Does it have a pic of his late wife in it like that Chevy ad? Edit: Oops...wrote that before I read about his bride....
Yes actually and it’s an interesting story. He was looking for an affordable way to produce aluminum and the rest as they say is history. https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/calciumcarbideacetylene.html
Very interesting article. I especially like the part where it mentions that in the 19th century the only way to join two pieces of iron or steel together was to put them in a forge and hammer them together. I have over the years mentioned this process when “hammer welding” comes up. Hammer welding is just that, hammering the metals together like the ancient Phoenicians did when making their superior swords. But I’m always corrected in that most people get confused with hammer welding and metal finishing after the weld has been done. I.E. You weld your pieces together and then planish the weld area to smooth it out... Now Larry, being a retired welding instructor, correct me IF I’m wrong as I trust what you say.
Yes you’re absolutely right about the old way of joining metal by hammering involved heating it up repeatedly and hammering it until it did actually join together. Those old sword smiths especially the Japanese with their samurai swords understood the different alloys and how to make a blade with a strong core and outer layers of more flexible steel to keep an edge as well as being durable. Its a real art form and very impressive how their understanding of metallurgy was learned. This article gives you the history of welding, the type of stuff we taught our students and shows how welding as we know it has really been around for a relatively short time starting in the early 1900s Also war was a lab of sorts driving industry to develop new technologies. https://www.millerwelds.com/resources/article-library/the-history-of-welding
I’ll read that article on proper “hammer welding”, thanks. And I forgot the part where the sword smiths would hammer, fold, hammer, fold, repeat until the got exactly what they wanted. Some were very famous and their craftsmanship was highly coveted.
With a carbon acetylene generator as seen on the running boards of some cars back in the teens and twenties.
Cabong don't stop now!! And BTW I have a Dick. Same deal he was there and did that stuff too. Dick Moseley. I love this stuff.
I'd like to chime in here, concerning the "Acetylene Generators". Our place (DeadOxRanch) just outside Baker City, Ore. was "Broken-Out" as a homestead about 1900. The Coffeys apparently had a bit of money, as they built a nice house, barn and shop. This was long before the "Rural Electrification Act" so, being progressive, Mr. Coffey installed what is known as a "Pit" generator. Built by Colt Arms, the design attempts to mitigate the scary issues surrounding the manufacture of this gas. The "Pit" part is still out in the barn-lot, 100-feet from the house, being an underground 12-foot concrete-lined vault, with the mechanisms accessible through the top. Colt MUST have been pretty confidant, as it took 10lbs of Carbide to fill it. (There's bomb for 'ya) In addition to the obvious dangers, the chemical process is quite corrosive. Considering that all the workings are mechanical, I'm thinkin' it was not necessarily "IF", but "WHEN" it would blow. It seems that Mr. Coffey ran his whole house, as well as a forge and lights in the shop. The mechanism, at this point in time, looks to be WAY "too far-gone" to try to restore... even if I WERE brave enough. There is still about a foot of "Whitewash" in the bottom of the pit, incase anyone would like some for their fence.
In cleaning up a corner of our yard, getting ready to move my 33-4 'Avatar", I uncovered the Carbide plant I referred to in this post. In case anyone's interested, (and, I guess, even if you AREN'T, I'm posting pics of it. Colt Arms manufacture. Kittens ARE available.
Sigh. Now you made me go learn about acetylene generators. http://www.ahmrc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/types-of-acetylene-generators.pdf Cheers, Harv
I will post a pic later today of a generator in a basement of a friend's house/ Homestead... They had about half a dozen Barn's at one time... Guess what color, White! It was known as White farm.. Totally make's sense Now!
The Jalopy Journal
