[TheForge] treadle forge rebuild

[mpaietta]

> I recently finished rebuilding a treadle forge, it kind of
> resembles the  Nos.156 and 157 in my old Canedy-Otto
> catalog. It had a cracked fire pot (in two) and no Babbitt
> where the shaft goes  through the blower.
> I used melted tire weights in place of Babbitt. And I used
> a nickel  spray to fix the pot .
> Unfortunately it cracked, even after taking every possible
> means at my  disposal to  _c o o l   i t  s l o w l y._
> There are some pictures of the deal on the bottom of the
> "Forges..."  album and a close up of the crack.
> (That dreaded "TINK" when welding cast!.)
> I am going to put some kind of refractory in the bottom
> but I'm not sure  how to do it properly,
> Will this fall apart if I get it working hot with the
> refac in it? I do have a tendency to complicate things.
> Any feed back on this process would help.
> I don't think this will even be used any time soon, I
> still have to find  a belt for it and then some coal.
> Maybe I should give to my wife for garden art?
> Thanks
> Kenny O
> 
> 
> 
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Kenny,

Did you preheat the cast iron before you welded? If not you
will need to. You can also try playing with your filler
metal, but that is a pain if you don't know the base metal. 

I also seam to remember, but could be wrong that if you can
not weld it you might be able to braze it. I think Mikey can
respond on the brazing part?

Regards
Martin