The Iron Age 1888-09-13: Vol 42

‘THE New Horizontal Boring Mill. The E. W. Bliss Company, of Brooklyn, N. Y., recently built for their own use a horizontal boring mill which, however, is adapted to general shop work, and may therefore be of some interest to our read- ers. Accordingly, we present in this issue elevations and several details illustrating | the principle features of the tool. By its use holes miay be bored parallel to each | other in heavy work without resetting the work, and without ‘‘ traveling * the latter THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1888. screws § 8, by means of which the posi- tions of the head and tail blocks can be quickly adjusted, and in a manner similar to that used to raise or lower a planer crosshead. To compensate for any pos- sible variation in the two vertical adjust- ing screws, a slight independent adjust- ment is provided in the tail block, so as to bring the boring-bar dead true with the bed. The driving cone pulley P is made with four steps instead of three, as shown in the details, and a heavy back gear is attached to the spindle, thus giving eight IRON AGE 2 are thrown into gear, and the motion from A and M is then carried to the larger of the upper wheels, thence to the smaller one, the two being on the same shaft, and finally down again to the wheel N and the spindle G. The driving belt, it will be noticed, is arranged in a rather striking manner, passing from the pulley B, first over the two idlers F F, then over the spindle pulley A, and thence back around B. This allows the raising and lowering of the head-block without entailing any dif- ficulty with the belt, requiring no change of NEW during the process of boring, and it is so HORIZONTAL BORING Fig. 1.—General View. MILL, BUILT BY THE E. W. speeds for the bar. A cross-section of the BLISS CO.., BROOKLYN, N. Y length. The spindle carrying the boring- arranged that, while built especially for | spindle back gear arrangement is given in | bar is of steel, 34 inches in diameter and has heavy duty, it can be used to great ad- vantage on light work, as all hand-wheels and levers are convenient to the operator in his position on the right-hand side of the machine. The table is 7 feet long by 3 feet wide, and can be ‘‘traveled” to bring the work in position by means of a rack driven by power. This is thrown in operation by the lever C (Fig. 3), and which operates a bevel wheel clutch through the interven- tion of the rod D. The clutch wheels are mounted on a short shaft which takes power from the driving shaft and pulley B, in the manner shown. A second bevel- wheel clutch, controlled by the lever C’, enables the operator to impart motion in either direction, through a spur-wheel at- tachment, to a transverse shaft E (Figs. 2 and 3). This, in turn, works the elevating Fig. 4. The pulley A, it will be observed, is secured to a collar with a pinion M cut on its end, and capable of turning loosely on a bush on the spindle G. The gear N, on the other hand, is tightly secured to this bushing, which itself is secured to the spindle G by a groove and feather arrange- ment, so that while the bushing may move | freely along the spindle it must impart to it its rotary motion. When running in single gear, therefore, the gear N is se- cured to the pulley A by the bolts shown, and partakes of its motion, transmitting it directly to the spindle G. The pinion M is not in gear with any wheel during this time. In running with the back gear, however, the bolts holding the wheels N and A together are loosened, permitting of their free and independent motion. The two upper gear-wheels shown in Fig. 24-inch feed lengthwise. Itis carried bya head with 60 inches vertical adjustment upon a strong upright securely attached to the bed and the cutter end of the bar is supported through a bush carried by the tail-block upon a similar upright at the left of the machine. The spindle is fed forward by a rack and pinion driven by a worm gear, W W’, and so arranged that the latter may be thrown out, allowing the bar to be run back quickly by hand. This feeding device is driven through ‘gearing from the main spindle and has four rates of feed. This detail of the arrangement is shown in Fig. 5, the feed- wheels K (Fig. 2) being loosely mounted Y|on the feed-spindle and secured individ- ually, as many desired, by a feather, 4, moved along a slot in the spindle by the milled head a. When the feed-wheels , — Pak , nf + ara Sue ae ae ade ee Be Bowe? ~ theta ten ry 3 ae = * - v rd = gt ee ~ ~ ee ie at | } be eo —- ; ete ee | jn BE F 4 a 3 L. ee a f di AZ Ly 7 # eae 4% Pe Sa 2rd sr -_ <r Ft Ol. <a es et ee Me a am = 382 THE IRON AGE. would of course be still greater with are out of gear the attendant may feed the | spindle along by hand through the hand- | wheel L (Figs. 2 and 3), which, as shown, is mounted on the feed-spindle and con- trols the worm W and worm-wheei W’. The end of the spindle rests in the support H, which, as noted, is furnished with a} rack underneath. The extreme width of the tool in the clear, between head and tail blocks, is 8 feet, and its weight is 26,000 pounds LT Jointing Phosphor-Bronze Wires Without Heat. | greater affinity of tin and copper. best /reduced to metallic copper. phosphor-bronze wires, owing to the The substitute for solder is a copper amalgam prepared as follows: Freshly precipitated copper oxide is heated in a tube in a stream of hydrogen until it is When thor- oughly cooled this fine powder is moist- ened with dilute sulphuric acid and well |mixed with mercury, and is then washed. |A simpler plan, thongh not such a good one, is to obtain the copper powder by |reducing copper sulphate by means of metallic zinc. In making use of this /amalgam for jointing wires it is pressed One of the greatest difficulties in con- | nection with the use of phosphor-bronze | closely round them and allowed to set. On this account a twisted joint is not very September 13, 1888, sition at Milwaukee opened at the same time, and intends to contest with the Chicago exposition for the honor of having the best display of exhibits. According to the Milwaukee newspapers the local manufacturers and business men have entered with great spirit upon the work