[TheForge] Silicon bronze

[Andrew Vida]

I'm glad it worked out well for  everyone.  Sounds like it would have 
been a rather costly loss for the shop, had the repair not been possible.

BTW, I didn't mean to suggest MIG could not do it, but that the control 
one has with TIG is so much greater, which might be a factor depending 
on the precise nature of the damage to the gear.

Any photos, perchance?



On 4/30/16, 12:36 AM, Dave Mudge wrote:
> Well thanks for your input Andrew. I finished the job quite some time ago.
> I don't have access to a tig machine and it's been 38 years since I tig
> welded anything
> although as I remember I was pretty good at it when I was 28.
> As I recall, (which might not be real accurate) the tig welding we did in
> the ship yard
> was mostly butt welding making up duct work for the hvac system on a
> destroyer escort.
> It was all pretty light gauge metal. This gear was approximately 6 inches
> wide (thick) and
> about 36 inches in diameter. This was a huge chunk of bronze with a deep
> gash in the top
> of one of the teeth. I was lucky enough to have held on to several spools
> of silicon bronze
> mig wire from way back. I took my spool gun and bronze wire and my own
> small tank of argon
> to the job site at the customer's machine shop where they make gears. I
> cleaned the damaged
> area real well with a soft pad on a 4-1/2" grinder and some solvent that
> the customer had.
> I rigged up the equipment on their welding machine (Millermatic 251) I made
> a few passes
> on some scrap material that was the same as the gear was made of to get my
> settings right.
> I decided to just go for it. I made about 4 or 5 passes over the damaged
> area. Cleaned well
> with a stainless wire brush. Ground the weld beads smooth with the grinder.
> Visually inspected
> for porosity holes (there were none) Called the owner to inspect the job,
> he liked it so I rolled
> up the equipment, policed the work area and was on my way..........
>
> On Fri, Apr 29, 2016 at 10:43 PM, Andrew Vida <osan at netlabs.net> wrote:
>
>> I'm sure this is way late in the game, but this strikes me VERY MUCH as a
>> job for TIG.
>>
>>
>> On 3/10/16, 12:32 PM, Dave Mudge wrote:
>>
>>> I have a client that makes large gears. He is making a brass  (or similar
>>> alloy ) gear that is roughly 6" wide and 36" diameter. Somehow they cut a
>>> gouge in the top of one tooth. Maybe 1/2" wide and 1/2" deep and a couple
>>> inches long. Asked me if I could silver solder the gouge. I said that one
>>> really can't "build up" silver solder but I happen to have a large spool
>>> of
>>> Silicon bronze mig wire. I am sure that I can fill the gouge with that.
>>> Any
>>> ideas on machine settings (Millermatic 251)
>>> or preheat or process? Anything will be helpful. thanks, dave
>>> ______________________________________________________________
>>> TheForge mailing list
>>> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge
>>> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
>>> Post: mailto:TheForge at mailman.qth.net
>>>
>>> TheForge mail list group photo site is
>>> http://www.shutterfly.com
>>> Login: blacksmithblacksmith at hotmail.com
>>> Password: anvil
>>>
>>> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
>>> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>>>
>>>
>> ______________________________________________________________
>> TheForge mailing list
>> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge
>> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
>> Post: mailto:TheForge at mailman.qth.net
>>
>> TheForge mail list group photo site is
>> http://www.shutterfly.com
>> Login: blacksmithblacksmith at hotmail.com
>> Password: anvil
>>
>> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
>> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>>
>
>