HOMESTEAD WELDING

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Building is another field where skill as a welder can pay off. Large domes—both for housing and for work space-have been constructed entirely from recycled free junk metal. In many instances, steel structures can be erected, by selective salvaging and scavenging, at a fraction of the cost of their wood counterparts.

Now. If I've sold you on the idea of learning to weld, you may be wondering how much you'd have to invest in equipment. Maybe less than you think: You can buy a fine electric arc welding machine, brand new, for $100. (To use it, of course, you'll have to have either a 220-volt outlet or else a good 5-kilowatt generator.)

The other form of welding—the, oxyacetylene process-is fueled by the combined burning of two gases, acetylene (two parts hydrogen and two parts carbon) and oxygen. Each is housed in its own separate tank (the taller, more slender green container holds oxygen). The fuels are brought together by two hoses running from the tanks to a torch tip, and are mixed in certain proportions in order to produce a super-hot flame. Temperatures between 5,000° and 6,500° F are reached: high enough to melt quarter-inch-thick steel in about seven seconds.

Electric are welding is really a good bit cheaper in the long run than oxyacetylene, since the price of electricity is still a "bargain" compared to the cost of fuels for the other process. You really need both setups in conjunction, however, because you'll find oxyacetylene very handy for various purposes . . . including any brazing you have to do. (Brazing is the method of joining metals by means of a filler rod made of copper and zinc. The parts to be unified are not melted, as they are in welding . . . only the filler is liquefied to form the bond. The process is similar to soldering, and is generally used on items such as broken mufflers and tailpipes that are too thin to be arc welded effectively. Auto body men use brazing to repair damaged or rusted sheet metal.)

Oxyacetylene is also a practical way to cut steel . . . an alternative to investing in a power hacksaw. The item to be cut is first made red-hot, and the oxygen valve is then pressed to produce a blast of gas which literally blows away the molten metal.

If you own an old blacksmith's forge, of course, it's quite a bit cheaper to fire it up with coal and cut the red-hot steel with a good cold chisel than it is to use oxyacetylene. In many instances, however, the old method takes considerable time to set up (because of such matters as getting the coals red-hot and looking for pieces of steel small enough to fit into the forge). A combination of the traditional blacksmith's art and the modern oxyacetylene method is really best for the homesteader who wants to become self-sufficient in the metal crafts.

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