Fig. 2998.
Fig. 2999.
The several sections are now ready to be welded together for the complete frame, these welds being made as follows: The ends are upset as in [Fig. 2994] to receive on each side a V-piece such as in [Fig. 2995], which is heated on a porter-bar, and is of a more acute wedge than the ends to be welded, so that when laid in as in [Fig. 2996] it will touch at the bottom first, and thus allow the air and whatever dirt there may be on the surfaces to squeeze out as the welding proceeds. The method of heating the frame for these welds is as follows: The V-block (which has the grain of the iron running in the same direction as that of the frame) being heated in the blacksmith’s forge, the frame is clamped together and counterbalanced by means of weights, so that it may be laid over a fire pot, constructed as in [Fig. 2997]. This fire pot is lined with brick, and has its blast supplied through a piece of flexible tube. The anvil is of cast iron, shaped as in [Fig. 2998], and placed on the other side of the frame and opposite to the fire pot or portable forge, as shown in [Fig. 2997], so that the frame, when the heat is ready, may be turned over upon the blocks on which it rests, and the part to be welded will come upon the anvil. After one side is welded the anvil and the portable forge change places, and the second side of the weld is made.
Fig. 3000.
