The Iron Age 1889-01-03: Vol 43

‘THE The Standard Rocking Grate Bar. The Standard Rocking Grate Bar which we illustrate on this page, and which is put on the market by the 8 [ron | Works, of New Brunswick, N. 'J., pos- | sesses several features of excellence. One of the principal improvements em- bodied in the new bar is the use of sepa- F | | | IRON THURSDAY, JANUARY 3, 1889. further tends to keep the bar from becom- ing overheated. While the leaves when placed on the bar and fastened by the key- leaf are firmly held in their places, they can be readily removed when desired and new ones put in their places without taking the bars out of the frames. The wear, it is claimed, has been reduced to a mini- mum, as it all comes on the removable ‘ti Fig. 1.—General View. Te = i, AGE are crushed between them when the bars are rocked. The fuel is agitated just enough to cause the ashes and crushed clinkers to drop into the ash-pit. This method of handling the fire renders it unnecessa:i to use the slice bar, as with the ordinary grate. There are two movements to the shaking apparatus. One is a moderate movement “ity MW, OPED f wi WWI) y MW, Wp l UY) Wii) Yl, Wi, pen roe WU Wii) oe Fig. 2.—View of Single Bars, THE STANDARD ROCKING GRATE rate leaves or fingers, which are cast inde- pendently of the main bearing bar, as shown in the small cut. so constructed that when in position they cover the upper edge and sides of the bearing bar, and protect the latter from the direct action of the fire, thus prevent- | The fuel lies on the upper | ing warping. edge of the leaves, and, consequently, there is a current of air passing between them and over that part which covers the BAR, These leaves are | MADE BY THE NATIONAL leaves, which cost but a small amount in comparison with the repairs necessary where the entire bar must be replaced. By casting the leaves separately the air space can be made of any desired width and much smaller than would be practicable where the fingers are cast on the bar. The coal being supplied to the upper surface of | the bed of fuel, the ashes and clinkers find | their way to the bottom and come in con- tact with the leaves of the bars. By the upper edge of the bearing bar, and this' peculiar shape of the leaves the clinkers [RON Showing Adjustment of Movable Leaves. WORKS, NEW BRUNSWICK, N. J |for the purpose of cleaning the fire; the second is adjusted so that the entire bed of fuel can be dumped into the ash-pit while the fire and ash-pit doors remain closed, thus confining all dust inside of the furnace. The framing on which the bars are placed is made with four standards, or legs, which rest upon the bottom of the ash-pit, and do not depend upon any part of the walls for support. No alteration is therefore necessary in the walls of any fur- nace in order to use these bars. The PDP sat ihe dedi i > > fe -) eB —— ae et ae >? a fy PY om = ee “ > eas _— Se a aaa 2 Ys 4 t as - See ea > > > PP a sa a te P3132 nc 8 ty iE eon: PD Si ws ped 33 a oe wilewondt eS? ee a a. es ee) — 2 23 aaa 22 Dae roe \ en aa! ~ cs i bbe eb od P PP LIB —— Pe pe vy 3% = ae -_ Day * ee 9 - THE IRON January 3, 1889. frames are made in sections, which can be | they would haul the same freight half the |to follow. Without the first we can never passed through the fire or ash-pit doors and | be put together inside the furnace space. | All that is required is a clear space inside | the furnace walls. The leaves of the Standard bar are so constructed that during the entire shaking motion the space remains the same. As a consequence no Coal is wasted by dropping through the bars into the ash-pit. The bars are adapted to all kinds of fuel and will, it is claimed, work equally well on | fine or large size coal, and either anthracite or bituminous. LEGALIZING Argument TT RAILWAY POOLS. a Barb-Wire facturer. by Manu- The people of Iowa have made greater efforts than the citizens of almost any other State to solve the problem of equalizing railway rates. The State is peculiarly situated, being traversed by great east and west through lines of transportation, com- peting for traffic at heavy business centers outside of the State, and endeavoring to make local business in the State as profit- able as possible to cover losses on through business. The result of this peculiar policy has been so detrimental to Iowa manufact- urers and jobbers that they naturally re- gard it as a discrimination against them and in favor of outside interests. The Iowa Steel Barb Wire Company, of Marshall- town, have suffered seriously from this cause, and R. E. Sears, President of the Company, is deeply interested in the at- tempts now being made to secure a remedy through corrective legislation. The foi- lowing article from his pen, published in the Times-Republican of Marshalltown, is a timely contribution to the discussion of the subject, which he treats in the utmost good temper, and with a desire to see entire fairness done to all interests. It is an accepted fact that railway legis- lation has come to stay, and that hereafter railway managers must recognize a higher power than their own caprice and cupid- ity. Discrimination as between individ- uals of the same locality has ceased, or at least we no longer hear complaints of it. Discrimination as to localities and States still exists and is the subject of most se- rious consideration. The legislation in lowa has been the result of an overwhelm- ing demand on the part of its people that the discriminations of the railroads against them should cease. It isa fight for self- preservation, and to any one who has studied the history of the movement and the causes leading up to it, it is manifestly unjust to charge the people of Iowa with a spirit of hostility to railroads or corpora- tions or capital. Nowhere in our broad land are the people more conservative or more sensitive to the rights of others than are the people of Iowa. Conscientious, patient, they wish to confiscate or unjustly depreciate no one’s property, nor do they intend to have their own confiscated if there is any legal relief. Railroads, unrestrained, can make and unmake not only individuals but localities and States, Their power, unchecked, is more potent than that of the officers