hinged radius arm

[texan79&96]

im eventually goin to use cage arms but i have 3 or 4 sets of radius arms so im thinking about building a wristed arm. i have small 230 stick welder and some cast rods. do i use cast rods? what is the best and strongest way to weld the cast iron of those things. i plan to put a couple permanent sunken and welded peices of stock through them for safety. i have lots of 1/2" plate so i figure why not??? i just want to know any tips or tricks to welding mild steel plate to the cast iron arms. what rods do use, how small of sections or slow to go, how to let it cool down properly etc... thanks

 

[Broncoholics]

Damn good question. You might ask the local welding shop if you need cast iron welding rods with cast/steel. I used rod for steel. Since you will be filling 1/2" steel plates to the inside of the radius arm and adding 1/2" on the outside you should be OK using standard rods. So far I've never had a problem and its been 6 years running. I did heat up the arm with a torch so I would get good penitration but I don't think its necessary. Do small sections at a time, top, bottom, front, back until its done. No need to rush and tweak stuff out of alignment.

Did I give you the instruction on how to build it? If not I'll send it.