Robert Macy wrote:

(...)

It turned out the BEST fuse for this test equipment
was a small 3AG 1A FB, went off like a flash bulb, and created the 'in-
spec' waveforms.

I wonder what those waveforms looked like?

I *guess* that there was a 1 A current spike as the surge power
ionized the fuse element, then down to zero.
Or did the current peak at just over 1.0 A?

While visiting an Alcoa plant (in Iowa?), I saw a large casting of
aluminum, approx 18 feet long, 14 to 18 inches tall and 10 inches
wide, of a very strange shape. I was told that that was ordered by a
utility company. It is a FUSE and they had just blown one on one of
their high tension distribution lines and this was the replacement!
Now you want shrapnel and melted metal. Blowing that kind of fuse
must be awesome to behold.

The installation manual for that fuse must be a work of art.
Imagine trying to keep the oxide off of the contact surfaces!

--Winston