Fig. 12.—Cutting Armor Plate by the Oxy-acetylene Process.
(V) Scrap Yards.—Cutting up scrap boilers, tanks and other large work to mill size, wrecking structural buildings, and reducing to small size, reservoirs, tanks and boilers, which are housed in buildings to remove them without damage to the structures.
(W) Tractor Industry.—Cutting and welding frames, track and wheel guards, water, gasoline, and oil tanks; welding up of blowholes, porous spots and misdrilled holes in castings of all kinds.
(Courtesy of the Davis-Bournonville Co.)
Fig. 13.—Here is Illustrated an Oxy-acetylene Machine for Cutting Holes in the Web of Rails, or in Structural Iron, of not more than ³⁄₄ Inch in Thickness. It can be Quickly Attached and Accurately Adjusted to Pierce through the Iron Instantly, without any Previous Drilling, and it will Cut Smooth Round Holes, from ¹⁄₂ to 2 Inches in Diameter in from 30 to 60 Seconds. It is Particularly Adapted for Railroad Work, and Enlarging or Cutting Holes in Building and Bridge Work.
(13) The foregoing, as previously stated, is but a partial list of some of the applications of the oxy-acetylene welding and cutting process to various industries. What has the future in store for it? Almost daily, some new application is found for it and at the present time experiments are under way in boiler construction, the results of which are not difficult to foresee. Giant hulls of seagoing vessels are being fused together by welding and the limits of this wonderful process which is now practically in its infancy are difficult to forecast.
(14) During the World War many manufacturers of non-essentials shut down and others turned their entire production over to the government, changing their machinery and in most instances their entire plant. What, then, are those who are operating machines and apparatus, produced by these firms before the war, going to do for replacements? There is but one answer, have their broken or worn out parts welded.
(15) Oxy-acetylene operators have always numbered far less than the demand, a point which was clearly brought out by the government when its immense Army and Navy were being formed. There were so few men familiar with the oxy-acetylene process that it at once took measures to establish its own schools where men could be trained, a thing that the commercial world had been THINKING of doing for some years. As the demand for operators continues to increase, it behooves a man, even though he is not a metal worker, to think and apply himself, in order that he may “carry on,” to the best advantage when opportunity knocks.
(16) The methods of instruction herein set forth are very simple and while differing in many respects from those used by the trade, have been most successfully employed in producing efficient operators. Certain principles are instilled in the beginner and some of the exceptions which are of minor importance are overlooked to avoid confusion. Criticism is expected from those who have never engaged in instruction of this kind on a large scale. There are many differences to be expected on account of this very fact, for there are few who have gone further than the instruction of very small classes where individual attention may be given.