Old Vocational Welding Operator Video – 1942
Here’s an interesting old video that was put out pretty much at the height of world war 2. It’s a cross between a vocational instruction video and job recruiter video. During world war 2, many of the men that worked in the factories performing skilled labor were off to war. Because of this, there was an extreme lack of skilled workers in all of the trades. This video appears to be an attempt to get people into the welding trade in order to feed the hunger of the war machine.
This video, at least for me, is neat on a few different levels. It focuses on welding, it’s industrial themed, and it was put out during world war 2. It reminds me of the old newsreel shorts / propaganda films that were so often shown. Call me sentimental…or just mental.
The first half of the video does show a welding process that many people probably aren’t all that experienced with, namely gas welding. Back before shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) had taken over as the dominant welding process of the day, gas welding reigned supreme. It’s still an excellent welding process to learn, and it’s even more useful if you don’t have a welding machine. Contrary to popular belief, you can still use gas welding to produce very good and sound welds. Don’t discount it because it’s old school!
The second part is mainly about shielded metal arc welding. And by the looks of some of the welds, I think it’s fair to say that modern day electrodes and welding machines have really come a long ways. God bless technology!
http://stickweld.com
Tags: acetylene, electrodes, gas welding, shielded metal arc welding, smaw, video, welder, welding machine, world war 2