Moving a Whitfield thru a tight doorway & the damper rod snaps off! Now what?

Hello
These things do happen! This rod is slim and the unlike the newer rods that Travis makes with a stick on label showing the graduated marks for adjustments these marks are carved into the rod and yes that is where it broke at the weakest part. :-(
Next time we will know and be more careful, but what about this time? What now?
I have used JB weld And it is strong for an epoxy but this rod is so slim, I really do not think that putting a dab on each end would really hold well.
So a brand new rod retails for $57 and takes a while to get.
Can it be fixed? Let’s try and see what u think?
It must be straight and Real Welding is much stronger. Grinding to make the collar fit is also possible.
Luckily the Harbor Freight welding table has a pop up edge with a slot in it so this small rod does not get welded to the table.
Setting the welder up is the trick here. Checking the rod diameter with the thickness gage reads 3 guage! That may melt the rod!
Using some good advice and some experience I set the welder up for 12 guage.
Since the threading is the same on both ends, I switched the Outside pull knob to the other end So the fix is now buried inside the stove.
This is how it came out. How does it look?

 

Finished pic looks good to me, but I'm no professional.


$.02