Punched hole in casting

[Denny]

How should I go about repairing this or is it best to find someone who knows?

Thanks

[terick2104]

I have a welder in my area that I use who could repair that casting. I am in Minnesota.

[Denny]

I have a welder in my area that I use who could repair that casting. I am in Minnesota.

Hi Tom,

I was hoping to find someone closer to home in California. If I could find someone who can do the job around here would it be expensive to have it repaired?

[altort]

Denny, that casting is pretty bad, not many welders can or are willing to take on a repair like that, shipping the casting wont be all that expensive, besides if you get a poor repair done it will cost that much more to get re done properly if any welder would even get involved in re doing it.
Tom if you don't mind giving me this welder contact information I would appreciate it, I don't have any castings that need repairing at this time but always good to have the name and number of a good welder.

[mechanic]

If your in N. CA. check with SLOT DYNASTY for a good welder he may use!

[terick2104]

Johns Custom Fabrication Bloomingtom Mn. 952-888-2322. You can go to his web sight. He has repaired castings for me that were as bad or worse than that QT casting.

[Denny]

Thanks for the help.

[SLOT DYNASTY]

If your in N. CA. check with SLOT DYNASTY for a good welder he may use!

Thanks for the recommendation, but I don't think that I, or my welder would want to tackle this job.
He is an excellent welder, and has done many easy & difficult jobs for me. His shop is rather busy, as
he does fabricating & framework for large companies. I have always done all of the preparation work
before bringing a job to him, because his labor rate is higher than mine. The general process for a job
like this, is to bead-blast the entire area that has to be welded. I then have to make special brackets
to hold the broken sections together, as well as clamps. Most of the time, only half of the job can be
welded. Then after that cools down, the brackets & clamps are removed, to do the rest. One big thing
wrong with your casting, is that there is a large hole, which looks to be the size of a tennis ball. If you
don't have that piece, I would have to have a large broken piece of similar casting, to cut to shape, and
fill that void. You cannot just fill a hole that size with weld. Besides being difficult, that amount of heat
would badly warp the entire casting. Your best bet, is to see if you can find a spare front casting. These
sort of things, do show up on ebay every so often. Even post a 'Want' in this Forum, as I know there are
a couple that follow these threads, that have many common, and not-so-common parts. That is the most
reasonable way to go with your machine. If you do happen to locate a good front casting, do not chuck
what you have in the trash, as there might be someone that may need a section from another good area.

[terick2104]

My guy can repair your casting, I have had castings that bad repaired. He charges $90.00 per hour. Go to his web sight and email him 4 good pictures from every angle for a quote. Like Slot Dynasty wrote sometimes it can get spendy, so you have to weigh whether or not you think you can even find another casting, spend the money to repair the casting you have or sell the machine for parts.

[SLOT DYNASTY]

Another thing that I failed to mention, is the area where all the damage is done,
is an area that stays raw, and is polished. If it were a painted area, it is much
easier to hide the sins of welding, and even a little help with Bondo & Glaze,
until you look on the underside that is. This is going to be 'one pricey weld job'!
If Denny is at all talented enough, to do all the preps before welding, and the
finish work afterwards, he can save a good chunk of the cost. Good luck!