table repair with spray welding - bad idea?

If the table just looks bad, and does good work, forget about fixing it, there is no reason to do so. I tell people that have the 'arc of shame' on their drill press tables that they are restoring to clean up the table, and leave the arc of shame completely untouched. Then get a Sharpie pen and write on the table "NOT MINE!" with an arrow pointing to it. As long as the machine works well, forget about trying to cover up other people's mistakes...
 
How about a few pictures. I would advise NOT to spray weld it as I am a Professional Machine Rebuilder. I have tried to spray weld Bridgeport tables after a spray weld salesman at a show told me how wonderful it would work. I had him come out to the shop to do it for me. The heat on a big casting draws out the heat as fast as you heat it and away from the spot. Then you have to get it so hot in the area it warps the table plus where the cast iron and the spray meet, it gets hard as glass. I did it 40 years ago and time and products may have changed (so you could call people who do it for a living, who get paid to do it and get a quote with a gaurantee). I would think pre heating will peel the paint in the webbing, discolor the iron and warp it depending on how hot it gets. If I saw what the dings looked like. I could give you some advice and guess, that can be happen online. Like asking for advice on a lump on your leg from someone who has a wood lathe. Spray welding To repair a visual ding could permanently screw up your machine. With online forum advice, you have no clue if the advise is from a fake or a pro. Especially when they make up some odd ball name and not their real one. The Deckels I have seen and worked on are precision instruments more then a Bridgeport mill.
 

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How about a few pictures. I would advise NOT to spray weld it as I am a Professional Machine Rebuilder. I..........The Deckels I have seen and worked on are precision instruments more then a Bridgeport mill.

Richard I was hoping you would chime in as I am sure if anyone would know for sure it would be you. So the tiny voice in my head was right...bad idea. I will post a pic tomorrow when I go to my shop. Thanks for your advice. I took your class in VT this year and enjoyed it.
 
Get high strength epoxy, a magnet and acetone.

Clean the hole well with acetone and use magnet to collect the powder by your bench grinder.

Dunk magnet with what it picked up in acetone to clean it.

Mix small batch of epoxy and thin with acetone and add the grinder powder and mix well.

Place drop of acetone into hole on table then add epoxy and work it into hole.

Add until it is just proud of surface.

Let cure for a week...

Now smooth it down to match surface and done.

Get good epoxy, not home depot stuff.

There is some made for repairing hvac coils that is real good stuff but they think so too, not cheap.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
 
I certainly would not spray weld it too many things to go wrong. If you really must repair it-use a high strength epoxy for repairing metal, like Devcon, or JB Weld etc.The repair will still be visible as it will be almost impossible to get a perfect colour match.

You will need to make sure it's perfectly clean, preferably abrade the contact surface area, and maybe drill a couple of holes to get a good mechanical purchase or lightly undercut around the edges then clean with acetone or alcohol, slightly overfill, when fully cured, machine down to .001" and hand finish

'
 
I had a broken hand guy in Austria 2 weeks ago....have to send me a picture...lol can't recall names much anymore....or feet....lol
 
Mill the hole bigger and then make a plug for it from steel.... LULZ (please don't do this)

Drill and tap the hole then put a set screw in it....

In my old shop we had a term that we used to explain holes drilled in expensive equipment where they didn't belong, we called them Travis..... lol

He ran a 2" hole saw into a 4" Kurt vice until it bottomed out while trying to drill aluminum sheet metal.....

My friend still uses the vise it makes me cringe and nauseous every time I see it.....
 
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I concure 100% with Richard K --- A Deckel is a precision tool, do this and you would wreck it ! I have used Eutectic metal spray for 40 + years and it works extremely well for certain applications but not this. My work is daily small but large items can be worked successfully, I have an acquaintance who used the same system to fix mainly very large engine parts - cylinder heads etc from power generators, ships and the like but these were heated in a furnace and all had to be refaced after the metal spaying was done due to warpage.
Better to live with the marks and retain the precision !
 
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