7018? Really? I'm surprised that 7018 would be hard enough. But then I have no idea of the hardness of 7018 once it's laid down either.
Does 6011 weld to cast iron? I was always under the impression that you needed a special rod to weld cast. But I've never tried either. I guess maybe I should do some reading haha
7018 is the ticket for heavy plate welding... 7018 in comparison to the hardened tool steel on the top of an anvil is soft. I'm not suggesting you lay down 7018 on the face. I'm saying that if you were to weld a new face plate of tool steel onto an anvil, I would harden the plate and put it directly on top of the old face.
Picture the 7018 as the icing, and the old face and new tool steel plate as the cookie... It's a pain adding the icing one rod at a time, but it will work out for the better...
Friends don't let friends weld 7018 onto the face of an anvil... It's quite honestly the worst means of repair sworn to have satisfactory results, and is sadly shared by many smiths as a sufficient repair method regularly... Same goes for 9018 - 12018; they're all mild steel electrodes. and don't harden, and they sure as hell don't work-harden by pinging em with a ball-peen hammer. If you ever research the topic, you will see a lot of this misinformation being circulated.
To draw a parallel understanding; you wouldn't sharpen a blade by stabbing at the dirt, and you're not gonna repair the face of an anvil with xx18 rod.
Yes, cast iron requires specialty rods... Disgusting expensive, and it's adhesion is a shot in the dark under impact stresses...
