Purchased a Victorian metal plant stand with one of the feet broken off.
It's a clean break, with the edges matching perfectly.
My question - the raw metal sparkles where it's fractured. Any clues about the best method of repair? Solder? Weld? Epoxy? A metal plate screwed in from the back?
The difficulty with welding pot metal is probably determining what kind of alloy it is. It's probably mostly zinc or aluminum. You don't want to be welding zinc; it will release toxic fumes. And the aluminum alloy may be unweldable. Don't know about solder... or brazing... again, the type of alloy will be the problem there. And there's a chance you could wind up melting the piece to an unrecognizable lump before the solder or braze melted.
If the stress on the piece is not excessive, JB Weld might work. You could try reinforcing the back side with some extra metal (steel) and holding it in place with JB Weld. JB Weld is a high strength epoxy. Make sure the piece is very clean and oil/grease free first. Some brake cleaner (acetone) should handle that ok.
I'd want to see the foot- in a lot of cases, a bit like that will want a sprue- not hard to do, I use hanger wire clipped to size and ground smooth. but if the break is on a curve, or had a bend in it, it gets much trickier...
how big is it, and how much weight will it need to carry?
