Enviro Empress decorative iron door hinge broke & door knob is scratched & dented! Oh No!?

Hello
This wood pellet stove was widely sold due to it’s solid construction and decorative cast iron.
See review.
The Enviro Empress Pellet Stove
I would hate to junk this stove even though it can be used without the decorative front doors but that would just not look very pleasing!
Cast iron is the hardest material to weld. First we made a special jig to hold the hinge at the correct angle, Then used a heat thermometer gun and torch to preheat the iron to 400 degrees Then he Welded it. Then we had to cover it with insulation and bury it in sand to let it cook very slowly so it would not crack!
It came out amazing using a Mig welder with high heat setting?
Yesterday I replaced the scratched up door knob with a new cabinet knob from Home Depot! How does it look??
Pic 1 - 4 -- Broken Door Hinge
Pic 5 - Custom made jig to support hinge at correct angle to align with top hinge and stove door hinge
Pic 6 - After preheat to 400 Degs F and welding, door is covered with insulation and sand for slow cooling to prevent cracking.
Pic 7 - Hinge is welded, Due to it's small size there was no chamfering of broken edges but extra weld added for support strength
Pic 8 - 10 -- Welded hinge looks good. Area where pull knob was removed had paint removed for better grounding of Mig welder
Pic 11 - 12 -- Stove Bright Satin Black spray paint for touch up used by the manufacturer for exact match
Pic 13 - Dented and scratched pull knob
Pic 14 - 15 -- All done!

 

You gonna leave that weld sitting on top or actually going to get it to penetrate?

 

Cast iron is tough, there is a certain method to follow for best results. The piece was preheated to 400 degrees F because you are right, welding it cold would not give good penetration. Also because it was too small to camfor, Additional weld was left for added strength but ground down in areas where it needs room to swing open. Also it had to cool very slowly to prevent cracking.

 

I'm just busting your balls Don