No, I did not do the welding on my front axle. I did not trust my welding skills at the time, so I had a blacksmith friend do the actual welding, I did the rest. If I had to do it again I would have no problem welding it myself now.
As for widening the spring perches with the stick welder. It was easier and faster to weld the little bit they needed rather than weld a plate to it. There was not enough missing to need anything more than a few passes with the welder.
To start the process of welding we first heated both halves of the axle with the torch till they sizzled when a drop of watter was dropped on them, not sure of the actual or ideal temperature. Then we started welding, and checking to be sure that everything stayed warm, and if not rewarming with the torch.
At the completion of the welding the axle was wrapped in some sort of white fluffy ceramic insulation, kinda like a blanket for really hot stuff. It was allowed to cool very slowly back to room temperature. By doing it this way it is supposed to reduce the formation of hard brittle spots at the junction of the weld and base metal. I think it has something to do with hydrogen, apparently it causes the brittleness, and when the parts are hot before and during welding the hydrogen has less of a chance of getting in the weld?
I used a stick welder and 7018 rod. I would not use a MIG welder as they tend to make very hard brittle welds. I see no problems with TIG welding an axle, it may be even better than stick welding in this case.
Grigg
