1930
The Mauritius sales drive started, and within a few years proved a good market.
African Oxygen acquires Sparlet's Limited. Known the world over for its soda water siphons where the cartridges are filled with CO2 giving the necessary "fizz" to the drink.
1931
The name Allen Liversidge changes to reflect business' activities and is named: African Oxygen & Acetylene (Pty) Ltd.
Rapid expansion necessitates the employment of additional travellers (salesmen).
1932
African Oxygen introduces a number of propaganda films on welding. So successful were the films that by 1935 more than 5,000 people had seen them and 26 educational institutions borrowed them to show to their own students.
1933
Safety and training focus launched in welding after finding goggles being regarded as a matter of choice when welding; a welder welding pipes at 1,800 lbs. per square inch without a regulator, the hose exploded in the process; welders welding petrol tanks without clearing the fumes in the prescribed manner of using live steam, several explosions occurred.
Welding school opens in Germiston offering training courses from a week to six months.
African Oxygen leads the way by providing an attractive lay-out for the surroundings of its works at Germiston - “very different from the grimy setting traditional with factories".
1935
British Oxygen buys controlling interest in African Oxygen.
The African Oxygen and Acetylene Journal, issued quarterly made its appearance in February 1933.
African Oxygen introduces the first automatic welding machine“SAFRAP” (Vertical and horizontal).
- 50% saving in time as compared with hand welding
- 75% saving in labour costs
- 80% saving in total costs
- 100% strength in all welds
These machines are installed in the showroom in Germiston. Contact us for a demonstration.
Agents appointed including; Spence and Drury in East London, Rand Carbide in Witbank, Mann, George and Co. in Walvis Bay, C. Daros & Co. in Pietermaritzburg, agents in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Salisbury, Mozambique and Scott & Co. became the agents in Port Louis, Mauritius.1936
A fire breaks out in the Acetylene Department, Durban. Not a single cylinder exploded due to the bursting discs coming away and releasing the gas when the cylinders heated up.
African Oxygen takes prominent position to showcase its products at the Great Empire Exhibition that opened in September 1936 and ran to January 1937.1937
The Quasi-arc process is launched.
1938
The African Oxygen and Acetylene Journal is renamed Oxy-Acetylene News.
Louis Trichardt, Dar-es-Salaam, Tonga, Mozambique and Nairobi branches opened.1939
World War II starts. Close contact was immediately set with the Directorate of War Supplies, the Defence Department and with Iscor Steel Works at Pretoria. One of the most urgent demands was for the construction of armoured fighting vehicles, though South Africa has still very little knowledge about the process of welding armour plate.
In conjunction with Iscor, experiments were therefore immediately undertaken at African Oxygen's laboratories at Germiston. The first attempt stood up reasonably well to a .303 bullet fired at a distance of 50 yards, but soon the methods were greatly improved until the results attained were fully comparable with the equivalent efforts overseas.
Apart from the actual production of gases, the African Oxygen Production Department was also charged with the manufacture of all welding gear used by most of the South African Forces.