Clutha when I seen your post the other evening I thought you might have some fun doing the cast iron. (not had to do any myself) Ref the crack in the arm you might want to look (google?) at cast iron stitching to link/pull the crack togeather
if its only decorative, and not going to be used to jump up and down on, then i wouldnt worry about anything like deep penetration, just try and get a covering and then shape it to the rest of the arm first pic looks good. bit of paint on it and you wont be able to see its been welded
Clutha when I seen your post the other evening I thought you might have some fun doing the cast iron. (not had to do any myself) Ref the crack in the arm you might want to look (google?) at cast iron stitching to link/pull the crack togeather
Mike,
just uploading pictures now of the finished article, unpainted!
The method you refer to is how I was taught on the Unitor course 37 years ago!
I did a big C.I. weld 12"-18" about 2 years after the course on a ship I was on and it turned out nice looking and put up with the dogs abuse you get on a supply boat deck. It was a winch drum cover.
I would say that you need to grind a V in to the iton to fill with the rod, I've not actually tried iron but I know that when a mate's iron vice broke in two one of our welders ground a taper on both sides of the break and then filled it totally flush with weld- I was amazed at how perfect the job was