TFS: Cast Iron Weld Repair with Aluminum Bronze 

Justin as a welder of over 50 years I want to say you are a very good explainer of what you are doing and what to do. IMO you would make a great instructor.

Weld looks perfectly functional. Plus props for not being afraid to post a rough one.

Best channel on welding, explains things very well for newbies like me. I am going through restoration process of an old valve resurfacing machine Kwik-Way model P from 1930ies era, its all made from cast iron and there are several delicate pieces broken, also several cracks in oil collector pan etc.. Will try TIG braze it back to life. Thanks for the educational videos.

Thank you. You do a great job explaining the process. I took a welding class and you explained things better than my instructor. I am grateful that you share your knowledge and experience. Thank you!!

I have yet to get Aluminum Bronze to flow how I like it, thanks for the demo. I have a customer that brings me 3 or 4 toyota 22R pick up turbo manifolds a year that all crack in the same location. For those I do the same prep with much more pre-heat and use Nickel 99 stick rod with the flux cleaned off with a wire wheel and TIG it on AC just the same. When finished they look surprisingly good, similar to TIGed steel and they never come back. Thank you again for the great content.

Hey young man, like someone else posted, I've got a few years and knowledge behind me in this trade, and I appreciate your approach and attitude towards this one. After 45+ years under my belt, I learned something from you! Aluminum VS. Bronze.... Thank you for sharing, I too think you would make a very good instructor! Cheers, Razor!

I love your voice on the voice over! Subscribed, and now I'm going on a trip through the old video

Thanks. First exhaust repair I've seen done on RU-vid that looks like it will last. Such a pro

Nice Job and instruction Justin. Bravo.

Very educational. The exhaust manifold on my 4cyl Tacoma cracked 20 years ago and I had the local ag welding shop try to fix it rather than buying a new one. I think they braised it, but can't remember after all these years. It lasted about 25 miles before cracking again. After a brand new manifold also cracked, I replaced it with a stainless header that also boosted my torque a little.

Normally I use dc for this, next time I will try the ac settings, thanks. For me dipping my rod in borax powder makes the bronze flow even better and makes the dirt flow on top of instead of in the bronze.

Nice work Justin, I am going to have to try aluminum bronze, I have only used silicon bronze.

Good explanation on how and why this technique works so well. While it works well on old and dirty cast, it works even better on new and clean material. With the right conditions, it can have a bright polished gold look.

Very informative video!...I've done a fair amount of Silicon Bronze but knew nothing about Aluminum Bronze. BTW It never occurred to me to ding you because the repair "didn't look good"..Thanks for another great vid!

I Love the way you groove the crack, an old school deep weld that will hold to more surface area.

Thank you again!!! Thanks for all the explanations of the whys for your decisions on this weld. Awesome!!

Good video! I have used silicon bronze for this type of repair as well.

I did a little bit of bronze brazing when I was down in Mississippi at the Seabee training center down there. It’s definitely a wild thing to use and try to get used to.

People say I'm verbose sometimes. But at least when I explain something I leave them without understanding. Good job taking the time to explain.

Justin..have used this material on lots of cast iron...anzing how strong it is if done correctly....thanks for sharing this great tech to the world...best regards...Paul

I've made similar repairs on cast iron but used a bit of a different method to prepare, before grinding along the crack drill a series of 3/16 holes along the crack without breaking through, now after grinding you will have a much larger clean purchase to put the bronze in place, not only does it provide more adhesion but also gives a greater amount of bronze joint width to give a less rigid seam reducing the chance of another crack developing.

Yes, I get the bevel. Everyone says to preheat cast iron, but I never do. I heat it as I go. I use pure argon and slow down the wire feed speed so I can "ball" it and dip it. Works great with aluminum bronze and silicon bronze as well. Never had one break near the weld. Ever. Argon or helium only( if you're rich) and slow heat up. Also, it wets so well, I never clean up, lol.

I weld and braze with alu bronze pretty often, and have found that it works best for me at about 80% EN, a little more than you were using. And the A2 alloy works better than the other alloy. (Just trying to help)

Great explanation of this technique.

great video I have some welding experience but mostly stick and gas so learning all the time. Three suggestions for the repair unrelated to the brazing directly, 1 if you have an ultrasonic cleaner in the shop it will get your crack cleaner, 2 I noticed you preheated the general crack area with the propane a more thorough preheat and a post heat will help reduce re occurrence, 3 while you have the burr out clean all the casting dags off as this will also help stresses travel through the casting and reduce the chance of more cracking, probably irrelevant because I see a set of custom headers in its future, or an ls3 cheers for the great video and explanations

This is interesting, I've never thought about using aluminum bronze and a tig. I've always heated my cast in an oven, welded it with a nickle rod and then stuck it back in the oven to cool slowly. I'm gonna have to try this.