of making a creditable showing for their city, and the exhibits are greatly praised for their variety and attractiveness. St. Louis also entered the lists on that day with its great industrial exposition, which has always won honors, and will surely not be found lagging in the rear this year. The St. Louis exposition 1s only one of a series of attractions gotten up every autumn by the residents of that city in order to call the attention of strangers to their business wire, or indeed of any wire of copper alloy ! well adapted; a Britannia joint is better, | advantages and capabilities. The autum- 25 = 2 ie i == | 5 .? ; ; i} HORIZONTAL possessing hardness and great strength, has been in the making of | joints. In the ordniary manner of solder- ing<the heat has been found to be deleter- | ious, and even with ordinary hard-drawn | copper workmen find a difficulty in mak- | ing satisfactory joints. Inthe ‘ Journal | of the Society of Telegraph Engineers and | Electricians * an abstract is given of a foreign technical journal, which describes a method for jomting phosphor-bronze | wires without any application of heat, | which appears of a sufficiently interesting | BORING Fig. 2. Front Elevation YTV WEL “ MMM / MILL, BUILT BY THE E. W. BLISS CU., BROOKLYN, N. Y. tensile | as the amalgam penetrates inside the bind- | nal festivities of previous years are remem ing wire. But the best joint is made with bered with much pleasure by those who a tube connection, the- two ends of the! participated in them, and those who can wires being turned up at not too sharp an | will indulge in the repetition of a visit to angle and secured with binding wire; the | St. Louis this season, especially when the amalgam is then pressed well into the tube, | crowning attraction, ‘‘ the Veiled Proph- where it sets quite hard. No details of | ets,” present their pomp and pageantry. this cold joint are given as to the points of | strength and durability, which are highly| Westinghouse, Church, Kerr & Co., are material in judging of a successful joint.” | jssuing from their Chicago office, 156 and 158 Lake street, a neat little pamphlet, descriptive of their Westinghouse auto- The Interstate Industrial Exposition at matic and junior Westinghouse automatic ne character to deserve the attention of our | Chicago was opened on the 5th inst. with engines. A unique feature of the pamphlet readers. The abstract states: ‘It is very desirable to avoid by all means the heating of phosphor-bronze wires, and, | consequently, some means of jointing had to be sought for to replace the method of | soldering used for iron wires. Moreover, | Northwest. much ceremony and in the presence of a’ consists in its being a ‘‘ double ender.” very large attendance. The exhibits are' Half of the contents being devoted to each unusually varied, showing that the public | engine; they are printed the reverse of have not lost their interest in this annual each other, so that whichever way the display of the mechanical progress of the | pamphlet is opened the first half is ‘‘ right The managers of the exposi- | side up,” while the last half is ‘‘ upside experience has shown that some local |tion look forward to a more successful | down.” This is done to attract the atten- action is set up between the tin solder and /season than ever, and they have put forth | tion of the reader to both engines. The the iron wires, which in time leads to a/| every effort to make the great building on special features of the engines are com- weakening of the joint; such an action ' the lake front attractive. The rival expo- pactly but very clearly stated, September 13, 1888. Work on the Navy. While the good work of building new vessels of war progresses, the old wooden ships are not being entirely neglected. According to the Army and Navy Journal, considerable work is being done at tie various yards in the way of rebuilding and repairing a number of these now old but still useful craft. At the N. H., yard the Kearsarge is being exten- sively repaired, and will be ready for her) officers October 1. The estimated cost of the repairs to this ship will be $47,792.26. | At the same yard the training ships Sara- toga and Portsmouth will be entirely re- built, at an estimated cost of $68,000, and | Portsmouth, | THE IRON AGE. greatest amount of work is being done. The Iroquois is nearly ready, and her esti- | mated cost, when finished, will be $29,400. | She will be ready for sea September 15. The steamship Monongahela is also being} of 1600 feet. J. overhauled and repaired at this station, at an estimated cost of $25,000. be sent again to the South Pacific as store- ship of the station, with headquarters at Payta, Peru. She will be ready Octo- ber 1. The surveying steamer Ranger is being fitted for one year’s service on the Pacific Coast at an outlay of $9200, and is now ready to proceed with her work. The 383 |umn of gas extends about 15 feet above the mouth of the well, and early in the morning can be traced to the top of the derrick. The gas was struck at the depth Willison, of Warren, Pa., is the lessee, and it is understood that She will} he is negotiating for its sale. a —— —- A High Bridge.—The Keystone Bridge | Company, of Pittsburgh, have received a contract to erect at St. Paul, Minn., a bridge which, it is said, will be one of the highest in the world. It will extend from the end of the bridge, spanning the Miss- Mohican is now in the dry dock, and after |issippi River at St. Paul, across a flat to some slight repairs are put on to enable! the top of a high bluff. There will be Fig. 4.—Section of Back Gear. Sy <4 | N SSUSSSSSSS VV ZZzzZZzz Fig. 5.—Section of Feed Gears. NEW will be ready about the first of the year. At the New York yard the Richmond is fitting out, ultimately to be the flagship of the Asiatic station, and will cost, when completed, $20,596.94. She will be ready for sea in about two months from the present time. At the Norfolk yard the Pensacola, which will be the flagship of the North At- lantic squadron, is being repaired, and the estimated cost to complete her entire is $27,311. She will be ready in about five months, This ship will receive an entire new set of boilers, which are now being forwarded from the Washington Navy Yard, where they have been in store for some time. The double-turreted monitor | Puritan will shortly be sent to the yard to be rebuilt, in accordance with an act of | Congress approved August 3, 1886. training ship Jamestown will also be re- paired at this yard, at an estimated cost) of $12,000, and be ready in about three| lighted or piped, and its roaring can be| and a cipher At the Mare Island yard the! heard for eight or ten miles. months, HORIZONTAL BORING Fig. 3.