Wood Burning Stove Repair

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Thera a nice stove on CL for $100 near me.   It's cast iron, and has a longitudinal crack across the back.   I was thinking of these ways of repairing:Lighting and keeping a fire going in it so it preheats and cools slowly and then,Brazing w brass (don't know if that will hold up to the continuous heat)Welding with Nickel rod, but I'm unsure if this is a tig filler rod or a stick rod.  ThanksTA Arcmaster 300CM3XMT 304S22P12 suitcase feederX-Treme 12VSOptima pulserTA161SMaxstar 150STLHypertherm PM45OP setupStihl 020AVP, 039, 066 Magnum
Reply:I'd use Ni99 rods. I get them as stick rods and knock the flux off for using them with TIG. A small fire may do a good job for preheat along with a good job of cleaning out the crack. offer the guy $50 and see if he'll bite
Reply:What Timberwolf said... $50 because a welding repair may or may not work, and you'll spend at least 20 bucks on Ni99 stick electrodes (last time I checked, they ran about $60 per pound).  It would kind of suck to part ways with a Benjamin only to end up with a heavy object for the scrapyard.Try to groove out that crack as much as possible, and I vote for the Ni99 rod.
Reply:Grind a slight groove in the crack, drill a small hole at each end of the crack to keep it from spreading due to expansion & contraction, knock the flux off a stick of Ni rod & tig it up.
Reply:Originally Posted by BCTimberwolfI'd use Ni99 rods. I get them as stick rods and knock the flux off for using them with TIG. A small fire may do a good job for preheat along with a good job of cleaning out the crack. offer the guy $50 and see if he'll bite
Reply:Originally Posted by Old SkoolGrind a slight groove in the crack, drill a small hole at each end of the crack to keep it from spreading due to expansion & contraction, knock the flux off a stick of Ni rod & tig it up.
Reply:CI stoves (and exhaust manifolds) showing cracking, may also exhibit an expanded, grainy looking  surface from long term heat, oxidation, etc.This skin may be 1/4 of the parent thickness.     I called this 'cooked'. With cooked CI.....even grinding the skin away, doing a bevel grooveweld/braze with good prep, preheat, etc.......just may not work in theshort or long term. When cast gets really cooked--it isn't CI anymoreand is not weldable. The remaining 'good looking' CI exposed bygrinding, just may not be 'good-enough' for a lasting repair.Additionally--you're describing a crack spanning apparently a largesection. Large sections are 'restrained' at the edges by the cast designand/or simply their proportionately large size.........So What?......the resulting heating of the welded crack, followedby cooling, is setting the stage for more cracking--often despiteone's best efforts.All in all--unless a detailed inspection as to 'why?' the crack, a big crack in a wood stove is pass.Blackbird
Reply:Scrap is around $10/hundred around here, last I checked. I wouldn't give more than scrap value.
Reply:Tough one to fix.  Hot and cold will eventually crack it again some place else.DavidReal world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:I would recommend Dave Powelson advice.