and legislative bodies of this country in in- creasing or decreasing the values of prop- erty. The very extent of the power sug- gests the necessity of its restriction to such limits as shall be just to all. The highest tribunal has so adjudged. The decision in the granger cases is now the law of the land and its correctness is unquestioned. The discriminations causing dissatisfaction in lowa were in part from a desire of rail- way managers to have large earnings and consequently larger dividends, and _per- haps, in greater part from a relentless competition at competitive points. One result of these rate wars was that fre- distance. To illustrate: They would haul a car of cattle from Council Bluffs to Chi cago—soo miles—for $25, while from Mar- shalltown to Chicago—300 miles—over the same line and in the same direction for the same service they would charge $50. I merely give approximate figures. This manifest injustice, becoming gen- |eral, was the cause of that clause of the Interstate law forbidding railways to charge more for a short than for a long haul over the same line and in the same direction. The effect of that clause has been not to stop rate wars (as was antici- pated) but to reduce the earnings of the roads to such an extent that many of them are on the verge of bankruptcy, and if the wars are to continue, the country is threat- ened in consequence with a financial panic, disastrous alike to the owners of the roads and to the public generally. are the authors of their own ruin and not Iowa legislators, It is certainly not the latter, for railway managers do not pre tend to have complied for a single day with the rate requirements of the law. Actuated by a reckless desire to secure | business and to cripple rivals, they have engaged in a species of hari-kari, alike deadly to themselves and to their patrons. Rate wars, as a rule, are an injury to| both the roads and the public. They are an injury to the roads because they not only give the service for less than the cost, including fixed charges, but the low rates stimulate large shipments that ordin- arily wéuld not go forward for months in the future, thus reducing the business that would otherwise have been hauled at a profit to the roads, burning the candle at both ends so to speak. It is an injury to the people because it induces them (par- ticularly the merchants and manufactur- ers) to over-purchase for the sake of the low rates and to suffer the financial em- barassements consequent thereto; and, with the exception of a few articles like coal and lumber, the freight is so small an item of cost that the consumer receives no appreciable benefit. For instance, how much more sugar or coffee or tea or calico does a consumer receive for a dollar when the freight is $25 per car from Chicago to Council Bluffs in place of $50? Rate wars are a particular injury to the farmer in the shipment of his products to market, as the low rates stimulate heavy shipments and the markets are glutted and the prices thereby seriously depressed., How often is a $10 per car reduction in freight fol- lowed by a 4% to a ¥&% cent per pound re- duction in the market price of cattle and hogs, and a proportionate reduction in cereals? The people of Iowa demand not a ruin- ously low rate, followed by an exorbitantly high rate, but a reasonable, relative and uniform rate—one that will give the rail- ways fair compensation for the service rendered and at the same time will be fair to each section of the country. The rate must be relative—that is, must be in just proportion t» the services rendered and the cost of service. It is clearly unjust to charge as much for acar of freight over the same line and in the same direction for 300 miles as for 500 miles, or for 100 miles as for 300 miles. What the propor- tionate charge shall be can be determined largely by the relative cost of service. How to secure such reasonable, relative and uniform rates is the problem, If rate wars from terminal or competitive points below cost continue, we certainly cannot secure relative rates. lIowa’s Governor, legislators and railway commissioners, however earnest their efforts and pure their motives, cannot give us the desired relief, because at least 80 per cent. of our freight is Interstate—that is, comes from other States into Iowa, or goes from lowa into other States, and congress alone has authority to act in such cases. To secure relative rates we must first see that reason- able and uniform rates are charged at competitive points. By uniform rates I do not mean the same rate for all classes of freight, but a permanent or stable rate, quently the railways would haul freight a certain distance for half or less of the rate one that is not constantly fluctuating. Then it will be possible for relative rates The roads | | have the second. Stability in rates is of the utmost importance in business; fluctu- ating rates create demoralization and anarchy. He who points out the way whereby reasonable rates shall be received by the railways at competitive points and be maintained has done much toward solv- ing the problem and reconciling the in- terests of the people and the railways, and securing harmonious action between them. Harmony on a just basis is better \for both than strife. The industries of lowa, farming, manufacturing and job- bing, were never so prosperous as when | there was a strict and strong pool at the competitive points. These relative rates were possible and equalized rates—that is, the two local rates equaling the through rate, were given. There was then a Sta- bility to rates and consequently a stability to business. If the pool was strictly ad- hered to, the greater the stability; if vio- lated, the greater demoralization to bus- iness. As pooling agreements’ were not enforceable at law, dishonest mem- bers often violated them and thereby brought on rate wars. I know how un- popular railway pools are in the public mind and how they are prohibited by the Interstate law. They were often unfair and unreasonable in their rates. The writer does not seek to vindicate them or to apologize for their defects. He is seek- ing a way, if possible, out from the pres- ent discriminations from which lowa is suffering. If our