Tig welding cast iron

[Shield Arc]

I've seen quite a few threads on welding cast iron. I posted this question over on Welding Web. And watched a few videos on You Tube. And did a little reading on the subject.
Got some 1/8" A2 Aluminum Bronze yesterday. I ordered 1/16", and 3/32". But the Post Office lost those rods.
I did a fillet weld on 1/4" flatbar. Set the Dynasty 300 on AC, and at 150-AMPS. I read where Jody set the balance at 95%, so this is what I did.
As you can see the 1/8" rod was a little big to weld the pipe cap to the coupling.
Never done this before. Pretty
TIG Welding Cast Iron

 

[Furu]

Just saw this topic over on WW. Some really nice links were supplied on the topic. Nice results. How does one keep from getting into the base metal with TIG though. I guess I need to watch Jody again.

 

[Shield Arc]

What I learned along the way, was just heat the base metal enough to melt the filler. Couple times I melted the base metal before dipping the filler rod.
I was shocked how easy this stuff is to run!

 

[My Hoe]

What I learned along the way, was just heat the base metal enough to melt the filler. Couple times I melted the base metal before dipping the filler rod.
I was shocked how easy this stuff is to run!

It IS pretty--beautiful bead, in fact!

Amateur Question: If the base metal is not actually puddling, isn't this technically brazing (as one would do with oxy-acetylene) rather than welding?

Thanks,

My Hoe

 

[Shield Arc]

Amateur Question: If the base metal is not actually puddling, isn't this technically brazing (as one would do with oxy-acetylene) rather than welding?

Yes, it is. But brazing doesn't roll off my tongue as easy as welding.

 

[rankrank1]

Do you absolutely have to have AC to make this work or would it work on DC? Or would siclicon bronze be more the ticket for DC?

 

[Shield Arc]

Do you absolutely have to have AC to make this work or would it work on DC? Or would siclicon bronze be more the ticket for DC?

I don't really know. I'm way out of my league with this. I'm just going by what Jody said to do.
Tig Welding/Brazing with Silicon Bronze - YouTube

 

[sd455dan]

Nice welds-oops i mean braze/tig

that is interesting filler rod , looked at some on ebay and the description of uses included repairing ship propellers,bearings and even piston heads.

 

[Shield Arc]

Here is where I got it.
Ercual A2 x 1 8" x 36" x 1 Box Alum Bronze A2 Blue Demon Copper TIG Wire | eBay

 

[rankrank1]

Yes I had watched Jody's video a while back. I watched it again to see what all I forgot. Silicone bronze works on DC and he runs beads with DCEN but the aluminum bronze pretty much needs the AC according to Jody.

 

[Shield Arc]

Jody has forgotten more about welding than I'll ever know!

 

[sd455dan]

Here is where I got it.
Ercual A2 x 1 8" x 36" x 1 Box Alum Bronze A2 Blue Demon Copper TIG Wire | eBay

the amperage ranges listed were eye opening for the 1/8 rod- 300-640 amps!

 

[Shield Arc]

the amperage ranges listed were eye opening for the 1/8 rod- 300-640 amps!

I seen that!:shocked:
I set the Miller Dynasty 300 to 150-AMPS. Only a few times did I have the foot pedal all the way down.

 

[rosso1000]

Nice welds! 150-AMPS seems a lot.

 

[jwmorris]

I have repaired countless cast iron parts using silicon bronze filler and DC with a TIG.

 

[jack707]

Jody on YouTube makes tight look easy. It's not that easy for me doing 6g tube under the tube.