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I saw the tube joints and my first thought was that it looked like it had been [I think it’s called] resistance welded, but I didn’t think they had the capability to do it in the 50s. As @midlife correctly pointed out, it was a technique perfected and used by Peugeot in the 70s. Perhaps in the 50s the method was too much in its infancy hence the failures.
I don’t know how they do it. The energy release must be enormous, so they must use some kind of capacitor bank to store the energy before bringing the parts together. That would have been quite a difficult thing to do in the 1950s!
Jonny69
clubman
Amalgam
As I understand it 'Amalgam' was Dayton's word for what was more usually called 'flash butt welding'. The main tubes were mitred, pressed together, an electric current passed through the assembly, and.... bingo, it was glued together!
Sometimes it stayed together, but sometimes it didn't. I guess the quality control wasn't great. Dayton certainly sold a lot of bikes in the fifties - many going to children as a reward for passing the eleven plus exam ( subtext - now you can get yourself to school ).
Amost every one I saw was canary yellow - I've got a feeling this may be an early version, since the finish is more elaborate than the ones I remember.
Some other little facts: Dayton were based in Park Royal, London NW10, the cast head badge with the micrometer motif weighed a good two ounces - I know this because I used a Dayton badged frame as a TT bike which served for all my PBs. I replaced the badge with a transfer. My frame wasn't Amalgam - it was a track frame built with conventional lugs and silver soldered, quite probably by an outside builder, nothing to do with Dayton. They once had a pro track team.
Since this nicely finished bike has lasted so long I guess it must be one of the better ones - I suggest reducing the gearing and just enjoying it.