remedy is through a pool, he would not throw away the reme- |dy merely because he did not like the name. The rose would not lose its per- fume from being called by another name. The remedy would not be more efficacious if ithad a more popular name. It is not the name, but the substance that we want. Suppose that part of the Interstate law prohibiting pools was repealed and a new clause substituted legalizing railway pools and the agreements between the roads constituting the same, that the long and ,Short haul clauses be retained with its present provisions, that equalized rates be permitted, that the reasonable rates to such competitive points shall be fixed or at least approved by the Interstate com- missioners, would not such an arrange- ment enable us to secure reasonable and stable fates at the terminal or competitive | points and relative rates at the interme- diate points? And when these were se- cured, would there not be an end to the discriminations under which our Iowa in- dustries have languished and in some | cases perished? | Legalizing railway pools is notnew. A number of such pools in England have been legalized by acts of parliament. Railway pooling agreements received the sanction of the law in Germany and Bel- gium and the results have proven satis factory. By making the rates subject to the approval of the Interstate commis- sioners, a check to eXtortionate rates is given. To insure a close feeling between the commissioners and people, it might in time be considered wise to have one or more national commissioners elected from each State, the number in each State de- pending upon the mileage in each State, who should be elected by the people the same as members of Congress are elected. TT | Fowler & Sons, of Buffalo, N. Y., re- quest us to state that they are the sole proprietors of Anderson Bolt Works, of Anderson, Md., to which we referred in our report on the Indiana Natural Gas District. They add that they make Buf- falo an Eastern distributing point for the product of their works, carrying there a large stock which enables them to fill orders quickly. A large number of the younger members of the metal trade have passed, lately, mem- orial resolutions of regret end appreciation | relating to Arthur L. Cort, whose sudden death in San Francisco was announced recently. January 3, 1889. Screw Making by the Cold- Rolling Process. About a year ago we briefly described and illustrated a new wood screw which the American Screw Company, of Provi- dence, R. I., were preparing to put on the market. The screw, as we explained at the time, was in a measure based upon the patents of Mr. H. A. Harvey, which cov- ered the formation of screw threads by a rolling or swaging process, but which have been supplemented since their pur- | chase by the American Screw Company by the inventions of Mr. Charles D. Rogers. The process, as finally developed and now | applied, differs radically from every other screw rolling process, not excepting Har- vey’s, and the product represents in every respect one of the most interesting and important achievements among the many in the manufacture of wood screws. Mr. Harvey, in rolling a thread on a screw blank carried the operation through three successive stages of rolling, deepening the thread slightly in each of the three rolls, and finally devised a rolling die in which the three originally separate dies were combined, and the deepening of the threads was accomplished gradually in one machine and in practically one operation. In this way he simplified his process con- siderably as compared with his earlier methods, but the screws which he turned out were in no way superior to those of ordinary make, and presented no differ- ence except possibiy in point of cost. In| order, however. to obtain aclear field the American Screw Company secured control | of the patents, and then, through Mr. Rogers, developed a new system, retaining the fundamental idea of producing a thread by rolling, but attaining the end in an entirely new way, and turning out a screw which appears to be superior in sev- eral respects to the well-known wood | screw now on the market. Through the courtesy of the company we are enabled to present in this issue en- gravings of the rolling machine which they use, and of which the manner of working will be understood with little difficulty. Before entering upon a discription of the machine and process, however, it may be interesting to briefly review the ordinary processes of screw making as now prac- ticed. To these we referred in a recent issue, but will repeat here that the wire rods which are used, and which are to a great extent imported, are first cleaned and drawn into wire of desired gauge for the different sizes, or rather diameters, of screws to be turned out. This wire on reels is next fed into what are known as heading machines, in which the screw blanks are partially formed, a proper leagth of wire for a screw being cut off and a head being formed by one or more blows from a heading hammer. The par- tially finished blanks having been rattled in sawdust, to remove the oil used in the heading operation, are then taken to the shaving and slotting machine. The proc- | ess to which they are subjected there con- sists in shaving the head of the rough blank on top and around the countersink —that is, the side of the head: then the! slot iscut by meansof asaw. This makes re-shaving of the head recess: ry, as small burrs would otherwise be left on cach side of the slot. The operation is entirely automatic, the blanks being fed along a slide, gripped, presented to the shaving and slotting tools and released one after) anotber. The finished .blanks are now taken to the threading machine. In this} also the entire’ operation isautomatic. The | blanks pass along a slide, one by one, in | the same way, are properly gripped and | presented horizontally to a cutting tool THE [RON AGE. secured in amovable tool block. This has the necessary amount of Jongitudinal feed to give the desired pitch to the thread, and has a quick return motion, several cuts being taken before atinished thread is se- cured. Soda-water is used as a lubricant. The tinished screws are here also dropped into a receptacle underneath