Sulfur for cast iron welding

[snowcat]

Its a fair comment to put safeguards on life or death faluires, lifting gear, Pressure vesals, boilers etc, but many jobs are simply not life and death, infact very little on this site is, many are DIY welders, with a few that do it for a living actualy I think all would call themselfs fabbers...the worst that paticular manifold could do is break and make things noisy for a bit.... nobody will die, the same with lorenzos manifold.....


The problem with much of the legistation is, like most things its become too complex when I was looking at codeings for steam pressure vessals.. No one could really give me the info I needed, which BS No,s and the insurance I would need, It became a farse, so I didnt bother.
Sure a jib on a crane, should be prep'ed weld, X rayed, inspected signed off, fair play...but a comptent welder knows his ability, and would not take on a job that they would not be happy doing..
The problem is its easy to sit someone down teach them to weld in a classroom with preped plate, on a spanking new synergic, and get them to pass to a BS no....A few years ago a freind who had welded for neigh on 30 years turned up to weld some hitch Rings on some trailers, at the same moment the HSE turned up in the yard on a routine vist, they wanted his codeings, which tho he used to have them (in a diffrent life he welded nuclear plants together) they were all out of date, with which they sent him packing... along comes coded welder, and sticks them on, In 2 days 3 of the 5 rings have become detached from trailer one on the road, matey never gets paid, and my mate sneeks back in does the job, and too this day those rings are still firmly attached..

 

[Codafile4]

You make a fair point and yes Ive tested welders one day and the following day the work falls apart ! I know that most of the guys on this site are DIY but dont you think it better to weld to a good standard rather than just fiddling, eventually these same DIY guys will go through life using bad habits then passing on those habits to the up and coming welders. If, and I'm sure you will, set up this training centre, the very nature of your expertese will be taken as gospel and become good professionals. there are so many bad welders today, thats why the H&S are insisting on welder Qualification.
The qualification tests the skill of the welder and his ability to complete a test plate to the regulations laid down, stamped and assessed by insurance Co like Sun Aliance and Zurich. Good luck in setting up the training, realy good idea, Dont forget your Public liabilities if this applies.

 

[snowcat]

Oh yes, and iv seen stuff on here that people shouldnt attempt with zero experance
luckly they tend to get told by someone that its best not to takle it...

As far as the workshop was going, I just had this idea of a bit of informal training...If a few of us ran a workshop for the DIY welder one weekend it wouldnt turn them into a welder but should give them a good idea of whats involved in the process...It would also give them a chance to have a go at a process they may not have tried.

Shame there was not enouth intrest this summer, but with the site geting bigger all the time might be worth reserecting the thread again in the spring..

Maybe an inspector on site showing a few destruction tests and etches, might be handy as well

 

[Codafile4]

Arc welding causes craters and it would not be water tight unless you are extremly lucky. NI rods are great and work well but wont seal (see pic below of a NI weld on cast iron).

Hi Jon, well, erm, I think something has gone radicaly wrong with this. what is isnt, is a typical Ni cast weld. However I did see a similar weld - on a space rocket at Kennedy Space Centre.

 

[aametalmaster]

Arc welding causes craters and it would not be water tight unless you are extremly lucky. NI rods are great and work well but wont seal (see pic below of a NI weld on cast iron).

I don't think that is a typical weld, sorry. I can and do make watertight welds with cast iron weld. I weld lots of motor blocks that have froze and broke or abuse from other means...Bob

 

[TechnicAl]

In the Lincoln Arc welding manual, written in the 50's or 60's (they still sell it) they talk about using stick sulfur to seal up a weld while its still hot(not while welding) to make it water tight.

Are you talking about the THE PROCEDURE HANDBOOK OF ARC WELDING from Lincoln. Is yours an old version. Ive got hold of a new version and I cant find the reference to Sulphur you mention.
Ive never heard of using Sulphur to "fill" holes so I am intrigued.

 

[Weldingartisan]

john fin,
Whoever was responsible for that pigeon poo was not a welder! With modern filler materials welding a close grained cast iron is not that difficult. Ornamental castings can be more of a problem, although they usually braze OK. W/A

 

[Codafile4]

314 filler, proberbly not technicaly best practice, but I thought most modern casting's being low carbon ran up from about 1.2%...? In real terms the amount of filler that your actualy putting into the weld and often only used to start a bridge with the tig...most of the weld is formed from the parent meterial... The trick was taught to me by an old pipe line welder I was working under... I didnt question the method just excepted it worked...

I also never pean cast or preheat which is also bad practice.. and was shown some cringe worthy tricks to use heat destortion on thick plate to an advantage..the guy had some 45 odd years experiance under his belt so he tended to destroy the rule book and re write it.

I was refering to the carbon content of the FILLER rod, not the casting. Never take anyone's word, especialy having re wrote the rule book, thats asking for trouble, there is only one way to do it, the right way.