The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1922-01-26
MAKE SAVING FOR
BUNKER HILL SHELTER
SERVICE eINEER SUCCESS
FULLY YIELDS HUGE
MELTING POTS.

An outstanding feat in the line OF
Welding was recently performed foi
the Bunker Hill & Sullivan compan,
al Kellogg by service engineer from
the OXweld Acetylene company's Sc
attic office. The engineer not only
successfully pc. Termed the appointed
task but conducted the demonstration
so that other operators could proceed
10 perform similar work and thereby
effect great saving for all smelters.
The accomplishment is described in
the Mining and Scientific Press as
follows:
Some time ago the Bunker Hin a
Sullivan company, of Kellogg, had 2G
S-ton cast-iron melting pots that had
been so badly cracked in service at its
smelter that they had either to be
scrapped or some method of reclaim
ing them found. They represented an
investment of SS1, 200 Their value as
scrap would be less than tenth that
amount, from which would have TO
be deducted the cost of transportation
TO market and reduction Naturally
the alternative of reclamation was i'm
portant Attempts to weld them by the
electric-arc process proved failures.
The first experiments with weld
ing resulted disappointngly also. but
the oxy-acetylene process seemed to
offer promise of being ultimately sue
cessful and for this reason the engi-
neering department of one of the large /
apparatus manufacturers was given an I
opportunity TO work out the problem. /
In its everyday application. welding I
is comparatively simple operation,
in which ordinary skill and judgment
are sufficient successfully to perform
the work. In extraordinary applica-
tons. such as the reclamation of these
ponderOus pots. it is something more
lit becomes an engineering problem
for which practical experience and or
binary Judgment are not enough
There must be an understanding OF
the fundamentals of the particular
problem and knowledge of how to
devise the best way of dealing with
the unusual situation The engineer
in this instance was equal to the emer-
gency. The officials of the Bunker Hin
company were so well satisfied with
he results obtained that they at once
ordered a complete installation of the
equipment used including generators
or acetylene and in future il will be !,
used on work of this kind and for gem
raj welding and cutting at the mine
md smelter in making repairs to brol<-
N and worn machinery and plant
tructures. =
II should not be concluded, however II
hat the oxy-acetylene service engi- a
eer accomplished his demonstration =,
Without some experimenting to devel- @.
p the best method of procedure For
xample when he tried to pre-heat
he first pot in an improvised charcoal
lrnace, he discovered that &c sacks of II
harcoal burning at one time around VI
he pot little more than warmed IT, oi
was not until he supplemented this u
18th a blast from an oil and COM IN
ressed- air line connected with nv
earby power house. and covered the I'll
irnace and casting with asbestos pa Cd
En-, that he succeeded in securing the '''
'e-heat necessary to proceed with the IN
Gliding. The pots had been subjected III
such high temperatures in service gu
at a large part of the carbon was IN
trned ont as in the CRATE bars of fur an
ICES This made it necessary to az
ing the pots to a, high temperature MI
fore beginning to weld in order to an
feet a homogeneous weld. OF course ~
2 pots were annealed after welding. COZ
restore the original structure. yer
The welding demonstration describ- he
vas conducted INV one of the serv- an
engineers of the Oxweld Acetylene pI'
npanys Seattle branch. +"
Sci
IL.