The Iron Age 1888-02-16: Vol 41

THE The Simonds Metal Rolling Machine. « machine, and the performance of the plant itself, which embraces 13 of the machines The aim at economy and rapidity of manufacture, together with the utmost attainable accuracy of work, has, during the past few years, been responsible for a remarkable degree of mechanical progress. Particularly noticeable, perhaps, has this de- ‘velopment been in connection with machin METAL ROLLING MACHINE, BUILT ery for the working of metals, new ideas and new desig ns having crowded one another in rapid succession. As an example of prob- ably the most recent departure in this line, and one of far-reaching importance, the metal-rolling machines of the Simonds Rolling Machine Company, of Boston, whose works are at Fitchburg, Mass., are of interest, and we take pleasure, therefore, in presenting in this issue engravings which very clearly illustrate the design and manner of working of one of them. The drawings and photographs from which these were made were kindly furnished us by Mr. George F. Simonds, the president THURSDAY, FEBI y 16. 1888 f the company and inventor of the we were offered an opportunity to witness during a recent visit to Fitchburg The engraving on this page will impart a fair idea of the general characteristfes of the machine, though for the details om readers must refer to the engravings on Fia. 1 General View mnTnrmnistiitl ! HATH IRON AGE duplic ited within and below il¢ imme ind floor line, as shown in Fig. 2. Mounted on these standards, by means of table fixtures, are a number of roller ) the manner illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 ind 4, irranged to act as front, rear and side sup ports and fuides to two cast-iron trave ing platens, ) ©), They thus tak the place of the ordinary sliding surfaces, and, mrt BY THE SIMONDS ROLLING MACHINE COMPANY, FITCHBURG, MASS the succeeding pages, representing a plan, and side and end elevations and section, together with different views of one form of die used, and a spe imen of work done by the machine. We will here explain at once that the latter is designed, as may already have been inferred, for rolling a curately and in a short space of time a large variety of work which at present is turned out by more laborious and sive processes, su¢ ha the turping, the customary methods of forging, and others. The machine, it will be noticed, consist in the main of a substantial bed and two standards, M M, which are practically affording only rolling contact, reduce frie tion The reference letters on the platens O unfortunately have the appearance of holes, but we trust that this will lead to ao misunderstanding Fitted into the backs ‘ Ol these platens re two racks (see Figs 1, 3 and 4), gearing with pinions B, Fig in the interior, mounted on theshafts A A and indicated only by dotted lines Fig, 2 These pinions have power trans mitted to them from the driving pulleys Pand P’ through a series of gear wheels 6D. ea r g and A, shown in the pla and also indicated in the elevation, Fig. 2 The pulleys P and P run in opposite dire¢ ‘otal — . Ti *-Z -- <= Gap semana AW RE » ey FE THE IRON AGE. February 16, 1888. ‘ ions, one of them having an open and the/| the right or to the left, engaging with the; observed in Figs. 2 and 4 that they carry other a crossed belt, and both are mounted | pulley P’ or P, as illustrated in Fig. 3, and | the cast-iron plates N N, into which th. ely on the shaft R, to which is attached | thus imparting motion in either direction | dies proper are dovetailed, the section of tion clutch pulley Q. From Figs. | desired to the shaft R and pinion a. From |these for this purpose being as shown ? 3 it will be readily understood | the latter the motion is transmitted fur-| Fig. 5. The die there illustrated is { ither from'ther, as we have already explained, the! forging car axles, of one of which a sket + 8 . ; i ( = Te) i \ cy i st ri SIMONDS ROLLIN MACHINE COMPANY, FITCHBURG, MASS. ward the machine the shaft G, | pinions on the shafts A A in all cases turn-| is also given. From what we have already ch it is fastened r s ing in opposite directions, so that one of said it will be understood that the dies are irned by means of the the platens fitted with the central racks used in pairs, moved in opposite directions k it th left. transmits always travels upward while the other trav-| over the metal to be shaped, the die sur- 1 to the transverse rod H, and from) els downward. The gear-wheel g, shown | faces, of course, being exactly alike. The J and pulley Q by a in Figs. 3 and 4, is supported by a frame | die illustrated affords a good example of ' ivot back of ,of which the arrangement will be under-| the method of construction adopted. By means this arrange- | stood from the different engravings. From the plane faces of the dies, which lie Q can be shifted either to Returning to the platens, O O, it will be parallel to each other when in position for February 16, 1888, PHI LRON AGI rk. rise the forming and reducing and) the same as the rate of linear mé nt t ri spreading surfaces, the plane portior the dies r serving to support and steady the work | to work « met nd prevent it from rocking The re where they meet lr t l wing surfaces — are grooved Or Se! hot blant Ss} ced ted in order to insure a firm grip) central reduct | 4 = 1 ( T : i ( ad ti , nendent 1 A r i ‘ > ! q =¢ ( Ss a rad er he | hatever ot Leahncem ! ; ‘ ms KS Ss h ' fos { a 4 sy } af Rion METAL ROLLING MACHIN SUIT BY THE SIMONDS LLIN ’ 1 on the hot and plastic metal and perfect by the narrow end of the tapering raised regularity in its rotation, and being thus portion a of the die face. It will be no-| of cours the spee arranged obliquely, the marks made inthe ticed from the cross-section of the die that, | calks for imbermen, f metal by the serrations are obliterated in in general configuration, the raised portions | being turned out at the subsequent revolutions of the blank, and are like the half-section of the axle, the | Simonds Rolling Machine ‘ the rate of the surface movement of the shearing off squarely of of the | rate of from 10.000 to 20,000 latter, where work is being performed, is axle being accomplished by the bevel edge ! different sizes of stock the ei - : ; nf art 7 apie | 2 i hy : q emi tween the die faces can be adjusted by neal e hand-wheel K (Figs. 2 and Carrying I ts shaft a small spur-wheel which gears I two larger spur-wheels s show! Fie. 4. These wheels in turn ire att two screws, S, Fig. 2, b: means \ the right-hand standard M, with its ver extension, can be moved either nearer to or further away from thi standard at the left, which is immovable. By means 4 pointer and suitable gradua- hand-wheel K the distance between the die faces may be adjusted to within small fractions of aninch. The de- sired adjustment having been made, the s rigidly clamped to the frame tions tor the ¢ lord stanadara [ . ib f ul | Dig ie | WITTEN bl 11 | | —/\} | | | | mil | . | | ’ 1} { M! ! ROLLING MACHINE, BUILT f t ichine by the bolts passing 1rough the side flanges. The die platens, ifter having performed the strokes just considered, are brought back to their ini- ial ns by reversing the motion, the pulley Q being thrown into gear with the belt pulley, which during that time } | running loosely on the shaft R, Fig. 4 \ careful study ‘of the « nevravings will explain our meaning more clearly. The machine is then ready to repeat the i It will be noted that the reversal of motion, as we have thus far described it, is accomplished by means of the lever F, operation just described. within easy reac h of the attendant The machine may, how- ever, be made to accomplish this automa tically by means of the two gear wheels C and D, shown in Fig. 2, the latter wheel being fast on one of the driving pinion shafts A The body of the wheel C, with which it meshes and which is driven by it, | THE IRON AGE. Is provided with a circular T-slot, in which two stops can bi clamped at any desired pots In this slot also is a_ loose upper end of the which is secured to the shaft G operating the mechanism of the friction pulley Q, by pin fitted to th level KE, y an intermediate crank, The wheel C obviously can revolve without affecting the position of the rod E in any way until the upper horizontal projection of the latter is struck by either one of the This being the case, the lever is either raised or depressed accord- ing to the direction of revolution of the wheel C given to it by the wheel D, the rod G is turned in either one direction or stops mentioned, BY THE SIMONDS ROLLING MACH the other, and, through its attachments, disengages the clutch pulley Q from the pulley P and throws it into gear with the pulley P’, or vice versa, in either case re- versing the motion of the shaft R and of the die platens OO. The length of stroke raveled through by these before reversal is thus effected depends, as we have ex- plained, upon the positions which the stops occupy in the gear wheel C, and which can be varied at will. The die platens and dies have rings attached to their upper ends, into which the hooks of a hoisting tackle may be passed for convenient removal when a change is desired. The pulley Q, as shown in the perspective view on the first page, is furnished with a brake-band, held taut hy a weighted lever. This arrangement has been found desirable to check the momentum of the moving parts. The machine, as a whole, is of very February 16, 1888 simple and substantial design, and complishes its object ina thoroughly Satis factory manner. The lines of work which it may be successfully applied practically unlimited, and since thy pl at Fitchburg was first started Mr. Simond has demonstrated its practical value for large number of interesting purposes, On of these, as we have incidentally pointed out in our description, is the rolling of ster car axles. In addition, full size carriac: axles, conical projectiles, spindles, and also | spheres for ball bearings are produced with great rapidity. Another production js that of steel calks for lumbermen’s boots. the work thus ranging from that. of appreciable proportions to articles of comparatively very small size. Per haps the most remarkable work the machine does is the rolling of bolts |and screws variety. Thi economy of manufacture is for obvious reasons very great, and the quality of thi | work is beyond reproach. The works at Fitchburg are mainly of an experimental character, and the design of the company, las we understand it, is to establish works for special lines of manufacture throughout the United States. At present all indica |tions point to the building up of am in dustry of great extent and general interest to iron and steel workers. An English company, known as the Simonds Steel and Iron Forging Company, Limited, have been formed in London, with a capital of £150,000. We would remark here also ‘that one of the features of the programm: of endless INE COMPANY, FITCHBURG, MASS. for the Boston meeting next week of the American Institute of Mining Engineers will be a visit to Mr. Simonds’s works. Those who will attend will have reason to congratulate themselves on having wit- nessed an exceedingly interesting and val- uable exhibition. A The owners of the Inman and Red Star line of steamships are endeavoring to have the Dry Dock at the Brooklyn Navy Yard extended to 600 feet, there being in the country at present no dock large enough to receive their 9000-ton steamers, now building, in case they should need repairs, The Baltimore Manufacturers’ Record, which has been so prominent and so suc- cessful in aiding the industrial develop- ment of the South, has just entered upon | its thirteenth volume. February 16, 188s. Electrolytically Formed Copper Pipes. "The ent accident to the steam pipe of British steamship Elbe lends a special interest t in electrolytic process for the inufacture of copper now being prac ed by Mr. W. Elmore, at Cockermouth ; According to this method, de di 1€€TiNg, such an article as isteam pipe can be produced without weld or joint, and having atensile strength from 50 to 100 per cent. in excess of first-class brazed pipes Further, this result can be attained with the use of u very inferior quality of copper, and at a cost which will enable the electrolytically made article to compete in the market with the customary varieties. Of course there is nothing new in depositing copper in a tubular form, but hitherto such metal has