Welding question....

not easily

Cast iron is not easily welded, bit it can be brazed (in effect a stong solder)

Cash

Is it *really* a cast iron leg, or is it forged steel (which will weld)? If it is cast, is it iron or alloy? What's the bike?

As an apprentice some mumble mumble years ago, I have seen it electric welded, but only if it was done in short bursts. Another, more reliable way is to heat the 2 parts up until they are not quite glowing and use oxy acetaline (sp) to do the weld.

The problem with cast iron is its brittleness. Get one part significantly hotter than somewhere else and it cracks due to heat stress.

Dave

Lower her bike ! The side stand will be a doodle compared to lowering the bike.

Most stands on bikes today are alloy, are you sure it is cast iron ?

Gio

Thanks Dave,

Since my original post I have had another reply that tells me it is cast Steel which apparently is easier to weld. Spare stands are about a tenner second-hand, so I was going to have a go and if I mess it up its only a small outlay to put it right.

Thanks,

Nick

I was wondering, too...!

Re the stand - I'm assuming it has a foot or something at the bottom you want to re-attach after shortening?

The last pushbike I had about 30 years ago didn't come with a side-stand and I remember buying a bolt-on one from Halfords - the instructions were simply to saw bits off the leg until it was the right length. The point being that it had no foot, it was just a rod, and it worked fine... so similarly can't you simply chop off what you need and not worry about re-attaching anything?

David

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "Gio" saying something like:

What are you on about? Drop the forks through the yokes, shorter rear suspender(s) and/or trimmed seat.

or longer dog bones - What's he on about ?

Nick