Spent 4 hours trying to weld a 1/8 inch crack that should have taken 20 minutes

I was working on a cast iron plow base for a farmer near Topeka last Tuesday and kept chasing a crack that just wouldn't close. Turns out I forgot to preheat the metal and every bead just stressed the piece more, making the crack run further each time. Has anyone else had a repair job turn into a whole day because of one dumb missed step?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_eric16d ago

Did you try drilling a stop hole at the end of the crack before you gave up on the first attempt lol?

kellymurphy15d ago

Oh man, drilling a stop hole is like the first thing you should try (well, after you stop and take a deep breath so you don't make it worse). I swear that little trick saves more projects than anything else I've run across, especially if you catch the crack before it gets all spiderwebby. You gotta be really careful about the bit size though, too small and it won't stop anything, too big and you might as well have just grabbed a hammer. Honestly, it's one of those things that feels too simple to work but really does the job more often than not.