—Side Elevation. MILL, BUILT BY THE E. W. the ship to leave the dock, she will be re- paired at an estimated cost of $14,800, and be ready in 60 days. Adams, of the Pacific squadron, are now on their way to the Mare Island yard for repairs, and it is expected both ships will | be there by the middle‘of October. The double-turreted monitor Monadnock is be- ing rebuilt also at the California yard, at an estimated cost of $600,000, and will be ready in about two years. ———— A Large Natural Gas Well.—What is | claimed to be the largest natural gas well in Allegheny County was struck a few days since on the farm of John M. Allison, in Richland township, and just about a mile southeast of Bakerstown. It is said The | to be fully equal to the McGugan well in Washington Connty, or the largest of the Murraysville wells. It has not yet been | BLISS The Vandalia and | CO., BROOKLYN, N. Y. | about 20 spans, four of which will be 250 feet each in length, one about 170 feet, and the remainder from 40 to 90 feet. The ends of the spans will be supported on trestle bents, some of them being 150 feet in hight. The bridge is to be of iron and steel, and the work will be especially heavy, as some of the pieces weigh many tons. The above firm have also received the contract for erecting the new Polk street viaduct and approach in Chicago. | This structure will also be of iron and steel, and will be rather ornamental in de- sign. —$_$_$$ $$$ The Tudor Iron Works, of St. Louis, have issued a handsome catalogue of their manufactures, including rail joints, spikes, track bolts, square and hexagon nuts, two and four-bolt joints, light tee-rails, tram- rails, screw-bars, drift-bolts, bridge bolts, switches and frogs. A few useful tables, for ordering goods are A blue ecol-! added. a 7 a , 3 ¥ } : 4 ' Sar ot a ae ae Fe Ta REE ! ee maT 7 ee eee ee fs! = 384 The Buffalo Fair. Too much cannot be said in praise of Cicero I. Hamblin and the men associated with him who have brought about the for- | mation of the Buffalo International Fair As- sociation, From the start they have given their money, time and skill to further its interests. They are about to reap the har- vest of their unselfish labor, for the success of the fair is now assured. The fair building is one of the finest for the purpose ever put up, and is alike creditable to Marling & Burdette, archi- tects, and to the association. Not a dark corner is to be found in the entire building. | 4 “¢ , tic in operation, and secures an absolutely All space is equally advantageous forthe dis- play of exhibits. The galleries from which | the main floor can be viewed are wide enough to accommodate any reasonable number of visitors. Evidently the projectors have faith in their venture, for it is in- tended as a permanent affair, and, under their management, is likely to be as pros- perous in the future as it gives promise to be now. cluding post office, railroad ticket office, telegraph and express office. Every possi- ble means of transportation, both for pas- sengers as well as exhibits, have been made, tracks having been laid up to the grounds. The advantages to manufacturers result- ing from a participation in this fair have been recognized. Judging from the in- terest shown by manufacturers in neigh- boring and distant States, and by the re- duced railroad rates to and from Buffalo, there will be several million of visitors in the city from September 4th to 14th. It has been planned to have everything go off with vim and snap so that as much will be accomplished in two weeks at this fair as is usually done at others in one month. Enterprise is contagious, and all exhibit- ors will realize that a rush at once is much preferable to a long drawn-out and sleepy month of labored pleasure. All the trades will contribute to the exhibit, in many instances manufacturing operations | will be carried on in the building. The local manufacturers are rivaling one another in their efforts to gain recognition for their goods, and those out of the im- mediate vicinity are no less concerned. The proximity of Hamilton, Toronto | Ont., enables Canadian | ™# }animal they were made for. and London, manufacturers to exhibit. This will natur- ally draw on thousands of Canadians. The largeness with which all arrangements are being made impresses itself on one. The Buffalo Express, one of the enterprising papers of this part of the country has taken 3000 square feet of space to show the entire process of making a newspaper, of which two editions will be published | in the building daily. The minutest | operations will be performed in full view of all who care to interest themselves in the mysteries of a laily paper. The Machinery Exhibits, Messrs. E. Hampson & Co., of Cort- landt street, New York, show their Eclipse Corliss engine, and are running one-half of Machinery Hall with it. The John T. Noye Mfg. Company, Buffalo, show their Rice Automatic high speed engine. The 100 horse-power en- vine running one-half the machinery oc- cupies a floor space of 6 feet in width, and 16 feet in length. If you do not look Every facility for transacting | business will be given on the grounds, in- | 4elphia. | struggling for the supremacy. | ture Regulator. |have a very creditable | scale is also a novelty. directly at its 200 revolutions per minute | you would not become aware that it was in motion, for no sound of jar or steam reaches the ear so perfectly does it control itself. It is a finished piece of modern THE IRON AGE. gas engines the Otto and Baldwin are The latter is doing very effective work running the United States Company’s dynamo, which furnishes light for the immediate vicin- ity. The Otto engine is in the same well- known form with a few new features. Users of