the machine, and are then ready for cleaning, packing and shipment, In the new process of manufacture the work of preparing the blanks before thread- ing has been greatly simplified, all the opera- tions being performed in the heading ma- chine and no trimming or shaving of the heads being necessary. Aside from this the object to be attained in the heading machine is the production of finished heads of a larger size relatively to the wire from which the screw is formed than has been common heretofore. These several objects involve the use of solid dies which present no seams on the surfaces on which the screw heads are to be formed, since the marks of such seams would show on the surfaces of the heads. The use of three hammers also is made necessary, since the desired large head can be obtained only from an increased amount of metal. This means an increase in the length of wire to be upset, and such an increased length |renders the wire more liable to ‘* cripple,” |or bend under the action of a single ham- mer blow, or even of two, in such a man- ner as to make it impossible to produce | either the symmetrical form required or a sound and strong head. The exact way in | which the blanks, and more particularly the heads, are formed will become clear from | the three small engravings shown in Fig. 19. The partially formed blanks are there arranged in the order in which they are turned out. We will suppose a reel of | wire being fed into the heading machine. The proper length for a screw-blank being | gripped in the dies, the first hammer blow partially upsets the projecting end, as in @. ‘The collar thus formed more readily in- duces the flow of metal in the desired di- rection, and the second blow produces the shape /; the third completes the head and forms also the slot .or the screw-driver. The fourth operation, finally, consists in cutting off the blank from the wire coil, and this corresponds practically with swaging the points. We have not shown the complete finished blank, as its appear- ance can readily be imagined. The slot in the head, we should here explain, is formed by a tongue extending from the face of the hammer, which finishes the head. This tongue is forced into the metal in advance of the action of the flat surface of the hammer upon the metal, and forms an obstacle to the flow of the metal from one side of the die to the other. It is important, therefore, that the metal, before this hammer acts upon it, shall be distributed symmetrically with refer- ence to the slot upon the two sides of the die. Again, it is obvious that the tongue, as it is forced into the metal, must spread the metal laterally; but at the ends of the tongue it does not force the metal freely toward the surface of the die, but has a tendency to carry it downward, so as to produce an im- perfect face at the ends of the slot. This tendency shows itself most decidedly in making the heads, as in this case, of a larger diameter across the face than has been commonly practiced heretofore, and explains why the blank after the second blow has a head formed as in’. It will be noticed there that the upper surface of the partially formed head is convex along one diameter, and it is in the line of this diameter that the slot is formed. There |} is, accordingly, ample metal at the parts adjoining the ends of the slot to admit of a good deal of stretching without tearing. The hight and width of the convex portion will vary with the size of the screw-heads and the depth and width of the slot, and | also with the character of the metal. The simplicity and directness of the whole operation, which is carried out in one ma- chine, as compared with the repeated handling of the incomplete blanks in the old method of shaving, trimming and nicking the heads is striking It is note- worthy also that the metal is worked cold. The blanks, as they drop from the dies in the heading machine are complete in every way, though before being threaded they undergo rattling. The rattlers, as no doubt most of our readers know, are re- volving boxes, and ordinarily are used for giving articles put in them a rough finish. In this case, however, they contain saw- dust, which to some extent absorbs the oil with which the blanks are covered. Of the machine which is employed for rolling the threads on the blanks, we give a large number of details besides the two general views on the plate... The opera- tion, however, is, in the main, simple ond can be followed with little difficulty. Taken altogether the machine offers an in- teresting illustration of what can be done by automatic mechanism. All that the attendant has to do, one being sufficient for several machines, is to dump the screw blanks into the receptacle at the top, marked H, in Fig. 2; the finished screws drop out underneath into the box shown in the side elevation. Those of our read- ers who remember the engravings which we published a vear ago of the Simonds metal rolling machine, in which serews alsu could be turned out, will find in the present apparatus an apparent similarity, owing to the fact that reciprocating dies also are employed. It should be noted, however, that in this machine all the work is performed on cold, not hot, metal and the principle of forming the screw threads, moreover, is entirely different. That this is so will presently be seen. Perhaps the best idea of the construction and function of the machine can be gained by following a screw blank from the hopper through the different operations until it emerges as a finished screw. The blanks then are, as we have already said, dumped into this hopper (H in Fig. 2) as they come from the rattlers. Within the hopper is fitted a narrow double blade, m, Fig. 1, which moves up and down through the mass of blanks. Its upper edge is formed at an angle, so that as the blade arrives at the end of its upward movement any blanks it may have picked up will readily slide from it on to the track T, through an opening formed in the hopper and coin- ciding with the track. Motion is imparted to the blade or “pick-up” through the medium of a vertically guided rack, m*, Fig. 2, which meshes into a small gear- wheel, m?, loosely mounted on a horizon- tal shaft, s. This shaft has a