I found that pure copper is best for repairing cast iron, discovered this when I had the job of repairing 150 year old Victorian cast iron ram pumps for a client. The cast was so full of carbon and other inclusions that I was having trouble with both Aluminium and Silicon bronze filler I had some 99.9% pure copper filler from another job so I tried that and it just flowed straight in.

Well explained , Well Done ! Push/ scrub rod into weld pool and try to keep arc on the wire / weld puddle . Similar to gas brazing, flux will also help.

Great !!... I have done it with a stick welder about 100 times.... I am going to do my next block or manifold this way and see what I get. Thanks for the great video.

Great review, but need to stipulate the need for Argon. thanks again!

Justin your a great Teacher. Have you ever Tried Half argon & half Helium. Talk about a Wet & flowing Puddle. the extra heat is amazing. It also works Very well on all Copper.

Sweet video Justin! I was wondering the difference in bronzes! Thanks man 👊

Used some today repairing jaws to an adjustable wrench! I’m impressed with how strong it actually.

Good video , I had a 1995 mighty Max , fun little truck to drive , miss it but it spun a bearing and didn't have time to fix it so had to get rid of it .

I can't wait to see what you have in mind for the truck!

Pretty neat stuff just did a cast iron manifold! I will have to try out aluminum bronze!

I had 3 of those trucks. A 90 2.4 with a home brew supercharger, a Carby 87 2.0 and a Carby 88 long bed D-50. Miss em.

Fantastic, nae scary . Had Aluminium Bronze rods for a while now but you have helped me understand some of their advantages in a really easy manner.

I had the same kind of crack on a Geo Storm. Grooved and drilled it just as you did. Preheated it on the grill. Tig welded the crack. Lasted some 7 years until a teenager Tboned it.

Really well done - THANKS! EDIT from below -- Is aluminum bronze good for cast iron to under 1/4 inch thick steel? Great instructions following the Key Rule: You have anticipated and answered ALL of the inevitable questions, VERY well. Thanks again - you saved me a bunch of time.

I just started TIG welding...like 3 hours worth!😂😂😂👍🏻Love the vids! You helped me make my decision to buy a AHP 200!🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻

I still enjoy welding cast with the old torch and brazing rod

This is going on a manifold. What is the typical operating temperature of this? The service temperature of brazing alloys is under 500F. Copper and copper-zinc filler metals are generally used on ferrous metals. They can also be used on many nonferrous metals. The upper service temperature for these alloys is 400°F (200°C)

I always watch til the end. Got to make sure I don’t miss anything haha

Once again thank you for taking the time to show us looks very good

Great to see Cast Iron Welding. I've never had good luck with welding cast iron.

Awesome vid man. Can't wait to see what else is in store for the truck😉.

Thank you very informative. Never Al bronze but going to try it

Easy to follow lesson and presenting reasons why you did what you did. Question about the finishing the braze. I guess if one were doing it for "show" it should be ground down, cleaned up, etc. But if it was wholly for repair could you have left it as finished after the 1st pass braze. Or should a 2nd pass be made to blend it in more?

Another premium video !!! - Light-bulb moment for me Thanks HUGE!!!

one of the things i did not see what is the argon flow setting? and well done!

Real world situations, I dig it. And I like the mighty max. Time for a 4g swap video lol

Great video, thanks for the STRAIGHT FORWARD TRUTH👍👍

Can you do a stainless steel to cast iron tig video? I've been seeing guys weld v-bands to the hot side of turbos for external waste gates. Thanks.

Hey Justin, quick question for a newbie TIG welder. Can you bond steel to cast iron, such as a steel manifold bolt to the manifold? Thanks for any help you can give!

You think like I do, great video and solid repair.

Thank you for demystifying this - great video.

Love it great welding can’t wait to see what you do with the project. Keep up the great work

Liked for the brazing, followed for the FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE wisdom hahaha

Big project without name? It's got to be "Mitsubig'a'project"..haha. Thanks for good advice about al.bronze.

Thanks bro...for explaining that really helped me out a lot Nice job👍🏾

Learned a new skill now

If the manifold had a hole in it, say the size of a silver dollar, would you fill the hole by running beads around the perimeter until the hole was filled, or could you use a piece of mild steel to fill the hole, and then use the aluminum bronze to secure it? And, in your opinion, would either of these choices be a long term successful repair?

I brazed Manifold one time and found out the hard way that it does not work, and that I did with a torch, I’m just wondering if the bronze part of your filler rod presented any issues? If I have the chance I’m going to try it for my self, it does look very promising, thanks for the information.

Have you ever done any work with a "Cobra" oxy/act torch? I have seen guys weld aluminum with one they seem to work pretty good, there good for making dry sump oil tanks because it anneals the weld as it goes so they don't crack as bad.

