Don't Miss This Very Interesting 1904 Forge Welding Film from The Library of Congress

Thanks for posting T-Head. A great piece of history.

This reminds me of a story my uncle told me about how he and my Grandfather modified a wheat harvester for use as a pea harvester.
He described how they forge welded the various components and yes he too mentioned the use of Borax as the flux.

 

Should have TIG-ed it. . . that's never gonna hold.

 

Wow. Makes us looks like a bunch of sissies. No fat men there. I took a tour of a silver mine a few years ago. All hand drilling of the rock for the dynamite. Two men swinging sledes while a third held the star drill. All by candle light. Notice you don't see any old men there.