small power are showing great interest in both these engines. The manifold application of electricity in an almost unlimited number of ways is proved by what is shown here. The Electric Service Company, of Buffalo, have an exhibit of the Johnson Tempera- This combination of elec- tricity and compressed air, described in The Iron Age some time ago, is automa- even degree of temperature wherever ap- plied. It is now in successful operation in dwellings, office buildings, schools, libra- ries, &c., and proves its value daily dur- ing the trying winter weather of this latitude. Another electrical device shown is the Electrical Accumulator, in the exhibit of the Electro-Dynamic Company, of Phila- By the use of this simple inven- tion electricity for lighting and power purposes may be stored up and held on tap, so to speak, In many factories and even in large central lighting plants these batteries have done good service. They may be charged during the day while the machinery is running, and in use at night for lighting when the power is shut off. The Electric Power Controller Com- pany, of 34 Dey street, New York, show an automatic device, by the use of which power pumps and all moving machinery can be controlled from a distance. The simple device is arranged to trip valves and levers, whereby machinery may be stopped in case of an accident by pushing the common electric button. The value of this invention will be appreciated by all mill owners, where many operatives are employed about the machinery, and where the liability to accident is great. Messrs. Pratt & Letchworth, of Buffalo, | exhibit a full line of saddlery and coach hardware, all of which has been taken di- rectly from their stock. Their extensive works are located at Black Rock, from where they supply the market with buckles, trimmings, hames and carriage irons in all forms. A pair of hames, weighing 200 pounds, are shown, but no definite infor- mation could be obtained as to the kind of The speci- mens of gray and malleable iron are very fine in finish, the latter showing ‘a remark- able toughness, some specimens having been twisted and beaten into shapes that would be a test for lead. The _ brass, bronze, nickel and silver plating shown is beautiful. There are pieces of steel cast- ings made by this firm varying in weight from half an ounce to 3462 pounds. Their capacity for heavy steel castings is 5 tons. All work shown is made in their own works, even the paper boxes in which some |of the smaller pieces are packed. The Buffalo Scale Company, of Buffalo, display of scales. Among the new things they show is a latch attachment, which obviates the weighing of the scoop on grocers’ scales, Their oil A cheese factory scale is shown, having seven beams. An immense can 1s placed on the platform, and as the milk is poured into this can the | first beam weighs it, and so on until seven separate weighings have been made for as many different farmers. A _ suspension butchers’ scale is shown, and also a scale for weighing and measuring the hight of an ambitious lean man and the hopeful fat man. Their patent testing machine for engine building, and is attracting well- | iron tests the strength of 1 inch iron bars. merited attention from all who enter the | It registers the elastic limit and breaking building. The Erie City Iron Works exhibit their Automatic high-speed engine. Among strain, The Burdict bolt forging machine, made | by Plumb, Burdict & Barnard, of Buffalo, September 13, 188s. is a new bolt-heading machine, especially adapted to head square and hexagonal bolts, but equally suitable for special shapes. The machine will turn out from 2000 to 6000 bolts in ten hours, and pre- vent the bolt from being smaller under the head, where the clamps hold it in ordinary machines. The machines are quickly ad- justed, require little power and can head bolts of any length. H. W. Dopp & Son, Bnffalo, show butcher and soap-makers’ machinery. In the exhibit of Gerhard Lang, of lager beer brewing fame, is the Goulding bottl: washer, This little machine washes 60 dozen bottles an hour, or about as fast as a man can handle them. It Jooks as if the days of washing bottles with shot were past. Yawman & Erbe, of Rochester, are the makers of the machine. The Niagara Stamping and Tool Com- pany, of Buffalo, make a good exhibit of sheet - metal workers’ tools, including presses, shears, &c. The Dodge Mfg. Company, of Misha- waka, Ind., show a large assortment of sectional wooden pulleys, both for belt and friction. Much of the machinery is run by them. Wurtz & Schmahl show their malleable iron frame elevator buckets. David Bell, of Buffalo, a pioneer iron boat builder in that section, shows numer- ous models of boats built by him, and three steam hammers of novel build. The Star Machine Company exhibit their blowers. John E. Smith & Co., of Buffalo, show meat chopping machinery of an improved pattern, Maischloss Bros. make a fine display of files and their file cutting machines. Felthousen & Sherwood show injectors. ejectors and engineers’ supplies. The Cutler Mfg. Company, of Rochester, show their mailing system for large build- ings, whereby letters in the upper stories of our large office buildings can be mailed with as much ease and certainty as on the ground floor. L. & I. J. White, of Buffalo, exhibit a full line of edge tools and machine knives. Their assortment includes tools for coopers, carpenters, butchers, &c., as well as for molding and planing machinery The Buffalo Lock Mfg. Company show a large line of locks, hinges and door fittings. The Buffalo Belting Works have in use on the two 100 horse-power engines their belts as well as on the engines running the dynamos of the Brush and Thompson- Houston companies. These belts are made practically endless and so secure a good bearing surface at all points when in con- tact with wheel. They are made in any width up to 30 inches and can be made larger if required, The company also make washers from strips of leather at the rate of 60,000 per day. Hodge, Howell & Co., of Buffalo, ex- hibit their Cockle machine, which is much liked by millers throughout the country. Frank & Co., Buffalo, exhibit wood- working machinery. The most marked piece is a combination