Inexpensive Cast-Iron Stick Electrodes Put To The Test (Video)

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Goodafternoon everyone!!As y"all know, I"ve been experimenting with welding cast iron lately... I recently used Ni-99 Nickel electrodes which worked great, but dang, were those things expensive...I started looking for cheaper alternatives to nickel electrodes, and I found a product from Hobart called "Normacast" which is considerably less expensive... They cost around half as much and are easy to find as well, I bought the electrodes I used in this video at the local Tractor Supply, where I got 14 of them for around $15...But the real question is, how well do they work?I set out to find out... I dug through a scrap pickup I have, and pulled out a random cast iron exhaust manifold to work with, and set about my repair...Manifolds are always fun to weld... They"re generally made from "lower" grades of cast iron, they suffer rapid and frequent heating and cooling cycles, and they"re "dirty" from thousands of miles of engine exhaust running through them...Anyway, the particular manifold I found was white or grey cast iron... I "veee-d" out the imaginary crack, and drilled holes in the ends of the "crack" as well, to keep it from spreading, and set about welding it:I followed standard Cast Iron welding procedure, and gave the manifold a nice preheat... Then welded, peened, welded some more, buried it in sand and let it cool...And how"d it turn out? Quite well I"d say... There were no signs of cracks or other defects, but the video shows the finished repair a lot better than I can describe it I was really happy with how it turned out, and I was also pleasantly surprised with how well the normacast electrodes ran...Anyway, here's the video, I thought it was really fun to make, and I hope you guys enjoy it... As always, have a nice week, everyone [Account Abandoned 8/8/16 Please Do Not Attempt Contact Or Expect A Reply]. See you on YouTube! -ChuckE2009
Reply:FYI Lanse, it's NOMACAST, not NORMACAST. Norma probably doesn't want you using her name in vain like that. PapaLincoln Idealarc 250 (circa 1962)Lincoln Weldpak 155 w/Mig KitLincoln Squarewave TIG 175
Reply:Lanse, I enjoy videos. When are you going to finish you vise( you may want to consider using an acme threaded rod for the lead screw) and that big grill/smoker?
Reply:Papa- Ainnobody got time for reading labels Annnnd the vise? I just wrapped that up... It's gonna be my big weekend video [Account Abandoned 8/8/16 Please Do Not Attempt Contact Or Expect A Reply]. See you on YouTube! -ChuckE2009
Reply:Interesting video  I have not seen that particular welding rod in my local hardware store.I will definitely look for it now and try it out. Dave J.Dave J.Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~George Bernard Shaw~ Syncro 350Invertec v250-sThermal Arc 161 and 300MM210DialarcTried being normal once, didn't take....I think it was a Tuesday.
Reply:Going to tractor supply to check that out .  I always used nickle in the past.  richey
Reply:Lincoln has Ferroweld which is probably similar.  Here they compare the various rods for cast iron:http://www.lincolnelectric.com/en-us...on-detail.aspx"USMCPOP" First-born son: KIA  Iraq 1/26/05Syncrowave 250 w/ Coolmate 3Dialarc 250, Idealarc 250SP-175 +Firepower TIG 160S (gave the TA 161 STL to the son)Lincwelder AC180C (1952)Victor & Smith O/A torchesMiller spot welder
Reply:I use the "NomaCast" quite often and found it to be a good "Go To" rod for general Cast Iron repairs. I have never researched it in depth but some people say it has certain 7018 properties. I feel the major secret is in the Flux.Thanks for the Video, nice presentation and explanation of steps!
Reply:[QUOTE=drujinin;2475941... I feel the major secret is in the Flux...[/QUOTE]My old Lincoln handbook mentions an economical mild steel rod for cast Iron that has a flux that helps with old cruddy cast.  Might be the same stuff as Ferroweld .  They did say the flux was very corrosive and required proper cleaning before painting."USMCPOP" First-born son: KIA  Iraq 1/26/05Syncrowave 250 w/ Coolmate 3Dialarc 250, Idealarc 250SP-175 +Firepower TIG 160S (gave the TA 161 STL to the son)Lincwelder AC180C (1952)Victor & Smith O/A torchesMiller spot welder
Reply:Hi, I use a mild steel rod (normal welding rod with flux removed) with a plasma welder for cast iron and it works OK, provided you preheat and allow it to cool slowly.......as it does pick up carbon from the iron, if you don't allow it to cool slowly you get a very brittle and rock hard weld zone.Ian.
Reply:Here is the spec sheet for this Nomacast Rod:  http://www.selectrode.com/Search/products/1146.pdfSelectrode makes the rod for Hobart(Not Hobart Brothers/Mckay). If you want to look up a Hobart Rod find the MSDS and that will tell you the Selectrode part number.Here is the MSDS form the Hobart site: http://selectrode.com/Search/msds/1146.pdfLast edited by kald; 04-05-2013 at 02:33 PM.