Old Welding-related Pictures

[Mick120]

Originally Posted by slow6i

The ingenuity of man has always amazed me. And this thread is an accurate description of why.

These people worked in conditions considered appalling by todays standards, yet, they built the titanic, the empire state building, the 50k ton press... the rocket ship / lander to the moon.

I wish i had lived 100 years earlier, and 100 years later than i currently to do to see where we were, where were at, and where were headed.

You'd think we'd come a long way however, the fundamentals remain basically the same, just the technology that kicks things along.
I reckon I would have left the Titanic outta that list tho...

[DemonSpeeder]

Here are some pics........The first three are a ship building company, the fourth is a pic of the Barris brothers, chopping a roof in the 50's....does anybody know what that honeycomb thing is on the cylinder??

[wbolden]

Thats one of the biggest crank shafts i've ever seen! The genious of the old time craftsmen always amaze me they were Great!
wbolden

[Tractapac]

Originally Posted by DemonSpeeder

Here are some pics........The first three are a ship building company, the fourth is a pic of the Barris brothers, chopping a roof in the 50's....does anybody know what that honeycomb thing is on the cylinder??

The cylinder is an acetylene generator, where they dropped Calcium Carbide onto water and the ensuing reaction produced acetylene. I suspect it will be to do with regulating pressure as they can be dangerous.

Rexarc make one and here's a link:

http://www.rexarc.com/products.aspx?c=66

I have an old one tucked away in the shed and I asked at BOC about getting some calcium carbide and I ran into all the OSHA type frighten you off speak. Apparently the residue is a contaminant and you have to dispose of it carefully. BOC seem to control it, I suspect to protect their empire here.

Cavers, potholers speleologists, or I think you call them spelunkers in the US, still use carbide lamps and they work on the same principle although I gather there are no lamps made now.

[Oldiron2]

Originally Posted by Tractapac

The cylinder is an acetylene generator, where they dropped Calcium Carbide onto water and the ensuing reaction produced acetylene. I suspect it will be to do with regulating pressure as they can be dangerous.

Rexarc make one and here's a link:

http://www.rexarc.com/products.aspx?c=66

I have an old one tucked away in the shed and I asked at BOC about getting some calcium carbide and I ran into all the OSHA type frighten you off speak. Apparently the residue is a contaminant and you have to dispose of it carefully. BOC seem to control it, I suspect to protect their empire here.

Cavers, potholers speleologists, or I think you call them spelunkers in the US, still use carbide lamps and they work on the same principle although I gather there are no lamps made now.

"Carbide" used to be furnished to small mines in the Nevada desert in 50# or 100# cans. If the carbide isn't perfectly (lab grade) pure, it can produce trace amounts of phosgene when reacted, but this is destroyed in the flame.
Besides the acetylene, the end product is hydrated lime, Ca(OH)2, which isn't a hazardous material. Theoretically, it could be dried, mixed with more pure carbon and reacted again to make new carbide...but that would more trouble than just buying new carbide, considering the furnace needed for the process to work efficiently.
I'm not disputing what the bureaucrats may classify it as though; not all they do is rational or supported by facts but rather is done just because they need to justify their high salaries, IMHO.

I've seen some old restored cars that still use acetylene headlights, although usually with bottled gas rather than original lamps which generated their own gas.


.

[farmall]

Carbide caving lamps are still available, as is carbide from China.

Carbide is a very good way to store energy and acetylene generators were very common for lighting and of course industrial use. Waste of time in modern countries where the acetylene vendors run their large generators and package acetylene for the customer.

Rexarc sells a fair number overseas because if there is no bottled gas vendor, it's DIY or "do without".

[davidlutz]

http://www.rexarc.com/uploads/articles/pdf/50PSlit.pdf

[neilandy]

Originally Posted by denrep

Thought you folks might enjoy a couple pics of someone's forgotten welding rig.
I don't know any of the rig's history. I caught it heading for the shredder.

Check out the horn, siren and spotlight.
Attachment 22686
Must have been quite a show when he pulled in!


Here's the rear mounted welder engine and compressor:
Attachment 22687
Several generators too. Maybe for jump starting?
No detail overlooked... fire extinguisher mounted on tool box.

The welding head is gone, but you can see where it was coupled to the Chevrolet engine.
On the right is the compressor; for air-arc maybe?
Check the welder control panel - 120v outlets and cable studs.
Attachment 22685
Notice the frame mounted air over hydraulic brake cylinder.

Inside cab:
Attachment 22688
Everyone gets a shifter!

Well, maybe it'll make China in time for the Olympics!

