Cold Case repairs

[sirhrmechanic]

Dane:

It's also called a Dutchman in machining parlance.

I'd be interested in the etymology of the term... I suspect it dates back to Colonial times and to woodworking... where the Dutch were often the butt (pardon the pun) of jokes for their frugality. Sort of like the Scots today... And while some furniture makers or craftsmen would use only a large, clear piece of wood, perhaps it was thought that only the "Dutchman" would join two pieces of wood with an invisible joint to save money. It's a pure guess, but as the Dutch were rather discriminated against in Early America, it is plausible.

Of note, for you military history fans out there... in Civil War times, the act of leaving camp and getting one's self a prostitute was known as "Riding a Dutch Girl." Then again, if you've ever seen Amsterdam... La Plus que ca. Change...

Cheers,

Sirhr

[T. Cotten]

Folks,

The "butterfly" tie-bar goes back to antiquity, as the Egyptians and Pre-Columbians of South America used similar for large stone architecture.
If I remember the television history show correctly, some were fashioned by carving the butterfly across the seam, and then molten metal was poured in.

My first experience with cold repairs was "pinning", where holes are drilled and tapped for tapered threaded plugs. They would be installed one at a time and peened, ground flat, and the the next plug installed overlapping, and often intuitively off-set and angled to help stitch across the crack. This results in what looks like a chain of intersecting beads.
I performed a six-inch repair upon a cast-iron Model A "water jacket" (or so it was called) when I was still quite green. Its success HAD to have depended heavily upon the "cold-fusion" sealer I mentioned previously.

(Pinning kits are probably still available with the sealer at http://www.silver-seal.com/)

"Thinking outside of the box is often really just finding it so you can get back in." ....Ised Datwun

....Cotten

[sirhrmechanic]

Cotton:

You are so right... pinning is age-old. And the repair we made to this was simply using proven techniques (at least for us... the shop has been doing this kind of work since '64).

My posting this was simply due to the fact that things that are old-hat for some look like a newfangled idea to those who've not seen it.

So credit where credit is due... Neffertiti probably invented it. Was she Dutch?

A quote I always liked is "What was first the work of masters later becomes the work of tinsmiths." I generally fall into the latter category...

Cheers,

Sirhr

[fillibuster]

Cotton:

You are so right... pinning is age-old. And the repair we made to this was simply using proven techniques (at least for us... the shop has been doing this kind of work since '64).

My posting this was simply due to the fact that things that are old-hat for some look like a newfangled idea to those who've not seen it.

So credit where credit is due... Neffertiti probably invented it. Was she Dutch?

A quote I always liked is "What was first the work of masters later becomes the work of tinsmiths." I generally fall into the latter category...

Cheers,

Sirhr

Another, so old it's tired around here: If ya ain't Dutch, ya ain't much!

[alanc48]

This was an amazing thread, that repair is incredible

[rbc]

I needs me one of them air hammers. Looks like a vintage tool. Do they still make / sell them or do I have to happen upon one? Who made it?
Thanks
Mark Masa

There is one for sale on ebay right now. Look for "Hastings Air-peen Pneumatic Hammer." If you buy it will you make a photocopy of the instructions for me?

[MMasa]

Thanks rbc. Just did the buy it now on it. PM me your address and I will mail you a photocopy when it arrives.
Mark

[sirhrmechanic]

Which reminds me, I need to photograph this one and post it.

Cheers,

Sirhr

[fillibuster]

Woodworkers use a similar technique to "stitch" cracks together and prevent further splitting. I believe they are referred to as Dutchman.

Very cool thread!
The "stitch" in your post reminded me of a source referred to me by a fellow amca friend,:..... Lock'n'Stitch ..... google that!
The web site refers to a few origins of the practice, and also to advanced practices, which they practice as a livelihood.

Don't we have a forum participant who has long experience is aluminum case repair? He could give ideas as to what extent your welding equipment would need to be augmented. ....
My welding supply house wants me to spend about 5 grand to get into cast-alum welding. Some claim it can still be done with a torch, like they used to do. My "tigger" friends won't touch anything without the "juice". "Why not use the best with your precious time?"

[BoschZEV]

My welding supply house wants me to spend about 5 grand to get into cast-alum welding.

A few months ago I wrote in this thread that I had never taken the time to learn to arc weld. Unfortunately, this site doesn't allow editing, so I couldn't add the word "properly" that I noticed was missing as soon as I posted it. Anyway, after extensively researching the issue, shortly thereafter I bought a Miller 200DX with water cooled torch, gathered as many junk motorcycle castings as I could get my hands on, and have been welding my fingers to the bone since then experimenting with various filler materials and electrodes. My experiments were based on as much information as I could locate on the subject of welding Al castings, and my previous experience with gas, MIG and TIG welding, so I wasn't starting from scratch.

I discovered when researching the topic of welding Al castings that quite a bit of available "information" is either wrong or too superficial to be of any actual use. So, I've been editing my findings into an article to submit to 'The Antique Motorcycle' that will contain quite specific information on this. My goal is to give anyone interested in TIG welding of Al castings the information they need to immediately get started, i.e. specific settings to use on an inverter welder, optimum electrode, advantages and disadvantages of pre-heating, etc. Of course, there are enough variations in alloys used over the past century that no such article could possibly cover all situations. But knowing what specific parameters are likely to work (or certainly will be close to the final ones that do work) when faced with a broken casting should save someone new to TIG (or to welding castings) a lot of time.

However, for all of my experiments to date I've used "modern" (i.e. c1950-70) British castings, not century-old American items, so it would be great if anyone reading this has a non-repairable, junk American casting or two to donate to this cause. I will be more than happy to pay shipping costs plus whatever you feel the junk is worth (again, though, it has to be junk -- I can't bring myself to destroy a part that somehow might be salvageable). If you have something -- the more gnarly and oil-soaked the better -- please send me a Private Message.

On a related note, ever since sirhrmechanic showed the Hasting's Air-Peen hammer in this thread three months ago I've been searching for one, and that search finally paid off. It was delivered yesterday and I immediately tried it out on a junk casting. I'm happy to say it is an excellent addition to my arsenal of tools. Thanks very much for suggesting it.

p.s. after writing that the site doesn't allow editing, this time when I logged in from a different computer an 'Edit Post' box is at the bottom of this one. However, it isn't at the bottom of my earlier post, so there must be a statute of limitations on fixing mistakes.