The Iron Age 1892-11-24: Vol 50

‘THE The Waters Engine. The object sought by Frank J. Waters of Providence, R. I., in designing the valve’of which drawings are here pre- sented was to produce an engine in which the steam could be automatically and ab- solutely cut off from the cylinder when the normal speed was exceeded and the valve ports opened when the speed of the | engine was reduced to the normal. An- other object was to produce a device by which the drag exercised by the cut off | valve controlling mechanism at the start- ing and stopping of the engine could be obviated. A still further aim was to re- duce the friction of the operating parts and to prevent the cramping resulting from the wear of the roller bearings. A good idea of the generai form of the en- gine and valve gear may be obtained from the perspective view on this page. Steam is supplied to the engine through the vertical pipe shown leading from the center of the steam chest, the exhaust es- caping from each end through the lower pipe. The exhaust pipes, in addition to being connected with the ends of the valve chamber, are also connected with spaces formed in the ends of the cylinder, the rear space, as shown in Fig. 2, being separated from the main portion of the cylinder by a partition, adapted to be broken by any severe pounding of the pis- ton resulting from the accumulation of water in this end of the cylinder, thereby taking up the strain which would other- wise be exerted on the cylinder head. Should this partition be broken, free egress for the water and steam is fur- nished by the connection with the ex naust pipe. At the forward end of the cylinder and cast in one piece with it isa partition formed with an opening, the outer portion of which forms a seat for a valve provided with a valve stem hori- zontally movable through the perforation in a plug screwed through the outer for- ward head of the cylinder. outer end of this stem is pressed the short end of a bell crank lever, pivoted at its angle between lugs | wr on the guide box, the long end of the lever THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1892. raised by a suitable spring supported in a} bracket and adjusted by a set screw. | When the pressure in the cylinder becomes | dangerous, the valve will be forced out ward and a small amount of water and | steam will escape through the perforation | and thence through the exhaust pipe. The valve will be rapidly operated by the press- ure of the spring lifted lever to again | close this perforation. The valve casing is provided with a rear | passage connecting with the rear end of the cylinder and a forward passage con- necting with the forward end of the cylin- der, these passages being also connected with the exhaust pipes. At the center of this casing is the steam chest. The slide valve is generally cylindrical in shape, and is free to reciprocate in the bearings formed in the walls separating the steam chest from the two end passages, these bearings THE WATERS STEAM ENGINE. being packed by means of segmental rings of metal, two rings being used to break the joints and the rings being held in place by flanged sleeves surrounding the slide valve, part of the walls of which are cut away. At the central portion the slide valve has longitudinal slots through which steam passes from the steam chest into the interior of the valve. Between the eads of these slots and the end walls of the slide valve are the outlet ports through which steam is admitted to the passages leading to the cylinder. The left hand end (refer- ence being had to Fig. 2) is closed by a wall beyond which is an extension open at the end and having side ports to allow the exhaust steam to pass from the cylinder into the rear end of the valve casing when the slide valve moves forward. The other end of the valve is provided with an ex- tension serving the same purpose. These extensions move horizontally with the slide valve in metal packed bearings. The forward end wall of the slide valve has a threaded opening, into which the inner end of a tubular valve stem is se- cured. This stem passes through a stuff- ing box, and its outer end is attached to Against the | the reciprocating bracket 5, which forms part of the valve drive rod and has an arm moving in a bearing in a bracket secured to the valve case. The forward cut-off eing valve is perforated and is formed to closely ' move longitudinally. IRON AGE fit the base of the slide valve, and is pro- vided with a tubular valve stem, which passes through the tubular valve stem of the slide valve and through a stuffing box in the bracket }, and is secured to the stud ¢, carried by a rod passing through a slot in the valve drive rod. The rear cut- off valve closely fits the bore of the slide valve, and is furnished with perforations to allow the steam to pass through and balance this valve, in the center of which is secured one end of a valve stem, which extends through the slide valve and through a stuffing box formed in the stud e. The outer end of this stem is secured to the bent arm of a rod attached to the inner face of the valve rod. The valve drive rod, having the bracket }, extends forward and engages with the mechanism for operating the slide valve, having a slot through which the governor drive a Z y Wilt —— ——— ———— — = a a: _ =: — a =: = shaft d extends. The forward and rear cut- off valve rods extend forward and are shaped as shown in Fig. 2. The valve driving mechanism is con- tained within a case, as shown in Fig. 6, and is driven from the gear 0 which en- gages with the gear m. In the plate / isa semicircular slot, indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 3, and on its inner surface a recess and a cam ring, 4, shown in face view in Fig. 4. The shaft carrying this plate also carries a similar one, arranged as shown in Figs. 2 and 6. This latter plate has a cam, /, a central recess and a semicircular slot. The cams &£/ have a corresponding throw and return and are engaged by the roller bearings of the valve drive rod. The revolution of these plates will, therefore, cause a reciprocating mo- tion to b2 imparted to the