The Iron Age 1888-12-06: Vol 42

The Edison Magnetic Separator. After a series of experrments conducted over a considerable period, T. A. Edison has developed the magnetic separator in- vented by him into a practical machine. The principle upon which it is based is extremely simple, consisting, as it does, of deflecting by a powerful magnet those particles in a mixture of ore and | gangue which are magnetic in their fall by | aie ae | ‘THE \ i — THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1888. tograph was taken a number of minor changes have been made without affect- ing the general design. The ore which is first crushed and screened (this part of the apparatus not being shown in our engraving) is delivered by a bucket ele- vator into the hopper, shown in part in our engraving. Inthe bottom of this hopper is a long slit, which can be closed by a sharp- | edged casting, balanced by the counter- weight shown. Below the hopper is mount- MONUIT ec HNL i 7 5 He OL ye Page rant ata oy ae ernie aT Ni ie ol emis Ft ee IRON AGE | on either side of the proj ction to the floor of the line of the slot in the hopper, a slender, movable partition is placed in position on the floor. Now, there exists a narrow zone within which those particles collect which are only very slightly de- flected particles of gangue, to which a minute speck of magnetite may adhere. In order to collect this material separately the partition is made in the form of a nar- row box, which has been facetiously termed THE EDISON MAGNETIC IRON ORE SEPARATOR. its field. The quartz or other gangue fall- ing by the magnet are not affected by its attraction. The particles of magnetite or of magnetic oxide are diverted from the vertical sufficiently to reach the floor at a point considerably removed from that which they would attain in a free fall. Given, then, a thin sheet of ore dropping by a broad magnet, the gangue accumulates immediately below the orifice from which the sheet fell, while the magnetic particles of the ore will be found separated from it. The accompanying engraving, from a photograph of the machine now in place at Edison’s laboratory, at Llew- | ellyn Park, N. J., will clearly show! how this principle has been carried out. We may state, however, that since the pho- | /or in series. ed the magnet, a casting weighing 3 tonsin thiscase, around which are wrapped aseries of coils of wire. To regulate the power of the magnet, the arrangement provided is shown, by which any desired number of the coils can be arranged in multiple arc In the apparatus as now modified, this arrangement is put out of the way, being mounted on _ the top of the magnet instead of at the side. A dynamo turnishes a current of 25 to 30 amperes and 110 volts. Since our engraving was made a hand-wheel and screw have been added to move the mag- net forward or backward, as needed, scales being provided to record its exact position. In order to separate more sharply the gangue from the ore as it accumulates the ‘‘mugwump.” Lately a scale has been attached to the fluor and to the wall, in order to facilitate the recording of the ex- act position of the ‘‘mugwump.” Imme- diately above the magnet is a pipe witha series of perforations, through which jets of air, supplied by a fan, can be projected against the following sheet of material to be concentrated should it be considered desirable to remove the dust from the ore. Experiments have been made on various ores with the Edison separator. Among those treated being ores from the Port Henry and Chateaugay mines, of the Lake Champlain district, and from the Croton mines in Putnam County, N. Y. The results of the separation have not been checked in every case by chemical analysis, and in “et wey ewiee- a ose a Sis ee co abe MNT neh : er ee ee aE ae meee ne 6 so eee A reece a ee coo (iaas haa 1a 4 | ee eb ke ee } hie ee A tat i oe ll, WL semana a TR ae oe ee ee ee el OST SC ee ee ee YaPRA aN Lt ee ee Tee (ati SCM tse eed me) A NE RAAB ARR BN IO nett A ARAL 3 Ea 4 a S £2 £24 Wii wae. 6 a ew BRO |e ‘ Se semen + er << & See a ae ests - Phas | fee oe ee ee Se ee ee ee * eae, 848 some instances the latter is not completed. We are in a position, through the courtesy of John Birkinbine, of Philadelphia, con- sulting engineer of T. A. Edison, to place the following data before the readers of The Tron Age. Witherbees, Sherman & Co., of Port Henry, N. Y., have had a number of sep- arations made of two classes of ore which their mines produce—viz., the ‘‘ New Bed Lean” and the “Old Bed Ore.” The former is within the Bessemer limit as to phosphorus, but it is a part of the material mined with the richer ore of the vein, The object of the separation would be to remove the silica, which is present in so large a quantity as to prevent the advan- tageous shipment of the ore to the fur- naces. The following analyses shows that the result is satisfactory, so far as the quality is concerned; Separation of New Bed Lean Ore, Port Henry. Concen- Crude ore. trates. Tailings A. Crushed to } Tron... .53.20 69.90 7.67 20 mesh...... { Phos... 0.08 0.01 0.08 B. Crushed te? lron....51.60 70.00 7.80 10 mesh...... { Phos... 0.025 0.18 0.41 C. Above 10) Tron ..52.20 66.80 18.70 mesh ....... 4 Phos... 0.082 0.013 0.085 The Old Bed ore is rich in iron, but it is also hizh in phosphorus, and the experi- ments were made to determine to what extent phosphorus can be removed by magnetic separation, that element being present in the ore in the form of crystals of apatite. Separation of Old Bed Ore, Port Henry. Concen- Crude ore. trates. Tailings. Lee oF 69.15 7.1u Phosphorus... ... 1.77 0.41 11.06 Iron oeka ee 70.90 9.25 Phosphorus...... 1.46 0.18 10.54 BOON: .x<sasscccnee: See 71.20 9.00 Piosphorus....... 