gear-wheel, m‘, secured to its mner end, which gears with rack-teeth, m, Figs. 2 and 3, formed on the upper face of the rack-connection, d*, Practically it is found desirable to be able at times to prevent the ‘‘ pick-up” from delivering the blanks. Therefore, the gear m? is loosely mounted, and is provided with lugs arranged to interlock with the clutch and nut, x. The clutch is splined to the shaft, and is adapted to slide endwise, as common to locking de- vices of this character. The way in which the rack connection, as we have termed the part d*, is driven, will be understood from Figs. 1 and 2. Power, it will be noted, is transmitted to the machine through a belt and the pulley shown in the plan. Mounted on the other end of the pulley shaft is a pinion gearing into a larger spur-wheel which, as Fig. 1 shows, drives a cross-head, B, through a connect- ing rod, ¢. To this cross-head, near its lower side, is secured a strong, guided connection, ¢?, having rack teeth formed in its inner vertical face. This connection is well supported and guided at its for- ward end by the extension g, formed in ar eis) > | oe ae ae a "i t > > - > > > ~ es = SS ee — a ace) Se eS) te :y > B33) i. | a neery PS > SS) 2] 2) kid bb +d ao Se, Rial + ze \ ee < Se Pes os bet 4 Pe Pad es Ca "a 4 THE IRON AGE, January 3, 1889. the frame. The similar toothed connec- ; both are ae ays traveling and acting in | travel in a true plane, the broad base and tion, d®, is secured to an opposite cross- | complete unison. Both cross-heads recip-| sides insuring great stiffness in action. head and mounted in the same horizontal | rocate in ways formed in the main frame, | Each of the thread-forming dies, to which plane as the connection c’. Intermediate | their length being somewhat greater than | we shall have occasion to refer later, is of these racks c? d? is mounted a vertical | twice the length of each cross-head, In | marked D, in Fig. 3, and is mounted in 10 5@O-- O Ps all Meee mi 4-F-_ 5 rt il Fig. 7.—Section Showing Action of Blank- Holding Jaws. ait} i \ Fig. 1.—Plan. Fig. 4.—Plan and Section Showing Mounting of Cross- Head, Fig. 2.—Vertical Cross Section. Fig. 3.—Vertical Section Forward of Hopper, Fig, 6.—Section Showing Blanks in Runway. MACHINE FOR COLD-ROLLING OF SCREWS, AT WORKS OF THE AMERICAN SCREW CO., PROVIDENCE, R. I. shaft, d, having secured at its upper end a| Fig. 1 the cross-heads are represented as | an L-shaped seat, 4, which, in turn is ad- strong gear-wheel, arranged to gear with | being at the extreme of travel, and prepar- | justably secured to the cross-head by bolts, poth racks, as clearly shown in Figs. 1] atory to engaging a screw blank, which is| @* (Fig. 4), a clamping plate, a’, ‘resting and 2. By means of this device it is —) held vertically while being acted upon. | upon the die and cross-head as shown in vious that the two cross-heads will be re-| The upper parts of the ways are formed | Fig. 8, being interposed, In order to at- ciprocated in opposite directions and at} by gib-plates secured to the bed. By this| tain a nice “adjustment of the dies in a exactly the same relative speed, so that’ arrangement the cross-heads are forced to| lateral or transverse direction, a wedge- nS che. a) January 3, 1889. shaped piece, a* (Fig. 4), is placed at, and forms a backing to, the seat 2. It is worked | by a nut and screw on the end as shown. referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, it will be noticed that a rack-rod, s’, is fitted into the upper part of the frame at the rear | section at the right in Fig. 9. side. The front portion of this rod is pro- vided with gear-teeth on its under side, which engage teeth s' cut into the shaft s (see Fig. 2). By this arrangement it is evident that a reduced reciprocating move- Fig. 8.—Section of Dies and Holders. ny SEs BSS... Fig. 12.-Ey View of Part of . ee a cam plates F (Fig. 11). A slot, f°, is cut through to receive the previously men- tioned pin uw. Two slots, #4, are formed transversely in the plate C and communi- cate with a T-shaped groove seen in the This groove is formed in the under side of the plate and serves the purpose of retaining the ; blank-holding jaws shown in Figs. 5 and 6, | marked e, in the latter figure. cured to the plate, prevent the jaws from Gibs e* se- Fig. 11.—Plan of Cam Plates. vlarged ; Cam Plate. Fig 9.—Details of Cross Plate C. . Fi \ 'D i t — == / 7 ; ' ’ i , t= a5 ia ¢ -_-= \ vaewwe Fig. 13. — Manne Fig. 10. — Plan of Checking Device for Blanks. the Dies. MACHINE FOR COLD-ROLLING OF SCREWS, AT WORKS OF THE AMERICAN SCREW CO., ment is imparted to the rod s’ in unison with the cross-head. An elongated open- ing, u' (Fig. 1), is formed in the center portion of the rear gib-plate, a', through which a pin, w, secured to the rear end of | the rod s*, projects. The object of this rod and attachments is to actuate the blank- checking and holding devices which we| shall presently describe. A plate, C (Fig. 3), firmly unites the two sides of the frame, being bolted to them. Its center is direct- lv over the center of the space formed by the separation of the dies when in their | extreme position. Its upper surface is re- cessed as shown in Fig. 9 to receive the of Supporting Blanks Between Fig, 15.—Cross Section of Dies and Screws at o o, Fig, 14, = Li YHy = s a= ae Fig. 17.—Section Fig. 18.—End Along ss, Fig. 14. of Die where Rolling Be- gins, r dropping out, although permitting them | to travel back and forth, as in opening and closing when combined with the cam-plate F, The jaws are each provided with a | Short pin, ¢ (Fig. 5), which passes through | the openings, 7*. The adjacent vertical faces of the jaws are cut out in a semi- circular form, / (Fig. 6), and are counter- | sunk at the bottom, so as to freely receive | the headed blanks. The jaws are reduced | in thickness at the lower portion, as at ¢’, |so that they may easily enter the space | formed by the ‘lateral separation of the | dies, the edges being concave to more ‘readily retain the blanks in position. 