MTFCA Forum

Hello T-people

Can anybody help me further? What material is the hogshead made of? Can it be welded?

I have a hogshead with tight pedal shafts, but unfortunately a corner on the back broke off during the drilling.

Can I fix this?

Greetings from Switzerland

Looks like an iron starter hogshead. So if you're good at welding cast iron, yes.

I am not sure that this is the "best" advice. But my experience has been that the 1920's cast iron hogsheads are a high quality cast iron. They can be welded using some sort of nickel/iron welding rod, or, they can be brazed.
Given that not the entire hole is gone, if it were mine and a better replacement was not readily available? There appears to be enough of the original hole left to provide adequate support for attachment of the ball coupler. I would use some scrap steel, shape a piece to fit in the missing metal, and braze it into place. You would need to be careful of thermal shrinkage which if done all at once could stretch out the arc of the "ball's attaching area". I would braze one side first, then allow to cool before brazing the other side.
I have repaired similar breaks several times myself in that way.

Or, you could shape a piece of steel plate the shape of the missing piece, and file the groove for the rest of the bolt. Then braze a washer to the steel piece for the bolt to pass through. When you fit the hogs head, put your fabricated piece in place. The washer will hold it there. The bolt will still be able to clamp as usual. There will be no chance then of your weld repair letting go again when you bolt the thing together.

I have done this a couple of times on the front corner.

Allan from down under.

I repaired hogsheads in similiar fashion as mentioned above. I did find another one that wasn’t broken anywhere and used it later.
It’s probably best to repair them as I don’t think they are as plentiful as they use to be. 30-40 years ago you could always find one with out any broken ears. The last Chickasha meet I went to I only saw one but it was rusted up and locked up. This is a T part that it would probably be cost prohibitive to make these days. Over the years those rusted up old piles of parts we use to have will get really desirable. My opinion of course.

If you have the piece which broke off it would be the easiest fix. Weld it back on and file out the hole. One thing about that corner is that if you have a Ruckstell shifter it would bolt onto that piece so you need to be sure it is strong.
Norm

I would just braze the hole shut. Then rough grind, then final shape with a die grinder. Make sure to leave the gasket surface a little "proud" to allow for a final shaping, smooth out with a file. A outside repair like that is the easiest cast iron repair. Make sure to let it cool slowly. Placing some insulation over the weld immediately after the weld helps it cool slowly. Then re-drill the hole using a gasket or 4th main as a guide.

Whenever I have had the need to repair a broken cast iron component, and the repair needs to take load, I defer to an expert. Two jobs in particular come to mind. One was to weld up cracks in the rear main bearing web in a 1912 block. This was one of those which would have broken out and taken the crankshaft with it. The second one was to fit a patch in the skirt and bore of a 1913 block which had suffered a thrown rod.

Both required full heating of the components, and slow cooling after the repairs. The block was cast iron welded. This weld was under some load in service. I do not know just what the shop used to make the weld. but the block is still in service today.

The second was not a stressed repair. The shop elected to braze two STEEL patch panels in place, one to fix the skirt, and another to close the slot up the bore. The bore on that cylinder was then sleeved. This fellow was a god of welders. He had a five foot diameter hearth of fire bricks on a steel bench. On that he had an igloo of fire bricks stacked up on top. In the morning, he'd open up one side of the stack to take the part which was to be welded and re stack the fire bricks. Then he'd fire up a large gas rosebud burner which heated the whole furnace through a hole in the base of the hearth. Come late afternoon, he'd turn off the rosebud, remove just enough bricks in the igloo to give access for the repair, and have at it. When he finished the weld, the igloo was reassembled, the rosebud re-lit and turned way down, and left that way until he came in to work next morning. He had a wonderful reputation for doing the impossible!
Just for interest.

Allan from down under,

Beat,

I use Nickel/Iron (Ni/Fe) electrodes to repair cast iron.

If you have the missing part it isn't that dificult to do.
If the part is missing you should first make one that fit it. It can be iron but cast iron is better.

To start the repair you need to CLEAN and DEGREASE the parts.
Make a template to bolt the missing part at the right place.
Before you bolt the part to the hoghead grind both ends for about 3mm do this also on the hoghead.
Bolt the part on your template and spot weld it at each end to the hoghead. Pay attention each spot weld should take no longer as 3 sec.
Take of the template. you should now find two cracks on each side of the part. Grind this crack for about 3mm deep on the back and the front.
Clean all withe a steel brush and degrease again.
For the welding. DO NOT try to weld it in one time, the heat will be to high.
Set your welder on max 80A.
Spot weld (not longer as 3sec) one spot at the time at each end of the part. After each spot clean it and hammer it. Leave it cool down to 30°to 40°C And go on that way to build up the weld till the job is done.
Now you just need to clean it up and make the hole fit.
Watch also this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHgbRVskHUw&t=2s

Good luck

Andre
Belgium

Watch also this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhJheY3k0Yg&t=4s

Good luck
Andre

Belgium

Thanks for all the many answers. I took some time today and did it as Andre described.

I got some cast electrodes, got a piece of cast iron from the scrap metal and slowly welded it on. I made sure it didn't get too warm and always hammered the seam as it cooled down.
The excess material is then sanded off.

I am very happy with the result. How it holds up remains to be seen...

greetings from Switzerland

Looks perfect! Nice job!

Really nice work.

What type of welding rod did you use?

Thank you.

I used pure nickel stick electrodes from the local tool store.

The standard designation is:

(EN IS0)E C Ni-Cl 3
AWSA5.15: ENi-Cl
DIN 8573E Ni BG 11

Maybe that will help.

Greetings Beat