RR Anvil

[tompdw]

Hard facing is for things that take a lot of abuse and needs a high shock and abrasion resistance. I would be useful if you were repairing something like a plow blade or a farm impliment. It is commonly laid on top of hard face build up. Does this help any?

[Jose Gomez]

Originally Posted by Farmer Phil

Go Hillybillysmith, go! I'm looking forward to following this thread.

I've found some loose rail along an abandoned track on the other end of the island. The thing is all the rails are full length and heavy as the dickens. I'm thinking of making a ninja run early one Sunday morning with my little OA cutting torch and see if I can hack off a piece. I'm kind of new to the cutting torch and not sure I'll be able to pull it off. The thickest I've cut so far is 1" mild steel. Sometimes I've done just fine while other times I've struggled a good deal with only half penetration and lots of molten metal blow back. Anyone got any pointers?

You will have better luck if you equip your torch with a size 1 tip, set the acetylene at 3 to 5 psi, and run the oxygen pressure at 30 to 35 psi. This is the smallest setup recomended by Victor torch manufacturing for producing a quality cut on the thickness of metal that you are after. Crankin up the O2 to 80 might enable you to blast through the track, but a small cylinder will only last for a blink at those preassures (maybe not even long enough to get the job done)

[Covforge]

I wasn't thinking about a small cylinder, that's right it won't last long at high pressure. I'm used to big tanks with lots of spares.
Travis

[Farmer Phil]

Originally Posted by tompdw

Hard facing is for things that take a lot of abuse and needs a high shock and abrasion resistance. I would be useful if you were repairing something like a plow blade or a farm impliment. It is commonly laid on top of hard face build up. Does this help any?

Thanks, I understand what hard facing is and does, I just don't know what rod to get to do it. When I asked for hard facing rod at the local Gaspro they just started hemming and hawing and threw a bunch of numbers at me.

Thanks for all the cutting tips guys!

[Jose Gomez]

Robb Gunter recomends using 3/16 inch stoody 2110 for buildup, and 1/8 inch stoody 1105 for the face. Grind all surfaces to be welded, Preheat the anvil (or whatever chunk of metal you decide to use) to 400-450 degrees. You can put down an unlimited # of layers with the 2110 in order to build up the surface or replace any missing metal. With the 1105 you have to be sure to not exceed 3 layers, so use it sparingly. after welding re heat the anvil to 400 degrees and pack it in vermiculite or wrap it in a welding blanket (anything that will help it to cool verry slowly). Once it has cooled, just grind to shape and your done.
Another way to do it is with Rankin hardfacing wire in a MIG welder. You can use Rankin BB-G for buildup, and Rankin DD-G for hardface. You still have to grind the areas to be welded, preheat, and post-heat, but only to 200 degrees. The wire is a ton faster, but you need to have a machine capable of running .045 wire at 250 amps (Big machine).
If you are planning on welding on rail road track you really should preheat and post heat (or at a minimum slow cool) the chunk of track no mater what filler metal you chose to use. this will help to prevent the underbead cracking that is common when welding on steels with carbon contents higher than .5%

[Farmer Phil]

Thanks Jose. That was quite clear. What's the deal with the 3 layer max with the 1105?

[Jose Gomez]

Due to the high alloy content and hardness of the hardface rod, you usually can put down no more than 2 to 3 layers of weld. This is because the weld metal is designed with an excessive amount of certain alloying elements with the designers knowing that it is to be applied over a much softer metal which will act as a cusion, and will mix in with the hardface overlay. when the hardface is applied it melts and mixes in with a certain ammount of the softer buildup or base metal. this dilutes the deposited hardfacing material to a useable level. If you apply more than 3 passes you loose this dilution, and cushoning provided by the buildup or base metal. Because of this the hardface will tend to become excessively hard and brittle, and will eventually tend to chip off or check badly (spider crack).

[Hillbillysmith]

Sorry that I haven't been on here for a while I had a quite of bit of work to do on my 2 camaros that I just bought and got caught up in doing that. I haven't had time to take pics of the track but I will. Sorry, but the pics will be somewhat in the middle of the process. I have already trimmed the track, cut and welded the RR plate on the end of the track for the square hole with E6010 3-bead root on the bottom side and filled with E7018, I arc-gouged the top of the joint down to weld metal for complete joint penetration and filled part way with E7018 I built up the surface of the whole face and horn with MIG and have run a complete cover pass over the entire anvil with high-impact hardfacing rod. I am now in the grinding stage. I will take a pic when I go back to school.

Sorry about not taking more detailed pics as I went through the process but I have to get this project done because I have to get other work done for my teacher.

Sorry again,
-Hillbilly

[Farmer Phil]

Wow, that sounds great! Can't wait to see the pix. Guess you'll have quite a bit of grinding to do. How do you arc gouge?

[Dr Dean]

I believe that arc gouge is also known as air arc or carbon arc gouging. It takes alot of air and power to do anything of much thickness. Here's a link that explain the process. Fundamentals of Professional Welding