Wilton vise crack fix welding

[orchidlane]

Hello All, I have a Wilton 2 1/2 vise that has some problems, First after removing layers of paint I found a crack right under the rear jaw and would like to ask about welding it so it wont get worse, also the anvil was beat too hell, is there a way to weld the voids and regrind the surface to make it new looking again., What kind of welder would I need to weld this material. Mig welder, tig welder , stick welder, welding rod material .. thaks all.

 

[scw1991]

The Wilton casting is made of 60,000 psi ductile iron.

If not mistaken, when you weld cast iron, it must be pre-heated. Not sure if the same applies to ductile iron.

 

[Davefr]

Those are both common cosmetic defects even if that corner chunk totally breaks off. (ie it won't affect normal use).

I'm not sure I'd chance thermal stress fractures from welding. I'm sure an experienced welding pro could do it with the right preheat, weld and cool down process but is it worth the hassle/cost for cosmetics?

The anvil area on that vise is too thin for beating. (and jaws should never be beat on)

Get a chunk of train track for an anvil.

 

[Fifelaker]

On that I think I would braze it. Cast is tricky to weld. If I just had to weld it, drill a hole at the end of the crack U-grove it out pre heat to 500° (tempil stick) Weld it with Lincoln Techrod 55 or similar. 1" welds and hand peen between beads. Slow cool it in sand. As for the gouges you could use the same rod and grind flat.

 

[G_P]

I would not risk damaging the vise by welding. For the "anvil" part, See if you can grind it down to remove the majority of the low spots.

 

[Trey T]

Cute vise

 

[zkling]

Tig welder and 55 or 99ni filer rod. After a long discussion with some folks at the major makers, my last order switched from 99 to 55ni due to cost. Have not noticed any problems yet.

 

[rsanter]

If it was mine I would put that in the BBQ to heat it up and burn off some of the dirt and grease.
Then gas weld/brase that crack.
Your other option is to use silver solder.

For the anvil part I would put it on my mill and machine it flat.
You can also carefully use a grinder

Bob

 

[4x4gearhead]

I think I would just leave the crack, and grind the anvil. I dunno what you would be doing to cause it to break beyond that, being such a small vise.

 

[rlitman]

The Wilton casting is made of 60,000 psi ductile iron.

If not mistaken, when you weld cast iron, it must be pre-heated. Not sure if the same applies to ductile iron.

It does not. Ductile/nodular iron is not weldable and cannot be brazed.
Sure, you can try, and you may get it to stick, but the heat affected zone will be far more brittle than glass (think saltine). It's a bad idea.

 

[Boomer343]

If it were mine I'd clean out the crack and squeeze in some good epoxy then paint it.

For the anvil part I'd be tempted to either glue a piece of steel onto it or else get some cast colored epoxy and do a fill to the gouges and then a skim coat.

Personally I'd paint it and use it cracks and gouges proudly displayed.... same reason I'd don't put make up on...VBG

 

[eric_koski]

Check out this site for welding cast iron.

http://muggyweld.com/welding-cast-iron

 

[gearhead1]

I'm with Davefr, that crack is not in the loaded area. I wish I had an FEA software and could make a quick plot for you.

If you really want to do something......My friend owns an automotive machine shop and repairs cracked cast iron intakes, exhaust manifolds, and cylinder heads. He has an old electric oven that he heats up as high as it will go to preheat the part. He welds it with a mig welder (Miller 250) with regular wire used for welding steel. He puts it back in the oven and turns it off and lets it cool down until the next day. He's been doing this for years without issue, some swear up and down it won't work, but I've seen it. I've arc welded cast iron with the nickel rods before and haven't had any issues. I preheat with the oven (when my wife isn't around) and tack everything, then weld it solid. If it's ductile iron like scw1991 says and you can't weld it like rlitman says then I'd braze it.