Posted 3 years ago
dav2no1
(820 items)
1900s Anti Borax Welding Compound Box
6 3/8" long x 4" wide x 4 5/8" tall
Wooden box that held welding compound. They would use this as a flux while welding. Originally used during forge welding.
I don't really know how old this box is? The pat date says 1902, but they could've used this for a few years?
It's an interesting box joint they used. There is something like 30 joints there.
FLUX
"Welding flux is a combination of carbonate and silicate materials used in welding processes to shield the weld from atmospheric gases. When the heat of the weld zone reaches the flux, the flux melts and outgasses. The gases produced push the atmospheric gas back, preventing oxidation (and reactions with nitrogen)."
FORGE WELDING
"flux is used to keep the welding surfaces from oxidizing, which would produce a poor quality weld, and to extract other impurities from the metal. The oldest flux used for forge welding was fine silica sand. The iron or steel would be heated in a reducing environment within the coals of the forge."
Fun piece. I wonder how many others have survived. Considering that after they used the flux, it would have been trash.
I agree that the joinery is interesting. It definitely adds to the appeal.
People confuse the two, but technically it is not a finger joint.
"The main difference is that the cuts are not tapered. They are most often square or rectangular. Like a dovetail joint, a box joint forms a 90 degree angle and joins the ends of two perpendicular pieces of wood to form a corner. Box joints are easily cut using a dado blade on a table saw."
Here's a good example..
https://www.rockler.com/learn/cut-finger-box-joints-simple-projects-router-table-jig
dav2no1, Wow.
All that sophisticated woodworking for what was a throwaway item in the early twentieth century.
A casual Internet search turned up a lot of these boxes.
I think this is the patent:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US700979A/en
Great info as usual.. I noticed there were several around. Seems the box maker was very good and these lasted the tests of time.
My sister actually bought this and gave it to me. I had let my dogs out the other night to use the bathroom without checking the cameras first. There was a opposum and they attacked it. After getting them called back inside I went to check. There were several babies scattered everywhere. I got gloves and gathered them on a dish towel and set them near the mother. I checked in a bit and it woke up and left, so I placed a bath towel(dogs towels) over them since it was chilly.
I went inside and researched and found out that opposum moms will not come back for their babies.
So I gathered them up..originally 7, but one had died instantly and later 2 more passed...they were very young, eyes still closed. But I used a portable heater to get instant heat and 4 were looking strong.
So I used an old mouse tank and towels to keep them warm for the night. The next day I had to find a wildlife facility that would take them, so I missed my weekly treasure hunt with my sister.
Most people don't understand the role that opposum have in the environment and because of this they get a bad rap. They actually eat a lot of bugs that we don't want around.
dav2no1, You saved the babies. <3
Yeah, the oppossum is misunderstood. However, with all those teeth, it can be a fearsome sight.
A guy I used to work with was preparing to empty a waste receptacle out in front of the main entrance to the building before dawn one day. When he removed the top of the waste receptacle, all he saw was teeth. Let's just say that he was not well-pleased. };-)