Hard-
Surfacing,
Building
Fusion
Welding
Carbon
Welding
Non-Ferrous
Metals
Heating
& Heat
Treating
Braze
Welding
Welding
Cast Iron
Welding
Ferrous
Metals
Brazing
&
Soldering
Equipment
Set-Up
Operation
Equipment
For
OXY-Acet
Structure
of
Steel
Mechanical
Properties
of Metals
Oxygen
&
Acetylene
OXY-Acet
Flame
Physical
Properties
of Metals
How Steels
Are
Classified
Expansion
&
Contraction
Prep
For
Welding
OXY-Acet
Welding
& Cutting
Safety
Practices
Manual
Cutting
Oxygen
Cutting By
Machine
Appendices
Testing
&
Inspecting
3
In 1910, a 9000-ft. pipeline built
to bring water down to hydroelectric generators from a natural reservoir in
Colorado began to leak so badly, only
months after it had been placed in service, that some kind of repair was
essential. Pipe diameter was about
four feet, with walls more than an inch thick at the lower end, where the internal
pressure was 825 psi. Butt joints in
the pipe had been held together by heavy steel straps riveted to the pipe on
both the inside and outside. A half-million
dollar investment was in jeopardy. Working through the dead of winter,
welders repaired 200 joints successfully,
using acetylene generated on the spot from 18 tons of calcium carbide
and fed to torches through lines as
long as 500 feet, and oxygen made from 23 tons of potassium perchlorate in
two stationary plants and then compressed
into cylinders. During
the years 1912-1917, the oxy-acetylene processes really came into their own. Five
manufacturers were using
cutting and welding in the building of all-steel railroad cars, and railroad shops
were both using cutting and welding
for manufacturing and repair purposes. (The railroads had also taken the lead
in applying arc welding.) Oxygen
and acetylene plants by the score were in operation. The rapid expansion in steel
output required during World
War I would never have been achieved if the oxygen cutting torch had not made
possible cutting up of thousands
of tons of scrap steel. Fig.
2-2. This photo shows the
cutting of a cast iron slag pot
in 1920.
