Frank C. Tabor (1919 - 2012) started his welding career by attending marine coppersmith school, then taught in the navy, worked in a long line of metal shops of the Northwestern US, and retired from welding in 1986. At age 80, he was a full-time cartoonist, something he's always wanted to do. His cartoons were published in national magazines such as Saturday Evening Post, Good Housekeeping and many others. He combined his sense of humour and his industry knowledge in his stories and cartoons. One of his favorite sayings, "Don't let the coyotes get you."

anvilfire is happy to have licensed his metalworking cartoons and presented them here as the base for our daily and weekly comics. His knowledge of welding is also presented in our Safety and Welding Tip of the Day series.

Below are samples of nearly 100 metalworking comics and articles in our Frank Tabor collection. To see the rest, check back daily.

Spark Testing - Grinder Safety

A humorous safety poster from Frank Tabor and information about spark testing.

The Green Smoke Caper

A humorous story about hot iron and the smelly results another real life story from Frank Tabor.

WELDING TIP OF THE DAY : Gas Saver AKA Economizer Valve Thursday Mar 30, 2023 - 37/52

These gang valves that turn off both oxygen and fuel with a single lever designed to be actuated by handing the torch on it. A pilot burner is used for relighting the torch. Probably the most important is use with a rose bud torch. . With an economizer valve you can set the torch down killing all that noise and heat, and then pick it right back up when needed. This also avoids re-adjusting the torch each time you light it. One "creative" use is a foot operated stationary torch or "forge". If you use a torch a lot these torch accessories can pay for themselves in a short time. -guru

Stack Burning and Studs

Flame cutting tips presented with humorous real life stories from Frank Tabor.

The Horseshoe Caper

A cartoon from Frank Tabor and another from The Great Nippulinni

"I only noticed her eyes because they're the color of blueprints."

Frank's comics were all inked black and white drawings. Fill areas were cut and paste or rub on coarse screen dots. These were the standard for publication in most magazines at the time. We have digitally added grey scale fill or color to many of Frank's drawings in styles that are similar to the genre. In most cases it is only spot fill but in a few they are fully colored. Do your Up-Spouts ever clog in the fall?