[TheForge] Repair job

[Andrew Vida]

Peter Hirst wrote:
> I have been asked to repair a pair of antique boot scrapers that an idiot contractor 
damaged in a sill replacement job.  1719 house with the matched pair 
nicely leaded
into the granite front step.  In replacing the sill, idiot (or worse) 
contractor
cut the boot scrapers off (not quite flush) rather than move the step.

	!!!  Holy crap.  My skin crawls as I type.

 > I have thought of three ways to do the extraction of the remaining 
nubs:

(1) vise grips and slide hammer (preferred),
	
	Hmmm... not sure what you mean here exactly, but if it is what I think 
it is I would be careful.  What kind of stone is it in?  If you try to 
brute-force it out you may cause the stone to fail in some measure 
around the hole, which is probably not acceptable.  Don't make worse the 
idiot's blunder.


(2) stud extractor and slide hammer ( would rather avoid drilling out 
the original nubs);

(3) heat (prefer not to destroy the original lead or risk cracking the 
stone: they are 3 inches from the edge.

	I may be wrong, but I would think that forcing it out with a slide 
hammer is more likely to break the stone than heat, if done very 
carefully.  If the stone is granite, I would not worry that much about 
spalling.  Porous stone like limestone will spall terribly if there is 
any moisture in it.  The problem with a well installed piece of iron is 
that it is a bitch to remove.

	Could you drill them out with a diamond core drill?  Sink the hole and 
then wedge it loose from one side and dress the bottom.  Break the stone 
away from the lead in the core, melt  off the lead, and there is your stub.
> 
> Also, the weld itself seems tricky.   I am inclined to use gas to reattach 

the nubs:  They must be butt welded and SOLID to retain shape and 
structural

integrity.

	How about forging a socket that accepts the severed ends of the 
scraper?  You can make it from wrought iron and either solder it onto 
the scraper or forge weld it.  Like so:

		 _        _
                 / |      | \
                /  |      |  \
                |  |      |  |
                |  |      |  |
                |  |      |  |
                |  |______|  |
                |            |
                |            |
                |            |
                |            |
                |__        __|
                   |      |
                   |      |
                   |      |
                   |      |
                   |______|


	If you do the weld correctly, you will have a meaty extension that can 
be forged to shape as needed.  I would think this to be the safest and 
most structurally effective means of affecting the repair.  You don't 
even have to make a socket, just a yoke (socket minus two sides).  It 
would weld more easily and be plenty strong enough.

	If you end up with something slightly different below the lead line, 
who cares... as long as it is strong and secure.

  Forge weld seems dicey considering the weld is at the point that
	
	See above. :)

> Any advice  welcomed.  I can post pics if there is interest in this project.
-- 

	-Andy V.

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