Best way to fill a hole

[Daschund]

So I have this frame that needs new seatstays. I removed the old ones which were mitered to seat lug and brazed with brass I think. Underneath the joint there are two about 6mm vent holes. I'm going to cap the new seatstays and silver braze them on lug sides. Naturally, this method won't cover the holes.

I thought maybe a smoothed MIG weld would be a relatively easy way? I have a friend who works with MIG, he could do it for me if it's appropriate way.

What do you think?

[Andrew R Stewart]

Afew thoughts. Plug the holes and brass them in. Use pieces of tube with a heaver wall then ream and file the high spots. Second might be to decratively cover the holes with a sleeve. Maybe wrap the sleeve around to be under the new stays' locations. I'm no welder but trying to lay enough weld to plug the holes and then gring it all down (inside too) seems like a bad idea. I would also be concerned about the long term reliability having brittle weld in an area that sees flex with the seat post binding. Andy.

[Curt Goodrich]

I'd stick in a couple of water bottle bosses with screws in them and braze those in place. File them flush.

[echelon_john]

I would get a couple of BIG nails that almost fill the holes, then brass braze them in like andy says. Clean up the inside with a half-round file, outside with a hacksaw & file. Then silver braze (50%) the seatstays to the sides of the lug.

I guess if you had a lathe you could turn down some steel rod to the exact size, but some big nails would probably be quicker and just as effective.

[Daschund]

Thank you all, this was very helpful. Nails and bottle bosses, I have both! I also had some thoughts about making a sleeve but with my skills it would end up looking messy.

As brazing is a relatively new thing for me, plugging and brazing didn't even cross my mind... Well, learning to think I guess.

[JFW]

Nails (grind of any anti-rust treatment - electrolytical plating/zinc), grind to a taper, insert in hole, braze said nail, snip off remains. Finish up with a file. Done in less time than it took to write this ;-).

T

[nash]

isnt this the beginning to a dirty joke?