hand and jig saw. Bradley & Co., of Syracuse, show some fine cushioned trip hammers. They are tine specimens of mechanical skill. The Springfield Glue and Emery Whee! Company show a full line of their grind- ing machinery, including their automatic knife grinder. The Shepherd Hardware Company, of Buffalo, show their: lightning ice-cream freezer Queen City, fruit and wine _— toy bank and a large assortment of build- ers’ hardware. Messrs. John C. Jewitt & Co., exhibit their refrigerators, water coolers and a large line of metal goods in plain brass and plated. All show a high appreciation of what is novel and artistic in coal-hods, bird-cages, teapots, cuspadores, &c. September 13, 1888. Danforth & Clark show a fine line of gas appliances in ranges, water heaters, &c. Their line of steam and hot-water heating apparatus is also well represented. The bicycle exhibit is very large, possi- bly owing to the races in connection with the fair. Mr. Read & Son, of Boston, show their specialty, the New Mail. Mr. Will S. At- well has the exhibit in charge. The spe- cial features they call attention to are the Trigwell ball head and the Warwick per- | all of which | fection backbone and rim, have now a_ well-deserved among wheelmen. The Overman Wheel Company are the makers of the Victor bicycle; they call at- tention to their Safety with latest improve- ments. Owing to the small diameter of wheels the vibration is great. To over- come this they have introduced a spring reputation STEAM INLET FEED WATER HEATER, MADE PHILADELPHIA, BY fork which absorbs the vibration, and, so MESSRS. IRON AGE, THE to the needs of the day. The entire cycle | exhibit is fine, showing, at a glance, a high order of mechanical perfection and taste. Hodge, Howell & Co., exhibit their Unrivaled elevator head and boot, and combined head and hanger. The Buffalo Belting Works, in addition to their patent web belting used on nearly all the running machinery, have a fine ex- hibit of leather belting. The graphophone also is exhibited and attracts a large num- ber of visitors. The Buffalo Hepress has an immense establishment in full operation, showing every detail of newspaper work, from editing to selling a paper, including tele- graphic reports. They print the Lightning Express on a Scott perfection press. This is more than enterprising, and may prove to be the establishment of a new evening paper in Buffalo. WARREN PA. WEBSTER & CO., Mr. Charles M. Morse, superintendent of to speak, carries with it its own good| machinery, has worked night and day to road, One foreign manufacture of bicycles has an exhibit here in the Club-of the Coventry Machinists Company, of Coven- try, England The Springfield Roadster is also to be seen. This machine is known as one pos- sessing good qualities as a hill climber and coaster, The use of the lever in place of the crank makes long distance riding a pleasure. Messrs. W. B. Everett & Co., of Boston, show the Singer cycles in all patterns. The most extensive and varied exhibit is that of the Pope Mfg. Company, of Boston, which includes bicycles, tricycles, Xc., too numerous to mention. Among the curiosities is a bicycle made by a Penn- Sylvania boy, and used to ride hundreds of miles. The wheels are made of solid wood with a flat hoop iron tire. It is quite a clumsy affair, though it appears to have done good service. Next in interest is the oldest bicycle in existence. It shows | by contrast what a vast improvement has | Beaver Falls to Cleveland, Ohio, to $1.25 | been made in the adaptation of the bicycle per gross ton. 1 } get the machinery hall in running shape, and to his efforts are due the promptness | with which every piece of machinery started at 10 a.m., September 4. I a The preparations for building the armored cruiser Maine at the New York Navy Yard are well advanced, and work | will be begun as soon as a good supply of | material is delivered. The Maine is the | heaviest of the vessels yet authorized for | the new navy, and differs from the earlier | cruisers, like the Atlanta, the Boston, the | Charleston and the Baltimore, in carrying | heavy armor. ipunedil On Thursday, the 6th inst., the Pitts. | burgh and Lake Erie Railroad made a re- duction in the rates on iron and steel bill- | ets and blooms, in carloads of 24,000) pounds or over, from Pittsburgh, Char- | tiers, Phillipsburg, Beaver, Fallston and | 385 The Webster Feed Water Heater and Purifier. What is known as the Vacuum feed water heater and purifier is being put on the market by Messrs. Warren Webster & Co., 491 North Third street, Philadelphia, Pa. The engraving which we annex ex- plains its construction and operation. The apparatus consists of a casing com- prising an outer vessel or shell, in which are located a vaporizing or purifying cham- ber, a condensing chamber, a sediment chamber or receptacle, a delivery-pipe communicating with the vaporizing or purifying chamber and condensing cham- ber, water, steam, air and over-flow pipes, as shown in cut. The sediment chamber is provided with discharge-pipes and with suitable stop-cock and check-valve. The purifying chamber is supplied with steam through a pipe communicating with the exhaust of the engine or other steam sup- ply and is also provided with an overflow- pipe leading to the drain-pipe of the sed- iment chamber. The pump connection represents the de- livery-pipe, which leads from the condens- ing chamber to the pump. The purifying chamber is formed by means of the front partitions extending entirely across the chamber and down into the sediment well. In this chamber are located a series of per- forated trays or plates, and the highest plates communicates with the distributing device. In the sediment chamber are ar- ranged a series, of inclined plates; these plates are inclined in order to insure a per- fect precipitation of sediment, and also to prevent any agitation of the same. The cold water inlet-pipe is for supplying water to the ‘* purifier and is provided with a cock or valve, and this pipe enters the condens- ing chamber at the top of the casing and supplies the water through the pipes in the condensing chamber to the distributing device. Above the purifying chamber and | below the pipes in the condensing chamber