"Roy" wrote in message
...
I got tasked (by the better half) to make good onmy promise to make
her some outside wrought iron items. Trellis, gate way arches, tables,
stands, arbors etc etc etc....(she has quite an extensive list).
Anyway I got a King Decorative Metal Supply catalog of all kinds of
pre-made components for this type stuff, and have a question or two on
welding things up.

Lots of their design compnents are made from cast iron. Lots are made
out of cast aluminum, however the cast alum pieces have steel weld
tabs cast into them so joining them to structural steel tube is not a
problem. Just how do you attach the cast iron pieces to the tube? Is
this normally welded to the tube by way of MIG or is it brazed O/A

I have only a MIG, and stick machine, but a lot of what the wife wants
is cast iron decorative compnents such as a series of corner brackets
and freizes etc that need to be incorporated into the trellis and
arbors etc. Is MIG suitable to attach the cast iron to the steel
support tubes?

What had started out as a simple project using a ring roller and
scroll former soon turned into a nightmare once the wife seen all the
designs and components in the King Metals catalog, now its a nightmare
trying to decide what one really wants and what components to
use........
Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wifes,
I had no input whatsoever.
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Roy:

My experience with cast iron in making decorative steel:

I have welded on thousands of spear points, decorations, and such. They
WILL work, but are subject to breaking from brittleness. Be careful with
the handling and points where stress will be applied. This would be
particularly so where you use a decoration in a corner like a gusset, or in
a place where it can flex. I have never bought the solid cast iron pieces,
as our local suppliers only have the aluminum with inserts.

I first saw the solid cast iron pieces when I visited the decorativeiron.com
store in Houston. They have some pretty awesome cast iron pieces that would
make good looking stuff, but they are PRICEY and HEAVY. Just depends on
what you are making. I, personally, would try to sell the wife away from
the cast iron to the aluminum for brittleness, cost, and weight factors.
Once it is painted, it pretty much looks the same.

A word of advice: Make the wife WHATEVER she wants, and HOWEVER she wants
it. It will buy you a LOT of peace. And her attitude towards your "hobby"
will be very positive. Plus, you will be getting experience with this stuff
that you can carry on to job$ for other people. Also, dealing with her, and
doing it the way she wants it, and change this, change that, gives you real
world experience for when you run into a client like that.

HTH.

Steve, who had a wrought iron business for nine years.