1.39 0.31 11.57 It will be observed that while a consider- able proportion of the phosphorus has been eliminated it is still above the Bessemer limit. When it is considered how quickly a few stray crystals of apatite will affect the result the delicacy of the opera- tion of removing the phosphorus will be appreciated, The following result was obtained in a test of ore from the waste dump of the Croton mine, Putnam County, N. Y : Separation of Croton Ore. Crude ore. Concentrates. Tailings, eee 37.97 64.72 11.04 Phosphorus 0.38 0.10 0.97 So far as we know the tests thus far have not been carried out by weighing concentrates and tailings produced by running through large quantities. It may be well, however, to call attention to the fact that a high percentage of iron in the tailings does not imply a heavy loss of metal. A simple computation will prove this. Thus, in the case of sample A of Port Henry, New Bed Lean, if there were no waste, the loss of iron represented by tailings carrying 7.67 per cent. would be only 3.86 pounds in 100 pounds of the metal contained in the original ore. Mr. Edison has not, however, contined himself to magnetites. He has experi- mented with roasting non-magnetic ores, in order to first convert its oxide into the magnetic oxide, and then putting it through his machine. The possibilities of handling titaniferous ores have also been taken into consideration. One of his ma- chines is now being put up in Michigan, and others have been ordered. -ssansiaagaiiaiinsa Light, Heat and Power reports that the new holder built by R. D. Wood & Co., of this city, for the Peoples Gas Light and Coke Company, of Chicago, has been fin- ished and accepted by the company. The history of this holder is somewhat peculiar. It has a capacity of about 3,100,000 feet, covers about seven-tenths of an acre, and has been entirely finished within five months of the time it was started. The ria —————$_—_—_—_ THE IRON AGE, ‘ontract signed by the builders called for the completion of two-thirds of the holder the holder fully finished, complete in all details, and in working condition, ten days in advance of the time set for the fin- ishing of the two-thirds, The pressures and eighty-six tenths, respectively, with air, EEE The Bartlett Water Supply Scheme. J. R. Bartlett has addressed to the Com- missioners of the Sinking Fund of New York a communication from which we ex- tract the following: I respectfully call your attention to the great need of this city for an additional supply of watcr for domestic use, sanitary purposes and for the requirements of com- merce and manufactures, and herewith submit for your consideration a proposition to furnish from some sources independent of the Croton water-shed an ample quan- tit} of pure and wholesome water, not less than 50,000,000 gallons daily, or such larger quantity as may be desired to meet these demands, delivered under pressure, into the lower part of the city, from the storage reservoirs and sources of supply of the Society for Establishing Useful Manu- factures, of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, lessees of the Morris Canal and Banking Company, and of the West Mil- ford Water Storage Company, the Mont- clair Water Company, and other com- panies, and from the sources of the Passaic River and tributaries, and from Rockland and Orange Counties in the State of New York, all west of the Hudson River, a region adapted by nature to supply water in ample quantity and of unexceptionable quality, and the reservoirs of the West Milford Water Storage Company and of the Montclair Water Company are situ- ated within convenient reach of New York, and at elevations sufficient to secure the requisite head pressure. The above sources of supply are known to be ample to meet all of the requirements of the cities of Northern New Jersey, and to leave a surplus applicable to yourneeds. These waters will be conducted in pipes or in a permanently constructed aqueduct to the Jersey City shore of the Hudson River, under which, through a tunnel, the water will be conducted in suitable pipes of am- ple strength to secure absolute safety, guaranteeing a continuous flow of the waters required under a head pressure of at least 300 feet, delivered at such a point on the west side of the lower part of the city of New York as your honorable board may determine, within three years from date of contract, at the price of $75 per 1,000,000 gallons, payable quarter-yearly after delivery shall have commenced. In this plan all Interstate questions are avoided, all riparian rights protected, and the waters from the sources mentioned will be in addition to the ample quantities provided for all the cities and towns in New Jersey dependent upon the Passaic water- shed for their supplies. 7 vs It is difficult, says Hngineering, to measure the total resistance of a large battery of accumulators owing to the smallness of this resistance and the high electromotive force of the battery. J. D. Dallas has, however, pointed out a method of overcoming these difficulties by coup- ling up the battery when composed of an odd number of cells, so as to form two , a ie u+1 batteries, one consisting of —,— cells, and | n— the other of —5—. The resultant electro- | ~ termined. this month. The builders have delivered | December 6, 1888. Endless Rope Hoist for Shafts. At the last meeting of the Engineers Club of Philadelphia, a description was presented by A. H. Storrs of Poore’s end- less rope hoist for shafts. This system of hoisting is said to be par- on this holder are forty-four, sixty-five and | ticularly applicable to shafts of great depth. The advantages claimed are that it enables smaller engines to do the work, and effects a saving, as against the ordinary engines with drums, of about 50 per cent. in the first cost of the plant, and greatly decreases the running expenses, owing to the mnch smaller steam consumption; the ropes, working altogether in straight lines, should be longer lived; and worn out hoisting ropes can be used for tail ropes; the cages run with less oscillation, the length of the rope is easily adjusted; and there is de- creased danger of overwinding. The plant, as put in at the Neilson Colliery of J. Langdon & Co., Inc., consists of a pair of 28 x 60-inch horizontal engines, with a pair of wood-faced rope sheaves and brake wheel, all 14 feet in diameter, placed on the crank shaft. In addition to the regular brake for controlling the engines, an extra brake is provided with which the engineer ‘an clamp the hoisting rope into the grooves of the engine sheaves in case of an emergency, such as the breaking of a rope. The tower head sheaves are 12 feet in di- ameter. The hoisting rope is made of special steel, 14 inch in