been too brittle to render it liable for use in circumstances under which it is exposed to great stress. For copying engraved plates, and for the rollers of calico printing machines, depos- England seribed in THE IRON AGE } and can be irawn ment rr compressed without annealing and wit woul in ney to crack specimens potshe | i d submitted to tl microscope show that t] electrolytic Tri i Has i We ( mpwuct ‘ I ind homogenous § structure hile drawn coppel is a he neve mbed mass Ot cryst ils, only connected together it pots The SUCCESS which has ittended Chie experi mental stage of Mr. Elmore’s process en courages the belief that absolute security from burst copper steam pipes can be secured in the future, and that we are on the eve of being supplied with a greatly improved quality of copper for all purposes, rE Brick and Stone Bridges of Span, Large ‘According to Professor E. Dietrich, of Berlin, there are only 57 bridges of brick or stone existing having a span greater than 131 feet. Forty of these have spans lving between 131 feet and 164 feet, 10 +> } ] ° mailer ra 1O beng solely CONTIN ii bridges | Venty-seven oF fi bridges are situated in France, thirtee Italy, ten in England, two in Austria, tv in Spain and one each in Germany, Swi reriand and the United States. ————— A Model of an Earthquake. In the latest part of the Journal of the Science College of the University of Tokio Frofessor Sekiya describes a very curious and remarkable model he has made to exhibit the manner in which a point on the earth’s surface moves during an earth quake. Those who have followed the re cent progress of seismometry in Japan are aware that the motion which is recorded at an earthquake observatory is a prolonged series of twists and wriggles of the most complicated kind, so that the path pur sued by a point on the surface of the soil has been aptly compared to the form taken i ¢c ’ _ estrogens aman hy _ a — e i -" a a —_— _ ———— — | i | i —«§ om A | i ne males } ene 4 fea _ ae masons | a — « —— ee 1 aS —e | | | a ema - a - — RRR on - all i b - Ly a SZ — => « Fig. 5.—Plar Elevation and Cross Section of a Die for a Car Axle. with Specimen of Work METAL ROLLING MACHINE, BUILT BY THE SIMONDS ROLLING MACHINE COMPANY. FITCHBURG. MASS ited copper Das been used with eTreat suc- cess, and when it has been thrown down very slowly it has been possible to produce very satisfactory qualities of metal for The novelty introduced by Mr. Elmore, however, lies in breaking down the crystals almost immediately they ire formed, and pressing them out into a tibrous form in which they are interlaced and matted together. To this end the iron core or mandrel on which the metal is de- posited is kept constantly rotating in the bath, and an agate burnisher is slowly) moved backward and forward lengthwise of the cylinder as if to cut a screw thread ipon it. The speeds are so arranged that a layer of copper ;¢%)5 inch thick is depos- ited between each reciprocation of the burnisher. these purposes, When the required thickness has been attained the mandrel is lifted out of the bath and placed in a vessel supplied with superheated steam. In a few moments the expansion of the copper detaches it from the iron, and the shell can be stripped off. Pieces cut from such tubes have been submitted to breaking tests by Messrs. Kirkaldy & OCo., Professor Kennedy and Professor Unwin, and have broken at strains varying from 27 tons to 41 tons per square inch, with an extension varying from 5 per cent. to 7} per cent. ina length of 10 inches. The metal can be worked under the hammer most easily, have spans of from 164 feet and 200 feet, | by a long hank of string when loosely three of from 200 feet to 230 feet, and one | only, the Cabin John Bridge, near Wash ton, exceeds this limit, and has a span of | 237 feet. Thirty of these are road and 22 ire railway bridves: one carries i ¢ inal, | | 1 another a conduit, and three are nut clas sified Fourteen of them date from befor the commencement of the present century, 22 were built between the years 1800 and | 1860, tive between 1860 ind ISTO, six be tween 1870 and 1880, and since then 10 In 22 of the bridges have been erected the rise lies between one-half and one-third of the span, in 18 between one-third and one fourth the span, in 10 between one-fourth ind one-fifth the span, and in six between one-fifth and one-eighth the span (ne bridge only, a road bridg flatter arch than given | the above ratios, and in this case the rise is e in Turin has a »v the smallest of 1 a lies in fifteen cases between 66 feet and 98 feet: in eight, between 98 feet and 131 feet: in eleven, between 131 feet and 164 feet, and in three cases, between 164 feet and 187 feet Ss inches, the latter being the radius at the crown of the Devil’s Bridge, at Bevizzo, Italy. The ratio of the arch at the crown to its radius at the same point is in thirty bridges between one-tenth and one-twentieth: in ten, between one twentieth and one-thirtieth, and in eight, between one-thirtieth and one-thirty-fifth. the span The radius at the crown | confused heap raveled together and thrown down in a Professor Sekiya has taken idvantage of a very complete earthquake record obtained by him with a set of Pro fessor Ewing’s seismographs to follo uit this path step by step, ind to represent it In a permanent form by means of stiff cop per wire, in this way took place on January 15, 7, and was unusually severe for Japan. The earthquake he has modeled LSS The model, of which we have seen an en graving, represents the absolute motion of the ground magnitied 50 times, and shows ita glance the real character and enormous omplexity of earthquake motion TP We are indebted to Mr. William Paulsen, Eastern agent of the ollinsville Zine ( Works, of Collinsville, [l., for the follow ing analyses f the spelter made by that ( ern 3 [I Zine QO 5AHOS 99 5531 Lead 0.4100 0.5385 [ron 0.0112 0.0084 The s i ordinary Collinsvil mples were from the le spelter. The Peru zinc mine, at Galena, Ill one of the most extensive mines of the kind in the West, which was closed a year ago on account of the low pri e of zint ore, is to be operated again em 44 f+ . ¥ Bf at a af: rset : ahi Find J ef haw - he Bin ft fil ty a t, rey) Mis ti. a, he