[TheForge] OT A good idea that took a long time to arrive

[Jerry Frost]

I don't know much about carbon arc welding, gouging 
yes, welding no. Father used to talk about it a little 
as being terribly frustrating unless you had a real 
gift.

As to feeding inert gas through a carbon tube to CIG 
(Carbon & Inert Gas) weld:

Does carbon erode slower than tungsten?

Will a proper plasma column form at all with the arc 
initiating outside the inert gas stream?

If it works, in what way would it be an improvement 
over TIG?

Google's made it easier but I started surfing the 
patent servers shortly after going online. Then the IBM 
patent server was free and open. It was a lot easier to 
navigate than the Gvt. server and more complete than 
other more recent freebe servers.

There's definitely a "danger" to be aware of when 
you're researching ideas on the patent servers. As you 
say it can stifle your imagination with a little 
knowledge, convince you something's been tried and 
doesn't work, or something does work that doesn't, it 
can send you off on zero gain tangents and low 
performance wrong tracks.

My progress making propane burners is a perfect 
example.

Sometime in the late 80's, early 90's coffee shop 
buddies of mine laid a stack of paperwork, drawings, 
spec. sheets, theoretical text, etc. etc. regarding 
induction devices on me. They wanted to see if I could 
figure out how to make one produce high volume, high 
pressure output with low volume high pressure input. 
They wanted to make a tire inflater that'd operate 
using 100psi. input and fill a tire to 40psi. or so. 
Not possible of course and I said so. It'd work but 
you'd need something like 1,500psi. input and a can of 
"Fix a Flat" is only a couple bucks.

Regardless of how their idea worked out what I saw was 
a naturally aspirated burner. I had the data sheets in 
hand telling me a linear inducer will work just fine 
but had pretty tight tolerances for the home builder. 
On the (literally) facing page was a "Jet Ejector" 
inducer that was such a powerful device I could miss 
optimum design by more than 30% and still have a home 
made burner that'd perform on either side of neutral.

It was some time before I tried making a burner; more 
than a year. By then the internet had gone public and 
I'd discovered the IBM patent server. On that server I 
found loads of furnace designs, from jewelry to RR car 
size. Low and behold a patent for a farrier's forge 
door hinge (or something as significant) had a bell 
reducer and pipe, linear inducer for the burner. It was 
virtually identical to the Aussie or Ron R's EZ burner.

Seeing something that "works" sent me down the linear 
inducer path for a couple years. Until I got tired of 
the hassle getting them tuned and I finally made my 
first Jet Ejector. That one took me a couple hours to 
get tuned and is still working fine.

Anyway, I love surfing the patent servers; so many 
truly wacky ideas have been patented one can hardly 
help but be entertained. <grin>

Frosty
-------------------------------
If it ain't forged
it ain't real.
Wrought iron is.
The FrostWorks

Meadow Lakes, AK.

http://www.artmetalradio.com/

From: "Kathy" <keporter at comcast.net>


> Frosty,
> I never tried until Google started offering the 
> service free. On the one hand,
> you get a lot of background information for an idea 
> you're toying with very
> quickly with them, but they also tend to put a crimp 
> in the imagination, just
> like any well worn path. I looked up carbon-arc 
> torches and was really amazed at
> the lack of truly independent thought in the patents. 
> After a week studying them
> on Google, I got better input from one casual remark 
> made by Dan Brewer on the
> way home from a casting party than anything the 
> patents showed. For instance:
>
> (1) Not one design ever gave serious consideration to 
> ergonomics.
>
> (2) No design ever took into account the fact that 
> very small carbon rods have
> been available as far back as 1950; back then you 
> could get 3/32" diameters,
> although 1/8" is the smallest scarfing rod sold 
> today.
>
> (3) Not a single design ever contemplated combining 
> the processes of joining and
> scarfing in the same torch.
>
> (4) And so naturally no inventor ever considered 
> designing in the ability to
> push inert gas for welding through the same openings 
> as are used for compressed
> air scarfing.
>
> I have heard a lot of people say that welding with a 
> twin carbon-arc is pretty
> much of an exercise in futility, but then so would 
> driving interstate in a
> Stanly Steamer be. Kind of makes you wonder doesn't 
> it?
> Mikey
>