Possibilities of Welding

The procedures of modern welding technique such as arc welding, gas welding etc. arc going to celebrate their 70th birthday but knowledge of welding as such is very much older. The method of forge welding is assumed to be known since the first application of malleable iron, dated about 3700 B.C. the pyramid of Cheops, was erected where the first "technical iron" is said to have been found. In 1800 B.C. an Egyptian spear tip made of iron was found in a Nubian tomb. The first real report on welding and this may be taken as the birthday of welding literature, was given by Herodot and Pausanias describing the famous work of Glaucos from Chios : A holy-water font founded by King Alyattes to the sacred place of Delphi. Perhaps this man Glaucos can be considered the inventor of welding.