are arranged a series of plates or steps, |forming an inclined passage to allow vapors to pass freely from the vaporizing chamber, but to prevent the condensed vapors from returning into the former. An air outlet is provided, by means of which the air, liberated from the water, is withdrawn and prevented frem accumulat- ing in the condensing chamber. A branch pipe leads from the discharge-pipe and a water gauge communicates with the lat- | ter, showing the amount of water in the | purifying chamber. All the inside parts are readily accessible. It will be understood that action of the | apparatus consists in converting the water to be purified into vapors, and re-convert- |ing the vapors back into a liquid state by the water next entering to be purified. The water is supplied to the purifying |chamber, in which it is subjected to the action of heat, which removes the impuri- ties from the water and causing them to | fall into the sediment well, the heated vapors rising, enter the condensing cham- ber, and the moment they come 1n contact with the condensing surface the heat im the vapors is extracted and imparted to the entermg volume of water before it enters the vaporizing chamber, and the vapors then drop in the form of liquid. The grease and light impurities are pre- vented from passing out with the pure water by the partition wall extending be- low the level of the delivery-pipe, which entirely prevents them from entering the pump. The discharge or grease and scum- pipe leads from the bottom of the inclined plate nearest the delivery-pipe and is especially adapted for removing grease or scum which may.accumulatebysimply open- ing thecock. In case too great an amount of water should accumulate in the purify- ing chamber it will pass out through the overtlow-pipe to the discharge-pipe. (we, a ei 2) a é b yo ¥ : ae te ik a re ws te nt. + Lee 386 THE IRON AGE. September 13, 1888 Captain Jones on American Bridge Steel. As the Jronmonger puts it, the ** cat was let out of the bag” by Captain W. R. Jones, of the Edgar Thomson and Home- stead Steel Works, at the meeting of the Iron and SteelInstitute. Mr. Jones is re- ported by our contemporary to have said: A word in regard to the steel used in the United States. Their boiler-makers and their bridge constructors lacked one point in their starting out. He said: ‘‘Give your chemical | ™ L 6 | Captain Jones said that proper.care had not | been taken in the manufacture of certain specifications; start out with a decided chemi- cal composition in your steel, then all persons who bid on the steel bid on equal terms.” Where the physical properties were alone speci- fied, each maker (and there were a great many of them in America) would put in the cheapest kind of steel that would possibly reach that specification. The general result was that steel largely entered into the construction of bridges in the United States that had no business to be there. For the boilers alone of the Edgar Thomson Steel Works, their specifications were far more rigid than that of the United States Government for boilers for their cruis- ers. The Edgar Thomson specifications limited the phos Sores to 0.035, and the manga- nese to 0.035. When those specifications were first given out, the steel-makers refused to con- form to them, but he insisted, and that was the character of the work. He specified that no holes were to be punched, and that the drift was to be absolutely kept away from the work, and he sent an inspector to have it car ried out. With regard to the bridge material, he knew of his own personal knowledge that there had not been the proper care taken in the manufacture of steel. e had seen steel made for bridge structures; the heat was blown very rapidly—in probably eight minutes—the ferro- manganese was put in cold, and he did not think the reaction had taken place yet in that steel. (Laughter.) On assuming general charge of the Homestead Steel Works, where they had succeeded by a different practice in not making good steel, he radically changed that, and he thought that Mr. Clark would testify that the steel he received from the Homestead Steel Works in the year 1888 was certainly of a very high class, <A large series of tests were made, showing that the steel was homogeneous, and was remarkable in its even results; he was sorry he had not got the results with him. He fully coincided in everything the president had said, and the meeting would notice that the heartiest applause came from that side of the house in which he sat. He would now say, in conclusion, as he had said to Mr. Clark before, at such another assembled body of wise men, that he held as a cardi- nal principle—and again he would say that if he had this great dictatorial power he would enforce it, and it should be enforced by law—that no member of a bridge con- struction should have an excess of 0.65 in phosphorus. That was the uttermost limit that he would allow. He was opposed to the excess. He would keep the manganese as low as possible, as it is a great oxidizing agent, yarticularly in boilers. They could readily ene under 1g per cent. of manganese. To start with, however, the chemical properties must be specified; then all contractors bidding ou this bridge steel would enter the race on even “terms.” He wanted first to have the chemical composition of the steel correct; then the physical tests could follow. (Applause.) How correct this version of the remarks of Captain Jones is we are not in a position to state. The Jronmonger is very enter- prising in giving an early report, but at times its zeal is evidently greater than its discretion. During the same meeting it attributed to M. Gautier the following choice bit, a part of the discussion on Mr. Hadfield’s paper: ‘* They employed a very soft kind of steel, because as the head of the nail was covered by the hole, they were sure that the wear and tear of this steel was not higher than it was in the steel.” While it is possible that Mr. Jones may not have been well understood by a re- porter evidently without technical train- ing, the conclusions drawn editorially from his remarks, in a later issue of the Jron- monger, may prove entertaining. We quote in full: Bessemer steel manufacturers in