[R-390] CAD Welding-RR Thermite welds

[William J. Neill]

Ah, ye speak of the joys of field welds with 1,400' stalks of welded  
rail, perchance?

Or signal bonds maybe?

"Dispatcher, this is gonna take about two hours before we can run any  
trains."

Of course, back in my USASA days, Thermite grenades had an entirely  
different use.

Bill Neill
Conroe, Texas


On Jul 30, 2009, at 2:42 PM, Shoppa, Tim wrote:

> What on earth is CAD welding and can I do it at home with some #22  
> wire
> and a few electric bulbs?

AKA "Exothermic Welding" or "Thermite Welding". There's a graphite
crucible and thermite, a lot of heat and sparks, and when you're
done you've got a weld.

Brand name that is getting mis-capitalized here is actually "Cadweld".

Where I work, we buy them by the tens of thousands not just for copper
wires but also copper-to-steel and steel rails. Yes, it is a
poor idea to store all your cadwelds in the same place. Many years
ago we had a bunch in a locomotive cab that caught fire; it took many  
hours
for it to cool down enough that demolition of the remnant slag could  
begin.

Tim