Had my flathead block welded, pretty cool process

Maybe this is old news but I recently came across a guy that repairs cast iron by spraying bronze, I've never seen or heard of it before. He uses a torch, looks just like a cutting torch except for a small canister on top, looks like a cup off of a paint gun. Fires it up, heats the metal till a dull orange and pulls the trigger, spraying bronze powder out. The powder melts and sticks as it comes out. You can start layering it just like adding coats of paint to build it up.

The block, someone in the past must of gotten a little too agressive with the valve tool bar and broke the intake port.

After it was sprayed.

Cooled & filed, just like new again. The whole process took about 20 minutes.

The guy says he's fixed all types of broken parts, ears broke off of blocks, freeze cracks, even broken end plates off a big milling machine with no failers. He's even built up cam lobes for special grinds, say's it's harder then the original lobes. I asked him about fixing a normal crack in a flathead (you know, wall to port) and he wants to try it. He checked with the powder manufacture's engineers and they said it would work as long as combustain temps stay below a substained 1200 degrees. How hot is a combustain chamber? I might give it a try, i got a couple good blocks except a crack, might work better then the drill & pin repair I've done before. It would be great to have a reasonable ($$$) way save some of these old motors. Anybody try it before? If it works I might invest in the torch and some powder.

 

Pic #2 is pretty cool; it sure looks like the new metal flowed great and has a very good bond... just like solder on copper.

 

Old news or not, I learned something new today. That looks pretty cool and is good to know for whenever I find something needing this sorta repair.

Thanks for sharing this with us!

 

Interesting - Thanks

 

Very impressive process.........thanks for sharing


Ray

 

I have heard about the process, just never seen it done. Very cool!

 

Impressive repair. Learn something new, keep us posted

 

You won't see 1200 under normal conditions. Aluminum pistons begin to melt up around 1300, IIRC.

 

metalman...could you ask him where we can purchase this special bronze spray torch? thank you

 

sounds like the spray welds that rust busters use to repair rust outs in bodies. they say that they can use tape then spray holes 3 inches across

 

Well THAT was worth logging on for.

 

plym49- I'm not a mechanical engineer ( I'd have no idea of combustion temps) but I was thinking along those lines, if it was hot enough to melt the bronze, aluminum wouldn't be far behind.
Gumpy1940-his torch was made by Victor, I'd check and see if your welding shop could order one. He said the torch cost him around 250. The powder he used is manufactured locally and kinda pricy, around 350 for a 11 lb can. I understand they have different alloys for different materials and hardness requirements.
NONAME- don't know what type of tape they would use to hold up to the heat, must be good stuff! Wouldn't know about rust busters around here!

 

I'm impressed. I wonder if this is a patented or a company process or just something a good mechanic/machinist has come up with.

 

That's a really neat process. Does he have a shop in town?

 

It must be a patent the machine shop in the refinery I retired from used it to metalize shafts, it is a neat process. They would spin the shaft in a lathe then heat and apply the metal.

 

It's known as a "powder torch" I believe. One of the powders sprayed is Nickel, and they have been used to replace damaged or broken "ears" on engine blocks and transmission cases.
To save the hole in the ear, they stick in a carbon rod of the proper hole diameter, and start spraying.

Look here: http://www.metalspraysupplies.com/equipment/powder-flamespray.htm

 

56don- might be patented but I don't thinkit's a company or franchise type of thing. Still looking into it.
dmw56- He's in Los Lunas Don. I can get you his number if you ever need it. Speaking of shops you need to stop in our new shop and say hi one of these days.

 

That "powder torch" looks like the setup he used all right. I'm surprised it's not more common, it doesn't require a hugh investment or skill.

 

Thermal spray coating or material build up has been around for a very long time and there are plenty of different companies making equipment and consumables of all types for it.

There are lots of applications and variations of the process from the basic flame spray to arc spray transfer methods like plasma spray.

We have learned about the process and how to apply and use it for many years here in our Alberta Welder Apprenticeship program.

You can find all kinds of info on the process theory including applications and history
here.

Good info.
http://www.thermalspray.org/index.php


The International Thermal Spray Association, a Standing Committee of the American Welding Society, is a professional industrial association dedicated to expanding the use of thermal spray technologies for the benefit of industry and society.

 

heres the torch needed to do this. I almost wanna buy one

http://www.usaweldingequipment.com/product_details.cfm?category_id=34&product_id=996

 

spray welding/metalizing has been around for ages. I first learned about it fixing some huge rollers for a laminating machine 20 years ago. The bearings had gone south and chewed up the bearing journals on the rollers. A few phone calls later and we found a local machine shop that could do it. A couple of hours later, a part costing upwards of $30k with a 6 week lead time was repaired for around $500.

Powdered metal technology has come leaps and bounds since then. Net cast parts are common today using a process nearly identical to injection molding. 2 years ago we machined a series of hydraulic pump bodies using powdered metal. It was pretty cool stuff. The bores only had to be reamed and burnished to attain the tolerances and surface finishes they required.

 

Thanks Metalman Now I can bug our welder to fix my flathead blocks along with my KB blocks I blow up HA HA Tim Jones

 

Or spray welding. Can be used to weld a crank jounnal on a lathe. Keep it turning slowly, when hot, spray the powered metal on to build up a layer.

 

My metal shop teacher in high school had that rig. That was 1978-1980 and it seemed like an old set-up then. But it sure worked awesome. Never seen one since. Cool they are still being used.

 

Very interesting,I'm glad I read this thread.It is worth looking into to save certain parts

 

As cool as this technology is and thinking even broader, can you imagine the repair technologies that might be possible? Too bad we have become a 'just order a new part' or, worse, 'just order a whole new thing' society. If this was a SBC, a phone call and a new cylinder head (or long block) is dropeped off at your door. We have gone to far down the 'just replace it' road.

 

Try googling Eutectic Castoline spray powder. I used these processes in the sixties.

 

If you visit that site I posted you can learn all you ever need to know about thermal spray processes and applications.

It's the AWS for crying out loud !!

 

What he said ^
I use the the "Superjet" flame spray torch from Eutectic at work. We make and refurbish drill bits and high wear components for oil/gas/mineral drilling and agricultural industries. You can get bronze, chrome and nickel based powders it all depends on the base material and conditions it will be used under. We use a hard facing powder ( tungsten carbide) mainly, and the process is pretty user friendly.

 

Very cool, a local shop has been advertising this process but I've never seen it done.

I wonder how it would hold up on exhaust manifolds. I have an O/T turbocharged car that eats cast iron manifolds.

Shawn