diameter, with a hemp center, and runs from one cage over the head sheave to one of the engine sheaves, thence to and around a transfer sheave to the other engine sheave, and over the other head sheave to the other cage. The cages are also connected by an 14 inch iron wire tail rope, running from the bottom of one cage around a small sump sheave at the bottom of the shaft and to the bottom of the other cage. This sump sheave hangs in the bight of the tail rope, and is free to move on vertical guides. The transfer sheave, before mentioned, is a wrought spoke wheel about 16 feet in diameter, so set that it can be moved toward, or away from, the engine sheaves, thus adjusting the length of the rope, and its position is al- yays such that the lines of pull of the ropes are tangents both to itself and to the engine sheaves, thus avoiding any side wear on the grooves or rope. The total hoist is about 1330 feet. The cages weigh 3 tons each and an empty car about 14 tons, The cars carry from 24 to 3 tons of coal or rock. The cages, cars and ropes being perfectly balanced, the load in the car and the friction of the machinery is all that the engines have to overcome, and, as this load is constant all through the hoist, a steadier engine speed is obtained than with drums. A A torpedo boat may be pierced in sev- eral places at or below the water line, and yet flotation may be secured by moving at a high speed. This has. been proved by an interesting experiment tried by the English builders, Messrs. Thornycroft & Co., in a new boat. <A hole of } inch diameter was made in the side, about 1 foot under water, and when the boat was at rest the water flowed in very rapidly, but when moving at a speed greater than 10 knots per hour a skin of water was drawn over the hole, which resisted any inflow. A natural gas vein of great power was penetrated on the 26th ult., at a point nine miles northeast of Tuscola, Il, in the Champaign district. A well, which was veing bored for water, had reached a depth of 367 feet, when water and: rocks motive force is then that due to a single | were forced out of it high in the air. A cell, and the resistance can easiiy be de-| pipe was inserted and the gas ignited, the resulting flame being 30 feet high. December 6, 1888. Arch Presses for Sub-Pressing. The manufacture of the parts of clocks, watches and other similar work by the aid of sub-presses calls for a different construc- tion of press for working the sub-press than that ordinarily used for blanking and punching sheet metal. We illustrate on this page three different siz-s of these presses, built by Messrs. Blake & Johnson, of Waterbury, Conn., including one to be worked by foot and two sizes of power yresses. The larger of the power presses | is designed to cut out, by the aid of the sub-press, pieces similar to clock frames from sheet metal, and make all the aper- tures of whatever shape that may be re- quired in the frame, at one motion of the plunger, thus accomplishing at one stroke the work which by the old method re- Fig. 1.—Foot Press. THE IRON AGE. las prosecuted this work, gradually in- creasing the depth as the transatlantic ves- sels have increased in size. From 1873 to |1887 the seagoing trade of Montreal in- creased from 412,478 tons to 870,773, and | it is expected that next year the tonnage | will be upward of 1,000,000. | — LL —— | The Ohio River Valley. The corn crop of the Ohio River Valley | this season is one of the largest that was ever produced, and although the heavy rains and high water have injured the |quality in some localities, the yield is enormous. The valley producing corn commences about 30 miles above Louis- | ville, Ky., and extends almost uninter- 849 tracted, the slop is fed to perhaps millions of cattle and hogs. Besides the corn crop of this region, on the Kentucky side is the heaviest producing tobacco district of the West. Lying in this favored agricultural coun- try, there is no wonder that the cities of Owensboro, Mt. Vernon, Henderson, Ev- ansville and Paducah are flourishing. Evansville and Paducah are contiguous to one of the finest timber sections of the State of Kentucky. The former is the largest hardwood market in the West, and her manufacturing interests are furthered by cheap fuel, for the city and surround- ing country are underlaid with coal, which is delivered at 75 cents per ton for steam purposes. Quite a number of well-known foundries and machine shops are located there, besides plow and wagon works. Trevtndicc i A tl Figs. 2 and 3.—Power Presses. ARCH PRESSES FOR SUB-PRESSING, BUILT BY MESSRS. BLAKE & quired several operations. The smaller power press and the foot press are designed for the smaller parts of watches that are made from sheet metal. These presses are of a form that gives to them great rigidity, which is a very important point in work- ing sub-press. The adjustment of the plunger 1s accomplished by means of a wedge and screw, the wedge being carried forward or backward by the screw as may be necessary to carry the dies and punches | into proper position to do their work. This device works very accurately, and admits of very close adjustment Blake & Johnson build eight sizes of the power presses for sub-pressing, ranging in weight from 400 pounds to 4000 pounds. ee The official opening of the deepened ship channel from Montreal to Quebec took place recently. A clear water depth of 274 feet throughout has now been se- cured, ‘‘ except at a few points which can be finished by the time of low water next | sumed by the distilleries of Kentucky and | rolling. |ruptedly on both sides of the river down JOHNSON, WATERBURY, CONN. Henderson has a tine and most success- to Cairo, Ill., in some places broadening | ful cotton mill, and has five or six tobacco out 10 miles in width on one side. |from Henderson, Ky., to Evansville, Ind., lover a corn field for 10 miles. On the Wabash River, which runs between the | States of Illinois and Indiana and empties | into the Ohio, is probably the largest body of the great corn-producing lands; here | the fields are from 15 to 25 miles wide. Near this locality, at Mt. Vernon, Ind., is one of Hudnut’s grits and hominy mills | that grinds 3000 bushels of corn per day. | This is supplied