Hi Denrep,



We are thankful to you for sharing the great and very informative post with us. It's really very nice and helpful information.

[Mick120]

Originally Posted by Tractapac

The cylinder is an acetylene generator, where they dropped Calcium Carbide onto water and the ensuing reaction produced acetylene. I suspect it will be to do with regulating pressure as they can be dangerous.

Rexarc make one and here's a link:

http://www.rexarc.com/products.aspx?c=66

I have an old one tucked away in the shed and I asked at BOC about getting some calcium carbide and I ran into all the OSHA type frighten you off speak. Apparently the residue is a contaminant and you have to dispose of it carefully. BOC seem to control it, I suspect to protect their empire here.

Cavers, potholers speleologists, or I think you call them spelunkers in the US, still use carbide lamps and they work on the same principle although I gather there are no lamps made now.

Back in '71 when I was working on a rail track gang in New Zealand, we used carbide flares when working in tunnels.
Just a long tin can, one hole in the bottom, two in the top...tear off the tape covering the holes, place the single hole in a bucket of water, listen for the sound of the gas coming out the top two holes and light.
Idiot here didn't listen for the gas, went to light the thing and it blew up in my face.
Sent me clear across the tracks and hit the other side of the tunnel, of course, by the time I hit I was unconsious anyway and never felt a thing.
When I came around, smoke was billowing out of the tunnel.....never did get to use another carbide flare.

[neilandy]

Originally Posted by jtrapper

Here are some pictures of my father. He passed away 2 years ago. He was a welder in WW II in the navy, and continued his craft when he got home. He retired as a union pipefitter. Sure wish I could work with him today.

Hi,

I think you have learned more about welding work from your father and will do the best in your work. Good luck..

[sherry2012]

Thanks for that, it's much appreciated！

[tapwelder]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ga...iver,_Tenn.jpg

[el bob]

Originally Posted by Mick120

It was last used to press forgings for The F35 Joint Strike Fighter Jet however, it seems the press is broken, at least it was back in 2009.
Developed a crack that was going to take $68million to repair.....don't know if Alcoa ever did the repair, maybe someone can shed light on the matter.

This post is almost a year old now but I did a Google search and found this:

http://www.cleveland.com/business/in...y_to_go_b.html

The 50k ton press has been repaired.

[Hardware]

Speaking of aircraft...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...=Q6q1VKsTeKQ#!

[Mick120]

Originally Posted by el bob

This post is almost a year old now but I did a Google search and found this:

http://www.cleveland.com/business/in...y_to_go_b.html

The 50k ton press has been repaired.

Cheers for the heads up mate....missed it entirely.
Alcoa also have a semi decent video of the process, altho, a bit too much self back patting for my taste.

http://www.alcoa.com/global/en/news/...sp?videoid=153

[BlueArc]

Originally Posted by two_wheels

I don't know how old this is but it's a great photo:

I always like seeing this picture. I wear the exact same gloves today.

[Tig man aza]

Anyone got any really earlly heliarc pics would love to see some

[dumb as a stump]

[QUOTE=Hardware;925791]Speaking of aircraft...

Thanks that was interesting.

[el bob]

Originally Posted by Mick120

Cheers for the heads up mate....missed it entirely.
Alcoa also have a semi decent video of the process, altho, a bit too much self back patting for my taste.

http://www.alcoa.com/global/en/news/...sp?videoid=153

Wow, that was a really cool video. I would not have expected that they had to ship major parts (or, it sounds like, order fresh new ones?) all the way from Germany.

Thanks for posting it.

[bert the welder]

Cool little bit of film. There is even a bit of welding in there! Helluva power hammer and set of forge tongs in there too at about 5:20. She is a big girl!

You Tube

You Tube

[rabidchimp]

That locomotive vid was amazing.
-Aaron

[garagecat]

From the Battle Ship Iowa

[garagecat]

USS Enterprise in dry dock 4 at Hunter Point San Francisco, Ca 1985

[dumb as a stump]

Originally Posted by bert the welder

Cool little bit of film. There is even a bit of welding in there! Helluva power hammer and set of forge tongs in there too at about 5:20. She is a big girl!
EDITED

You KNOW that is in the days when a man went to work and EARNED his pay.. Hot dirty dangerous LOUD mans work. It's sad think that that gear is prob all gone, and that couldn't be done again. Cool vid thanks for finding that.

[G-son]

A picture from a 1964 swedish oxyacetylene welding handbook. The text under the picture translates to:
Welding of bullet damaged airplane propellers, made of forged duraluminium.

Somehow I doubt welding propellers is allowed today - but if you keep getting bullet holes in your propellers you might have bigger things to worry about anyway.