Braze Repair on a Broken Casting Part 1

In this two part series, I take a broken and busted cast iron housing for a pump and repair it by brazing. Part 1 will consist of all the prep work and brazing. Part 2 will be the machining.

[@robertoruiz7069]

I've done welding mostly TIG and brazing mostly silver braze,But your level of repair was way over the top of that.This was true RAW professional repair.Your skill set is amazing.You are repairing and fabricating parts that other so called machinists only dream about.The way you made a jig to fixture the parts to locate the piece was true art.I would have used aluminum for the fixture !!!! AND i would be WRONG,as would so many lesser machinists.You must have had an amazing teacher when younger.great workmanship.

[@grahamneal245]

Excellent video, A man of my own heart. I am a 63 year of age Boily who learnt the craft of Brazing and still use it for tricky stuff. Not knocking you but the only difference I was taught was to grind a cross hatch into the prep bevels, it increases the surface area. Once again great to see older craftsmen at work, well done.

[@eddiekawecki2510]

Adam, I would like to compliment you not only on your excellent repair but the way you are very professional and don't just come out and complain about the previous repair and the way it was done. We never know what kind of pressure the fellow was under to repair it before just to keep a job going and may have had to do it in the field in some nasty conditions and time restraints. Looking forward to part 2. Thanks Ed K. Cleve. Oh.

[@scottlandmcc]

Eddie Kawecki, very well said sir! 🍻

[@cmennenger]

You really never know what's the restraints were at the time of the repair. Well said.

[@paulklem9249]

Cool as hell. You could be a dentist. Great work. Old TONY WISHES, HA.

[@ElTurbinado]

Oh.

[@siggyincr7447]

Couldn't agree more. I'm guilty of more than my fair share of bitching about terrible repairs that I've had to deal with when they fail. But to be honest I've done quite a few myself when a machine is down and there's no time to do the job right. Sometimes you just have to make it last the day and it ends up lasting months or years before it breaks again and then some poor guy gets to wonder what kind of idiot did such a bad job. Adam definitely seems to keep his cool in the shop.

[@WiseOne6969]

Your skill level is over the top. Great job - it was a pleasure watching a true Master in action.

[@d.j.9961]

In the past year or 2, I have watched this episode several times & still enthuses me! Something pleasing about metal work! Welding, machining, metallurgy, It is all amazing to me! Being self sufficient & being able to fix anything, requiring a slew of different tools, I am acquiring many metal working tools but, still do not have a oxyacetylene torch! SOON I HOPE! I will be teaching myself how to weld with a torch!

[@chrisbryant8043]

Hey Abom, I'm an HVAC Tech and do a lot of brazing myself but more for refrigeration lines and what not but after watching your vids about doing it to other metals and parts, I've started doing it myself. Repair instead of replace. Saves costumer down time and puts a couple extra notches in the knowledge belt. Thanks for sharing what you do. Helps other progress in other fields of work. P.S. Can't wait for part 2. HURRY! Thanks again.

[@willxyzall]

+Chris Bryant Chris I used to do hvac work and I would repair fan brackets and such with the 45% silver solder used when brazing copper to steel valve bodies. I assume you have that on your truck as reqular stock and it works quite well. I would by a pound of flux coated rods if your doing a lot due to expense but the silver solder can save you from a run to the supply house.

[@chrisbryant8043]

+willf650 yes. 45% orange coated brazing rods. They do everything. I've repaired blower brackets and wheels, fan brackets, you name it. I'm still trying to figure out my heat though. I've almost got it dialed in for most stuff.

[@assabetmetalfabrication6143]

Adam very very very well done I have been welding fir 40 years and I learned something new I teach vocational teacher welding fabrication pipe welding I teach cast iron repair to our students and you just taught me something that I can share thank you for your repair and your professional presentation All the best USN Navy Seabee welder

[@oh8wingman]

Believe it or not, one of the best additions to a shop that I have seen over the years was an electric stove with the self cleaning option. Why? Well when you do cast iron repairs you can throw the part into the oven and set the heat up to the highest level, normally around 550 F, and let the part heat soak for as long as you want. Since you're using an oven, the entire part is heated evenly and the weld repair will come out with less distortion. You can also throw the part back in and reheat should it be required or use the oven to slow cool the part by placing it inside when the welding is done and then slowly reduce the heat back down until the part is cool. Why self cleaning? Self cleaning ovens go to 900 F when cleaning to burn off all the food matter that's left in the oven from cooking. When you stress relieve parts the temperature is held at 550 to 650 C (1022 to 1202 F) so when your oven is in the self cleaning mode it can hold a temperature just under what would normally be used for stress relieving. Heat your part up with a torch to 1100 F, wrap it in ceramic wool, and put it in your preheated oven and let it soak and slow cool. (You have to defeat your oven lock out and preheat it to the self cleaning temperature) It's a simple and inexpensive way to control heat and leaves you with a superior product.

