Repairing iron pulley wheel damage

[Daniel RobinsonParticipant @danielrobinson12697]

So I have been busy but bought myself one of these:

they have both good and bad reviews, but bought from a UK reseller incase of issues and delivered to the door.

then set about welding the chip back in place. I have not used TIG before but used MIG for many years.

preparation of the surface and held in place with the bore head.

[Daniel RobinsonParticipant @danielrobinson12697]

Having looked at a number of posts and using a bit of common sense… I looked to heating the part to remove the Possibility of thermal shock using a BBQ grate:

once toasty and warm I attempted the weld with nickel 55 welding wire:

the out side was a bit of a shocker as the test welding I had done was on steel and the torch behaved as expected but on iron and with the nickel wire, the wire just evaporated and I pulled away from the wheel. that is why the weld looks a bit 'bitty'. The inner weld went a little better but still uneven:

[Daniel RobinsonParticipant @danielrobinson12697]

I can see that TIG is going to take me a while to get used to and all the knobs and switches are confusing let alone the multitude of types of Tungsten rod for differing material.

I even had a go at aluminium the other day for an axle extension to a go kart. Not the clearest picture but it was easier that I imagined it would be.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Thanks for reporting back Dan. Looks like you are having fun

Neil

[davebParticipant @daveb17630]

I'm following this thread because I also have a nibbled cast iron pulley (from a treadle lathe), it's not replaceable if I make a mess of it so I'm very keen to see your finished pulley.

Dave

[Daniel RobinsonParticipant @danielrobinson12697]

Hi Dave,

That is the same situation I found myself in, a 1930’s machine that I could not replace parts on so it was fix or…. Cast a new one? I was prepared to go the extra mile as the saw is really special.

The TIG welder was expensive plus the Argon and regulators. All in I could have cast a new one but then that would have been a one off and I would not have got to play with a new toy.

I used a 1.6mm Thoriated (Red) tungsten as the edge was 5-6mm thick and I didn’t want to melt holes.

The wire was bought off eBay. 1.2mm x 10m 18 SWG Nickel 55 Wire TIG Weld Cast Iron Repair and the forums kept touting that you could use it cold but my gut was telling me to pre heat and cool slowly.

The welding bit was more like soldering as the wire just evaporated. I am used to dabbing the rod into a crater but the rod never made it so I would pull back and the arc would be lost. Starting again only left porous holes.

I was using 45amps and this could have been too high but any lower and I get the feeling that the iron would not have melted as you can see the weld line is fine and not over exaggerated.

Where are you located, if your local we might be able to work something out? Send me a PM

[bodgeParticipant @bodge]

Have done similar repairs to cast iron using mig , i would not of bothered trying to weld the broken bit in though just clean the edge up to bright finish with a dremel type grinder, with the bigger dink start weld at both ends and finish weld in the middle, dont try to do it all in one hit let it cool a bit to black heat then go again

Same with smaller bit though i think a start a each end would pretty well get to the middle. then just fill in the middle bit , again do a bit and let it cool black heat, keep the process going till you have enough weld on to effect the repair.

profile to shape with files , might get the odd hard spot about the size of a match head, take care of it with dremel type grinder

The Mig machine i use has 7 steps on transformer , have found no 4 about the best, just using standard mig steel wire 0.6mm……………………….b

In cold weather a bit  of pre heat helps it does not need to be much hand hot is good enough just so long as its not stone cold………….b

Edited By bodge on 21/01/2017 23:45:11

edit for typos……..b

Edited By bodge on 21/01/2017 23:51:59

[MWParticipant @mw27036]

I actually used filler to repair the nibbles in mine, and a larger, even worse damaged section was hacked off and machined a new fabricated profile.

Glad to know i'm not the only one who has damaged a pulley.

Michael W

[mark costello 1Participant @markcostello1]

You do not need various flavors of Tungstens, just a few sizes. I use 3/32" almost always, have 1/16" and 1/8" in reserve. I use 1.5 Lathinated because that what was the best at the time. Use what You have and don't over think things. If You get specialized often enough You can adjust accordingly.

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