[TheForge] welding question

[Peter Fels And Phoebe Palmer]

The Lincoln Welding  Co used to put out a rag called  " The Stabilizer" 
For many years they ran a story about a bunch of welders who wanted to 
repair the Liberty Bell. They had the methodology all worked out and 
were pretty enthusiastic about it. I was always struck by the irony of 
having a cracked bell as a national symbol.
One would think that the fire would have annealed the bell and prevented 
cracking...wrong, i guess....unless the lightning hit the bell directly.
Given the vibration and impact ( on the same spot) it's a wonder that 
bells don't crack more often.
I imagine it would take a hell of a lot of grinding followed by a 
similar amount of preheating before it could be welded
Ah...."cast iron". Wonder if they hit it with the fire hoses when it was 
hot?
When a bolt of lightning strikes a church and burns it down, is it an" 
act  of God"?........PF


Further info
"I'm sure the bell is full of internal stresses .It was in the bell 
tower which was acting as a chimney for the fire when it was hit by LOTS 
of water

from the fire department.There is a crack that goes almost all the way
around the bell about 1/3 down from the top.Also 2 large cracks from the
bottom rim up to that crack.Also smaller cracks off of those.It is on the
verge of falling into pieces.The church is not going to be rebuilt and they
want to use the bell as a marker.Is there any kind of glue or epoxy that
could be used on the inside to hold it together?"

Guess that's a dead doggy.  Invert it..stuff in some rebar and fill it with cement.


---


Andy Vida wrote:

>Mark & Sylvia Mondloch wrote:
>  
>
>>A month or so ago lightning hit the local church and it burned.The bell was saved but it is cracked pretty badly.Does anyone have a suggestion
>>for welding?The bell weighs about 1000 pounds.They are never going to ring it again but want to use it in a monument.The cracks seem to be getting worse and they would like it done before it comes apart completely.Any suggestions?
>>    
>>
>
>	If the cracks are propagating of their own, that's probably 
>	due to internal stresses in the castings.  I would locate
>	all the cracks and drill a hole at the end of each one to
>	terminate them.  This provides a larger area over which
>	the stresses will be distributed and should stop the progress.
>	As to diameter, that is hard to say without seeing the bell.
>
>	If it won't be used again, I might suggest leaving it alone
>	as it is.  If you want a little added insurance, drill one
>	more hole at the starting end of each crack (I'm assuming 
>	they have all started at the rim) perhaps 1" from the rim,
>	introduce a steel rod cut to the right length, and braze
>	it in place.  This will stabilise the crack on its most
>	vulnerable end.  I believe somethign simialr was done with
>	the Liberty Bell.
>
>	Sounds like you may want to get to it sooner than later.
>
>	Best wishes.
>
>	-Andy
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