[@t9358]

great idea

[@blackdaan]

thank you sir!!!!

[@MegaBoilermaker]

I use a dry sandpit to retard cooling.

[@glendooer6211]

@Jack Anderson Coffee

[@yamahajapan5351]

That’s largely a myth….

[@tracylemme1375]

I grew-up in a machine and welding shop. Brazing cast iron is the very best way to repair it. My dad always said. “To choose the torch tip, go two sizes bigger than you think you need.” And always grind all surfaces that are going to receive the brass. Love to braze cast iron. Good job.

[@Papasmurf7597]

It was a real treat to watch somebody brazing. Its not done too much anymore these days. I'm an old, 50+year refrigeration man. So I did a lot of brazing. Did copper to steel high pressure joints. Now as an even older retired man, I do steel and cast iron brazing in the hobby that I'm in. Thanks for the video. I enjoyed it.

[@David-hm9ic]

Awesome, well thought-out repair. My grandfather was a journeyman welder and taught me to weld. I thought brazing rod was brass most of my life until I took a hacksaw to a piece one day to make a new bead for a rifle's front sight. WOW! That was some tough "brass." Turns out it's phosphor-bronze, very different from brass and much stronger.

[@Barefoot3us]

Fantastic pump part brazing repair. The circle jig made all the difference in the world for alignment for brazing. Good prep to get it ready and good there was no oil or greese in the cast iron. Thanks for the video, Jeff

[@terrylarotonda784]

You are a very humble man Adam. You make everything you do look easy. That's because of your talent. Keep up you great work, thanks for sharing.

[@Abom79]

Thanks Terry

[@bundysgarage]

Love seeing items repaired and put back into service, instead of the throw away and replace society we live in now. It's a breath of fresh air.

[@davidkraft3690]

Great work . I have done cast iron brazing, and found it tricky. Great job !

[@rogerdavies6226]

I really enjoy a craftsman at work, no matter what they are doing. Having been paid to judge this kind of work, this man is way above good. if at all possible I would be putting some kind of support collar behind this flange when reinstalling it

[@robertcochrane9491]

its great to watch someone who knows his stuff i could watch you working all day

[@rayjohnson4395]

Now this is a perfect example of a professional with brains compares to new generation, "just replace the whole damn pump kinda guy"! This guy is a pro. Awesome video outstanding work. Who says there are no more skilled people in the world.

[@Patriot1776]

Wonderful that the customer decided it was time to get the repair done the RIGHT WAY this time. They had seen that the previous repair effort had failed and realized if the 'quick-fix' method was tried it would only fail even sooner and so after also finding out the part was possibly no longer even made anymore they had no choice but to send it off with the hope it could be brazed back up and you came through in a huge way! ^^

[@normsweet1710]

Great job Adam ! Clean work piece, correct support, and the right heat in the right place.

[@jmyers9853]

i was taught to have the metal clean and use a "soft flame" rather than the noisy flame you used. my teacher was a welder in the experimental section of pratt and whitney jet engines. the method always worked for me

[@jlucasound]

On to Part two. I am Salivating!! That ring is genius. Not to mention your brazing skills. Your customer is going to be (is) very pleased. (I am late).

[@OldSkoolF]

I love Brazing.... It is very satisfying to see the base get hot and the braze wet out... Saved many a cracked block with it!

[@MrMusic1950]

I done a few almost like this, i felt guilty, no experience of welding cast iron, but those jobs I did are still intact. Small iron diesel blocks, manifolds, brazing is so adaptable. Good job dude. Keep up the good work.

[@francisbarnett]

Always a pleasure to watch things being made /repaired well. Keep up the good work.

[@adamjdlm]

i am having to repair a pump mounting bracket, thank you sir for sending me down the right path

[@DavidHerscher]

wow, some serious skills on display here. I'm currently working on a restoration project that's had me feeling overwhelmed, but seeing this makes me feel like anything is possible. Not that i'm nearly this skilled, but gives me hope at least lol.

[@gordonagent7037]

Good job Adam, having a good look at this as have to braze up a cast cheek on my curving roller and this info gives me great insight and confidence. Need to watch part 2 now so stop distracting me.

[@ericstyer2890]

Fixing on that cast ain’t no joke. Good work. I’ll have to look back to see which brass rod you were using.

[@LabRatJason]

Adam, you are an absolute magician with this stuff. Nice work!

