My new post drill came...in peices!

[JKindy]

I anxiously awaited for my Post Drill to arrive from the EvilBay. When it arrived, I opened the box and glanced at it. Cool!! I took it over to my Dad's house where my shop is located in his garage. We started pulling it out of the box...in peices. The shipper just put in a box with a bunch of packing peanuts, some old styrofoam, and some of those air bags. Well during transpot it broke the main flywheel off of the frame, the handle broke in two. He should have left it on the plank it was mounted to. Luckily, we only paid $76 for it and its insured through UPS. So now I have to try and get my money back through them. It's not the money though that I'm dissapointed with. The drill is old and irreplaceable. Well here is what it looks like.

[ciladog]

It’s too bad when that happens and the drill will no longer be in perfect condition. But you are a blacksmith and if it’s made of metal, you can fix it. Get some nickel rod and get to work. You will have it and use it the rest of your life and with history.

[Mainely,Bob]

Ah,the hidden costs of dealing with on-line auctions and their clueless sellers.
The stories are many and each more depressing than the last.Sorry to hear you have taken part in one of them.

My brother comes up from Utah every year and one of the things he loves about Maine is all the antique tools for cheap.Usually the last 2 days of his visit are taken up packing and shipping.
One of the best ways to ship we have found is to line a box we have fit to the largest piece with plywood(usually 1/4" sides and 1/2" base) and then drill holes and use cable ties to secure whatever we are shipping to the ply.The spaces between are filled with smaller tools wrapped in bubble wrap.We have yet to lose a tool to breakage.We also wrap the outside of the box with bands of reinforced strapping tape.
Another trick we use is to buy either hard sided luggage or hard plastic totes(there is still commercial fishing in our area)at yard sales or thrift shops and ship in those.If Bill feels he can get things thru the X-ray machine (hewing axes draw too much attention)he can check in up to 70+ pounds as luggage for $30.Not a bad deal.

[JKindy]

Oh I'm not giving up on her. We will fix her. I am going to take it my friend and have him weld it. He can weld cast a whole lot better than me. This is for my Dad's shaft driven shop, so I want it fixed right the first time. I will of course be going to school watching him weld this thing back together.

[jmeineke]

Man that's a shame. The upside is you should be able to get your money back out of it with the insurance and have a working drill when it's all welded up.

[Holzkohle]

My other addiction is cast iron cookware. Believe me that there are many sellers who think cast iron is steel and not very breakable. It is very disapointing when an irreplaceable piece of history is lost because of ignorance-especially after proper packaging techniques have been suggested.

Suggest that you do not try to make any repairs until after you have settled with the insurance. Don't give the seller an out with your claim.

[Thomas Dean]

Oh I'm not giving up on her. We will fix her. I am going to take it my friend and have him weld it. He can weld cast a whole lot better than me. This is for my Dad's shaft driven shop, so I want it fixed right the first time. I will of course be going to school watching him weld this thing back together.

Personnally I would do the repairs with brass. This is how it would have been done back in the day. Also, in a few years the repaired area will have a nice patina instead of the SHINEY-IN-YOUR-FACE repair. Just my thoughts.

I repaired a cast pulley (also for a large post drill) last year for a guy in Ill. I had taught a cast iron repair workshop and he had brought it for us to fix during the weekend, in a 5gal bucket! It was in 5 pieces and I told him it would take longer than we had time for during the workshop. I felt bad as we didn't do any of it so I told him if he would ship it to me and pay for shipping back I would repair it for free. It took about 3 or 4hrs best I remember, that included all prep time. When he got it back he said that his wife wanted to hang it on the kitchen wall as a decorative piece!

[Bentiron1946]

I'm not the best welder but on the cast iron tools that I have repaired with brass non of them have come apart, the ones that have been repaired with nickle rod have eventually broken again along one of the repair joints, not sure why, lack of skill most likely. <_<

[jmeineke]

My other addiction is cast iron cookware. Believe me that there are many sellers who think cast iron is steel and not very breakable. It is very disapointing when an irreplaceable piece of history is lost because of ignorance-especially after proper packaging techniques have been suggested.

