mig and flux core tips and techniques, equipment, filler metal
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kermdawg
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That rod I was talkin about- Cronatron Cronacast 211, part number CW1034.

Website-http://www.cronatronwelding.com
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kermdawg, I just looked up the rod you referred to. It's apparently for cast iron, while I expect the steering knuckles he's working on are cast steel. Cast iron has a high carbon content compared to steel.

The formulation of the cast steel and the axle tubes should be similar; It's the crystal structure that differs. This leads to different shrinkage rates upon cooling, and carbon infiltration from a mild steel filler is a likely cause of the cracking. I think this is why I've had success using 309 to mig and tig cast parts. I've never had to do this weld in a critical application, however.

jpence has the best suggestion. Find someone with experience with this particular application (a site for rock-crawler builders should have good prospects), or get an analysis of the alloy and consult a pro at one of the major welding suppliers.

Steve
kermdawg
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DOH! lol nevermind me. I saw cast and thought cast iron-must be the plumber in me. Sorry!
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samydavisjr
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Welding axle is complete. I bought Ni lincoln rod but it would not run worth a shit. I ended up welding it with 7018 an inch ir so at a time and jumping around quite a bit. It welded very nicely and with no cracking. I preheated at 350 and post heated down to room temp over 24 hours. Seems they may have used a high quality cast.

Sam
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Congratulations!

"Perfect" is anything you don't have to do twice. :D

Steve
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The motor heads really do some dodgy shit. But They don't show what happens days and weeks later when parts give up because of crap welding techniques.
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Samydavisjr,

Now that your project is done, I've just noticed that on the semi-trailer axles I encounter the cast is welded to the tubes with what appears to be a dual-shield process. Admittedly, these appear to be done robotically, but this might be worth filing away for future reference. (If you can MIG, or if you can do flux-core, you can do dual-shield.)

Steve
TheExpert

I am agree with Otto Nobedder. I think also same.
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