[@WoodNMetalWorkshop]

Adam next time you need to pre or post heat a part like that try a gas grill, very easy to bring a casting up to temp 450 to 500 degrees and you don't have to stand there with a torch

[@clydebalcom8252]

Brazing can be a lifesaver or the twelfth level of hell. It's good that you are such a professional in everything you do.

[@edyung724]

Great video! only Abom can make brazing look like an art and science at the same time!

[@turningpoint6643]

I'm more than a little impressed. That was a very tough brazing job.

[@donraptor6156]

Won't hold. Non ferris metal will not none to cast!

[@J1mmyFootr0n]

Awesome vid! Even my three yr old was intrigued by the work. We threw the vid up on the apple tv 👍

[@ChrisB257]

Now that is a challenge!! Ready for "Abomizing"! :) Great to watch your approach Adam - nice.

[@psient]

Your skill really comes across, in part due to the excellent editing and sequencing of your video production. I have been with you since your first post on PM.

[@Abom79]

+psient Thanks for the comment. I recognize your screen name and remember seeing on on PM as well.

[@agentbertram4769]

Fascinating Adam. You can see that you are streets ahead of whoever tried to weld the crack last time. The braze rod will be more forgiving to the shock load on pump-start whereas a weld could be a little brittle.

[@ronicard]

Very nice work. Looking at that piece, I would have sworn it was time to trash it. Love your channel. Learn something new all the time!

[@MrFukyootoob]

Beautiful job. Probably better than new. I wish we had guys like you in the Northeast.

[@rayfalcone6897]

again,you did it with another great technical video.i really enjoyed this one .and thanks for showing us your great wealth of thechnical skills,you gotta give credit where it is due.

[@vstrom9586]

Excellent idea of making the ring to keep things lined up. A fine job, let cool down nice and slow.

[@geraldestes2470]

nice going adam the compromise budget / application / warranty repair issue; behooves me the way i was apprenticed > a good 'weld' starts with a press fit...you showed it and explained it very plainly. great.

[@SynchroScore]

When I worked in the electric motor repair shop, sometimes the motor end castings would come in cracked, and I always wondered how they were welded back together, as it was done by another shop. And of course, they often couldn't simply buy a replacement part. Many times motors themselves aren't easily interchangeable, especially on special applications like machine tools, where you're not using off-the-shelf induction motors. It's think it's the same issue with pumps.

[@rhysd5410]

Man, you know how to set up a cliffhanger! Looking forward to seeing how it machines up.

[@annfarrow7254]

I get

[@1ginner1]

The reason one hole is off is so that it can only be assembled one way.

[@larrysperling8801]

very interesting repair adam. i would have like to seen the finished product. i was a millwright and i know how things get broke. when your working in the field ,without the resources of a well equipped shop and your boss is looking at his watch, you do what you have to do.and when your working on old equipment that should have been replaced years ago,more often than not this is the outcome.then we go see adam.

[@Abom79]

I'll show the finish repair in part 2.

[@richardbrooks3569]

what a great technique for keeping the parts lined up.

[@332791]

Thanks Adam. I saw some pretty bad brazing done on KZbin videos recently. This looked good to me.

[@WobblycogsUk]

Wow, that's a tough repair but equally not a piece that you really want to be remaking if you can avoid it. Good job.

[@Mekhanic1]

Hi, nice video. first thing that came to mind to me, was to just machine a complete new flange and braze in on the diameter. nice repair

[@salvadorpneri]

Incredible - you took a piece of junk circular metal ring and turned it into a specialized tool for welding. My hat's off to you.

[@1ginner1]

Hey Adam, nice work as always. The hole pitch offset may be so that it can only go back in the same position.

[@peterzstandalone5178]

I wish I watched your video before I was MIG/MAG welded prety same part of transmition from cement mixer. I pre-heated that and it went surprisingly well. Will see leaking in couple weeks.

[@mertonsilliker3686]

Putting g puzzle together, except you got make up missing pieces, nice job, I learn so much watching your work

[@micheller8014]

It would be nice if you could put a link for part 2 ( and any others ) on the first video. Makes it easier to get to. Great job , though. Thanks for sharing.

[@TomZelickman]

I was wondering how you were going to hold that smaller piece. Cool seeing that it basically just clamped in place without the need to use anything different (just the bolt and nut). Looking forward to seeing this cleaned up and delivered! Best wishes, Tom Z

[@Abom79]

I was going to use a c-clamp but the bolt worked out better. Thanks Tom.

