Steel welding options for a remote property?

Question

I have a remote property where the previous owner welded a steel sliding lock (see pic) onto the metal door of an outbuilding. The part that sticks out (handle) broke off.

• the nearest/only electricity source is 120v and probably 5-10 amps max (15a circuit, but several hundred feet of underground cable that I suspect isn't sized properly for such a long run)

• Welding the pin back on inside the narrow groove has to be done fairly precisely to avoid welding the sliding pin to the chamber (or door). I love the ASMR Tig pulse welding videos on youtube, but my best understanding is that a portable Tig rig (tig welder and large enough generator to run it) could be thousands of dollars - that's a lot for me, especially if I only need 2-4 pulses total for this project. Also, I've done a very small amount of (bad) stick welding, but never have had the opportunity to Tig.

It may be that the best option is to pay hundreds of dollars to a professional welder to drive out, set up, and tack the pin back in place... but before I do that, is there any DIY option that would be under ~$500 total that would allow me to DIY?

I did try JB weld (the part that sticks out is actually a pin that fits in a hole in the sliding rod) but that only lasted a few uses, so I think that a real weld is the only long-term solution.

I've considered a cheap wire welder from my favorite import store (~$100, works off 120v), but this is a large sliding bolt and I'm not sure the wire welder has the power to melt enough of the steel to be a permanent fix (I'm under the impression those cheap wire welders are for much thinner metal)

Thank you for your suggestions! If there isn't an option within my skills and price range, then I'll go with the mobile welder option.

Answer 1

I would look at drilling and tapping the hole then screwing a new handle in.

Answer 2

Given your lack of welding experience and the tricky nature of the welding you'd need to do:

Bolt a new lock onto the door, forget this one / optionally cut or grind it off.

Welding options other than a generator/welder:

Oxy-acetylene torch weld it, but that's still at least hundreds of dollars and you have no training/experience with it.

There is at least one battery operated MIG welder which works well, but is several hundred itself without the batteries (golf cart/deep cycle highly preferred) needed to operate it.

Thermite (utterly inappropriate for the weld you need, but one heck of an option where it is appropriate.)

Answer 3

I would consider epoxying this one into the unlocked position, then adding a new one with a carriage bolt through from the outside.

Epoxying this one unlocked eliminates it as a source of nuisance lock-ins or having it slide open and preventing the door from closing. (Effectively removing the lock without actually removing it. i.e. the lazy way out. :D) You could also use a battery- or 120v-powered grinder to actually remove this latch.

A carriage bold has a smooth, round head that's (nearly) impossible to get a wrench on, and instead, relies on a square shoulder under the head to hold it in place in the hole while the nut is tightened on the inside. That would prevent someone from opening the door by using a wrench to remove the latch. You would have to square up the holes in the latch plates and make square holes in the door and frame for the shoulder to slip into and grab on to. This may prove to be a bit of a difficult task (and may prompt a whole new question!)

This wouldn't be quite as pretty as having this one repaired, but might, for a remote building where a sliding-pin lock is aesthetically sufficient in the first place, be aesthetically sufficient.

Of course, if sliding-pin latch is just to keep the door closed and not to offer a theft deterrent, then using regular bolts to attach a new one above, below, or instead of the existing one without worrying about the carriage bolts would be the much easier solution.

Answer 4

I think you might be waaaay over-complicating this

The pictured shoot bolt can't possibly be for security, as it could probably be pried off with pliers, or defeated in a couple of minutes with just a hacksaw blade, so I surmise its only purpose can be to hold a door shut in the wind etc

• You take a battery grinder or a hacksaw, a pair of pliers and thick nail bent at 90 degrees
• You cut the back part of the lock that retains the shoot bolt, as per the red line in the first picture
• You bend the back part out of the way
• You slide the bent nail in and bend the metal back to retain it
• Trim the sharp end of the nail to the correct length so that it operates as per the original shoot bolt

Gravity will help retain the nail in the open or closed posisiton if the "handle" stem is long

Note, if your picture doesnt adequately convey the "heavy duty"ness of this shoot bolt (you've pictured the sort of lock I would expect to find on a washroom door in typical domestic setting) and the real lock is bigger/thicker, take a bigger nail (or stainless steel rebar etc), bigger pliers and a decent hacksaw/grinder. The technique is applicable to all size of shootbolts

Answer 5

As others mentioned, bolts are better option in your case.

But for other purpouses:

Where I live (Bulgaria, Europe) it is pretty much popular to rent a generator, welding equipment, concrete mixer or other tools and equipment that costs more than 100 EUR and one would not buy it for one-off job.

You pay like 1/30 to 1/10 of the equipment price for a day (you leave a deposit or they block like 70% of the label price of the equipment on your card) and you are expected to return it in more or less working condition.

You can check with local retailers.

Answer 6

For the ultimate in danger and minimum in life expectancy, it is possible to do some janky stick welds using a couple car batteries wired in series. Some off-roaders are known to carry along a couple sticks in order to fashion janky repairs in the field using only jumper cables and the batteries from all of the convoy's vehicles.

No links because...extremely danger... but who am I to tell you how (or how long) to live your life.

Answer 7

One option is brazing, i.e. soldering with brass or other semi-hard metal. Its durability is somewhere between epoxy and welding.

First you'll need to clean the pin and the hole really well, with a small wire brush or sandpaper. After that, further clean with acetone or other solvent (avoid hitting any paintwork nearby). Do this step meticulously, as proper cleaning has very high effect on the brazing strength.

For brazing itself, you'll need flux and suitable filler metal. In this case, brazing paste is probably easiest to apply, and it contains both the flux and the metal mixed together. I assume the lock is made of steel - then just pick any brazing paste meant for steel, the exact type doesn't matter that much for this.

Apply a small amount of paste in the bottom of the hole and on the pin. Push the pin into place. After that, you'll need to heat it up to the brazing temperature indicated on the paste, which is typically around 800°C. You can estimate the heat by the color the steel glows, 800°C is red hot. The heating can be accomplished using e.g. a portable propane torch, which can be bought for less than $50 in most hardware stores.

Because the brazing paste is only applied to the hole and the temperature is lower than welding temperature, there is no risk welding anything else together even if they heat up.