Repairing a Cracked Cast Iron Woodstove

I have a cast iron wood stove with a crack in the top plate, and today I’m going to do my best to salvage it by welding the crack.
Subscribe for more videos about carpentry, metalworking, living and working on a rural smallholding, alternative energy, & mad science - bit.ly/Greenhi...
Services/Shop - greenhillforge...
Instagram - / greenhillforge
Sign up for the newsletter - greenhillforge...
Patreon - / greenhillforge
#woodstoverepair #fixit #welding

[@alithorbs]

Your videos are great. Your teaching is spot on, zero arrogance or shortcuts. Trouble is my manliness level drops 0.8% every time I watch one of your videos. 😢. Good job I’m at Godzilla level atm. 👍

[@jasongarland3165]

It's actually a brilliant idea to weld it after you built a fire in the stove. Preheated cast iron takes weldment much better and allowing the whole stove to cool down slowly as the fire burns out controls shrinking. Good job!

[@aleksandarpetrovic6613]

Nice work, excellent video. You don't need to preheat it, if you use MAG welder (CO2).

[@Vikingwerk]

Nice fix, if you want to blend the look of the weld with the cast iron, sand blasting or a needle scaler work pretty well.

[@GreenhillForge]

Yeah, if I took the top off I would have sandblasted it but I didn't want to put the whole stove in my sandblasting cabinet and I dont have a cabinetless setup. I was also too scared to hit cast iron with the needle scaler in case it was too much and I cracked it again. Have you used one on cast iron? I've never tried it. They're both good ideas though.

[@Vikingwerk]

@ I myself have not used the needle scaler trick; I’ve seen a few people here on youtube do it on restoration projects. But you make a good point, easy to over-do it and break it again. You can always stick the wand end out of your sandblasting cabinet, it only wastes a *little* sand and *barely* makes a huge mess! 😜

[@GreenhillForge]

@@Vikingwerk could also be a cool project to make a fold up walk in blasting cabinet...

[@ahmadbaghereslami796]

Very nice work 👍🏼

[@snowflakemelter1172]

You didn't mention filler wire or electrode, cast iron should be done with 100% nickel or Ferro nickel.

[@GreenhillForge]

yeah, you're right, I forgot to mention and by the time I realized the video was posted. I used ENiFe-C1 2.5mm rods

[@tobychurches7803]

this is sick

[@CMiltonDixon]

Nice work!

[@Huttify]

Nice video! I have several old wood stoves that need some fixing, but never thought about welding them. Until now. I have always been advised to use some fireplace repair cement, or what its called. Are there cases of repair that I should not weld these?

[@GreenhillForge]

It's hard to say without seeing them. Are they defineitely cast iron? Cast iron can be really tricky but sometimes it works out great.

[@Huttify]

@GreenhillForge Some of them definitely are cast iron, but not sure about all. I wasn't expecting a final answer to this, actually. Maybe a thought for a video in the future?

[@alfredopampanga9356]

What welding stick did you use?

[@GreenhillForge]

ENiFe-C1 2.5mm rods

[@benderbender1233]

🖖