Tasks for the
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EXPERT WELDER
Although Unimportant Parts and Small Detail Work Can Sometimes be Tackled by the Ordinary Mechanic, Most Jobs Require Expert Knowledge and Proper Welding Plant
fplIERE is a tendency amongst some users of commercial-motor vehicles, and one which is, unfortunately, encouraged by semitechnical writers, to treat welding as work which can be tackled successfully by comparatively. unskilled labour, with the result that articles repaired or built up by such workers are not only badly finished, but are apt to fracture, either at the weld or some other point which has been weakened through overheating of the surrounding metal.
With the employment of many classes of high-grade 'steel which require ex:tremely delicate heat treatment, expert knowledge of the materials which are being dealt with is essential, and proper furnaces and machine tools which can finish to a high degree cf accuracy are indispensable. Chassis repair s, in particular, should be carried out only by experts, because the question of reinforcing frequently arises, also the need for making both sides of the frame of the same strength. Not only can the metal be burnt by using wrong processes, but a chassis frame can quite easily be distorted.
No two metals can be welded in exactly the same manner; for instance, east iron has to be treated in an entirely different way from wrought iron.
, Actually, it has been shown that it takes many years to make a really competent welder and one who can decide which is the most suitable process to employ, but even a competent welder requires constant practice, otherwise he loses his skill. Welding specialists have different men for the various jobs, and one Who can deal perfectly efficaciously with aluminium
might be incapable of carrying out satisfactory work with cast iron. Even very small jobs, where the parts affected occupy vital places in the chassis make-up, frequently demand great skill.
The materials employed in welding are by no means inexpensive, and it may easily occur that if the cost of the gas used on a small job be carefully calculated it will be found that, in the end, work done locally actually costs more than the amount which would be charged by a competent concern for performing the same work under guarantee.
Our illustrations show some of the many tasks which are performed by Barimar, Ltd., 18, Lamb's Conduit Street, London, W.C.1, this company also having factories in Manchester, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Birmingham and Glasgow.
One of the most interesting classes of work undertaken is the building up of weak places, employing higher-grade metal; cracked and broken cylinders, broken bores, burnt, worn and cracked valve seating-s, aluminium and cast-iron crankcases, gearboxes with broken arms, sides or even cracked bearing housings, are all perfectly amenable to expert treatment. Crankshafts and axle shafts can be repaired if broken, or built up if worn. Scores in cylinder bores can be filled in by a patented metallurgical process to fit existing pistons, warped cylinders and heads refaced, and, in fact, there are few jobs which this expert welding concern will not tackle under guarantee.