5 The plate F is provided with three cam- shaped slots, 7, 7’, 7” (Fig. 11), cut through it. the first named slot being adapted to re- ceive the pin wu of the rack-rod s*. The other two, which are shorter and are ar- ranged right and left, are adapted to re- ceive the pins 4 of the jaws ¢. It is ob- vious now that by placing the plate F in the planed-out portion of the cap-plate C, and also mounting the jaws 1n position beneath the latter plate, a longitudinal a b ¢ Fig. 19.—Upper Ends of Screw Blanks in Differ- ent Stages of Heading. PROVIDENCE, R. I. | movement of the pin w, extending through ithe straight slots w' #* and into the cam- slot f (see Fig. 10), will cause the plate F to move back and forth across the machine a distance corresponding to the throw of the cam. At the same time, by reason of the engagement of the pins ¢ with the cam-slots 7', the jaws will be made to open and close, the distance traveled being governed, of course, by the offset of the cam. A portion of one of the arms of the cam-plate F extends above the general sur- | face of the plate, and is provided with an additional cam-slot, #? (Fig. 12). This 'cam-slot is substantially of the same length Fig. 16.—Section Along p p, Fig. 14. 2 ie > 9 BES Ss Sherr rr a a ~ se 3 > >. ae 35'S Sie PP? eel oF pee IDE i a) —~ ri >) — Sea ask : p BP SSI F >) » 2p re es Pa 6 THE [IRON | AGE. January 8, 1889. as the lower slot f', as cles wty shown by | travel of the several cones being 20 arranged ; way are very tine as compared with those the full lines. ) and timed that the holding-jaws begin to|of the ordinary cut wood screws. The The checking device for the screw-| open immediately after the ribs of the | advantage of this construction 1s that they blanks is arranged in a box, E, Figs. 5, 6 and 7, secured to the center of the cap- plate and clearly seen also in both per- spective views. A vertical opening 1s formed in the rear wall of the box “and coinciding with the mouth of the track T, the width of the opening being slightly | in excess of the size of the shank of the} screw-blank, The upper portion of the opening 1s made flaring, as at r, Fig. 7, to freely receive the heads of the blanks. A vertical slot is formed longitudinally of the checking box, intersecting the open- | ing just described as coinciding with the mouth of the track T. A plate, p, is fit- ted to move back and forth in this slot, and has on its lower side a pin, p*®, which engages the slot f? in the cam-plate F, the latter, in part, fitting into the base of the checking box. By means of this con- struction it will be seen that by moving the cam-plate back and forth across the machine the slot f? will cause the plate p to reciprocate longitudinally on the ma- chine. It will now be clearly seen that when the plate is in its extreme left-hand position, as in Fig. 7, the column of blanks in the runway T is held in check, but by moving the plate in the opposite direction the opening in the check box opposite the track T will be uncovered, and the press- ure of the column of blanks will force them ahead, one of them sliding into the path of the plate »; this will be more readily understood from Figs 5 and 6. The point of the blank rests upon and is supported by aledge. A spring-pin, 1°, mounted on the box E just in advance of the blank, serves to maintain the latter in position until the plate p, upon its return stroke, engages it, and forces it past the yielding pin and from the support. The blank then drops into the vertical circular opening in front, down through a central hole formed in the plate C, and into the holdiug jaws e, which at the instant are separated slightly for the purpose. A cover is provided to close the top of the box E. This also serves to prevent the blanks from rising, an extension of it at the same time maintaining the blanks in position upon the runway T (see Fig. 6). A pin, mounted at the rear of the check- ing-plate, and shown in the end view on the first plate page, serves, when pushed forward, to temporarily keep the column of blanks from passing into the machine. It will be seen, referring to Figs. 4 and 5, that two thin strips, /', of metal, beveled at their upper edges, as at A”, are arranged to receive the blank between them im- mediately upon its being forcibly ejected from the box E. These metallic strips are secured to the cross-heads, contiguous to the front ends of the threading dies, and serve to support the blank until the rmbs of the dies have fairly commenced to act | upon it. At the same time the blank is | maintained in a vertical position by the jaws e which inclose it. In following the threading process to which the blank is subjected we will as- sume the main gear in Fig. 1, operating the connecting-rod ¢ to move in the direc- | tion of the arrow. The front cross-head B, with its die, will then move ahead, and through the side racks and the pimon on the shaft ¢ will force the opposite cross- nead to move-in the reverse direction. The relation of the cap C and cam-plates to each other is as represented in Fig. 10. This movement of the cross-heads will cause the cam-plate F to slide backward through the medium of the rod s? and the pin uw, which works in the cam-slot (7, thereby, in conjunction with the two cam- slots 7! and pins ¢, separating the jaws e. | At the same time the cam 7*, acting upon the checking plate » will be forced back to uncover the opening in the check box wn E opposite ‘he track ”, the form and thread-forming dies D have seized upon ‘enter the wood easily, and without dis- the blank. The continued travel of the} placing as much of it as does the cut ‘dies impresses a screw-thread into the| thread, and with much less driving force. blank. As the dies pass each other at the | They have also long and tapering points, extremes of their travel the threaded | which at once commend themselves, The ‘blanks will drop from them into a space | most important difference, however, in the beneath. Upon the return stroke, and | new screw is the reduced diameter of the immediately preceding its termination, |shank between the head and the com- the next blank to be ac ted upon will be | mencement of the thread, doing away with forced past the check-pin 7? into the jaws|the necessity of using two bits in hard e by the action of the cam 7? and the | wood to avoid splitting. The diameter of checking plate p. At the commencement | the shank of the screw is only slightly of the