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Eastwood and Woodward sites say their 3/8" main body is "plate steel".
Harbor Freight says theirs is "cast iron".
I bought the HF unit yesterday with a 25% off of $149.95 (coupon on HF main site, good till 12/18/2016)
Questions: is the HF unit cast iron? If so what rod is everyone using...or does it matter, when adding re enforcing braces?
I was just looking at one the other day. It sure didn't look like cast iron, just laser cut plate to me.
Not sure about the cast iron vs. plate steel wording, but altering HF tools is popular around here, especially the bead rollers. Some examples of HF altered bead rollers are listed here:
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...ht-tools-31644
If it is cast iron what I do is pre-heat the metal and use a 6011 or 6013 rod. After I weld a bead I ping it with a ball-peen hammer.Quote:
Originally Posted by bpote
The Harbor Freight Bead Roller is plate steel and easy to weld reinforcing plate steel to. If you go to youtube, there are a number of good videos on modifying it for better stiffness, motorized drives, stands, better shaft adjustment for tightening, and several other areas. I just bought a complete gearmotor kit from ebay that has variable speed, and is reverseable comes with the wiring schematic, foot pedal, and reverse switch.
Mind posting a link? I'd love to see the kit and it's not always easy to find stuff on eBay. And way to easy to get distracted:)Quote:
Originally Posted by locostracer
My mistake, it was FB, here is the advertisement. The gentleman has been making lots of 4-6 of these at a time and filling orders as he gets enough to buy parts at a discount.Quote:
Originally Posted by locostracer
https://www.facebook.com/groups/5549...32637113545832
Best to you, Barry
you can check out many mods to the HF bead roller here.
Metal Meet Forums
Sorry, I don't FB Barry, but I appreciate the try.
Acourtjester I'm not a member of MMF and don't usually join something I can't check out first.
thanks. so it too is steel.
Forgot to mention this modified HF bead roller recently posted by bobs409: https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...5146#post81250
Hi,Quote:
Originally Posted by bpote
Welding cast iron can be very problematic and is not suitable for any kind of stick or arc welding (with the one exception of malleable cast iron). Brazing or welding using an oxy-acetylene torch is the usual method, but the entire working area has to be brought up to temperature to avoid the chances of cracks appearing. If the unit is plate steel then arc welding would be easy to do and virtually fool-proof. You could check if the metal is weldable using arc welding by a quick tap with the rod in an unobtrusive place - if the result is a mini 'crater' then it is unsuitable. I once repaired a lug on the travelling carriage of my Dominion Industrial Radial arm saw (about 25 pounds of cast iron) with araldite epoxy. 15 years later and the repair is still going strong! Hope this helps.
Yes welding cast iron can be problematic however with experience and patients just about any metal can be mended.
adding a dissimilar metal such as mild steel to a cast iron part is not without its problems as well but can be accomplished. the problem there would be finding a filler material which will afford a good molecular bond to either metal, they do exist.
for simple cast to cast welding such as repairing a broken part, cleaning and beveling the area to be repaired plus a little preheat
over the years I have probably mended as much tonnage of broken cast iron as many welders have done in mild steel. I'm not talking about those who have spent their entire lives in the field of fabrication. I am talking about maintenance welders who have mainly done repairs for most of their lives.
Do I know everything about rejoining cast iron? Heck NO. I know a guy who has pretty much done nothing but weld cast iron for the past 30 years in a foundry welding up imperfections of huge cast iron cores that would have otherwise required breaking up melted down and re-poured.
the link below is a brief dissertation of a process that I recently used to make a repair in a hydraulic valve
http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/w...ic-valve-53251
thanks. that is a great test to know. one person told me to use a grinder on it. if the sparks are real yellow, it is cast iron. if they are white or pale yellow, it is steel. Even though Harbor Freight says it is cast iron, it must be steel as everyone is welding them up. I will do your test first. Thanks.