Tig weld Zamak ???

[rustycase]

I need advice on how to Tig weld Zamak.

Have a broken gear tooth in the carriage drive mechanism of my lil' ole' craftsman lathe and must repair it.

Zamak is apparently a zinc alloy with some small percentage of aluminum.

Any tips?

Thank you,
rc

[WookieWelding]

tig welding high content zinc alloys (pot metal) are not really weldable you would be better off trying to source a new gear or have someone make you one

[KHK]

Measure the pitch dia and count the number of teeth.. I have a box of Craftsman gears. If I have one it is yours for the postage cost.

[Gadget]

Keith,
Do you have a whole set of change gears available? Mine didn't come with any.

[KHK]

Gadget, I do not know, when I bought the lathe(1960s), it came with a extra box of gears. I have never done anything with them. They are the same type that are on the quick change gear box. I just don't know what they are for. It looks like who ever Had the lathe be for up dated it to the quick change box.

[rustycase]

Wow!

Thank you KHK,
I will figger how to take apart the carriage today and see which is the problem.
guess I will not pursue a welded repair of the pot metal...
tnx
rc

[rustycase]

Well, I got it apart !
Whew!

I decided it might be best to slide the carriage off the end of the ways, so I removed the tailstock, took the end of the feed screw support off, and slid the carriage towards the end... The carriage seemed to be stuck, very near the end, and I was in fear of breaking some other little pot metal part !!!
Took a bunch of screws out on the handwheel, half nut lever holder, then the rack I discovered up under the ways... and finally resolved the 'end of the line' movement problem by loosening the gib on the far side of the carriage.

KHK, what I need is a pot metal carrier that hold a pinion gear on each side of it. One gear engages with the rack under the ways, on one side of the bed.
I shall try to post a pic of it...

Hmmm. btr read pic-posting instructions!
rc

---------- Post added at 04:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:47 PM ----------

This is the lathe part...


Gosh! I hope that works!!!

The lathe is a Craftsman/Atlas 101.07301/618 6" model. Older than the hills, but other than this broken part, and a broken/missing handwheel for the carriage, all seems to be in fairly good shape..

Thank you!
I really appreciate the help on this.
rc

There are two broken teeth on the lower gear in this 'fencepost pic' ... They are on either side of the lowest pointing tooth... should I post more pics, now that I got that figured out?
rc

[Gadget]

I could probably cast a replacement out of aluminum but I would need the part to use as a pattern. No help on the gear though

[rustycase]

Tnx Gadget... My skills are not to a level where I could machine a gear from a casting...

Gotta work on that!
rc

[Gadget]

I was referring to the carrier casting you said was cracked.