Welding

“ These welding rods should always be used to fill the weld when the thickness of material makes their employment necessary, and additional metal should always be added at the weld when possible as the joint cannot have the same strength as the original piece if made or dressed off flush with the surfaces around the weld. ”

“ In welding metals which conduct the heat very rapidly it is necessary to use a much larger nozzle and flame than for metals which have not this property. This peculiarity is found to the greatest extent in copper, aluminum and brass.
Should a hole be blown through the work, it may be closed by withdrawing the flame for a few seconds and then commencing to build additional metal around the edges, working all the way around and finally closing the small opening left at the center with a drop or two from the welding rod. ”

“ A blacksmith forge will be the medium of saving much valuable gas and time in a welding shop. It will heat up parts to be welded in very short order and while in this condition they may be welded and then thrown back into the forge and allowed to cool very slowly.
(46) Several pails of water should always be located where welding is being done to prevent fire from flying sparks; to cool the torch tips and filler-rods, when working on large jobs; to keep certain parts of work being welded cool, and to harden or temper other parts. ”

“ The welding of two pieces of stock by scarfing and lapping is known as a separate-heat-weld, so called because the pieces are detached while the heat is taken. In making any kind of a weld there is more or less stock wasted in the raising of the welding heat, therefore the parts to be lapped and welded are always upset or thickened and then scarfed. ”

“ When portions which differ greatly in dimensions have to be united, welding is the only method practicable at the anvil. It is also generally the best to adopt when union has to be Welding. made between pieces at right angles, or when a piece on which much work has to be done is required at the end of a long plain bar, as in the tension rods of cranes and other structures with eyes. The art of welding depends chiefly on having perfectly clean joint faces, free from scale, so that metal can unite to metal ”

“ The welding flame should be played on the work around the crack and gradually brought to bear on the work. The bottom of the bevel should be joined first and it will be noted that the cast iron tends to run toward the flame, but does not stick together easily. A hard and porous weld should be carefully guarded against, as described above, and upon completion of the work the welded surface should be scraped with a file, while still red hot, in order to remove the surface scale. ”

“ The metal can be added faster and more easily controlled.
Rods or wires of Norway iron are used for steel welding in almost all cases. The purity of this grade of iron gives a homogeneous, soft weld of even texture, great ductility and exceptionally good machining qualities. For welding heavy steel castings, a rod of rolled carbon steel is employed. For working on high carbon steel, a rod of the steel being welded must be employed and for alloy steels, such as nickel, manganese, vanadium, etc., special rods of suitable alloy composition are preferable. ”

“ All spoiled, burned, corroded and rough particles must positively be removed with chisel and hammer and with a free application of emery cloth and wire brush. The metal exposed to the welding flame should be perfectly clean and bright all over, or else the additional material will not unite, but will only stick at best.
Following the cleaning it is always necessary to bevel, or champfer, the edges except in the thinnest sheet metal. To make a weld that will hold, the metal must be made into one piece, without holes or unfilled portions at any point, and must be solid from inside to outside. ”

“ Whereas in cutting, one piece of metal, when brought to a red heat, is cut in two by an oxidizing flame. Cutting has not the wide scope that welding has, for it can only be applied successfully at the present day to wrought iron, rolled and cast steel. ”

“ In welding, the heat is taken directly on the end of the lap and not on the sides, so as not to burn the stock above the laps. When the link has the welding heat, it is taken to the anvil and hammered on the flat sides, then set on the horn of the anvil, and hammered on the corners. ”

“ In welding cast steel the same procedure takes place as previously described for steel, and it should present no real difficulties after that process is understood. There may be more sand, oxide and other impurities present on account of the nature of the metal, but these can all be worked out if plenty of heat is applied. At times, when working in steel, it will be found that there may be a small hole develop in the center of the weld and as the torch is worked into this hole it is found that it goes down a short distance and seemingly refuses to be worked out. ”

“ The process is also largely applied to the welding of iron and copper wires used for electric lines and conductors, of steel axles, tyres and metal frames used in carriage work, and of such parts of bicycles as pedals, crank hangers, seat posts, forks, and steel tubing for the frames. The heat, whether it be utilized in welding or brazing, is so sharply localized that no damage is done to the finish of surfaces a short distance from the weld or joint. ”

“ The principal thing in welding is to have a clean fire. All of the clinkers must be kept out. The fire should be a well burned one, without much smoke or gas, and never any green coal near the pieces being heated. Well burned pieces of coke around the metal should always be used in raising the welding heat. In raising the welding heat very little blast should be used at first. ”

“ While it is possible to weld cast iron on the vertical, by the use of carbon blocks and so forth, the same kind of work can be accomplished on steel with much ease, without the use of any blocks, or materials other than the filler-rod and the welding torch. ”

“ The art of successful welding may be acquired by any operator of average intelligence within a reasonable time and with some practice. One trouble met with in the adoption of this process has been that the operation looks so simple and so easy of performance that unskilled and unprepared persons have been tempted to try welding, with results that often caused condemnation of the process, when the real fault lay entirely with the operator. ”

“ All small pieces of tool and spring steel should be welded with separate heats. A little practice and a clean fire, with some good welding compound, are necessary. In separate heat welding of flat steel, the flat sides of the scarfs are put together instead of the beveled ones. ”