Be ’ ae f 3 NE. . »- ~i ~ The Hargreaves Hot-Air Engine. English papers have during the past few weeks given considerable prominence to what appears to be a somewhat remarkable engine designed by Mr. James Hargreaves and built by Messrs. Adair & Co., of Liv- erpool. The engine, or thermo-motor, as it has been termed, is of the direct com- bustion type, and during practical test has developed, we are told. an unparalleled degree of efficiency. To the London En- gineer, in Which illustrations of the motor have been published, we are indebted for the following particulars concerning it: At 100 revolutions per minute it indi- cates 40 horse-power, and consumes 2 gal- lons of coal tar per hour, or about 20.5 pounds, or 0.512 pound per indicated horse-power per hour, the cost of 2 gallons of coal tar being lessthan 3d. Jf we now examine the principle of the engine we shall see how this extremely low consump- tion of fuel is attained. In 1824 Sadi Car- not propounded the great principle that the efficiency of any heat engine depended on the difference between the highest and the lowest limit of temperature in the working fluid, and that this difference must be as great as possible in order high efficiency. In_ the Hargreaves engine the highest temperature is probably over 2461 lowest 661 to secure a absolute, or 2000°, and 200° F. 2461—661 on the ordinary scale, giving 2461 = 0.73 as the highest theoretical available efficiency of the working fluid. If we compare this with a steam engine working with a boiler pressure of 170 pounds ab- solute, and a terminal pressure of 6 pounds absolute, we have 830° and 631° as the highest and lowest absolute temperature, 830 — 631 giving - = 0,24 S30 as the highest theoretical etticiency of the working fluid in the cylinders. The efficiency of the boiler not being more than 0.7, we have 0.24 x 0.7 0.168 as the theoretical efficiency of the whole machine. In prac- tice the Hargreaves engine burns 0.512 pounds of coal tar per indicated horse- power, and this may be still further re- duced, while there are few steam engines even of large size which burn less than 1.6 pounds of coal per indicated horse- power per hour. As shown in the pub- lished engravings, the engine is not very complicated though there are a number of attachments in the shape of air and fuel pumps, a small steam boiler for working one of these, regenerators, &c. a - The steamer Puritan, building at Chester, Pa., for the Fall River Line will be the largest vessel of her class afloat. She will cost $1,500,000, and is now two- thirds finished. Her hull is of steel, un- sinkable and fireproof. The principal di- mentions are as follows: Length over all, 420 feet: length on the water line, 404 feet: extreme beam, 52 feet; extreme breadth over guards, $1 feet; depth of hull midships, 20 feet 6 inches; hight of dome from floor, 63 feet: draft of watcr, 12 feet; estimated tonnage (gross), 4650; estimated displacement in tons, 4200: weight of engine, boilers, &c., in tons, 1400. Her bottom is cellular and divided into 56 water-tight compartments. The engines and boilers will all be inclosed by watertight and fireproof compartments. She will be propelled by a vertical beam engine of the compound type. The Puri- tan’s low-pressure cylinder will be 110 inches in diameter, and the piston stroke 14 feet. The high-pressure cylinder will be 75 inches in diameter, with a piston stroke of 9 feet. Steam will be furnished from eight steel boilers of the Redfield re- turn tubular type, and the maximum working pressure will be 110 pounds to absolute, and the THE IRON AGE. the square inch. The indicated horse- power of this enormous engine is estimated at 7500. The engine will drive a pair of featherigg paddle-wheels at the rate of 24 revolutions a minute. They will be 35 feet in diameter. The vessel will be steered by steam, and is expected to have a speed of 21 miles an hour. _ I Drawing Wire. Usually patent specifications are dry reading and they rarely review the con- | siderations which led the inventor to seek improvement of methods or appliances in a fresh direction. An exception to this rule is furnished by the admirable speci- fication of patent recently granted to James Withington, of Chambersburg, Pa., assignor to the Trenton Iron Company, of Trenton, N. J. It is practically a critical descrip- tion of modern methods of wire drawin®&, with their limitations and drawbacks. We quote the following from the document in question : A billet of highly heated iron or steel is first successively reduced through the grad- ually lessening passages of any suitable rolling mill until it emerges from the last pass as what is known asa ‘* wire rod,” the usual diameter of which is a little less than 4+inch. These wire rods are imme- diately and while hot wound upon reels into coils. These coiled rods, after cool- ing, are next immersed in tubs containing acid, preferably dilute sulphuric or muri- atic to remove the scale or oxide—sul- phuric acid permeating the coat of scale, loosening it by attacking the iron itself and combining with it to form sulphate of iron or green copperas (or if muri- atic acid is used chloride of iron), which dissolves out and is held in_ so- lution until the liquid becomes so impreg- nated as to cause further additions of acid to lose their effect upon the rods, when the liquid is run off and replaced by fresh water and acid. When the scale has been sufficiently loosened by the acid the rods are taken out of the tubs and either sud- denly immersed in a tub of clear water or else subjected to a stream from a hose (the more thorough as well as the more expen- sive method), in order that by washing all traces of scale and acid adhering to the surface may be removed. Immediately after washing the rods are immersed in a bath of milk of lime or other suitable coat- ing material and quickly dried, whereby a white coat is imparted to the rods which preserves them from rust. In some in- stances the lime is omitted, but this oc- curs only when the rods are to be tinned, coppered, or galvanized, or drawn down into qualities of wire which do not require a bright finish. After coating with lime the wires are drawn or reduced in diameter by pulling through a