SatiricalHen

Who used their welding hoods to view the eclipse today?

XJwonders

You know I did

cleenrob

the welders at my work were doing exatyl that today lmao

Rogue4x4

I did the same...passed the hood around to family members so they could see it too.

TeXJ

I need to do that as well.

Don't you have to heat up the cast material before you weld and then when you're done, cover it so it cools slowly?

bad_idea

That is the standard procedure for welding cast. I didn't do that welding up the low spots in the knuckle though. Next time I pull the front tire, I will see how it is holding up. It's been about a year or so. The brakes are functioning well, so it must be good right?

TeXJ

aww ok, I'm still learning. Most of the time I don't even know how to setup the welder for welding that.

For metal that thick, how do you know what settings you need?

Basslicks

Cast iron has a higher carbon content than mild steel. So the weld will be slightly softer than the cast.

Good video man. Thanks for sharing. I subbed to his channel after that one.

I can't quite tell a difference. It's pulling a little less, but I think I need to pull everything back off and do the underside of that upper mount. I didn't quite grind that smooth enough to my liking.

The pads I'm using also came with steel shims to help them slide better and, I believe I may have use too thick of shims so they might not be sliding quite right. I'm still thinking my worn out control arm bushings might be contributing to a little bit of pulling as well though.

Me lol... I used my hood while I had a handheld shield for the kids to pass around and look through.

Preheat, yes. As far as covering it, I just let it normalize in my hot *** garage. It's about 90+ degrees in there so it's not like it's going to flash freeze. I preheated it with a heat gun and used the lowest setting on the welder. The guide that I referenced (by lincoln electric) said that the minimum preheat is 500*F, which can be done pretty easily with the heat gun on high.

I don't think you go by "thickness" like you would welding steel. Remember, this is cast iron. The molecules of the metal are "grouped together" differently than traditional forged steel and the carbon content is higher, making it harder but also less malleable. The cast iron is very susceptible to cracking when too much temperature change occurs too rapidly. So the key is to preheat the piece you're working on (oven, heat gun... mmmaaaaayybe a torch with no O2 in the flame), use low settings on the machine, and then cover it or let it cool naturally in a warm environment or in direct sunlight.

You seasoned welders correct me if I'm wrong, here.

TeXJ

Thanks for the tips!

Rogue4x4

Some vertical up on a tee joint with a z weave. Weld ****, lol

First pic is a cover pass, bottom one is root pass

Bugout4x4

Sexy... lol So what did the heat pattern on the back look like? or was it done already?

Man... I can't even get close to that pretty on a vertical weld. I get even worse on an overhead.

Rogue4x4

Wish I took pics of that, but the other side got the same treatment. LOL

I'm doing some overhead stuff now, but open root is killer. Tough to get it right, Had to lower my voltage, tweak the inductance, and detune the wire speed...add keeping the proper work and drag travel angles and travel speed, it's a *****, haha...open root is the bane of my existence, LMAO

The projects I've been working on cover lap, fillet, tee, and open root groove welds. So far, I've been doing boobies, but as we all know over head is a killer, But I know once my open root is polished, the rest is gravy, baby, haha...

Rogue4x4

BTW all of this is being done on 3/16", moving to 3/8" next, but so far I've knocked out flat, horizontal, vertical down, vertical up, and now overhead, using several different weave patterns. Should have most of my certs done in about 6-8 weeks.

Bugout4x4

By open root do you mean it has a gap? Not quite up on terminology anymore. lol

Rogue4x4

Yes. Two plates butted together with a gap in the center. Tack together, then fill the void. Creates what's called a keyhole, and it's just like it sounds, looks like an old school keyhole, the trick is to keep everything in line to keep the keyhole open, as you travel along the open root. Follow the puddle, stay on the leading edge. If you learn how to read the puddle, it just clicks, it is counter intuitive, sometimes, depending on the process used, like with SMAW, you need to feed AHEAD of the puddle, and it back fills as you travel. Harder to control, MIG is much more forgiving, haha