General Electric weld gage?

[davethorik]

I was curious if anyone knows anything about these.

I am a newb to welding but I think I know what they are for however I wonder who made these for GE, what the illegible writing on the pouch says, and what is with the cartoon face on the back??

What other tools did GE make?

 

[larry4406]

I goggled the part number shown on your piece

http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-ge-arc-welder-welding-gauge-tool

I assume it is an inspection gage for weld size.

 

[davethorik]

thanks Larry, in the pic you can still see the lettering on the front of the pouch... it says "A product of the welding department fitchburg, mass".

I am still curious who the cartoon face is.

 

[welder4956]

These were initially made by Fibre-Metal for measuring weld size on convex and concave fillet welds. G.A.L. Gage bought out the patent and sells them now. The ones you have are a collector's item. I have not seen any with GE logo on them.

http://www.galgage.com/measuring_fillets.html

 

[larry4406]

General Electric used to build steam turbines for power generation in Fitchburg Mass so perhaps these were internal plant production tooling for the welding processes.

The cartoon face appears to be wearing a welding helmet which makes sense. I thought that perhaps the cartoon face was Reddy Kilowatt but Reddy has a light bulb for a nose, so that was a bust.

 

[elong]

Larry - I have a similar gage. The cartoon face is "Joe McGee", the mascot of the
GE Welding Department. He appeared in training films, literature, etc. My father
was the Welding Department in Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and
Alaska in the 50's.

 

[jvrobins]

Can anyone tell me more about Joe McGee as a mascot for GE?