series of holes or dies in plates of cast steel or cast iron especi- ally adapted for the purpose, the holes or dies being lubricated by any kind of grease, such, for instance, as tallow. This method of drawing wire through greased dies is technically known as ‘ the dry method,” and its object is not only to reduce the diameter of the wire, but also to efface the pits or marks caused by the eating of the acid, and render the wire perfectly smooth upon its surface. Repeated operations of drawing, each time to a smaller size, harden or stiffen the wire, making it more and more elastic, until a point is reached when further draw- ing would cause the wire to become quite brittle. In drawing down to the finer sizes, therefore, it becomes essential to soften the wire at certain sizes before it can be further drawn down. This is done by annealing or heating to redness in suit- able vessels, the temperature depending upon the size of the wire, the larger sizes requiring the greatest heat. At predeter- mined stages of the drawing. processes, ow clean. therefore, or after the wires have heen yr, duced to predetermined sizes, annealin must be resorted to, and subsequent to each annealing the operation of « ing, washing and lime-coating above a scribed must be repeated. The sizes at which annealing: is resorted to vary with different manufacturers and with the ch acter of wire desired. The sizes known as Nos. 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 are the sizes at which annealing is best resorted to After the wire has been reduced ! the dry method to a size known as No, 18 it j im possible to proceed further with th: method of dry drawing, for the reason that such method in the finer sizes does not. by reason of the grease and lime employ meet the requirements necessary to pi duce a sufliciently smooth and bright su face, and what is known as ‘“‘the wet method” must be resorted to for the making of wire of smaller sizes thar No, 18. The wet method of drawing, briefly stated, consists in first immersing wire— after it has been reduced to the small size practicable by the dry method of drawing, and after it has been in conne: tion with the dry method of drawing an nealed for the last time and thorough), cleaned by pickling—in a weak, farina- ceous, glutinous or mucilaginous solution, such, for instance, as fermented rye flour, which forms upon its surface a mucilagin ous film known among wire drawers as the ‘*lees coat;” in then subjecting the wir with the lees coat upon it to the operation of being drawn down through a die, and in finally repeating the coating or immer sion and the drawing down with a series of successively smaller dies. By this method only has it been possible hereto fore to draw iron or steel wire bright and It has been inexpedient ieretofore, however, to adopt the above method for the larger sizes of wire, by reason of the fact that, even after annea! ing in the cast-iron pots heretofore alone employed in connection with the said wet drawing process, the wire, even when introduced in a clean and bright condition, has been taken out covered with scale and a dirty vellow or blue or dull black color, and this because of the gas generated in the pot notwithstanding the most complete exclusion of air possible. For this caus thorough cleaning in acid became neces sary, after the cleansing off of which im mersion in water became also necessary) instead of coating with lime, for the reason that the lime, being coarse, when mixed with the lees solution would cut out the dies and scratch the wire. All of these steps necessitate more skillful labor and a more expensive plant, and therefore in crease the cost of the larger products ove! and above their cost by the dry process. It is proper to remark that in some instances, as in the case of harvester and broom wire, which are completely finished at the size No. 20, the change from the dry to the wet method of drawing is effected at size No. 15. Whatever, however, be the size at which the wire is for the last time annealed before be- ing finished by the wet method of drawing, it is after. the final an- nealing cleaned thoroughly by immersion, bathing, or washing in acidulated liquor, and is then thrown into a bath of clear water until it is ready to bedrawn. The oftice of keeping the wire in water—which must in the first place be perfectly free from acids or salts—is to prevent the rust- ing) which would occur if the wire was exposed to the air for any length of time while wet from its immersion in acidn- lated liquor, and also to dissolve out any traces of acidulated liquor that may remain in the wire. The water in the wet method, therefore, subserves the same purpose that the lime coat does in the dry method. In the fine sizes of wire, however, the strands lie so closely togetheg > February 16, 1888. in the hank that the operation of cleaning in acidulated liquor becomes a very la- borious one, and it becomes necessary in order to remove the adhering particles of scale, after the coil or hank has been re- moved from the acidulated liquor, to loosen the fastenings of the coil, spread out its strands, and resort to what is known is ‘‘ batting,” a most lengthy and la- borious operation. It is impracticable, therefore, to clean sizes finer than No. 18, so that it is absolutely necessary in the <lrawing down on these sizes that the sur- face of the wire should be kept perfectly clean and smooth. This condition also compels the operation of annealing of the sizes below No. 18 to be dispensed with, excepting, of course, such annealing as is resorted to with small wire which has broken or ‘‘ fallen out” in the drawing before reaching its intended ultimate diam- eter, and which fits it to be sold as an nealed fine wire, a product frequently dis- posed of below cost, because the ‘* falling out’ frequently happens at sizes for which there is no demand. ‘\fter the wire has been properly cleaned upon its final reduction by the dry method t No. 15 or No. 18, as the case may be, and when it is not essential that the ulti- mate product should be silver or liquor bright, as it is termed, the wire, before being subjected to the wet drawing pro- cess, is lacquered or dipped for a few sec- onds in a weak