Repairing an 1891 Cast Iron Egg Beater

[talesofthesevenseas]

This is a cool little cast iron Dover egg beater with 1888 and 1891 patent dates that was given to me today. I need to repair a break through it's neck. I am thinking that to do this right I should take it to a welder, rather than using Gorilla Glue or JB Weld. What do you guys think? The break is very clean and it fits back together well.

[waywardangler]

Just make sure it is a welder that knows how to weld or braze cast iron.  It is different than welding other steel/iron from what I have been told.

That looks like a difficult place to repair as I do not see how you would get behind that gear to grind the weld smooth.  Is this a rare egg beater?

[talesofthesevenseas]

I'm not sure if it is rare or not. It's got model numbers 0 and 1 on it and I'm not seeing those model numbers on the ones I'm seeing online. I don't expect that it is worth much, but I like it. The welding place I thought I would try is a shop that has been in business since 1925, I figured an old estabished all-around welds everything kind of place would be the type of welding shop to try. I also have a local one-man business, who I used for a repair on our pellet stove catch basket.

[marcylove]

what about epoxy?

[sapphire]

Though a little later then yours I thought you might get a chuckle out of this, if you haven't already seen it. 

http://www.victorianpassage.com/2008/11/the_dawn_of_the_egg_beater.php

[talesofthesevenseas]

Looks like mine wasn't the first one to snap at that spot!

[cogar]

I really don't think that is repairable by welding or brazing because there is not much there to work with. And like Wayward said, old cast iron is a bi--h to weld because of the heat "expansion" of the two different metals as they heat up & cool down. One does it faster than the other and the weld will "snap" back apart or cause a new break.

Tales, what I suggest is, iffen you really want to keep it, take it to someone, say a machine shop,  and have them "drill it" and epoxy a steel dowel pin in it. The trick is to get the holes "centered and aligned" correctly and not just anyone can do that.

Do that and it will be stronger than the original and the break will not be noticable unless closely inspected.
 

[talesofthesevenseas]

That sounds like a good idea. There are actually two holes in it on one side and matching marks on the other. It looks like there was an internal casting flaw at this point (I think) which made it weaker than normal. You can see these photo looking into the break. Maybe this could be used to align the drill or hold one side of the pin? Look into the shaft of the handle piece to see the holes, then look at the matching "bumps" on the corresponding beater side. I just checked the depth of the holes using a paper clip then measuring it. They are pretty deep actually, 1/4" and they are straight.

[fancypants]

Cool beater , talesof .

The ONLY method I'd use would be silver-soldering with 90% or better silver content & borax flux .
I say this because it won't be 'messy' afterwards (except paint/patina being burnt-off) as with welding excess , as well as the facts that  - it will be a stronger joint than the original cast iron ; slim-to-none chance of the job 'jamming' the gears (as is possible with iron square-rod welding) & you'll be 99.9% able to use it afterwards .

Some folks will attempt to use low-silver content brazing rods (cheaper) & often will cause poor bonding & results .

If you know someone in the HVAC service 'world' , there's a fair chance that they'll be more familiar with silver-soldering than the average 'welding shop' & might just do the job for you ; also , perhaps someone who works in an industrial 'tool-room' might be another choice .

Sorry to drone on & on , but my certification with 10,000 PSI silver-soldering prompts my little brain to do so !

[talesofthesevenseas]

OK this gives me lots to think on.

[KC]

Has it already been repaired once?

If there are holes on both sides....sounds like repairs could be alot easier than thought!

[talesofthesevenseas]

Two holes on one side, but matching "bumps" on the other side so it would give a place to drill if I were to go that route. Not sure what I'm gonna do on this one.

[olecanalantiques]

You could easily weld that but i wouldn't. I would JB Weld it and then rub a little stain on it and be done... It has a nice old aged look to it and if you weld it, there is going to be some grinding. JB it, Stain it and call it a day..

[talesofthesevenseas]

Just thought I would post a follow-up on this. I finally got around to epoxying the beater and it seems to have worked quite well. I used Locktight epoxy, the type that mixes two tubes together, similar to JB Weld.

[KC]

That two tube epoxy is my favorite for hard to mend items!  Never have gone wrong with it.  Beats out Gorilla Glue, Liquid Nails and all the others hands down!