by a steady stream of farm wagons, the railroad, and a steamer owned by the mill and employed entirely in transporting the corn crops from up| and down the river-to the mill. Most of | this corn along the valley 1s manufactured instance, the Louisville and Nashville Rail-| ing the leaf for foreign shipment. road runs on a trestle and embankment} cah is more pretentious. into breadstuff, starch and feed meal, at the different cities, but much of it is con- For | warehouses used for stemming and pack- Padu- It lies at the junction of the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers with the Ohio, and is the transfer point for cargoes to and from those rivers. Within a few miles of the city, between the Cumberland and Tennessee, lie beds of fine deposits of brown ore, which, together with other attractions, such as cheap fuel, lime rock, shipping facilities, and a bonus from the city, induced St. Louis capital to erect a furnace in the city limits. The Forsman Soft Steel Company is established near by, which, if success- ful, will take the entire output of the fur- nace. This process, for which a patent has just been granted, converts any kind of melted iron, regardless of properties, into steel, as it runs from the furnace or cupola, into either castings or ingots for Already a rail mill is contem- fall.” For. many yeass the Government/tllinois, where after the spirits are ex-! plated in connection. » adinie <ces aja * tm 22s ae eee hdl ty ‘dda dy ings a (Psgy 144 . 34 ity) » <a 1% ao ‘ ; § 14 i CEs Mees om 2 ie.4 A ne fe -- a = Bee me 4) ee 5 CE eee on ee ws © ee Gree cere ee eee eee . ~~ or. —. ae SA NE. S.C el eR ae ate ha ie SG ee ke , = ig e é ; ‘e ‘ ’ 7 +4 ‘ AY | | Me tg ae } im } > oe 1 di "Si oe && pa ee be ee a a ee ee Pe ee ee ee tee ee es ° Awe a ie cee _ ee oe xs o se - , a —s « Se 5 850 Improved Feed-Grinding Mills. A few months since we briefly described an improved form of feed-grinding mill THE IRON AGE. December 6, 1888, The crusher or conveyer on the main! It will sometimes happen, however, that | shaft is represented at M, and is shown 1n | pieces of irou will get into a mill too large | detail in Fig. 4. The crusher A is cast; to work through the crusher box to the with a recess in one of the lugs, B, from’ plates, so that before the pin breaker gets made by the Foos Mfg. Company, of |the inside, into which is dropped the head | Springfield, Ohio. We take special pleas- | of a bolt, C, long enough to extend clear ure, therefore, in presenting in this issue | through the hub of the running plate head engravings which more clearly explain the|D. It is then fastened securely in place main features of the design | by a nut which is held in place (so it can-| an opportunity to act the damage is done, To prevent accidents of this kind a safety bottom is provided. This is shown in Fig. 5. The lower case or main frame A A is cust without any bottom. At the Of the illustrations on this page Figs. 1 and 2 show a mill divided at the shaft and the upper part raised, so that the inside can be seen, moving two nuts. The ease of access to the working parts of the mill for examina- tion will be of interest to all considering ee TT TLL a pe) Wy Fig. 2.—General View This is done by simply re- | not possibly work loose) by one of the} point directly under the crusher B on the company’s own nut locks. The crusheris | shaft is a separate casting or bottom, C, locked to the running head by a tenon on which fits closely and tightly in the space the end of the crusher, engaging with one left in the lower case; and this is held in ‘on the head. Thus the crusher cannot} place by a bar or lever, D, hung at each move around on the shaft, nor backward ! end on bolts E E. These bolts are drawn or forward, but is held firmly in place. It up so that the bar holds the casting or Fig. 3.—Grinding Plates, HN nnn ti ' ns ) HMRI of Mill, Fig. 4.—The Crusher. GRINDING MILL, BUILT BY THE FOOS MFG. COMPANY, SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. the purchase of such a machine. The! lower case or main frame A of the mill is | made in one continuous casting. The legs | B B, upon which it rests, and to which it is securely bolted, are heavy castings. The | shaft C is of cold-rolled steel, and of | ampie size in each mill to carry the largest pulleys and belts which may be desired. It runs on three long bearings, D EF, all in the single casting or main frame, so that these bearing are always :n | line. The journals are all made in half boxes, and can easily be adjusted when any wear occurs. All the bearings are babbitted, and will run for years before wearing out. The fly-wheel, pulley and | running head J, K, L, respectively, are each carefully balanced separately before being put on the shaft. The fly-wheel is of special design, and turned on the face and both sides. | material getting into the mill, an accident can, however, be easily removed if de-| bottom firmly in place. The bar is suffi- sired. Nuts, bolts or set screws are thus | ciently strong for all kinds of grinding, or dispensed with inside the crusher-box, and | any legitimate work, but should any piece cannot work loose and get into the plates. | of iron or other substance, as shown at G, While every precaution is taken to guard | too hard to grind get into the mill it will against pieces of iron or other dangerous | cause the bar to break at the point F, | where it bears against the bottom (as that of this kind may happen. To avoid any | is the weakest point), when the casting or serious breakage, therefore, the makers use | bottom will fall out, as shown by dotted a pin breaker, which consists of a wooden | lines. No damage is done tothe mill, and connecting pin in the yoke holding the | the casting can be replaced in a moment temper screw. Any hard substance, as aj by using another bar, a number of which nail or spike, coming between the plates | are furnished with each mill. The value will break this pin, the yoke and screw | of these two features will be readily ap- will be thrown to one side, thus relieving | preciated. the pressure on plates, which will separate| Returning to Fig. 2 we would explain as shown, and the nail or other article will | that to the still head N