I'm a fan of cast iron cookware too. Keep them properly seasoned and they are as good as teflon IMO. I've only done a few repairs to cast and it's all been with MIG which was an interesting experience to say the least - occasionally it would go "critical" on me and there would be like a burst of sparks that would come off for lack of a better explanation. I wish I had known about nickel and brass back then. Live and learn.

[Thomas Dean]

I'm not the best welder but on the cast iron tools that I have repaired with brass non of them have come apart, the ones that have been repaired with nickle rod have eventually broken again along one of the repair joints, not sure why, lack of skill most likely.

When doing brass repairs on cast you are introducing the heat to the part at a much slower rate, therefore the part is heating a lot more uniformly. Arc welding you are shocking the cast with xxx number of amps (heat). Also, since the heat is more uniform it will cool in the same way, although a good wrap in 'kaowool' is a good idea. Nickle does not give either as will brass. Welding is my everyday job, since '73, and brazing cast is much more user friendly with longer lasting results.

[Thomas Dean]

I'm a fan of cast iron cookware too. Keep them properly seasoned and they are as good as teflon IMO. I've only done a few repairs to cast and it's all been with MIG which was an interesting experience to say the least - occasionally it would go "critical" on me and there would be like a burst of sparks that would come off for lack of a better explanation. I wish I had known about nickel and brass back then. Live and learn.

I love cast cookware too! It's also healthier for you. I demo sometimes around 'dutch oven' cooks, I sware, I eat more than I forge! "here, try some of this", "wrap yer lips around some of this". I have yet to eat something that was not just awesome that came out of a dutch oven. I even know of a couple that cooks dutch oven year round, 100% dutch oven. Yea, their waist showed that they do eat well too! :lol:

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

I have used various cast rods in the past with great results. I am not talking about the cheap E-99 nickel rods, but the more expensive rods that give a much better color match, and lay down a lot smoother. It has been awhile since I have done some, so I forget which rod it was, but I have used several brands with similar results. The one thing these rods have in common is price-they run up to $50 a pound. A lot of what I have used was rod that came with various welders I have purchased at auctions. Once they are ground smooth it is difficult to see the weld.

Here is my method.

Prep part by grinding generous weld preps in order to achieve a 90%-100% weld when finished. Some folks say to make the final prep with a cutting tool as opposed to a grinder due to possible graphite smears made by a grinder.

Preheat till it is too hot to touch.

Short 1"-1.5" stringer beads.

Peen with a large industrial needle scaler as soon as you stop the weld.

Wire brush out ALL slag. Then repeat the above steps till it is done.

Post heat entire part to a uniform too hot to touch temp. If the item is too big to heat the entire item, heat as much as you can.

Dump part into a drum full of stirred up gray wood ashes, or pour them onto larger items. Don't skimp on the amount used.

Remove the next day after it has cooled overnight.

Grind smooth if needed. If part is old and has some pitting a quick hit with the needle scaler will blend in the welded area, after grinding/sanding.

I have done repairs like this, and have had the customer unable to find the weld.

With all of that being said, some cast irons are not weldable, and would need to be brazed instead. If I can do it to where a repair cannot be seen I will go that route first.

[mashin' metal]

It’s too bad when that happens and the drill will no longer be in perfect condition. But you are a blacksmith and if it’s made of metal, you can fix it. Get some nickel rod and get to work. You will have it and use it the rest of your life and with history.

exactly what I was thinking, strip it down, clean it up and get some nickel, it will live again and you can make the world turn smoother because you saved one. Don't let it go to scrap for that damage, its to old and deserves to be repaired, just think about it when your grandkids are using it and bragging about the repair made by their old assed granpop.

edit; I likes the brass idea too

[HWHII]

When doing brass repairs on cast you are introducing the heat to the part at a much slower rate, therefore the part is heating a lot more uniformly. Arc welding you are shocking the cast with xxx number of amps (heat). Also, since the heat is more uniform it will cool in the same way, although a good wrap in 'kaowool' is a good idea. Nickle does not give either as will brass. Welding is my everyday job, since '73, and brazing cast is much more user friendly with longer lasting results.

This is good advise you give and are absolutely right. If the part needs some ductility in it brazing is definitely the way to go.