The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-07-29
COPPER WELDING
A / D D {. At Lu J "
NJ -
Repeated Failures q II !. ':''' Did
Not Deter Industrious
Mr.. KILLER.
ONCE KNOW HOW. a
4.5 BALANCE is EASY
$A Discovery and and Invention lti': Which 'Nhi
Were Long a Mystery, but by
Repeated Effort Have; Have
{ Been Brought to
Perfection and
\ Profit. 4.

s: s jts sneclal 10 The Times-Dispatch.) "
811inAY. VA July % w hen your cor COZ
s i sn,nd ent called upon Mr.. John p. KID ellt
ler al his home, about one mile y west s .6 o.
i 1,uray and about one-half mile from rom
the famous Luray cayerns, he found the the
Il now celebrated copper Wclder en- gaged IN
& ~ irving wheat into his house. the pro.
ductsof his $tu enty acre farm, which NAG ls1
ai1rst 7heen tnrcshed, the machine only nav
Ing left the premises a. few hours POI POI ore re
IA X a1, assis ta!1t in this arduous "a DOE 9!
q ,ua h!s twelve year old son. a orlenti
lad who Is his fathers constant COM
x panion 81 and In! tho yernacular OF !. !. the
country folk OF that section, the VERY
4 spit' OF his IA Their. n. G,s
Mrs. KILLER. whose maiden name an {, WA -
smith. was busily engaged In her house sc K
hold duties and scarcely no TED ne Pres 'Eta
ence or a. stranger on the piac df
Astonished, but Interested.
When asked about his recent discovery y -
The welding OF copper and copper. Helo Wy
I copper and steel and copper and tron--hlir:
N K,biar presented the very picture Of aston o.
s.ni,men t.a this astonishment originating N
ii the interest the public ls showing IN his
II discoyery. IN TO the query. s 3 " hen ii DID
) Vol, first attempt this welding process q
Il Mr.. KILLER replied. About six years 60.
n made failure after failure. Vhen 81
thought the task perfected. some little title
twist OF the welded metals would olllcl reno en-
them n asunde Each failure seemed
only to Increase the determinaeitIio Of ~.
Kibler to make q success q the Ve =.
for he says he s.had heard that It was
.sfa lost art,',.t and continuing, said &Sl
thought what had been. done before could
# 81 done again Then started In TO win
TIe says all SyouS have to do ss''ls to know
how \ Then everything Is easy
III uses the common 4 blac ksmith fire
y in the welding process, and though N ms ms
efforts TO accomplish wha ~ for centuries
h has puzzled the brain OF man llttle
secrecy has been observed, yet ne IS !! az
sole owner OF knowing how. as Il he
terms II. He has been engaged in black,
Is mItf1ing for the past eighteen years, hay. Il
: Ing commenced when he was t1Ten ty-one:
years Old. t9s AS q a gunsmith. he ranks
among the best-i In the State. samples OF
this latter work being found on a great
many OF the firearms IN the Valley.
4 Some OF the pieces made by Mr. Alpler
I for the English make OF firearms are
duplicated with the precision OF master
I hand. and cannot be told from the origl-al
nal pieces In the makeup OF these arms.
q Success Comes at Last.
After many backsets on the device. IN
4 800 Mr.. KILLER secured o. patent on e
nut and pipe wrench, which for general
utility has few equals for convenience.
Samples OF his last endeavor In the
invention line may be seen In Luray.
They are in the shape OF finger rings.
one half being OF copper and the other
steel or common wrought iron. These
specimens have the mark Of having been
genuinely welded. there being nothing to
indicate that any acids have been 4 used
u IN the work, He claims that he has also
/ discovered the process OF hardening cop
per TO such a degree that any OF the
edged tools IN daily use may be made
from this now popular metal. S43S
.S3S He is the youngest son OF Mr.. Pendle-i
\ ton D. KILLER, whose ancestors were
among the the first white settlers OF the
Valley OF Virginia. His father has all
ways done his own blacksmith work to
a large extent, and here doubtless Is
where the younger KILLER got his first
ideas which have made him a master
workman Of the harder metals. Two.
other brothers, Messrs. r. Q. and D. "A.
! KILLER, have always been termed linen
who can make anything they want out
$of wood, iron or STEEL" They, however,
are OF the retiring kind and are among
the substantial class OF Page county cit!-
gems. as IT isG5
g Mr.. KILLER. the inventories at present
engaged at work on the construction OF
the Luray electric dam. and Is close
student OF every piece OF machlnery which
\ is being put In place.