and the running drop below and can be removed at lower|head L are bolted the grinding plates. spout. A new pin can be put in the yoke | One set of these are shown in Fig. 3. It and the mill is again ready for work. | will be noticed that the plan is that of This device has proved very efficient. gradual reduction. First, there are large December 6, 1888. THE IRON AGE. SE ————————L ribs on the running plates, close around | the shaft, which lack less than 4 inch of coming in contact with corresponding ribs on the still plate. These ribs engage the grain, small pieces of cob, &c., which have been broken by a breaker, and further re- duced by the c “rusher or conveyer on shaft, and reduce them to small, uniform pieces, so that a large per cent. of the work, fully one-half, is done close to the shaft within a radius of about 24 to 3inches. Then come numerous small (A-like figures) A, which stand nearly } inch above the sur- face of the plates. These have sharp edges and cut the small pieces of grain, &c., as they pass from one to the other. Then comes aring of fine reversed inclines, B B, extending entirely around the outer edge of both running and _ still plate. | These take the grain, now reduced to} small, gritty particles, and by rubbing re- duce a portion of the product to a soft, floury meal, The metal used for the) grinding plates is a special mixture of | The A-shaped figures, as! great hardness, LLL ) are thrown or shoveled into the hopper, and upon the double breakers, the entire length of which engages the ears, keeping them in constant motion or agitation, so they cannot clog or bridge over The broken pieces of cobs and grain pass to the crusher on the main shaft, where they are still further reduced, as already explained, and conveyed to the plates to be ground to the desired fineness. The large slide is used to regulate amount of | crushed cobs to be ground. SEE | Heating Coke Ovens by Natural Gas. From a recent issue of the Pittsburgh Times we take the following: The experiment of heating coke ovens by natural gas has been tried in the Con- | nellsville region with success. The Cen- | tral Connellsville Coke Company, supplied | by the Southwest Natural Gas Company, | has used it for some time and is satisfied with the results. The Walston Company, cel i} i Yi E Fig. 5.—Safe'y Bottom. GRINDING MILL, BUILT BY THE will be readily understood, must wear to the surface before becoming useless. The figures are alike on both sides, and when one side is used in grinding, the other side remains untouched, so that when one side becomes worn the mill can be run in the opposite direction, which is merely done by crossing the belt, changing the spout and gear wheel, and the other side of the figures, which are not worn in the least, is used, thus furnishing a fresh, new surface ; and as these are used the action of the grain, it is claimed, sharpens the dull side. The plates are thus self-sharpening. Suitable adjustments are prov ided for the plates in case of changing them, and for regulating for fine or coarse grinding. | These are simple and easily made. We should refer also to the double breakers with which each mill is fitted. These breakers, which are at the bot- tom of the feed-hopper of each mill, con- sist of two intergeared crushers, receiv- ing motion direct from the main shaft by a gear-wheel, causing them to revolve toward each other. These crushers have fingers or lugs which catch the ears of corn and break the cobs in pieces. Di- | rectly under these breakers or crushers, and between them and the crusher on the main shaft, is a large slide which can be moved back and forth. FOOS MFG. CO., SPRINGFIELD, OHIC: in Jefferson County, also tried the experi- ment about ten days ago and is satisfied with the results. The theory of the ex- periment is that by using wood to start the \fire time for warming up a cold oven is /much longer and the first drawing of coke }is of an inferior quality. results of the natural gas experiment, which gives first-class coke on the primary drawing, the idea has gained ground that the natural gas as a kindling wiil be uni- | versally adopted. A number of coke men /expressed opinions on the subject yester- | di ay, and the feeling was that the expense | of ‘the fixtures would be more than could | be repaid by the improved quality of the first drawing. A representative of the H. C. Frick Company said that he knew the first drawing of the ovens lit with wood or coal was of an inférior grade, but that it could be used in blast furnaces. If | any one who understood the practical working of ovens would think for a moment, they would see that they might |run for two years continually, then per- haps lay off for anywhere from one to six months. Now, a gas fixture that can only be used once in two and one-half years would be rather an encumbrance. Some temporary provision might be made in the shape of a rubber pipe and burner, with From the first | 851 ovens Ww we h did n not work re asmaie. For a set of, say 100, ovens whic h were kept in constant fire no lighting apparatus was needed, and, as far as the tirst drawing is concerned, the 34 tons per oven which are fit for blast furnaces would not entail any serious loss. The gas-lighting project is a good thing, but too muc sh of a good thing for coke producers with a.steady business to indulge in. Tm i The Kansas City Foundry and Machine Company. The Kansas City Foundry and Machine Company, of Kansas City, Mo., have within the past month opened their new works at Manchester, a manufacturing suburb of Kansas City. They are located in the beautiful Blue Valley, through | whic h pass the Southwestern branch of | the Missouri Pacific Railway and the Kan- | sas City and Southern R: uilway. They are ‘in close proximity to the Kansas City | Switch and Frog Works, the new shops |of the Cookson Iron Works and the Mid- Continent Boiler Works. The buildings are constructed wholly of brick, with trussed roofs, and all are one story in hight. Twenty men are now em- ployed in the foundry, and about the same number in the machine shop. The ma- chine-shop engine is a center crank, of 35 horse-power, built by T. M. Nagle, of Erie, |Pa. The foundry engine is a 20 horse- | power upright. The