busted makita mortiser depth stop

We managed to break the depth stop on our makita mortiser last week. This did not surprise me, as the machine always jumps through on the second side of a through mortice.
The quick fix was to put some tape on the bar to show how deep the cut is, but it would be good to rebuild some kind of depth stop.
Has anyone had this material welded?
Has anyone found a workable alternative to the depth stop?
thanks,
-Mark.

I have been warned about breaking the depth stop on mine. Apparently it is hard to get welded back up. Good Luck with this problem.

What broke, exactly? The tab on the side of the casting? parts are available at toolbar.com for most things, but a new casting would probably be too expensive. CB.

yes, the tab on the side of the motor casting broke off...
It is probably possible to weld using an overlay, rather than a tack type of weld, but one would need a pricey welding rod or wire.
the more I use it without the depth stop, the more I prefer having the depth laid out on the cutter bar, but a depth stop for the shallow work would probably still be nice.
Can't beleive I'm the only one who has broken this, it seems like an obvious weak point.

We had one break at the school. Ever since, I've been very conscious of it, and warn my staff to always set the depth on the second half of a thru mortise to be just below the break-through point. It still kind of "slams" when it breaks thru, but without as much momentum.

http://www.toolpartsdirect.com/cgi-bin/schematic.cgi/makita/7104L
It looks like part #44 can be had for $118 + shipping, but it would be several hours of labor to swap it out. CB.

We had ours welded back on. I don't know how they did it but it has held up for over a year. I think they charged us 10 or 20 bucks.

I have also replaced the motor housing. Not an easy task. I don't remember exactly how much the part cost but I think it was in the neighborhood of 150