Tonight we broke out the "big dog" #14 Cabelas, (made by Lodge). We are baking a chicken with stuffing and mushroom gravy on the grill. Pics after done... Had a poacher in the room waiting for something to hit the floor...
Im starting to get a stack of cracked cast iron pans. I'm going to lye bath them real good and attempt to repair them by Tig brazing. I have a welder buddy that Tig brazed a vice jaw for me. We're talking about trying aluminum- bronze or silicon- bronze rod. I picked up some silicon-bronze yesterday. You have to grinder out the crack and it will be noticable. I think it will be fine for camp cookware.
Well, all I'm gonna say is, "Good luck" and I don't mean that in a ugly or bad way. Beings I've been behind the hood for 40+ years, I've done a "few", with little success. Pre-drilling the ends, pre-heat, post heat and everything in between, asbestos blankets, slow heat dissipation, blah, blah, blah and still would have a crack after or alongside the repair. I don't mean to sound pessimistic but ("My opinion") it's not worth the time and effort.
I know it's likely to fail. Dirty cast iron has to be one of the worst metals to repair. The skillets are already broke so I'm only risking the $16 in filler metal. Same with the vise. Buddy is ata younger guy that want to try new processes and techniques. Several videos on YouTube showing how to weld it actually have the dreaded crack sound, but no comment made about the failure.
Take the $16.00 and find another pan! I love garage/tag and yard sales. That's where I found "most" of mine...
I'm starting to think back, I bought maybe 6 or 8 over the years and found cracked handles after I've cleaned them. That comes from either dropping them and them hitting a hard surface on the handle, or overheating. Very rarely do you need to bring a cast pan past 450ยบ
If it were mine, I would weld it with cast iron rod or Ni rod and move the pan to the camping kitchen box!
OK, read all the successive threads. Cast welding can be very successful, beginning with the right filler. Use a very high nickel or "buttering" rod or filler. Next comes pre and post heat. With fry pans you need to heat them high at first and allow to cool slowly to help remove the grease and oil and any stresses in the metal. I have welded many cast items just following the directions from the filler material. Fry pans, dutch ovens, gear cases and misc. cast items. The finished item will be obviously welded but serviceable. Success rate is about 85% .
My cast work was gear case housings and water pump housings for the military. I also did a vast amount of Aluminum cast as well. I can't say my success rate was that of yours metalcuttr , Maybe a 50/50 at best depending on "where" the crack was. Yes, they can be fixed but "to me", I'll find another pan now. There's many to be had.
Just a wild guess as to the success ratio and of course location of the crack is all important. Always loved those ones that start at a fill plug in a differential! Know what you mean about finding other pans. I guess having everything on hand and ready to go in the shop makes a difference too. I have only done some very crude stick welding in aluminum but now have a machine that supports it. Only have to get the spool gun. One thing about a successfully welded black cast pan is you have this nice bright vein of nickel in it!
Yes, you and I have stuff readly available. The average "Joe/Jane" doesn't... You and I know what a welder charges an hour. Is the pan worth that? Hell, my leisure time isn't anymore!
Yup! Our local shop is about the same! If they have to go to a vessal, (beings I'm near the fishing fleet) it's $150 and materials.
My haul today from one Facebook listing. Except one. I found a number 4, 3 notch Lodge at an antique store. I'm trying to get one good skillet from size 3 to 14 without buying new. I have #3-#10 for sure. Might have a #12 somewhere. Also, trying to get a good starter set for a buddy that got married today. He likes all things old... blacksmithing, machining, steam and hit-n-miss engines.....he'll use them well. Found this #14 Griswold in excellent shape today...$500. I did not buy it.
Yeah, That's a bit pricy!!! I found a #14 a couple years ago in an old antique shop for $20.00, It was a Lodge though. Nice haul you found!!!
Are the #numbers correlated to the size? #14 = 14 inches? If so, is that measurement the bottom, or the wider top?
No, they were the sizes of the burner "openings" in the old coal and wood stoves. Here's some good reading and explained in his thread. Size & Capacity Charts
I grabbed a newer, free and inexpensive Wagner and put the grinder to it. Oh yes I did. It had a higher purpose in life.
When I get the bigger vise set up, I'll straighten the lines out more. OK work for cutting on the basement floor.