boiler capacity of the works is 130 horse-power, furnishing steam not only for their own purposes, but also for the Cookson Iron Works and the Mid- Continent Boiler Works. The me!ting capacity of the foundry cupola is 10 tons, The company was incorporated May 28, 1888, and the buildings were com- | pleted August 1. F. B. Ray is _ presi- dent, T. C. Bradley is vice-president, and the toundry department is under the management of George Hurley, for many years ‘fore man of David Creswell’s foundry, in Philadelphia. The foundry is ad: ipted to the production of both heavy and light castings, while the machine shop is specially fitted for manufacturing hard- ware specialties, novelty work, &e. The company are meeting with encouraging success in the demand for their iron, bronze and brass castings, making a specialty of hght gray iron castings. They are sole manufacturers of the Lightning nail puller, Noiscless nail alles and make the Fleming door hanger for the Fleming Door Hanger Company, of Kan- sas City. A There has been considerable controversy as to whether the Lash open-hearth fur- nace, which has been giving such excel- lent results in the Pittsburgh district, where natural gas is used, would work satisfactorily with the dirty producer gas as ordinarily manufactured in Siemens or Wellman gas producers. This question seems to have been fully demonstrated and finally settled to the entire satisfaction of all parties concerned by the results ob- tained at the works of the Standard Steel Casting Company, at Thurlow, Pa., who have a 20-ton furnace of this type, the gas for which is supplied by four Wellman producers. The items of labor, fuel and repairs aré very much less than in the old form of open-hearth furnace, and the many advantages of the Lash furnace that have been demonstrated in working with natu- ral gas as fuel have been carried out in the same degree in the case of producer gas. In a letter lately received by Messrs. Lean & Blair, Pittsburgh, the builders of the furnace, the Standard Steel Casting Com- pany state that the 20-ton Lash steel melting furnace which has been in opera- tion for several months past is giving them good results, and they are satisfied with The ears of corn | fixtures which might be a good thing for | the working of it on producer gas. j i, i 1 me is rigt fi gt ' ea ee \) : 5 tr ‘ i] iG rei. 2 » ; aa ‘a9 a: ies a -——< en ales ane eae alte —— a cet ek ee oe DA a eee ee a . meiAw A eA a St ERA MS CS ha I i RITE ia) Ob CARATS 4 nh hoe A BR NR UI tL Ll alls te ce ok a = all one er ** = i“@ ' iN “€ BPRS Phew: eee [eS eee. eee ER Met @ £8 he ae 9 85 Improved Cable Railway Machinery. | On this and the opposite page we pub- | lish engravings of several new designs in the line of cable railway machinery, re- cently brought out by the Walker Mfg. Company, of Cleveland, Ohio. A strikingly interesting piece of ma- chinery is the 500 horse-power friction | clutch coupling shown in Fig. 1. The outer member of this coupling is a plain, ordinary casting with eight arms and hub on the outside secured to the shaft. The inner member has a boss or center with four bored arms into which are fitted seg- CABLE RAILWAY ments with corresponding arms. The arm part of the segments is hollow and has an inner flange on which rests a_ spring through which a bolt passes and draws the segments toward the center of the shaft. This spring can be adjusted so as to make the segment clear the outer member any desired amount when the coupling is not engaged. There are four wedges at the ends of segments which are forced into! position by adjusting screws and toggle levers attached to the sliding sleeve as shown. When these four wedges are forced out, the result is to lift each of the | four segments in a direct line with the bore of the four arms and directly in oppo sition to the spring inside cf the segment arm. The spring is adjusted only sufti- ciently to keep the segments away from the outer member, as any undue pressure | Kansas City, Mo. MACHINERY, N AGE. THE IRO of the spring to force the segments toward ithe center of the shaft would have to be overcome by the wedges. The coupling | is very effective and is doing good service at the Eighteenth Street Power House, in The sleeve is operated by a yoke and lever with worm and wheel | and hand-wheel. In Fig. 2 is shown a J frame and stag- gered arm-sheave. The J frame is cast in two pieces, so as to mold easily, and is hollow, with flanges in the center to bolt each half together. It also has ribs inside. The flanges form a backbone to the frame | when bolted together. The sides are not \\\\\\\ Fig. 1.—500 H.-P. Friction Clutch Coupling. BUILT BY THE WALKER MFG, pierced with holes, as is common in such castings, to get the core out when cast in These holes make such castings quite weak, especially so as the metal forming the outside of the casting is of the greatest strength The castings are securely bolted together and dowel-pinned before they are bored and fitted for the boxes, The sheave has staggered arms, which in- sures great rigidity for either horizontal |or vertical motion. The principal advan- tage of the staggered-arm sheave is a uni- form casting. As the arms do not come opposite each other, all undue strains, such as occur in straight-arm castings, are dis- pensed with. A great many of these sheaves have already been made of 8 feet, 10 feet and 12 feet diameter, with uniform As the sheave‘appears from an ordinary standpoint of molding, it would one piece. success, COMPANY, December 6, 1888, be a very diflicult piece of work to turn out. but we understand that the Walker Mfwe. Company’s system of molding reduces it to quite a simple operation, Figs. 3 and 4 represent sections of Walk- er’s differential cable drums, They are shown in section so as to illustrate thy loose differential rings on which the cable rests while in operation. It has long been known that the destruction to cables has been largely due to the grooves wearing irregularly in the solid drums. Owing to | the severe strains to which the first groove on the receiving drum is subjected as a result of the varying loads the wear is | ua uf he CLEVELAND, OHIO. very excessive on this first groove in com= parison with its mates in