“ This form of welding makes the most perfect joint, and requires no hammering, as the mass of the metal flows from one part or end to the other; the unity is a perfect one, and the advantage is that the metals can be kept in a semi-fluid state for a considerable time, thus assuring a perfect admixture of the two parts. ”

“ In order to know how to weld, it is quite imperative that the operator first know the kind of metal he is to work on. It is surprising to find how few welders know their metals thoroughly. An incident might be cited where some welders depend upon the sparks given off by the emery wheel in determining the kind of metal they are about to weld. They will approach the wheel; grind off their work, noting the sparks; return to their welding table; choose their filler rods and do their welding without any delay whatsoever, much to the consternation of their fellow workers. ”

“ Welding fills a large place in boiler work, but it is that of the edges of plates chiefly, predominating over that of the bars and rods of the smithy. The edges to be united are thin and long, so that short lengths have to be done in succession at successive “heats.” Much of this is hand work, and “gluts” or insertion pieces are generally preferred to overlapping joints. But in large shops, steam-driven power hammers are used for closing the welds. Parts that are commonly welded are the furnace flues, the conical cross-tubes and angle rings. ”

“ Heating the Work.--After being scarfed, the two pieces to be welded are placed in the fire and brought to the correct temperature. This temperature can only be recognized by experiment and experience. The metal must be just below that point at which small sparks begin to be thrown out of the fire and naturally this is a hard point to distinguish. At the welding heat the metal is almost ready to flow and is about the consistency of putty. ”

“ A further process is the manufacture of the metal thus treated into SHEAR STEEL, by exposing a fasciculus of the blistered steel rods, with sand scattered over them for the purposes of a flux, to the heat of a wind-furnace until the whole mass becomes of a welding heat, when it is taken from the fire and drawn out under a forge-hammer,—the process of welding being repeated, after which the steel is reduced to the required sizes. ”

“ It requires some practice to be able to take two pieces from the fire and place them in position on the anvil to be welded. This should be practiced by the pupil under the eye of the teacher, perhaps a dozen or more times, with the cold pieces before he undertakes to get the welding heat. If one cannot take the pieces out and place them in position, he cannot make a weld of this kind. ”

“ But steel may be more easily welded than on the old plan by the employment of certain welding compositions. One of them consists of half a pound of saltpetre dissolved in half a pound of oil of vitriol, and afterwards added to two gallons of soft water. Heat the pieces to a cherry-red, then plunge them into this composition; after which proceed to reheat and weld in the usual way. At the welding the strokes of the hammer should be quick and light.
Another composition is made by pulverizing together ten parts of borax and one part of sal-ammoniac. ”

“ The moment a piece of metal, heated to whiteness, is exposed, the air coats it with a film which is called an oxide. To remove this the welding compound is applied.
The next office of the substance thus applied, is to serve as a medium for keeping the welding parts in a liquid condition as long as possible, and thus facilitate the unity of the joined elements. ”

“ Welding is the art, practiced immemorially, of uniting two pieces of metal in one piece by heating those portions which are to be welded to a temperature at which they become plastic and then pressing them strongly together so as to effect a union, as exemplified by a blacksmith when heating in a forge the two pieces to be welded and hammering them together. ”

“ Electric welding is largely taking the place of the hand process, but machines are required to maintain the parts in contact during the passage of the current. Butt joints are employed, and a large quantity of power is absorbed, but the output is immensely greater than that of hand-made welds. ”

“ Further, welding which is practically uniformly trustworthy in wrought iron, is distrusted in steel. The difference is due to the very fibrous character of iron, the welding of which gives much less anxiety to the smith than that of steel. Welds in iron are frequently made without any flux, those in steel never. Though mention has only been made of iron and steel, other alloys are forged, as those of aluminium, delta metal, &c. But the essential operations are alike, the differences being in temperature at which the forging is done and nature of the fluxes used for welding. ”

“ The preface says further, “The workman who can successfully weld all automobile parts is capable of welding anything, since in the construction of the automobile practically every commercial metal is used. The principles of automobile welding are applicable to all kinds of welding.” Contents: Apparatus knowledge; Shop equipment and initial procedure; Cast iron; Aluminum; Steel; Malleable iron, copper, brass, bronze; Carbon burning and other uses of oxygen and acetylene; How to figure cost of welding. ”

“ It sometimes becomes necessary to weld steel and iron together; this may be effected by the same process as that employed in welding steel to steel. None but workmen of thorough experience would be apt to succeed in either case, on the old plan of proceeding the same as in welding iron to iron. ”

“ The ease with which aluminum is puddled together, which many welders have likened to the children’s method of making mud pies, seems so simple to the beginner that he cannot see where the strength comes from when cooled. On account of this, he invariably works his aluminum too long. After welding a few test bars of this metal and breaking them in the line of weld, many old welders will gain confidence upon seeing the results of their own efforts. ”

“ Experience with the particular welding outfit used will soon show how far the tip of the torch should be held from the lead to be melted.
Cleanliness. Lead surfaces which are to be welded together must be absolutely free from dirt. Lead and dirt will not mix, and the dirt will float on top of the lead. Therefore, before trying to do any lead welding, clean the surfaces which are to be joined. The upper ends of plate lugs may be cleaned with a flat file, knife., or wire brush. The posts and inter-cell connectors should be cleaned with a knife, steel wire brush, or triangular scraper. ”