On Thu, 29 Apr 2004 08:32:54 -0700, "SteveB"
wrote:
===
==="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.
=== Remove "nospam" from email addy.
===
===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.
===
Thanks steve
Thats sort of what I had figured. YUou could probably stick it
together and as long as no stress is applied it may hold up in certain
applications. Now all I have to do is persuade her to change her mind
on sme of her patterns she wants and find it in alum with weld tabs or
beter yet even steel pieces.
Your right, Decorativeiron.com has some awesome pieces. SOme are
pretty darn $$ but lots for the most part are next to ther price of
dirt. And a lot of those are way more decorative than the average
wrought iron railing and furniture etc commonly seen so you can still
find a ton of pieces and come up with a unique item in the end.
I priced handrail and also the pre-punched channel for pickets locally
and the local price was over 50% higher tna buying from decorative
Iron even with shipping, and then no tax either which would cost me
another 11% locally. I just wish there was a decent way to ship pieces
over 9 foot as I could just picture what a trucking company would do
with 20 foot sticks until it got delivered.
Once again I appreciate the info, now I got to talk to the wife.......
Regards
Visit my website:
http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wifes,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.