the old style drum, in which the grooves were turned directly into the solid face of the drum. It is quite evident that after the wear pro- gressed to such an extent as to make a very great difference in the circumference of this first groove and that of its mates it would require either stretching of the cable a given amount in each revolution of the drum equal to the difference in cir- cumference ot the smaller and larger grooves or slipping in the groove, either of which would be very detrimental both to the drum and to the cable. The differ- ential drum dispenses entirely with any wear of the grooves or any wear of the cable while on the grooves. The cable enters on the fixed ring on the leading drum, shown in the section Fig. 3, and is December 6, 1888. THE IRON AGE. wound into the left-hand ring on the end | solid grooved drum without slipping of the | drum and then back to the second ring on cable in the grooves. ° : | the leading drum, and so forth, putting as | many wraps on as may be deemed neces- | sary according to the length of the cable. It will be seen that all the rings in the drums are loose excepting the ring on which the cable is hauled in from the | street. Should there accordingly be any inequality in the diameter of the rings, whether in first construction or by subse- ‘cable in the rings. | Such slipping will wear the grooves and the cable also. When the cable is at work on the differen- tial drums earh wrap between the drums appears like a solid bar of iron, and the impression of the cable is left in the tar at the bottom of rings, which shows conclu- sively that there is no slipping of the The latter have a dia- | metrical friction, due to the pressure of 853 plished without any undue strain on the cable while passing over the drums. The bottom and sides of the rings are thor- oughly lubricated by automatic grease cups inserted in the rim of the drums. These differential drums, we understand, have been thoroughly tested at the 12th and Eighteenth Street Cable Railways, of Kansas City, Mo., and the St. Louis Cable and Western Railway Company, of St. Louis, Mo., where they have been giving Fig. 3.—Leading Drum, Having Initial Ring Secured and Fig. 4.—End Drum, Having 6 Loose Rings with Frictional 5 Loose Rings with Frictional Adjustment. Figs. 3 and 4.—Walker’s Differential = | se VEE nae = NOE Adjustment. Cable Drums. Fig. 5.—Wrench for Producing and Measuring Frictional Adjustment of Rings. CABLE RAILWAY MACHINERY, BUILT BY THE WALKER MFG. COMPANY, CLEVELAND, OHIO. quent wear in use, the rings will adjust themselves while the drum is 1n action, so that there can be no undue strain on any of the wraps of the drums. The rings on which the cable rests move slightly back or forth to suit the irregularities spoken of. A cable is hauled on the drum under greatly varying loads according to the resistance or number of cars and amount of traffic on the road. From this it will be understood that the cable is wound on the drums tightly or loosely according to the variation of load. While the cable is passing around the drums the tendency is for these to adjust themselves or equalize the strains, which cannot be done on a | the cable in the grooves, transferred to | the flat surface of the drum or tbe under- | side of the rings. This combined friction of the various loose rings is sufficient, with | the leading ring, which is secured, to drive the cable. However, loose side flanges are | provided with side studs and a self-regis- | tering wrench in order to produce a side | friction when necessary. The self-regis- | tering wrench will so adjust the studs as to produce an equal amount of friction around the entire circumference of the | rings. Each individual wrap will move | an individual ring with about one-fortieth | (,..) of the strength of the cable; the 40 equalizing is thus thoroughly accom- entire satisfaction. Other plants are being built on which these differential drums will be used. a ec The New York State Attorney-General, responding to the complaint of Factory Inspector Connolly that manufacturers are neglecting to educate the boys they hire, and that American boys are not being edu- cated to trades in sufficient numbers, is clearly of opinion that a manufacturer can be held legally responsible for neglecting to train a child in mechanics only when that child has been made an apprentice by due forms of law. Otherwise no prosecu- tion would be successful. Sees uy ee ‘ waking 8 +s —_— ee ,* win PR 5 £ SS eS ae eee ee _——a eae Eee oo - hw Rete wee pews « ea | + hh a o ‘ = ; fi ‘ a +! (ea @ ; x { 3 foe Mi 9 ’ % j ae CaO 3 ! t ag ay coi it iy 1% Me be jo PA i : » : ta: (eel - a > at y i) Se { ; 4 7” 7 cs] e~ iy | = ! 1 ' . ; » oe Tee sere + A cistend S nae ete OM eta ated He % ME RBAAAW 2K UE BON GIO iad) 2b. AMMA 4 eA 6 Bae 18 ee ae RR RE Se ee a a ‘ si - > . - poe 2 en Re WANG Be Rw er eter z ae . i 854 The New Burden Horseshoe Machine. Mr. James A. Burden, president of the Burden Iron Company, of Troy, has just been granted two patents covering his new horseshoe machine, the principal features of which are described by the Troy Times: The result sought to be accomplished by the mechanism shown in these two pat- ents is the production of a finished horse- shoe by a series of connected operations performed by a single machine, instead of making the shoe by one machine and fin- ishing it by disconnected and separate operations through the functions of other apparatus. The mechanism illustrated in both the patents alluded to have, in the main, the same function, that of giving to the heated bar from which the shoes are made regular periods of motion and alter- nating periods of rest. In both construc- tions. while the bar 1s moving it is shaped, creased, rough-punched and swaged, and, while at its intermittent periods of rest, it is full-punched by a very ingeniously operating mechanism and is cut off into the required blank lengths. While these two patents provide for the same regular intermittent movement of the heated bar of iron, in one of them the rolls rotate con- tinuously, while in the other the rolls themselves make a half turn as each set of them separately and in continued sequence operates upon the bar to shape, crease