212 THE APPLICATION OF ELECTRIC WELDING 



It will be seen that, in the application of electric welding- to repair work, a great 

 degree of skill and experience is necessary on the part of the operator owing to the 

 variety of his work. A common cause of failure in such repairs is lack of experience 

 as to the proper preparation of the job and correct methods of counteracting the 

 effects of expansion and internal stresses set up during the operation of welding. 

 For work of this nature an operator cannot be fitted by any system of intensive 

 training in welding alone, but only by a wide experience in ship and boiler repair 

 work in general. 



In new construction considerable work of a non-structural character can be 

 more economically effected by electric welding than by the existing methods of bolt- 

 ing or riveting. Work of such character as described below does not involve serious 

 difficulties connected with the quality of welding, and, in addition to the economical 

 aspect referred to, a great advantage to be derived from its adoption in such parts 

 is that in the course of time the men engaged in this work will become trained in the 

 art and a nucleus of welding equipment and of an operating force will be built up in 

 the shipyard which may be used for more important structural work. 



With this double purpose in view, the Electric Welding Committee early in 

 the year requested the Classification Societies to draw up a list of the parts of a ves- 

 sel in which electric welding might be used as an alternative to other methods of 

 attachment without any specific requirements or regulations. 



A few examples of non-structural work for which it is suggested that electric 

 welding is specially adapted are the following : — 



Deck rail stanchions to plating. 



Attachment of clips and hangers for pipes and wiring to casings, bulkheads, etc. 



Clips for attaching interior wood fittings to steel work. 



Engine and boiler-room stairs and gratings with their attachments. 



Masts, derricks, ventilator cowls and trunking. 



Cargo batten cleats to frames. 



Hatch cleats to coamings. 



Small tanks, bins and racks. 



Skylights generally. 



Manufacture and attachment of storeroom, galley, and cabin fittings. 



Welding studs in case armor plating for fitting of attachments. 



Anglesmith work can be considerably reduced if the flanges of the angle bars are 

 notched out, bent to the proper angle and electrically welded at the junction. The 

 bending can generally be accomplished cold. Watertight or oiltight collars and the 

 bosom pieces of watertight and oiltight boundary bars on bulkheads and double bot- 

 tom floors can also be largely eliminated. 



Let us consider the first item on the above list, namely, the attachment of hand 

 rail stanchions to deck plating, and particularly in the case of a tank steamer. 



The usual method of riveting these stanchions involves the following distinct 

 operations : — 



