. So far I cannot see any branding.


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## Ulma Doctor (Jul 23, 2017)

+1 on brazing 
my 2nd choice would be GTAW w/silicon bronze rod
my 3rd choice would be NiFe SMAW

grinding will be the only real method of knocking down NiFe post weld
bronze can be machined easily in comparison.
you'll see the repair unless painted over in either condition


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## expressline99 (Jul 23, 2017)

Ulma Doctor said:


> +1 on brazing
> my 2nd choice would be GTAW w/silicon bronze rod
> my 3rd choice would be NiFe SMAW
> 
> ...



Hey Mike, 
I've done zero brazing...But have torch setup. But that's not stopped me before. I could take this opportunity to learn it I suppose.
Don't have a GTAW setup... :/ It's on the want list though. 
Stick can be a PITA but I've got two tombstones in the garage. One of which I'm willing to trade for something lathe/mill related. lol

I think you and Dave saw me get this thing from Guy. It's a mess and I know better. But I can't help myself.


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## expressline99 (Jul 23, 2017)

whitmore said:


> It may be easiest to deal with the bent screw by inserting money... but fixing holes is reminiscent of this:
> <
> 
> 
> ...



I uh...have a tendency to insert money on all my projects.  Wasted or not I tend to try and do it anyway.  I like those guys. Keith is great. 



benmychree said:


> Do yourself a favor and go with the Devcon; inexperience and arc welding cast iron is a recipe for disappointment; I prefer to braze cast iron and am fairly good at it, and it does not require nearly the preheat needed to prevent cracking and hard spots as with nickel rod, whether Tig or stick.  As far as the screw is concerned, straightening a screw is not easy, make a new one.



Oh I don't get too disappointed with messing up. It doesn't bother me to try hard and end up destroying it and buy a new one.  This is way more towards "oooo I can do that." One way or the other I'll learn a lot. I might even learn I don't want to do this again.


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## Ulma Doctor (Jul 23, 2017)

expressline99 said:


> Hey Mike,
> I've done zero brazing...But have torch setup. But that's not stopped me before. I could take this opportunity to learn it I suppose.
> Don't have a GTAW setup... :/ It's on the want list though.
> Stick can be a PITA but I've got two tombstones in the garage. One of which I'm willing to trade for something lathe/mill related. lol
> I think you and Dave saw me get this thing from Guy. It's a mess and I know better. But I can't help myself.



if you have the torches already and want to learn a new skill,
all you need to do is get some Brazing rod and get a sacrificial piece of steel or cast iron.
you can drill some 1/2" x 1/8 to 1/4" deep holes in the material and fill up the holes, much like plug welding
you'll quickly learn the flow temperatures for the thickness of the parent metal
in brazing you are not melting the parent metal, rather just getting the metal and surrounding zone hot enough to melt the filler rod
not to be confused with braze welding, where the parent metal is brought up to it's melting point and the added filler rod creates an alloy of the parent metal and the filler.
the brazing technique is a heat, dab the filler, and repeat cycle. over and over again.
there is hundreds of hours of instructional videos on youtube that can show you how to braze.
i'd be happy to try and explain things you may have questions about.


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## expressline99 (Jul 23, 2017)

chips&more said:


> No pics! So sorry, cannot be that helpful. Just guessing because no pics, but I would use Devcon steel instead of welding. It’s a no heat fix, much safer, no machining required,  not as durable though…Dave



Here are the pictures. Also looks like there are removable wear plates on the top. So that will eliminate some of the issues.


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## benmychree (Jul 23, 2017)

Those wear plates are your Godsend!  remove them, clean things up, patch with Devcon, level things off then make/ replace the wear plates.  You can machine a small amount off the top of the jaws to eliminate the drill point pockmarks,


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## 4GSR (Jul 23, 2017)

Those wear plates are probably not original to the vise.  I bet someone made them to cover up all of the bugger marks made the first time around.


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## benmychree (Jul 23, 2017)

4gsr said:


> Those wear plates are probably not original to the vise.  I bet someone made them to cover up all of the bugger marks made the first time around.


Yes, that is plain; but not a bad idea at that, except that the steel wear plate will attract a lot of burrs.  I would not call this a milling vise, but a drill vise, but it can be resurrected and made useful; first thing after removing the "wear plates", I'd give it a bead blast job so that the Devcon would stick at its best.


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## expressline99 (Jul 23, 2017)

What's not shown is the plain jaws I took off.  

This is just an interm vice for my mill. I haven't started collecting tooling and fixtures for the mill yet. Should be better than the "nothing else" I have for a vice.


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## intjonmiller (Jul 27, 2017)

expressline99 said:


> I haven't started collecting tooling and fixtures for the mill yet. Should be better than the "nothing else" I have for a vice.


Keep in mind that with a good t-nut clamp set and a few parallels or machinist jacks, you can mount just about anything on your mill. It's more difficult to set up a repeatable arrangement, and it's slower than a vise by far, but it's frugal, it's good practice, and you'll be better equipped to handle pieces that are too large/extended for your vise to handle without additional support.


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