Oxy-acetylene welding manual

Frontispiece
Welding School, Ordnance Department, United States Army, Peoria, Ill.
WILEY ENGINEERING SERIES
By LIEUT. LORN CAMPBELL, JR., U.S.A. Officer in Charge of Welding Instruction, Ordnance Department, U. S. Army.
TOTAL ISSUE, FIVE THOUSAND
NEW YORK JOHN WILEY & SONS, Inc. London: CHAPMAN & HALL, Limited 1919
Copyright, 1919 BY LORN CAMPBELL
Copyrighted in Great Britain
PRESS OF BRAUNWORTH & CO. BOOK MANUFACTURERS BROOKLYN, N. Y.
( 1 ) The oxy-acetylene method of welding and cutting metals has of late been receiving considerable attention. Its tremendous power of creating, repairing and destroying the work of man has been but recently recognized in its broadest sense, and the demand for operators, skilled in the manipulation of this apparatus, which always has been far in excess of the supply, now knows no limit. Many authorities have set forth their views and theories upon this subject, in America and also in foreign countries. These have been published from time to time in many of the leading periodicals and magazines, as well as in book form. It seems the purpose of most of these works has been to advance the operators who already have a smattering knowledge of this art, or to present to the purchaser of apparatus a set of operating instructions.
( 2 ) It is singular indeed that a school manual, devoted exclusively to the instruction of the beginner, which will serve as an aid to the instructor as well as to the student, has not yet been put forth. It cannot be said that there is not a demand for such. Recently there seems to have been a mushroom growth of welding classes. The majority of the vocational schools, colleges, night schools, and automobile schools have all entered the instruction in oxy-acetylene welding on their rolls and each is attempting to instruct in an entirely different manner from the other. There can be no question as to the expediency of affording the educational institutions a systematic as well as a standardized method of instructing. But the books and articles of the nature mentioned are not suited to this purpose, and were not designed for it. A school-book is wanted; something to be used in the classroom, to be employed as a reference in the shop practice, to be studied for what it contains, and to indicate further lines of research, where such are required.