this country have long been astonished and puzzled by the extraordinary output of the Bessemer works of the United States. Not merely in respect of the number of blows, but also as regards the tonnage per week or month, the American mak- ers of Bessemer steel appear to be far ahead of us—so far, indeed, that our manufacturers are very curious, not tosay anxious, to know ‘* how itisdone” In Great Britain the practice pur- sued in producing Bessemer steel is fairly uni- form, and it is generally conceded that consid- erable éxpedition characterizes the work from beginning to end. Yet, with al our skill and knowledge, we are admittedly behind the American makers to a very marked extent, They seem to get more steel in a week out of 7-ton converters than we do from 10-ton con- verters A remark made at last week’s meet- ing of the Iron and Steel Institute by Captain Jones, of the Edgar Thomson Steel Works, may, perhaps, aid in elucidating the mystery, American steel for bridges, and he “ let the cat | out of the bag” by stating that the “ blow” was probably performed in not more than eight minutes, and the ferromanganese put in cold. If that period represents anything like the gen- eral length of time given to the ‘‘ blow ” in the United States, we need wonder no longer that sc many heats per shift are got out in the Besse- NARRARKMRARRRRARSSERES Wells’ Rustless Lron. The Wells Rustless Iron Company, 21 Cliff street, New York, had for some* time previous to this year been manufacturing protected ironware under the Bower- Barff patents. A year or more ago, how- ever, they began experimenting with a new process, the invention of Mr. W. T. Wells, the president of the company, and since the first of tne year they have been using the Wells process exclusively. Iron protected by magnetic oxide has be- come such a popular article in many lines of trade that a description of this new proc- ess will be of interest to our readers. We will describe at first the process and fol- low with a description of the furnace used. The charge of iron or steel articles to the amount of some 12,000 pounds weight is placed in an ordinary muffle or heating QT Yffff Y | UY YWwWWw@#JyvwV fff U7 7fffyyy MMi hits Yj Yy Ff Y (r- 7 ee Figs. 1 and 2.—Vertical Longitudinal Sections of Furnace. WELLS’ RUSTLESS IRON, mer works there. A shortening of the blow- ing time by from 80 to 100 per cent. must mean a good deal in a week’s work, and the fact goes along way in helpiug us to understand the enormous outputs of the American works. It | is an entirely different question as to whether the steel thus produced is what it ought to be. If Captain Jones is correctly informed—and so able a gentleman certainly is in a position to know whereof he speaks—it is obvious that a good de lof the American Bessemer material must be of very poor quality. The very short blow is likely to render that result moderately certain, but to put in the ferromanganese cold is quite sufficient to make the product anything but steel. In saying this we do not seek to at- tach general discredit to American Bessemer steel, but desire simply to show that where really good and well-made steel is to be turned out it is not possible to make it in substantially less time or in much larger quantities than is done by our own works. This is true of ordi- nary rail steel, and is necessarily even more emphatic in relation to steel containing speci- fied percentages of carbon for purposes other than rail making. ———— It is stated that the French cruiser Alger is to have triple-expansion engines worked at 240 pounds per square inch, furnished by Belleville boilers, chamber and there gradually heated dur- ing a period of some 12 hours. It is im- portant not to heat any part of the charge so as to blister it, ah yet every part must be raised to the dull-red heat re- quired by the process. The inventor pre- fers to use the gas made by the well-known Siemens’ Producer in heating the charge and to admit air in limited quantities into the chamber along with the gas coming from the producers just enough to con- sume the latter and give a small flame in the chamber. During this operation the dampers are opened, permitting the es- cape of the products of combustion into the chimney. The heating must be gradual so that the charge will be raised in tem- perature evenly and equally and all blis- tering avoided. The increase of tempera- ture should be so regulated that the max- imum of heat is reached at the end of about 12 hours, though if a smaller charge than the one mentioned is used a shorter period will suffice. The surface of the charge by this gradual heating is apt to become somewhat oxidized both to red and black oxide, but the effect is irregular September 13, 1888. and patchy where it does appear at all, and is not of any general importance in the result. The next and final step in the process is to turn on a mixture of steam and carbonic oxide gas when the chimney | damper is closed, In this atmosphere of | steam and carbonic oxide the charge is left for some five hours, more or less. The heat of the charge at the beginning of the operation a dull-red and air should be excluded as far as possible. The steam, it is said, need be nie little is or no pressure, and may or may not be super-heated before introducing into the ' RETR 2 A EEE THE IRON AGE. feet high, 25 Figs. 3 and 4 are horizontal sections of the furnace, while Figs. 5 and 6 are trans- verse vertical sections. The section in Fig. 1 is made on the lines f (Fig. 3), and on the line ee (Fig. 5). Fig. 2 is a section on the line g g (Fig. 5). Fig. 3 is a section on the line A A (Fig. 1) and on the line a a (Fig. 2). Fig. 5 is asection on the line dd of Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a section on the line ¢¢ (Fig. 2). Referrmg now to the special parts of the furnace V is the gas valve; A (Fig. 2) is an air valve; Gis a gas flue; H is a steam valve; C ———_—_———— t J - ‘ =) Coy Cc oG " CA co (Ao mm yo . ny f Con hCQ Yo ny = ho ic oO WZAToh ty Yo mY Gi iG Yo mF ! c= t a Dae | t WY 7 Figs. 5 and 6.