Re-casting 19th century Cast Iron: What is acceptable (modern) source?
Re-casting 19th century Cast Iron: What is acceptable (modern) source?
(OP)
Odd problem here, but I'd like your thoughts.
I am trying to restore the cast ornamental railing decorations at the corners of a cemetery near my house. No budget from the county or historic societies, it's a donation thing so money has to be considered.) Graves are from mid 1840's through 1880's so the decorative cast iron in the fence around the cemetery is probably that same time period.
1) I have recovered 12 of 24 of the broken fence railing caps from the dirt and cleaned them. Those pieces I can adequately re-weld using a high-nickel SMAW weld rod, then grind them clear so the outside finish "looks" as smooth as the original contours. First question: how do I re-coat/repaint the welded areas to match the existing "black oxide" of the original castings? I don't need museum-quality national archival perfection here, just something or some system that looks right from the road, but won't rust out in garish patches in the next 5 years. Simple galvanized primer and flat black paint?
2) From the recovered fragments I have found a local "metal artist" who can make the molds and produce replica's of the remaining 12 covers. His cost will be a little over 900.00 dollars, if I can get him the raw cast iron to re-melt.
What (modern) cast metals would be adequate for the purpose? Am I correct in assuming assume modern steel scrap will not cast properly in the mold - or am I worrying about nothing? (Assume a fragment size is a curved decorative arch approximately 6x6x1/2 thick.)
If I cut up scrap cast "iron" pipe, will that serve?
Obviously, I could find original cast iron pieces of that vintage (old stoves, pots, anvils (?), etc.) but I'd rather not buy antiques just to melt them.
I am trying to restore the cast ornamental railing decorations at the corners of a cemetery near my house. No budget from the county or historic societies, it's a donation thing so money has to be considered.) Graves are from mid 1840's through 1880's so the decorative cast iron in the fence around the cemetery is probably that same time period.
1) I have recovered 12 of 24 of the broken fence railing caps from the dirt and cleaned them. Those pieces I can adequately re-weld using a high-nickel SMAW weld rod, then grind them clear so the outside finish "looks" as smooth as the original contours. First question: how do I re-coat/repaint the welded areas to match the existing "black oxide" of the original castings? I don't need museum-quality national archival perfection here, just something or some system that looks right from the road, but won't rust out in garish patches in the next 5 years. Simple galvanized primer and flat black paint?
2) From the recovered fragments I have found a local "metal artist" who can make the molds and produce replica's of the remaining 12 covers. His cost will be a little over 900.00 dollars, if I can get him the raw cast iron to re-melt.
What (modern) cast metals would be adequate for the purpose? Am I correct in assuming assume modern steel scrap will not cast properly in the mold - or am I worrying about nothing? (Assume a fragment size is a curved decorative arch approximately 6x6x1/2 thick.)
If I cut up scrap cast "iron" pipe, will that serve?
Obviously, I could find original cast iron pieces of that vintage (old stoves, pots, anvils (?), etc.) but I'd rather not buy antiques just to melt them.





RE: Re-casting 19th century Cast Iron: What is acceptable (modern) source?
Aluminum, contemporary iron alloys, bronze, zinc... If you're going to paint it black it all looks the same.
Heck, you could probably do-it-yourself with silicone molds and casting resin.
RE: Re-casting 19th century Cast Iron: What is acceptable (modern) source?
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?
RE: Re-casting 19th century Cast Iron: What is acceptable (modern) source?
http://www.kingmetals.com
It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.
RE: Re-casting 19th century Cast Iron: What is acceptable (modern) source?
RE: Re-casting 19th century Cast Iron: What is acceptable (modern) source?
Re-melting a few pounds of their "Chinese-quality" cast iron fittings might be a source for iron. But I figure it would be more efficient to use a busted cast pipe instead of buying and shipping cast ornamental iron parts retail from out-of-state.
I've used cast resins before (the Alumilite series of mold-making plastics and two-part casting resins) to make molds and plastic pieces for smaller parts , but never for an outdoor applications. "Artistically" since I've have found many of the original casting parts, I'd prefer to use those where I can back in their original spots. Here, I was planning on gluing together several small cast resin parts with the recovered iron parts to make a larger mold of the whole piece, then casting the whole replacement when I needed too.
RE: Re-casting 19th century Cast Iron: What is acceptable (modern) source?
You can buy castable Al alloys fairly easily.
You can melt and cast it easier, the temperatures are lower.
You can use plaster molds.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Plymouth Tube
RE: Re-casting 19th century Cast Iron: What is acceptable (modern) source?
RE: Re-casting 19th century Cast Iron: What is acceptable (modern) source?
It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.
RE: Re-casting 19th century Cast Iron: What is acceptable (modern) source?
RE: Re-casting 19th century Cast Iron: What is acceptable (modern) source?
RE: Re-casting 19th century Cast Iron: What is acceptable (modern) source?
RE: Re-casting 19th century Cast Iron: What is acceptable (modern) source?
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Plymouth Tube
RE: Re-casting 19th century Cast Iron: What is acceptable (modern) source?