solution of a salt of copper such, for instance, as the sulphate of copper, which deposits a tilm of metailic copper on its surface that serves not only to protect its surface from rust, but also to issist the lees-coat in lubricating the dies through which the wire is subsequently lrawn. The lacquered wire is next im- mersed in a tub of lees, from which it is continuously drawn, according to the wet method, through adie. This op ration of immersing in lees and drawing through a die is repeated through a series of dies each smaller than its predecessor until the tinal reduction is attained. The lacquer ing may also, in connection with the above operations, be either occasionally repeated, or may, if desired, be repeated before each drawing—provided, however, as already stated, a silver or liquor bright finish be not desired—for the reason that while the lacquer greatly assists the lubrication of the dies and is therefore advantageously em- ployed, it yet; when once applied, adheres so closely to the wire that it affects its ultimate tint and, while not affecting its brightness, imparts to it a distinct reddish cast, Throughout the entire conduct of the above wet drawing or reducing process, it has, for reasons already fully stated, been impracticable to anneal the wire: and the result has therefore been that, although the percentage of each reduction has been comparatively small, yet the tensile strain. on the gradually stiffening very fine sizes from No. 26 to No. 36) has been so great that only the very best material endures to the ultimate reduction, and much even of the very best material in the best practice ‘* falls out,” as it is technically called, or breaks in the drawing before reaching the ultimate size. his wire has heretofore, therefore, been annealed and disposed of at a sacrifice. Of course if it were practi- cable to clean fine wire this difficulty would be avoided, but it is obvious that between the oxidation in the operation of annealing and the consumption of iron by the acid in the operation of cleaning, to say nothing’ of the excessive labor in batting, there would not be sufficient substance of wire left to pay for the cost of drawing. Having now described the usual opera- tions of manufacturing the various sizes of Wire, it is proper for me to add that here- tofore for many years it has been a desid- eratum with manufacturers of wire to an- neal in such a manner that after the an- nealing process the wire could be im- THE IRON AGE. mediately drawn without being first sub- jected to the laborious and expensive operation of cleaning, or pickling. Two serious conditions or obstacles, however, have heretofore existed to prevent—viz. : the formation of scale upon the metal and the deposit of soot. The formation of scale results from the oxidation oc- curring when the wire is heated to redness in contact with air. The film of soot is produced by the carboniza- tion of grease existing upon all bright wires drawn by the dry method, and more especially upon the larger sizes. Many experiments to prevent the forma- tion of the light scale of iron oxide have been made, such, for instance as the con- struction of pots which when charged with wire would leave but a minimwn air space, such space being filled sith sand, rol] scate, mineral wool, asbestos, and various refractory substances, the result of which has been to decrease to an appré ciable extent the oxidation, but yet not to such an extent as to enable the operation of cleaning to be wit iltogether dispensed 1 or to permit of a commercial adoption to any great extent The tilm of soot is ( } i even more dificult to remove than th scale, as it is unaffected by acids, and must, especially on the finer sizes of wires, be manually removed by washing with water and by the ope ration of batting. It is by reason of the formation of scale and deposit of soot also that the dry method of drawing wire is inapplicable for the finer sizes, which are therefore drawn by the wet method. Mr. Withington describes his own method is follows: I first take the rod which has been rolled from the billet, and pi kle and cleanse it in the manner hereinbefore described | then coat the cleansed product by means of a farinaceous, glutinous or mucilaginous solution, such, for instance, as a weak so lution of rye flour, and such as is known as a ‘‘lees” solution, and draw the coated product through ad not only to reduce its diamete r, but also to smooth its surface and efface the acid pits. If the ultimat: product is not to be silver or liquid bright, but simply bright, I preferably not only at this stage, but subsequently from time to time as the lacquer wears off, to resort to lacquering in connection with the lees coat ing. The lacquering, however, is not es sential. [ then repeat the coating and drawing through a smaller die as fre- quently as may be necessary or desirable, and until the wire re quire s to be annealed. I then seal the wire in its thoroughly cleansed condition, and in such sufficient quantity to as nearly is possible fill the pot, in tight pots or vessels of sheet or tank metal, boiler or armor plate, being preferably wrought iron, although they may be of steel, and subject the wire so contained or inclosed to the action of heat in order to anneal it When the process of annealing is completed and the pots and contents have cooled, I then remove the annealed wire from the vessel in which it has been annealed, and find that said wire is clean and as bright as it was before being annealed. I then again subject the clean and bright annealed wire to the lees solution ‘ither with or without lacquering) in order to coat it,and draw the clean coated product through a die and subsequently repeat both the immersion in a ‘‘ lees” solution and the drawing through a die as fre- quently as may be desired, In connection with the above wet-coat- ing and drawing down, the operation, above described, of annealing in wrought iron or steel is usu illy to be re pe ated three or four times betore the size No. 18 is reached, and at no stage of the operation is pickling, inseparable from the dry drawing After the last anneal- ing in wrought iron resorted to at or before proc ess, necessary. size No. 18, and when