next forward stroke the blank will) greater than the diameter of the core of be retained by the closed jaws, and also | the threaded portion, so that by using a supported by the strip /', as clearly shown | single bit of the exact diameter of the in Fig. 7. The dies now, in again travel-| unthreaded portion the body of the screw ing ahead, seize the new blank between | will exactly fill the hole made by the bit them, and roll or impress a screw-thread | and the threaded portion will lie entirely upon it, as just described. It is, of| in solid wood, into which the thread has course, understood that during the recip-| entered, thus securing, it is claimed, a rocation of the cross-head the blanks are | much firmer hold than is usually obtained, automatically fed from the hopper and} while the danger of splitting the wood is along the track T to the checking device; reduced to a minimum. To the more than by the vertically traveling ‘‘ pick-up ”| ordinarily large heads of the screws for blade. , given sizes of wire we have already re- We come now to the threading dies and | ferred. Owing to the small shank for the to the principle involved in forming the | size of screw produced, further, 1t is note- threads, which is both novel and ingen-| worthy that a No. 18 screw, for example, ious. The upper part of Fig. 14 repre-| may be turned out from No. 12 stock, an sents a plan of one die face, and the lower | advantage well worth considering. One part a section along one of the grooves, as| other feature to be noted in the rolled zx. Wewill explain here that the dark | screw is the very gradual reduction in the portions marked / / represent grooves, and | diameter of the body where the thread the parts aaa indicate ribs. The dies, | begins, and the breakages at this point which are of hardened steel, are milled in| noted in ordinary screws, due to the special machines of ingenious design, | shoulders formed, are entirely avoided. which we cannot stop here te consider. | The rolling process finally saves about 40 The grooves are V-shaped, the sides hav-| per cent. of waste metal which the opera- ing the same inclination to each other as | tion of cutting screws entails. We under- the opposite sides of the screw thread to| stand that some of the screws have been be produced. This inclination, we need | put in the hands of large consumers who perhaps scarcely add, is constant from one| are competent judges, like the Brown end of the die to the other, and the work | & Sharpe Mfg. Company, Pullman’s Pal- of raising the thread is mainly performed | ace Car Company, the C. B. & Q. Railroad by these sides. The hight of each rib and | shops, and many others, and, after careful the width of its face or top, however, | tests, have been given very flattering tes- Vary throughout the length of the die, | timonials. The American Screw Company and are determined at every point by the |inform us that they will probably ex- depth of the adjacent grooves. The face hibit some of their machines at Brus- of each rib ‘is substantially level, and has | sels. Companies may also be established in the form of a truncated wedge, very nar- | England and Germany. row at the end /, where the rolling com-| We would add that the new processes mences, and much wider at the opposite | involve such a complete revolution in screw end. The rib, in fact, is made as narrow | manufacture, and the investigations are at the entering end as is consistent with| upon such entirely new ; ground, that the strength, in order that but little metal| American Screw Company have found it need be displaced when it enters the| desirable to secure home and _ foreign screw blank. To facilitate its entrance | patents on the various mechanical devices, the top may be slightly chamfered, as at | processes of manufacture and products ex- f. The action of the dies, always consid-|emplified. The company have experi- ering that there are two of them moving | mented very carefully during the past few in opposite directions, will probably be| years and are now building machinery on readily understood when it is noted that | a large scale as rapidly as possible for use at the beginning of the stroke the narrow | in manufacturing. ribs A are at once forced into the screw- i blank to as great a depth as it is desired| The New “York City budget for 1889, the ribs shall go at any time during the | just made up by the Board of Estimate stroke. We may consider, then, that | and Appropriations, looks well for the tax wide but comparatively thin strips of the| payers. As finally passed it footed up / metal of the blank are taken into the cor- | $37,637,069.91. Of this $4,602, 760.74 will respondingly wide grooves of the die at | come out of the general fund, leaving $33, - that end, and as the rolling progresses and | 084,309.17 to be raised by gencral taxes, the grooves in the die blocks become nar- | Comptroller Meyers stated ‘that, while the rower the metal in them and between the | budget is about $600,000 more than last ribs becomes more and more compressed, | year the tax levy will be about $800,000 ‘and gradually expands into the grooves of | less and the tax rate will probably be re- | the dies, until at the end of the operation | duced from 2.22 to 2.16 or thereabouts, | it fills them and the thread is completed. | This reduction will be due partly to in- The blank is not stretched in the slightest, | creased valuations, but more to the fact ‘the length of the finished screw and of | that large accounts which have been stand- the blank before entering the dies being | ing on the Comptroller’s books for years identical. This is due to the fact that | have been turned into the geveral fund. there is no pressure on the body of the | | The tax rate next year will be the lowest blank, radially, but all the work is ex: | \for many years. The city debt is now pended on the metal between the ribs of | | $182,457,¢ 395.46. the dies. Perhaps more light will be thrown on, The Boston Steam Fitters’ Association the operation by an examination of Figs. | was organized last week, to promote the 15, 16, 17 and 18. The text beneath | interests of their trade. The association these gives all the explanation required, | resolved to attend