and rough-punch its passing blank lengths. The machines operating the continuously moving rolls have an opposite half of their circular faces upon the latter cut away, so that as the rolls are continuously rotating the opposite halves of the roll faces will engage with the bar to move it a shoe- blavnk length, and when those parts of each set of rolls where cut away on their circular faces oppositely approach each other in their rotation they will pass over the bar without engaging with it, so that the rolls intermittently engage with the bar to move it a shoe-blank length at each rotation of the rolls. The operation of the shaping rolls in both styles of machines gives the required transversely sectional form to the bar by means of a shaping groove made in one of the rolls, and the plain engaging circular surface of the other of the two shaping rolls. One of the second set of rolls is grooved to re- ceive the bar coming from the shaping rolls, and this groove of the second set of rolls has upwardly projected therefrom blades which press into the bar, at proper distances apart, the creases for the nail holes. From this latter set of rolls the bar passes to the rough-punching rolls, in which one of them is grooved and has punches upwardly projecting from the groove therein, with sinks made in the roller face of the other roll, to come radi- ally opposite the punches as the rolls turn, so that at each rotation of this set of rolls each previously shaped and creased blank- length of the bar is in succession rough- punched for the nail holes at proper dis- tances apart. Thus, as the bar is shaped by one set of rolls, as it is passing through the other two sets of rolls it is successively creased and rough-punched. The full punching of the previously rough-punched shoe-blank lengths of the bar is accomplished by a very ingenious operation, which is the same in both pat- ents. It will be understood that in doing this full punching the bar 1s heated, and, being so heated, the tendency is to destroy the punches after a short period of use, as they have toenter the iron and pass out from it, and to be in contact with the heated metal to an extent equil to the thickness of the bar. By Mr. Burden’s method the bar as coming from the rough- punching rolls, from the operation of the latter, has nail-head depressions made therein that are ccnical and elliptically at | > wheel the finished shoes are removed as | THE IRON AGE. the bar, which is caused by the entrance and emergence of the radially placed punches, with the metal displaced by the rough punching appearing on the opposite face of the bar as a burr or excrescence; the operation of rough-punching merely putting the nail-holes in a form to be fiuished punched by a second and con- nected operation. While each of dlank the successive lengths of the bar enters the full-punch- | ing mechanism, and, while the bar is at each of its intermittent periods of rest, the full punches are operated vertically and with great rapidity, to enter the holes previously rough punched, and to rapidly move away from the bar in return. As the amount of metal to be punched out is very small, the punches are in contact with but little of the heated metal. To further aid the matter there are dies ar- ranged on that face of the bar which is opposite to that at which the punches enter, and these dies have sinks that verti- cally align with the punches, the edge of the sinks facilitating the operation of the punches in removing the burrs or ex- crescences formed on the bar from the rough punching. Mr. Burden, by his entirely new method of punching the blank lengths of the bar, overcomes all of the difficulties encounterd by other experimenters, in the fact that in the operation of full-punching the punches have but very little heated metal to come in contact with, and when moving they operate so rapidly there is but little chance of their being injured. To guard against their becoming overheated, as a precaution several sets of punches are arranged so that they can alternately be brought into position. The bar, after these several operations have been completed, passes to the cutt.ng mechanism. From the cutting mechanism the bar passes to the swaging or shaping apparatus, and as soon as the end of the bar has entered the latter, by a rapid movement of the cuttmmg mechanism a proper blank length is cut off and caught by the swaging and shaping apparatus, The swaging or shaping mechanism of the two patents is the same in each of them, and a die- wheel having frog-form dies on its circular face is used in both of them. The form of the wheel and its frog-form dies is about the same as in the older ma- chines invented and patented by James A. Burden, although in the two new patents this wheel has a continuous rotation, while in the older machines it was oper- ated with alternating periods of motion and rest. As this die-wheel rotates, the entering end of the bar is caused when in motion to pass across the face of the revolving die- wheel, and at the same instant the cutting mechanism operates to cut off from the end of the bar one of the previously shaped, creased, rough-punched and _ full- punched blank lengths, which latter is caught centrally on the toe-end of one of the frog-form dies on the die-wheel, and at the same time as carried around by the latter the bending and swaging levers operate to press the bar in around the frog- form die to give to the blank the requisite form of the shoe. When this has been done another roller provided with sinks, to receive each of the frog-form dies, straightens out and makes laterally true the face of the shoe, so as to remove all buckling or lateral distortion which may have occurred. This straightening out and flatting of the shoe is very ingeniously done by an eccentric face on the sink roller that is made to tangent with the shoe as }upon the flat base-plate of the frog-form dies, and caused to move with the same speed as the latter by having the gears operating the same, made to differentiate intervals as to pitch. From the die- fast as produced and carried away by con- elongated in the direction of the sides of ! veying belts, in the usual manner. December 6, 1888. = SS One of the new machines