a very small size of bright annealed wire, ; KnOoWn as “stone wire,” is the product had in view, the wire is subjected to re peated lees coatings (and, if the silver or liquor bright finish be not desired, lacquerings) and to repeated With the very best stock the above operation—such is the virtue of annealing a clean product in wrought iron is possible without other annealings than such as are resorted to before the size No. 18 is reached, but with some material, which a skilled workman will readily recognize, it becomes necessary to repeat the operation of annealing in wrought iron once, and in exceptional cases several times, between the size No. 18 and the ultimate size; this annealing is, however, readily performed without any process of cleaning, for the reason that the wire being clean and bright when it is put in the annealing vessel comes out of it clean and bright. It is manifest that the wet method of drawing, or drawing by the aid of a ‘‘ lees” coat, is the only one applicable in this proc- ess, as it is essential that the wire when put in the annealing pot should be per drawings. fectly clean in order that it may be taken out in the same condition, and as it is im p sible either to draw wire after t I he method of dry drawing with grease, the surface of which is in the slightest degree coated with scale, soot or dirt, without soon cutting out the dies, or to anneal it bright even in wrought iron without first subjecting it to thoroughgleansing. The wrought iron annealing pots which I employ in connection with the abov processs, having been filled with wire, are in the practice of that process placed in an innealing furnace pref rably provided with Lcast iron receptacle or chamber adapted to receive them, and to prevent their coming into direct contact with the flames of the tire After being heated to the required erature they are taken out and allowed o becom perfectly cold before they ire opened and the wire removed and subjected to the subsequent drawings. By the above method of annealing bright In wrought-iron pots, and in connection therewith Of drawing the bright annealed wires when coated with the ‘‘ less” coat through dies, I am enabled to entirely dis pense with all the operations of cleaning except the first cleaning of the rod, and also to dispense with the hithe:rt» objec- tionable method of dry drawing by the aid of grease, and to employ the wet or ‘‘ lees” coat drawing with the sizes above, as well as with those below No 18 1 am also able, when it becomes necessary to anneal below size No. 18, to anneal bright and, without cleaning, by the aid of the ‘‘ lees” coat draw to iny degree of fineness the sizes under the said No. 18, and to thus certainly, even with poor stock, produce those sizes which have hitherto been difficult to manufacture because the wir drawn down to make them has frequently hitherto broken or fallen out before reaching the said ultimate sizes, and I produce moreover a softer and superior quality of wire than that hereti fore made and which has not required such annealing By the practice, there fore, of this invent mn. I im enabled to utilize a large quantity of ire heretofor broken or fallen out in the procéss of drawing down, and which has be retofore therefore, of necessity been annealed and disposed of at a sacritice as dull or blued annealed fine-size or stone wire, and in this particular I effect a material saving which in large wire mills will amount to many thousands of dollars in a vear tt see The auction sale of the prope rties of the Vermont Copper Mining Company, of Ver shire, by Receiver Gleason, of Thetford, to Francis M. F. Cazin, of New York, for $36,000, was confirmed by Chancellor towell, of Vermont. The mines have been in litigation five years. _—e Ls Se Ale PR, as (tut pete My eee “hie ' a mane ee ee a a oe we a a Se a ae ears aa zy. 7" <a ¢ PIES | hell gs i a bbe x - J P : hy i Ps HK, ite h Bi ‘ bi) A 2-Foot Gauge Road. An interesting account of the Bridgton and Saco Railway, one of Maine’s 2-foot gauge roads, is given in the Boston T'ran- script, by Chas. O. Stickney. He says that South American railway projectors have lately been examining the road with a view to using the idea in their work. From this account we take the following: The origin of the 2-foot road is “of recent date, Its inventor, Mr. George E. Mansfield, of Boston, only a few years ago first demonstrated its feasibility by a 10-inch-gauge road, a little over 4 mile | long, in Hyde Park, Mass., little open car, tion, which ‘‘ that crank Mansfield,” as he was then termed, safely carried members of the Legislature, of the press and other rep- | resentativemen. Next, the Bedford and Bil- lerica 2-foot road, 18 miles long, the charter for which was obtained after a protracted struggle, which proved the entire prac- ticability of the theory. For business reasons purely in a year or two the rails and rolling stock were sold to the Sandy River Railroad Company, in Maine, where they are successfully used to-day. As our narrow-gauge road, the Bridgton and Saco River, which taps the Portland and Ogdens- burg (standard gauge) at Hiram, 16 miles west of Bridgton and 40 west of Portland, is a * representative, and one of the best representatives of its kind, [will take it for illustration. The gen-| chaperoned the party, told them the train | eral reader, as well as railroad men, will readily note its unique, curious and inter- esting features. The road was built in the summer of 1882 and the winter of 1882-83. That winter was notable as one of the most severe on record, the mercury for weeks at a time registering from 5° to 25° below zero, and the snow being deep; which, with the then high price of materials, made the expense much more than it would | cost to build the same road at the present time. The exact length of the road 1s 15,*, miles, independent of sidings. The cost of construction was $169,395: of equipment, $26,473; total cost, $195,868. The same kind of steel rails can now be bought from 30 to 35 per cent. less, and other materials are cheaper; so that what then cost about $1000 per mile to construct could now be done for $700. The rails are of steel, Cawbridge pattern, are 30 feet long, and weigh 30 pounds to