a course of lectures on The threads of the screws rolled in this | Steam engineering by Prof. Peabody. Si ey Pree ses _ ee et JANUARY 3, 1889. A a : Ae i ig = er EAs = a a a +33 33 Sr Ss Fe <r n ote ++ ~_s as 2 eed 223 Ba aD DP Pia} Senet = ~~ > Sy E —s End Elevation. SCREW ROLLING MACHINE, AMERICAN SCREW COMPANY, PROVIDENCE, R. L JANUARY 3, 1889. (| : T % i, E | i va il i a - ; ar fe its cad Side Elevation. SCREW ROLLING MACHINE. AMERICAN SCREW COMPANY, PROVIDENCE, R. L January 3, 1889. Coal and Iron Mines in the Tennessee Valley. | —— Fo Allusion has Deea_made inh article published in The Iron Age of December | 13, page 890, to the large area of coal- bearing lands on the east of the line of the Cincinnati, New Orlean; and Texas Pacific Railway. It is the great coal field of Tennessee, containing several mountains which rise over 3200 feet above sea level and many which are over 2500. These great hights take in a series of coal strata unknown to any area immediately on the line of railway. This great area, which has been denominated the ‘‘ Upper Meas- ure Coal Field of Tennessee,” can be reached by branch roads up New River, up Black Wolf Creek, and by direct lines from Lansing or Oakdale. With the ad. vantages of the road-bed of the Cincinnati Southern division for transporting freight at low rates, and the ease with which that area of coal can be reached, it should at- tract the attention of capitalists. A road with far better grades and curvature than that up the mountain at Tracy City can | be built at comparatively low cost from Oakdale into the Crooked Fork coal field, where it would reach large area of coal, as well as a great amount of virgin tim- ber. The road would have the great ad- vantage of being all down grade with the | loaded car. At Emory Gap, the Walden’s Ridge Railroad forms a junction with the Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pa- cific Railway. This road runs thence to Clinton on the Knoxville and Ohio Rail- road, passing by the Poplar Creek Mines. These mines are 16 miles from the Cin- | cinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway, and a large part of their product should pass over it; and of such impor- tance are they in the extent of the field and the superior character of the coal that they deserve notice, though they may not be considered as directly in the territory of the Cincinnati Southern. The larger part of the land in the Poplar Creek field is owned by the Coal Creek Mining and Mfg. Company, which com- pany do not operate itself, but lease to others. A comparatively small area be- longs to other parties. The locality has the | capacity for being one of the important coal-producing areas ‘in the South, there | being so many points from which good entries can be made into the coal seams, as well as the number of easy outlets from the mountain. The companies now op- erating there are small, the complaint being most of transportation. From the Poplar Creek mines to the Cincinnati Southern is 18 miles, from that junction to Chattanooga is 79 miles, a total of 97 miles. But the coal does not travel that route now. It goes to Clinton, 16 miles, thence to Knoxville, 20 miles, thence to Chattanooga, 111 miles, total 146 wiles. On the other hand, all coal from the! Knoxville and Ohio Railroad for Ken- tucky points is brought to Clinton, thence over the Walden’s Ridge Road to the junction at Emory Gap, and thence north by the Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific. The mining operations on Poplar Creek are as follows : hands, product about 150 tons per day. Winter’s Gap Coal Company, 75 hands, product 125 tons per day. Eureka Coal Company, 33 hands, product 75 tons per day. Mitchell & Bro., 33 hands, product | about 60 tons per day. Mt. Cartoon Yoal Company (Wiley & Bro.), two open- ings, 39 hands, including those getting | props and cross-ties, product 150 tons per day. The Cumberland Coal and Coke Company is a new one, which proposes large operations, but at ‘present is only working in a small way, the number of hands being now 26, aud the product 100 Joe Richards & Sons, 60 | THE IRON AGE. pahy is from Atlanta. The total present Aproduct is 660 tons, from an area which should ship at least 2500 tons of coal and coke per day. There is ample room for | another railroad into this field. The first mines on the line of railway after it reaches the Tennessee Valley are worked for iron ore of the red fossil va- riety. The foot of No. 1 mine is about 1 mile from the railroad station. It is operated by Col. Thos. Brown. The prod uct averages 95 tons per day, and 35 miners and 8 outside men are worked. The distance to the railway is 610 yards, and loaded cars drop down by gravity. The mine is worked by a slope 400 feet long, the vertical hight being 235 feet. The vein ranges from 24 to 5 feet in thick- ness, averaging above 4 feet. The ore at the depth of 235 feet below water level is found to be about as good as that near the surface. No. 3 mine is 2 miles from the station, and is also operated by Col. Thomas Brown. There are 22 miners and seven outside men employed there, and the aver- age product is 75 tons. The vein averages 3 feet 3 inches in thickness. It 1s 700 yards from the railway, and the cars drop down by gravityas at No. 1. Nearly all the ore from both these mines goes to the Dayton furnaces. Between Nos. 1 and 3 another mine is being opened by Brown & Tarwater. It connects to the main line by a wide-gauge track. At Rockwood Brown & Tarwater operate two mines, the prod- uct of which all goes to the Rockwood furnaces. The Rockwood furnace was the pioneer }in the manufacture of iron with coke in the south and the forerunner of the great industrial development now flourishing in the Southern States. The mines were opened and the first furnace erected in 1867 by Gen. J. T. Wilder and H. 38. Chamberlan. The coal mined is entirely used in the two furnaces, at which and in the mines is worked a total of about 250 hands. The product amounts to about | 60,000 tons per annum. This coal is in | Walden’s Ridge, an outer wall-like part |}of the Cumberland Mountain, where th: coal and all other strata dip at an angle of about 45°. A part of the coal mined is made into coke, a