My Wife called me...

[Susan Salsburg]

That is so ugly. A good braze would just be a thin brassy colored line.

[C. Perry Rapier]

Hello Terry, what does 'somebody was blocking them off ,mean? I've no clue what that means.  :-/

[Terry Wharton]

Hello Perry, in the old days an alternative to buying pricey  aftermarket cast iron exhaust headers for a six-cylinder inline engine was to take a cutting torch and burn a hole in one end of the stock exhaust manifold, weld on a new outlet utilizing a flange cabbaged from something else, then a blocking plate would be welded in somewhere within the manifold to redirect half of the exhaust gas to that new outlet (sorry, but I don't know that much about it). The resulting racket was something different than that produced by headers and from what I heard growing up, Chevys for some reason had their unique sound. As much as anything, it was a way for kids with little $$$ to get around pricey speed shop equipment.

[FD_Hoover]

Do you know a good welder that owes you a favor? 

As many years as I have been involved in cast iron cookware I have always HEARD about cast iron cookware welders BUT, I have never seen a welded piece nor have I EVER met a cast iron cookware welder. They are like elves. Everybody talks about them, everybody knows there are there, but you just never see them. OR you hear about a man that knew a man that knew a man that knew a cast iron welder's brother. But that's as close as I ever got.

Hey Perry this is what you get when a NASCAR trackside welder stops in to visit and you have a proken paddle laying on the bench :D.  Wyatt Swaim is a good friend and customer at the shop for machine work.  Owns http://www.tigdepot.net/

[Chuck Rogers]

Now that is one fine repair. We all need to have a welder like that as a friend.

[C. Perry Rapier]

The repair looks like it has been brazed. And it has been brazed with iron that is of another color so you can see that repair a mile away. And the repair sticks up and away.

If this piece was being brazed so it could be put back in service then I will say this welder did a great job and I applaud his work. However this piece was not welded so it could be put back in service, was it?

As for fixing a piece that is a showpiece I don't think the work is all that good at all. I don't mean to be mean and throw off on this guys work, but I sure don't see anything to brag about. 

[FD_Hoover]

The repair looks like it has been brazed. And it has been brazed with iron that is of another color so you can see that repair a mile away. And the repair sticks up and away.

If this piece was being brazed so it could be put back in service then I will say this welder did a great job and I applaud his work. However this piece was not welded so it could be put back in service, was it?

As for fixing a piece that is a showpiece I don't think the work is all that good at all. I don't mean to be mean and throw off on this guys work, but I sure don't see anything to brag about. 

It was tig welded with nickle rod. He welded to get enough penetration to hand finish to match the piece. He used very minimal heat as not to cause a major issue with the iron weakening or cracking. I did the bottom side but never did the top left it as welded

[Lee Bowen]

The number visible in the lower left picture (30G) could be the size of the pot, as in 30 gallons.  The double gate mark may have been created by using two different gates in the mold, one for one side, and the other for the other, to insure that the molten iron was evenly distributed.  I have a similarly sized pot that also has the double gate.  This is mere conjecture on my part, but seems plausible upon second thought.

[Andrew Bunch]

I have been in the shipyard for 40 years and I have seen the best welders come and go, and that pot can be welded by a good welder with NI-ROD which is nickel based and designed for welding cast iron. ;) Is it worth it, not in my opinion.