the yard. Number of ties used per mile, 2640. There are two engines, built at the Hinkley Lo- comotive Works, Boston, each weighing 26,000 pounds, with driving wheels 30 | inches in diameter; and their power, con- sidering their small size and weight, is simply surprising, as is shown by the way they conquer steep grades with heavy loads, and force their w: iv with ploughs | through deep snows and huge drifts, by which they are seldom long detained. The | two passenger cars (built at the Laconia | Car Works, New Hampshire) are each 45 x 64 feet; each seats 30 passengers— one person’ to a_ seat, there being| two rows of seats, is finished in) solid- mahogany and _ nicely uphol-| stered. Between the floorings of each car mineral wool 3 inches deep renders them fire-proof, prevents any cold air from passing, and deadens the noise. These cars are run with little jar or noise on 18- inch wheels, are aimed with the Miller platform and vacuum brakes, are elegant, cozy, pleasant, comfortable—in short, are every way satisfactory, and compare favor- ably with their more pretentious brethren. The freight cars, some 20 in number, are 26 x 64 feet, and carry ordinarily a burden of 8 tons, although having a 12 tons. There are also a baggage mail express car, a combination car, three hand and three push cars oan adown whose | straight sections and sharp curves, on a| run simply by gravita- | capacity of THE IRON AGE. asnow plow. Adopting the truism that the best is the cheapest, the company, while avoiding any hint of extravagance, made comfort, utility, durability and safety a sine qua non. All the trains are mixed, They ordinarily take one hour to accomplish the 16 miles of road, but have run that distance in 36 minutes. The amount of coal required for the round trip 32 miles—is 500 pounds. The heaviest grade (200 feet to the mile) is near the Hiram terminus, and is on a half-mile 20 | curve. of 16, one of 12, one of 11, | each, and a considerable | degree. The Central and South | spection parties learned some, four of 10 tg them, | surprising facts in their 40 minutes’ ride |from Hiram to Bridgton. They learned |that the little 26,000 pounds locomotive could draw a well-loaded train up a grade 200 feet to the mile; that it could easily round a 20° curve; that the seeming reck- lessness of attempting to run a train on rails only 2 feet apart proved a thoroughly safe pe rformance, so far as any danger of | a tip over was concerned, on account of | the nearness of the cars to the ground | and consequent ter of gravity; and that the essentials of safety, speed and comfort were abundantly secured. A striking test of the capability of the system was made. The visitors were disembarked at the be- ginning of the 16° curve fears and misgiving when Mansfield, who should round that sharp arc at a speed of | 25 miles an hour, the thing was done be- | fore their very eyes. No wonder that the optics of Senor Ruiz, Ecuadorian consul at | New York, and those of his fellow travel- ers dilated with astonishment. From the report of Treasurer Burnham of the Bridgton and Saco Railroad we learn | that the total cost of running] ‘and maintaining the road for the first year, including taxes, repairs, insur- ance, salaries, damage and waste, office expenses, and all the incidentals, was only $15,248.31. Passengers carried, 12,355; Passenger mileage, 173,835. Freight car- ried, tons, 6962; freight mileage, 92,926, and the road could easily do double this amount of business at hardly any increase of expense. During the whole period of operation not a passenger has been injured, not an engine nor car overturned or de- railed, not a smash-up of any kind. What better record could be had? four other 2-foot gauge roads in Maine, the Sandy River, the Monson, the Frank- ‘lin and Megantic, and another whose name I cannot now recall, varying from 15 to 18 miles in length. A few words, in conclusion, in regard | to the tworoads to be built in the southern part of this continent, the possible adop- tion by which of the plan of the little 2-foot road away down East drew these emissaries from the South hither. The | Central American road is to be built by | | the Honduras North Coast Railway and | | Improvement Company, whose president, 8S. B. McCarnico, lately inspected our ‘road, and will connect the port of Truxillo with Puerto Cortez in the Republic of Hon- | | duras, 115 miles long, for the development | of the trade in tropical fruits and vege- tables, native woods, medicinal plants, minerals, &c., in which that region abounds. The route of the South Ameri- | can road is 110 miles iong, and extends from San Lorenzo Bay to Isbarra, about 40 miles from the city of Quito, in Ecuador, the city being the capital of the republic, with a population of 90,000, and located at an elevation of nearly 8000 feet above sea level among the Andes Mountains. It is the intention to complete the road to Quito in time, the name of the 19ad being the Pacific and Quito Railway. There is not a railway in the country, most of the | traffic There is another curve of 18°, one | number of less | American in- | lowering of the cen-| three | , and despite their | There are}. February 16, 1888 being done on the backs of the | mules, and it is proposed to build this line to help the trade of that country with America. ———EEE A Propeller Planing Machine In Engineering, of recent date, ar viven illustrations of a machine for planing screw propellers for high speed steam vessels | put down at the works of Messrs. W. Dox- |ford & Sons, at Sunderland, England. | With this machine, all necessity for skilled workmanship is avoided, while at the same time much more accurate work is obtained, ach blade of a propeller being made an exact counterpart of its fellows, both in | thickness, pitch and shape. The machine is provided with two tables, keyed on a strong shaft, which can be rotated through a given range by a worm-wheel and worm, so that the inclinations of both tables to the horizontal can be simultaneously varied, and to an equal degree. One of the tables carries a cast-iron copy ‘of the back or | front of the blade it is desired to pri — while on the other table the actual propel- | ler is secured, one of its blades occupy