Welding Tips and Tricks

So I'm in a village in Bulgaria with a piece of broken cast iron and a stick welder.

The broken bit is a door handle for a wood-burning stove - snapped in half. We may be able to buy a replacement, but it will involve going to Norway, so I'm going to try welding it first. I hear that preheating, post-heating, and cleaning off the joint are the keys to success. I am very limited in my choice of electrodes, but can look for special ones if that will make or break the project.

Any tips, words of encouragement, reality checks would be much appreciated! I haven't attempted cast iron before, and this place is a far cry from a fully stocked metal shop....

I'd sure give it a try, if I were in your place. Cleaning the joint, including grinding a groove to fill, is important, of course,

The advice to pre- and post- heat is sound. I would pre-heat the whole piece to where it just shows the first signs of color, and then weld it (you won't need that much current with it that hot)

With a slow enough cool-down, any common rod, including 6013, will do fine. If you have 309 on hand, it seems to work well with cast. (The ideal rod is high-Nickel, and not likely to be on hand locally.)

I'd suggest building a good fire for the post-heat, let it burn down to glowing coals. Pre-heat the parts, weld them as normal, and immediately throw the finished part in the hot coals of the fire. Throw a few hours' worth of wood on top. Leave it until the ashes are nearly cold.

This may sound like overkill, but a trip from Bulgaria to Norway is also extreme for a stove part, so if you don't succeed, I'd try to duplicate the part in mild steel, which I'm sure you're accustomed to welding.

Just my thoughts if I had to try it.

Steve S

Nickel 99 is a great choice if available but the 309 is a fair substitute.
Believe it or not low hydrogen rods like 7018 has been used by many guys
with success. Personally I would preheat it thoroughly, weld it and post heat it
with a long cool down. Got another wood stove near by? I'd set the part in a stoked
and roaring wood stove. Then shut the damper down and let it burn all night.
Then only remove it after the stove has cooled down enough that you can touch
it with your bare hand. If it is still intact then it should stay together for you.

Let us know how you make out!

If you don't have special rods, try feeding a piece of an old piston ring into the pool, like a stick tig hybrid, they have very high nickel.

mick