Welding Wrought Iron, HELP!

[stixman55]

The wife wants me to weld some wrought Iron brackets together to make some furniture. It will actually look nice when it's completed BUT before I go and screw up a bunch of brackets I need to know how to do this properly. I'm using my Lincoln 180 Mig welder. Do I use gas with this kinda welding? What kind of wire should I use?, what should I set the wire speed at and at what temp setting... The Iron is about 1/4 inch thick. This is new territory for me and could use tips before I go burning up a lot of brackets

[ThomasPowers]

Are you welding real wrought iron or just welding mild steel that has been shaped?

[stixman55]

Cheap Chinese crap but what isnt when it comes from China. So to be honest I really dont know what it may be made of. It will crack if I hit it hard enough. and it's not too heavy. Here is what the stuff looks likewelding.jpg. Really, any advice will be apriciated, I just need to get an Idea where I'm starting with my setup for a weld.

[RegionalChaos]

Looks cast, which can be a big pain to weld.

[mike-hr]

I would suggest drilling and tapping threads for joinery. That stuff is cheap pig iron cast. I don't know about MIG welding it, I've had some luck preheating to 400F with a torch and stick welding with nickle rod. Once you get a couple welds to stick, there's a good chance it will stretch and warp and break in two somewhere in the middle of the piece. I built a gate using those cast pieces once, I think it was what convinced me to learn blacksmithing, so I could make my own...

[stixman55]

So, anybody know how to weld Cheap Chineese Pig Iron with a mig welder? It's a cosmetic thing that were doing and drilling and taping would only be a last resort. I know someone has done this. Perhaps I could braze it? Any ideas will certainly be apriciated... hell, I know I'm in the right place for this one.

[Hillbillysmith]

Just braze it. You'll save yourself a big hassle in the long run and as long as you know how to braze properly, it's strong enough to hold for furniture.... Unless your as big as I am!

-Hillbilly

[devon blacksmith]

This looks like non weldable iron not sg or gray iron that can be welded you could stitch weld it,by puting small pieces of steel between the iron and place one tack on each side on each piece of steel this will stop the shrinking that causes the iron to crack when cooling.