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Shaper table repair question - welding? duck tape?

August and Learned Wizards,

I offer a small tasty tidbit for your problem-solving pleasure:

A newly acquired Atlas 7B shaper had an anomaly hiding under layers of dust and varnish/oil. Inside the shaper table, on the back surface, two cracks are propagating from the hole where the feed nut mounts. One points down, the other to the right; both are about 1+ inches long, basically only present in the raised boss around the hole. These cracks are NOT present on the back outside surface of the table (at least not yet)and the rust on the inner surfaces indicates they are old.

In your opinions, would this table be a candidate for welding by a pro? Alternatives? Or do I just have an odd kind of fixture or paperweight? Otherwise the table is nearly pristine.

Reply to
Fred R
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Nick

Reply to
Nick Müller

It can almost certainly be TIG welded using nickel rod. Got any friends like Ernie around?

GWE

Reply to
Grant Erwin

Depending how old the cracks are, it might have happened early on, the cracks have never gotten any bigger. Your description sounds like these cracks are in a thick section sitting on a thin section. Prime area for some flaws in the original casting.

I'd drill a small hole at the end of each crack to st> August and Learned Wizards,

Reply to
RoyJ

Thanks Roy. I thought about drilling the hole but stopped myself until after I got some advice. Easier than undrilling the hole.

And that's two votes for nickel rod and TIG; I'm in Ohio so the Ernie option is unfortunately out of reach. There are certainly adequate welding shops here though.

Fred

RoyJ wrote:

Reply to
Fred R

Reply to
Fred R

Thanks Nick, that approach looks like it would produce a very strong join. I wonder how difficult it would be to do it down inside the little shaper table, about 6 inches square and 8 deep.

Fred

Nick Müller wrote:

Reply to
Fred R

Fred I think that I am with Roy here. Are these cracks causing some functional problem? Are you putting this machine into a production mode where you are going to stress it to the limit? Probably no to both questions. Clean it up and put it back together and see how it runs. If the cracks prove to be a problem then fix it otherwise leave it alone. lg no neat sig line

Reply to
larry g

I have repaired broken CI gears by heating the whole thing uniformly in a forge to low red heat, then braze with brass or silver solder and flux. Cover with a deep bed of ashes and let it cool down overnight. Cooling too fast will shurely crack it. Bugs

Reply to
Bugs

Try the yellow pages for a company called "Metal Stich"or "Metal Lock". Both have a very effective cast iron repair system. It is approved by Lloyds for use on ships. It is a cold system and doesn't cause any distortion.

Tom

Reply to
Tom Miller

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