[@TomZelickman]

Yeah, I caught that in the video but wondered if it would just get in the way. This worked out great! Thanks for sharing, Adam. I know I don't always comment but I do watch regularly, sir. Hope you are well! TZ

[@bbtjd001]

Awesome job Adam!. This is the kind of repair I love. Will be looking forward to part 2.

[@davidrichards3605]

Excellent professional job, very impressive.

[@sharonbaldwin5425]

I thank you for the video. If I am fortunate enough to see another one of your videos, could I see closeups as you go. I could learn so much about your techniques. Thanks again!

[@jamesscott1932]

You are an artist and a scientist combined

[@MattsMotorz]

Oh man great video. I can't wait to see the finished product!

[@gallant19650]

nice job ;) i used to braze cast iron now i use a rod 3/32-1/8 or 5/32 dia. and it works great pretty expensive but it does the job,i'm a machiniste welder

[@RobertPerrigoOkiechopper]

Adam, I haven't seen your fur baby lately, I hope she's doing well. That was some fine & well thought out brazing, Thumbs up.

[@Abom79]

+Robert Perrigo She's doing good, and enjoying the warmth inside the house.

[@Svideoplayer]

Great brazing job Adam, nice casting repair.

[@MrAllan9]

Great job, was surprised you chose to braze instead of stick weld given the advancements in cast welding rods. We're always learning.

[@shuntawolf]

I'm sure you have, but have you heard of Lock-n-stitch cast iron repair? Look them up, pretty interesting repair method for dealing with cast iron... Great job on this piece!!! Oxy/Propane is 1) cheaper, 2) hotter and 3) cleaner if you didn't know, and if you have the time, you could put the part in a gas grill cranked on high and does a decent job of uniformly preheating cast parts.... I've done that with exhaust manifolds and had the time while working on other items... gets over 400 in short order...

[@shawnmrfixitlee6478]

What a mess that was when you first started Adam . Looks like you saved another costly part man ! Thumbs up .. I sent you a PM man..

[@PeterWMeek]

Great video, as usual. Nice detail on fixturing and clean-up before the actual brazing. I have a question: at about 12:10 you say that the cast iron is"full of moisture". I wonder if that is not condensation on the cold metal. After all, acetylene is C2H2 (H-C=C-H) and the oxygen is O2. The combustion products are (ideally) just water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2). When working on a hot piece, the water goes straight to water vapor (invisible in air), but when it is cold, the water vapor might condense like the dew on an iced tea glass. I suppose you could test this by heating a decent-sized chunk of cast iron (at least a pound or so) until you are sure there is no moisture. Then let it cool completely (or even chill it slightly) and reheat it to see whether the moisture reappears. Of course, I may be totally wrong. I recall an older video of yours where you were brazing something quite old and oil-soaked. I think you had cleaned it thoroughly on the outside, yet it smoked like the dickens when you heated it. If oil can soak into cast iron, why not water?

[@Abom79]

+Peter W. Meek Peter, I think your correct sir. But you sound much smarter with that than I do! LOL I know that it's typical when you heat clean metal like that you'll see it start rusting just slightly immediately.

[@stevenhoman2253]

Beautiful craftsmanship man. Love your work.

[@patrickz8764]

Always a pleasure to watch you repaired a very good work. Adam ;)

[@Just1GuyMetalworks]

Nice job, Adam! It's nice to see some good old fashioned gas welding 👍😃👍.

[@bobleewhite2220]

Great brazing. Since this is edited you could place a #5 dark shade lens in front of the camera so that we could see what you see. now the brazing action is washed out. Great show.

[@AlphaBobFloridaOverlord]

Nice carbon feather on the torch Adam - you really know what you're doing! Thank you for sharing. I'm almost 60, but still want to be you when I grow up - LOL!

[@stevefriedlander7053]

Excellent quality of work!! Great video. Thanks

[@PatrickPoet]

It would have been interesting if you had done a sand cast too. The model would have to be two piece since it's not physically possible to pull that shape out of a sand mold. Still doable. The cast would be in one piece. At first I thought it might need a two piece casting welded or brazed together, but it looks like one piece so I figured it out. The hardest part would be registering the top and bottom molds. Have you done anything like that? I haven't so I could just be whistling in the dark.

