Welding a Hardened Bail Fork

By altered Date 05-06-2008 02:21

Hi this is my first post over this great looking forums.

I'm a little novice with repairing some "need to be strong thing". I have repaired a bail fork (1-3/4 ground shaft) who was split in half (not by fatigue, straight break). I have double V grooved, pre-heated the shaft to 200c and then welded it with 7018 (3/32). But like 2 weeks later the same shaft got back. Half of the weld break and the other half is the shaft itself who snaped. I looking for tips from people who do repair work like that what make a repair strogn and durable.

This is little pictograme to show the first break

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the second break

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Thanks a lot

Francis

By DaveBoyer (*****)

Date 05-06-2008 03:39

A high strength heat treated part like this is dificult if not impossible to repair sucessfully. Pre heat, keep hot while welding and post weld heat treat folowed by slow cooling will give You the best chance for sucess. The 7018 rod You used is not nearly as strong as the parent material. a 12018 rod might not even be strong enough. There are some "wonder rods" marketed by the specialty repair rod companies that might be stronger, but probably still won't be as strong as the part was originally.