By Sourdough
Date 03-30-2012 14:33
Edited 03-30-2012 14:42
If you really worry about that material, (which I think you shouldn't), preheat it to 350 or 400 degrees with a rose bud, then nail it. You could even post heat it if it made you feel better. But I don't think you need to.
Do you know how many times I have come along after another welder and been simply amazed at tha scabby work? Just a couple months ago I was clocked by an I-beam that popped off of a water tank. I was using gravity to lever the skid away from the tank as I zipped the existing welds off the tank. The last 2 , (thats right I said TWO), welds were basically slag with paint. The I-beam popped off and pinned me with my torch burning 70 pounds of fuel next to my face, as blood trickled into my eyes and ear. I ended up just fine after some super glue and some tlc by a young lady that also spent the night. But you get my point.
Grab a handful of rod and stick that thing back on. You will know right away what you are dealing with. You won't have to wait for it to pop off or crack if it is some exotic iron. It will most likely happen right as you are welding it, or shortly after.
I don't agree with Cactus. You don't engineer blast doors that are that far beyond the integrity of the walls it's attached to. What would be the point of that?
Another thing you could do is put a 6"x6" A36 plate on the door so you could get more surface area welded pre and post heat, (with plug welds throughout), then weld your handle on it. That's enough weld to keep it on no matter what.
Or build a new handle with more surface area, but that may raise some eyebrows of the people that sign your check.
Shawn, I work with wear plate in many different forms. AR plate being one of them. I have welded thousands of pounds of rod and wire on AR. I weld lifting eyes on with 7018 and no pre heat all the time on pieces that could crush that blast door like a soda can. You don't need pre heat to weld a handle to this door. It would probably only warp the door anyway. Clean it up and put a nice bead with 7018 and charge them accordingly.