[@hectorguerrero3596]

Adam, for all your prowess in machining you seem to ALWAYS stop short when attempting to weld, braze, etc a part. You always say..."there's a couple low spots and I wish I would of filled it in a bit more". lol, I love you man, but damn take your own advise and fill that shit in!!! You got plenty of rods, braze material, etc... and since you're a machinist God, you can always dress the weld down flush so that you don't have low spots! Anyone else bugged by this? or am I the only A-hole giving Adam shit about this? lol love you bro! haha

[@WTFChuk]

Looks like a zillion people asked what rod is being used. The standard, go-to rod for braze welding cast iron with oxy-fuel is Flux Coated Low Fuming Bronze (AWS A5.8 RBCuZn-C). A high-quality American Made version is Harris 15: www.harrisproductsgroup.com/en/Products/Alloys/Welding/Copper-Alloy/Low-Fuming-Bronze-15-FC.aspx No, I do not work for Harris/Lincoln Electric, but I DO use Harris 15 and it's great stuff :-D

[@howder1951]

Great looking repair Adam, ver nice brazing job!

[@marioromero5068]

I’m confident you can repair it as good as new! 👍

[@bigbearfuzzums7027]

Alot of the old school Brazzers you'll see the whole table and arms burn up sleeves and flux powder everywhere frog green eyes and no less the two brass rods clenched in their teeth with a rosebud going to town ! Lol you do damn good work!

[@willierants5880]

Amazing work Adam.

[@homersimpson6176]

Nice work Brazing !

[@billsales7237]

Nice work Adam very nice.

Why brazing? Because its cast iron and welding it will make it crack again? Why didnt the braze also stick to that metal piece which holds everything together?

[@plasma3211]

This is an amazing repair! The difference between what talent and experience can do and what is valued by those who destroy. I have been tasked with repairs such as this but not to this extent thankfully. Usually due to someones lack of talent and respect. Lazy operators and maintenance practices i. e. out of balanced pumps! Been there done that, don't want to do it again! Thanks to retirement-lol.

[@davidmaloy5477]

Can’t wait to see it cleaned up.

[@morningstarx5340]

That machined ring was the deal, though. Nice work.

[@phooesnax]

Great work. Looking forward to part two.

[@walterplummer3808]

Another great video. Please pass on our thanks to your employer for allowing you to film there. Thanks!

[@Imwright720]

When I see a part like that fail I always wonder about something being off just a little causing it. I’ll bet new when they bolted it down it was off and was forced to seal through bolt pressure. One more thing, it’s a pleasure to watch a craftsman.

[@martingrahdu8987]

i apreciate the videos ive been watching for a couple years one thing i would love to hear you talk about and it might not be easy to do but would be very intersting would be to go into depth on or at least touch on how a shop like yours charges. i have done some machining for a few people and i end up working for about five bucks an hour after expenses... thanks Martin...

[@RyanWeishalla]

Nice looking work and good thinking on how to keep everything aligned.

[@lGoodView4u]

I'm about to die for part 2 Chuck that thing up Adam..

[@Abom79]

+John Grishom Should be out Saturday...:P

[@jeremytravis360]

It's many years since I did my apprenticeship in Oxyacetylene welding and it looks like technology has come on a long way. I remember dipping uncoated rods into flux but it looks like you can get coated rods now ? Many thanks for revisiting my youth.

[@jackmioff000]

An oxyen/acetylene apprenticeship? That must have been a few years back then and i started welding with oxyen/acetylene and personally its the funnest way to weld

[@jeremytravis360]

@@jackmioff000 I sort of had that feeling myself although I did learn the other protocols. TIG was my favourite but the whole area of Production Engineering was changing.

[@jackmioff000]

@@jeremytravis360 i learned mig and stick but tig is another beast

[@jeremytravis360]

@@jackmioff000 I did a bit of them all.

[@jeremytravis360]

@@jackmioff000 Yes 1980s.

[@iiredeyeiiredeye1569]

I love this channel, and normally everything on here is done very well, But some mistakes are made here from my point of view. You've gone to huge effort making that backing ring to hold everything tight and flush whilst you braze the repair, Then take it off half way through and start brazing out of the fixture...Big no for me, Personally I'd have built it right up with braze twice what I thought was needed, then let it cool completely before releasing the fixture. Then I'd have machined back the outer face to the original material. Then mounted my fixture on that new machined face and then brazed the back up. I've learned over the years the problems that can be caused by welding outside the Jig. Hope this doesn't offend as you're a cool guy and your channel is one of my favourites.

[@dynoguy]

Wow, that was alot of brazing rod but as we all know, Adam doesn't do small bits...:-).... Well thought and well done as always.

[@richbooth8948]

Brazing and welding are such a cool skill. You are quite skilled. Is brazing as strong as welding? I always likened brazing to soldering and welding to actually fusing the pieces together. By the way this video is over 3 years old. How did the job hold up?

[@mertsilliker1682]

quite a job to take on, the ring was priceless

[@jusb1066]

is there any worry of it drooping when you are brazing the back part? softening the other side braze too much and messing with the nice alignment?