Backwards this doing am I

[BigMike782]

Some time ago I broke the follow rest for my Craftsman/Atlas lathe.Tonight I decided to fix it so I cleaned it up,found what I thought was my cast iron tig filler,warmed the part and welded it up.After it cooled I went to file a small glob and then realized I had used hardfacing filler not CI....DOH!
It actually welded pretty well and appears as though it will hold but now I am wondering if the rest is cast iron or some other type of material?
Kinda like closing the door after the horse is out of the barn but if I learn something it won't be a total loss.

[Scottike]

It probably is CI, Mike,
but the good side is that you can put an edge on it and use it as a cutting tool!

[loose nut]

A lot of cast iron rods contain nickle as do hard surfacing rods which might explain why it welded reasonably well but don't count on it holding up under strain. Maybe yes maybe no.

[tmc_31]

Not to worry, the force will hold it together

Tim

[BigMike782]

Thanks guys.I wondered about the material make up because it has some porosity showing at the surface and it seems to have some unusual pockets inside.I have heard of Zamac? used for the change gears but wasn't sure if it was used for other stuff too.
As long as The Force will hold it together I will be able to sleep tonight

[Black_Moons]

Thanks guys.I wondered about the material make up because it has some porosity showing at the surface and it seems to have some unusual pockets inside.I have heard of Zamac? used for the change gears but wasn't sure if it was used for other stuff too.
As long as The Force will hold it together I will be able to sleep tonight

Oh god, I really hope they are not making lathes outta zamac!

[BillDaCatt]

I can't say I've welded a great deal of cast iron. But I have done it enough to say if it didn't melt away before your eyes or make lots of cracking sounds as it cooled, it will probably hold. As was said earlier, the high nickel content of the hard filler probably helped in this case.

[CCWKen]

I can say with certainly that it wasn't Zamak. If it was, it would have turned into a puddle of silvery liquid as soon as you touched it with a welder. And, you'd probably be dead or seriously ill from zinc poisioning after breathing the vapor. So it was probably cast iron.

[gwilson]

The rest would be cast iron.

[Evan]

Put the steady on the lathe and reef on it with a reasonable amount of force. Cutting forces can be quite high so if it snaps off with only a few pounds of force it wasn't good enough. You don't want to find out in the middle of a job where the unsupported part decides to climb over the tool and start whipping 'cause the steady broke.

[sasquatch]

Evan's got the right idea, check it now before having it break in the middle of a job!!

[Black_Moons]

You don't want to find out in the middle of a job where the unsupported part decides to climb over the tool and start whipping 'cause the steady broke.

With the steady whiping around on the part, nodoubt!

[BigMike782]

Thanks for the help guys.
I will give the rest a good test(I'm a poet and don't know it) and if I need to re-weld it I found my cast filler......it's always handy to find what you need after you need it when you "put it away so I would know where it is"