Excellent video

Hi I’ve never been taught how to weld professionally my dad just turned me loose when I was young I’ve welded cast with a gas torch and silicone bronze and had it stick well do you ever fix any cast with the gas torch and if u do I was wondering if you had a video on it so I might learn proper thank you for your time and everything

Thank you for explaining why you used aluminum-bronze over silicone-bronze. That said-isn’t it possible to use AC with silicone bronze or is there a reason that would be taboo?

First of all, love the videos. You have taught me quite a bit about welding and I appreciate it greatly. My question, would it be a bad idea to drill a few more small holes at angles to essentially give the brazing rod more places to bite into and hold onto the cast iron, or is that completely unnecessary? I'd suppose if this had a turbo it might be more important for it to have a stronger hold on the base metal. Just a question that popped into my head while watching this. Looking forward to more videos of your mighty max! I'm the same way with the OBS Fords... Although after working on one for a while, I completely understand some folks hate for Ford lol. They just had very little clerical skills, or common decency with their building methodology 😅. Thanks again! Edit: just noticed this is two years old LMAO whoops! You've already taken this apart and are building a tube chassis 🤣

Thanks for another great video with great info

You should have.... But if you.... You could have..... But I can..... You should have!!!!!!!!! Awesome Job Man thanks for sharing!

Nice vid but minor nit. This is a demonstration of braze welding which is not the same as brazing. You applied the arc directly to the filler metal. If you brazed you would heat the target and the filler metal would melt on contact and flow in via capillary action. It is not possible to braze with an arc because you need to generate large heated area.

Fighting Fire with Fire is an Aussie move. 👍👍

Tig brazing and mig brazing - the argon takes the place of the flux that you need when you oxy fuel braze.

Spot on Justin.

Great video, how about building a tube manifold?

Cool stuff ....l have to weld a flywheel/ pulley.... Thick Cast iron part does not get hot ....l have silicon bronze in the workshop.... Or should l buy Alum Bronze??? Precision Panel Craft.

Great vid thanks for posting!

It's beautiful!

Wondering if this will be a good technique for repairing a vise with a missing jaw shelf. Material needed to attach to create missing piece.

Thank you for saying silicon bronze in the video. The whole time I was watching I was trying to think of that name. my brain was going magnesium bronze no, titanium bronze no, those probably don't exist but I was just trying to think of it. Do you think this stuff is good enough to attach steel pipes to a cast iron exhaust manifold that will be used for a turbo ? I know its strong enough but will a turbo manifold get hot enough to melt it. I guess i could just look up the melting points and then guestimate how hot the exhaust should get.

Very cool. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks! Great video!

Thanks for the videos! Have you tried 312 stainless filler for cast ever? I’ve had decent luck on pump casings with it. I do use sib and aluminum bronze as well.

Ithiz goud edeya your the best

What are the (dis)advantages of stick welding for this project? I hear stick welding is often preferred for cast iron.

very good idea for filling that crack. I was wondering if you have ever tried oxy hydrogen brazing? I recently started it because it is very clean ( jewelers use it) it is not as hot as oxy acetylene but produces no impurities but water which evaporates . you can use flux coated rods or pure aluminum. I have not tried your method for cast steel, I just use Arctec cast 90 rods dcen . I may try aluminum bronze now .

love the explanation, genius me tried this once on my grandpa`s 55 fordson thames, but used bronze filler meant for gas welding (it has zinc in it i think?) lets just say that didnt go so well...

Old vid I know - sorry for going necro. But question is - you mentioned you’re using AC I think ? So since you’re only using the torch for heat could you do this with a DC rig? Thanks.

Thanks Justin, gr8 video

Thanks for the great video Justin 🍻🙏

JUST AWESOME!! THANKS FOR SHARING!!

great vid, but could you show how to weld cast iron? i have been told that it can be done by pre heating the cast iron, then using mig process with er70 s6 in very short stretches no longer than one inch at a time then pern the crap out of it, wait for part to cool then repeat i have not welded cast iron only read about it, so i an interested.

Just out of curiosity, when the cast iron heats up under normal conditions when the crack would start flexing wouldn't the bronze break free from the cast iron?

Two thumbs up great job explaining

Hi Great video.What kind of tungsten did you use? Also was it pointed or balled?

Awesome stuff, I have a cast iron block from a 2005 new Holland tractor ,broke on lower corner ,leaking oil through it,the corner of the baseban supports it,I just paid a hold lot for tractors put 5rs on it and now this,roughly a 5 inch crack that goes off on each end to the base pan.any suggestions ,braze it or JB weld

Awesome. If someone has a question, where can they send it? Thanks

Heres a question, can all cast iron be brazed, had one that kicked my ass and nothing would melt onto it and stick. It was an old fireplace grate probably from the early 1900’s, all it did was make big porous bubbles of black like carbon and any filler I had tried just beaded up and rolled off. I was guessing it was a super high carbon content cast that wasn’t even weldable.

Very cool! How bad would it turn out if you used DC instead of AC? Thanks!