—Transverse \ WELLS’ chamber. This final step of the process is the essential one, in which is produced the desired result of black or magnetic oxide. We will now describe, with the aid of sec- tional views, the furnace employed, which is an ordinary muffle or heating chamber of the usual construction. It does not re- quire any special appliances to make it absolutely air or steam tight, or capable of standing high pressure, as the Wells proc- ess, it is said, laa not require such elab- orate or costly apparatus. The inventor does not limit himself to the employment of any particular kind of apparatus, but following is a description of what he con- siders the best means for carrying out his process. Referring to the engravings, Figs. 1 and 2 are vertical longitudnal sec- tions of the furnace, which is built of masonry, in the ordinary way, about 5 ‘ertical Sections of Furnace. RUSTLESS IRON. O (Fig. 2) an opening into the port cham- ber I (Fig. 6); A Ah (Figs. 1, 4, 5 and 6) | port holes; T is the main heating chamber; | with an escape at E (Fjg. 3); D is a chim- ney damper (Fig. 1) and F in the same} figure is the chimney flue; P (Fig. 2) is a checker work in the combustion chamber; 8 8s s8are sight holes in the back of heating chamber; / / are curtains of masonry. When the articles are to be treated for the production of a rustless oxide on their sur- face they are placed in the heating cham- ber T, by being drawn in upon a drag through the door B (Fig. 2). is gradually heated up through a period of, say, 10 to12 hours, according to the size, by méans of gas from a Siemens producer, ad- mitted through the flue G by open- ing the valve V. A small quantity of air is also admitted for combustion chamber: | 387 feet long and 6 feet wide. | pose of combustion by opening the valve at A, Fig. 2, during which opera- tion the damper D, Fig. 1, is opened, per- mitting the escape of the products of com- bustion to the chimney. The gas, entering through V, mingles with the air passing through A at the extremity of the curtain, and is further mixed with the air by the checker-work P in the combustion cham- ber. The burning gas, passing through O, enters the port chamber I (Figs. 3, 5, 6), from which it passes up through the portholes / around, through and over the charge in T, and thence through the port- holes A into the escape flue E, to the chimney flue F. When the charge has been heated to a dull red, the valve A, Fig. 2, is closed and steam is admitted through the valve H, the damper D being closed. For five hours the charge is sub- mitted to the action of the mingled steam and carbonic oxide gas, the air being ex- cluded as far as possible. The magnetic oxide produced by this process is de- 'scribed as very hard and comparatively The charge | | stood from the annexed cut. | covered elastic. It stands frictional wear well, but is apt to be injured by hammer blows or rough usage. Wherever the coating is removed rust will form, but it will not burrow under and raise the adjacent coat- ing. The works of the Wells Rustless Iron Company are situated at Little Ferry, N. J., but a short distance from Jersey City, where there are furnaces for treating all kinds of iron and steel. They describe their process as especially adapted to wrought iron pipe for water conveyance, grate frames and fenders, architectural ironwork, ship work, gas, culinary uten- sils, cast-iron soil pipes and plumbers’ castings, &c. a — Wire Bound Wood Hand Wheel. For manipulating steam valves on ra- diators and cylinder lubricators a naon- conducting wheel is required, and, as these wheels are usually made of wood, they are very easily split and broken off by heat or from a slight blow, thus mak- ing it difficult to open or close the valves, and the latter are a constant source of trouble. To prevent this trouble and to make the wheels more durable Mr. F. Lunkenheimer, proprietor of the Cincin- Wire Bound Wood Hand Wheel. nati Brass Works, Cincinnati, Ohio, has brought out a simple and efficient binder, the nature of which will be readily under- The wheels are circumferentially grooved and a wire bidder is inserted, the ends of which are twisted and sunk in a pit, as shown at A. The wire, as well as the groove, may be with a suitable cement of the same color as the handle and thereby made invisible. ~The binding of handles in this way is not expensive, and, as cheaper woods can be used in handles thus bound, the pur-/| the extra expense is very little. 388 THE IRON AGE. 3, 1888, The Massick & Crooks Hot-Blast | Stove, Among the hot-blast stoves which are widely used abroad but until lately little | known in this country is the Massick & Crooks which is now being introduced by McClure & Schuler, of Pittsburgh. Up to August, 1886, 60 of these stoves had been built in England and Scotland, the following works being equipped with | them: Askan, 15; Blaine, 4; Seaton- Carew, 8; Carlton, 1; Millom, 8; Parton, 1; Airdeer, 6; Glengarnock, 9, and Workington, 8. In this country the first were built about ten months since for Schoenberger, Speer & Co., of Pittsburgh, and lately contracts have been closed for | three stoves 16 feet 6 inches by 60 feet for | the Williamson Iron Company at Birming- | ham, Ala., three stoves, 18 feet by 65 | feet, for one of the Milwaukee furnaces of the North Chicago Rolling Mill Company, | and three for the Brier Hill Iron and Coal | Company, of Youngstown. The accompanying engraving shows the construction of the stove. The shell is a wrought-iron cylinder with a cone-shaped | roof. At the apex of the roof is placed a chimney to carry off the gases while the | stove is being heated, thus obviating the necessity of having an underground | chimney flue, and large and expensive | draft chimney which occupies valuable | space. The stove has a central combus- | tion, outside of which are large segmental | shaped flues which lead the gases down | and into the outside flues. The latter are smaller, segmental in shape, the gases | passing through them and out through the chimney. The walls are all heavy and the passes large, thus avoiding the draw- back of securing a large amount of heat- ing surface at the expense of thin walls. McClure & Schuler state that in their ex- perience that a stove having thick walls when thoroughly heated up will retain the heat longer. This was demonstrated a short time ago. Shoenberger, Speer & Co. had a br