T H I N Brass

[Franz]

One of my buddys bought himself an antique wood boat, and since "I can weld better than he can" he handed me the spun brass spotlight housing to fix.
This **** thing is about .010 thick after the chrome plating is removed, and cracked 8 ways to Sunday in all directions from where the mounting bolt fell out. I've been looking at it for a couple days now, and the best solution I have would be to reform it with a large hammer. Of course, that solution has been vetoed, and he also informs me he doesn't want to have to rechrome it either.
Hammering a piece of 1/16 brass to shape and soldering it in place would probably burn the chrome, and he doesn't think epoxy will hold up (an amazing assessment since he doesn't know how to repair it himself). Even lo temp brazing would definitely waste the plating, so I'm looking for suggestions.

[Paychk]

JB weld, but that is in the same class as epoxy. ??? or how about some of those adhesives used to glue cars together, some are rated for structural areas of cars. A body shop might be able to help.

[AV8OR]

Try these guys at Practical Machinist. Lots of smart friendly guys hangout there.

[Rocky D]

Silver braze it, Franz. Make your backup plate and silly solder it in. If it blues up...ya just say "Ooops." ....and ya didn't need me to tell ya how to fix it...you already knew the answer.

[Franz]

Yea Rocky, I knew that answer, BUT I was hopeing against hope you had some brilliant aircraft glue answer that was gonna save my *** on this one.
Friggin Boaters, no wonder them things cost so much.

[Blacksmith]

If you did burn the chrome off the light a real wooden boater wouldn't mind polishing the brass everyday while he's wiping the dew off the varnished wood (brightwork to the purists) which they have to do to before the sun rises high enough to burn the varnish under the dewdrops (Magnifying glass effect).

[Franz]

BOAT - (n) a hole in the water a **** fool throws money into.

Wooden BOAT - (n) a friggin crater in the water no **** fool will ever be able to fill with money, even though they will line up attempting to

Honest, I copied it right out of the dictionary.