Cast Iron bench ends repair question?

[Porkypine]

I'm wondering if I can make up the missing 'chunks' from say a bit of mild steel flat and weld them into the casting with nickel rods, as I don't have the broken out bits of the casting.
I'd think this would work as the nickel rods should 'stick' to both the cast iron and the mild steel.
I've had success previously with the nickel rods welding up a big through crack in an identical bench end so happy enough with the rods ( were talking stick welding here of course)
The repaired bits wouldn't be subject to much stress in use either it's just to reinstate something complete to bolt through for the wood slats.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Braze on a bit of flat bar.
Grind back to shape.

 

[bricol]

Think I'd just use two of the existing holes to retain a suitable strip of steel underneath that will provide a full hole location underneath the broken areas.

 

[Porkypine]

Thanks for the ideas gents..
, I'd thought about a glorified 'washer' or strip ( which could pick up on an adjacent hole too) underneath to give the bolt something to grip as an easy non heating option, and will prob do that if a welded solution seems more agro than its worth!
Trouble with brazing is there's a load of pre heating and messing about that I haven't really got the facilities for.. I do have Oxy A kit , but be a major faff to dig it out from under all the stuff it's buried behind/under !

 

[tom2207]

bung a bit of copper plate on the back ,, pre heat it a bit ,,, then build up the missing bit slowly once the firtst run is on and stuck ,, depends what equiptment you have to hand ,,, but it can be done ok

 

[Porkypine]

If i do a welded solution it'll have to be MMA stick really, like I say I've got a few Nickel rods left over from something else and was thinking these would be the thing to use, not got enough to build a big lump to grind down though, hence wondering about a bit of mild steel for the missing bit

 

[Alan Reynolds]

I repaired a small cast vice that had most of the mounting plate broken off.
I used some mild steel and heated the vice up and welded it with my Mig welder.
I kept it hot with a blow lamp and gradually reduced the heat. Worked fine and is solid.

 

[minimutly]

If i do a welded solution it'll have to be MMA stick really, like I say I've got a few Nickel rods left over from something else and was thinking these would be the thing to use, not got enough to build a big lump to grind down though, hence wondering about a bit of mild steel for the missing bit

Stick welding cast iron depends a lot on the quality of the base metal in my experience. If the casing is good, and you preheat, don't subject the job to tensile stress, or expect it to be watertight you should be ok...

 

[Porkypine]

Thanks for the input guys, I'll prob just do the mechanical 'fishplate' thing for now, and if that looks a bit gash I can subsequently give it a go with a bit of mild steel as envisaged, and do a bit of pre heating with a blowlamp as mentioned

 

[Brad93]

I've repaired these with brazing. The one I done was worth a fortune, 1860s I think it was possibly earlier

 

[Porkypine]

I've repaired these with brazing. The one I done was worth a fortune, 1860s I think it was possibly earlier

Yep, that's a pukka one and no doubt was well worth doing properly !
these tbh look like the modern-ish Indian made type jobbies, though they're heavier gauge than some I've seen to be fair.

 

[Porkypine]

Just gave it a quick wire brush over and cut off the old rusty bolts, I notice in one of the curly bits attached to and supporting the leg has a crack right thru, so looks like I'm welding on it anyway