slide valve. In the outer surface of the cam plate j is a circular recess to receive a plate formed with a cam ring shaped as shown in Fig. 5. This cam operates the rear cut-off valve to wholly or partially open or close the ports of the slide valve. A similar cam ring carried by the plate / operates the forward cut-off valve. The central portion of the shaft carryiag these plates nas a transverse slot, Fig. 7, in which a rack, operated by a rod in a central longi- tudinal opening in the shaft, is free to i In this opening is aa ———— pa mm a it i \ 972 THE IRON AGE, November 24, 1899 ———E—E—E—E——E—E———————====EEEE—————————————————————————————_—_—_—_————————————— a a the gearing shown in Fig. 4 and to the right in Fig. 7. When the rack 1s oper- ated it will turn the cam plates actuating the valve rods, as shown in Fig. 2. To the inner end of the rod attached to the rack is pivoted an arm secured by a pivoted link to the shifting arm of the regulator mechanism. On the shaft shown in Fig. 6 and to the extreme right in Fig. 2 is clamped a ring in which the ends of levers are pivoted. The other ends of these levers are pivoted to weights, connected to which are the ends of other levers leading to studs on a sleeve, the outer end of which is provided with a grooved sleeve pulley. Between the ring and sleeve is placed a spring, the coils of which encircle the shaft, and which tends to draw the weights toward the shaft. The lever ¢ is provided with a stud which enters the groove in the pulley. The other end of this lever is secured to the link », whose other end is forked and formed with studs. Secured to the inner end of the shaft carrying the rack is a beveled gear, g, meshing with which is the horizontal gear h, which in turn en- gages the gear *. Motion being im- As the speed of the shaft is increased, the weights will be driven in a larger ra- dius and will draw the ends of the pivoted arms together, also drawing the grooved pulley against the force of the spring. The connected ends of the levers will also be drawn in that direction, and the clutch block engaged between the studs of the lever p will move the clutch into contact with the cavity of the gear 7. The clutch block will be rotated by this gear in a di- rection to advance the tube by the engage- ment of its nut with the interior of the sleeve in a direction indicated by the upper arrow in Fig. 7, moving the rack in the same direction and operating the cut-off cams, as above described. When the speed of the engine falls below the normal, the clutch will be moved by the pivoted arms and their connecting mechanism into contact with the cavity of the gear g, which, traveling in a direction opposite to that of the other, will also turn the clutch and the sleeve in this direction, and by the engagement of the nut with the threaded interior surface of the sleeve will drive the tube and the rod operating the rack in the direction indicated by the yy fy Pittsburgh Smoke. Last spring a special committee of the Engineers’ Society of Western Pennsylva- nia appointed a committee to consider the smoke question, the chairman being T. P. Roberts, and the members, W. L. Szaife. Charles Hyde, Prof. John Langley, Danie! Ashworth, T. N. Johnston and A. EF. Hunt. This committee has just presented its report at a meeting held in Pittsburgh. We take from it the following paragraphs: If we could always have a flame playing over all portions of the top of a fire, and at the same time an ample supply of hot air thoroughly mixed with the fuel gases, there would never be any notable quantity of either yellow or black smoke passing up the chimney. Theoretically the complete abolition of smoke can be secured by hav- ing a top flame and a topsupply of hot air, but just here is where the practical difli- culties begin; for however ample may be the admission of air to the ash pit, and however well cleared may be the surface of the®grateg bars, the passage of air parted to the gear g in one direction by the shaft will be transmitted by the gear /, to rotate the gear / in the opposite direction. Contained be- tween the gears g jf and capable of slight longitudinal movement i3 a tu- bular block having a central circumferen- tial gioove adapted to be engaged by the studs of the lever ». The ends of this block are slightly tapered, as shown in Fig. 7, formed by clutch blocks adapted to engage the cavities formed in the gears. Journaled at one end in the bearing of the bracket extension is a sleeve which ex- tends partially through the tubular por- tion of the clutch block and is keyed to it in a manner to allow of the independent longitudinal movement of the clutch block, but to prevent any independent ro- tation of either this block or sleeve. The interior surface of the sleeve is screw- threaded for a portion of its length, and engaging with this thread is a nut formed on the exterior surface of a square tube moving in a square bearing, one end of which is provided with a flange slightly larger than the bore of the clutch block and bearing against the end marked g, the other end of this tube bearing against a plate secured to the end of a rod which ex- tends through the tube and is secured to the end of the rack-operating rod, having at this end a circumferential shoulder against which the flange bears. Fig. 2.—Sectional Plan. THE WATERS STEAM ENGINE. lower arrow y, the cut-off valve cams being operated accordingly. When the steam is shut off from the en- gine the speed of the shafts carrying the weights will gradually diminish; but be- fore the shaft stops the tube will be driven in the direction indicated by the lower arrow until the flange engages the end of the clutch block and draws it out of en- gagement with the cavity of the gear g, preventing drag on the engine when start- ing. This engine is being placed on the market by Howe & Waters of Providence, R. I. i The National Wagon Makers’ Association held its annual meeting at the Wellington Hotel, Chicago, on the 16th inst., and concluded with a banquet in the evening. The following officers were chosen: Presi- dent, C. Hotz, Chicago; vice-presidents, W. T. Lewis, Racine, Wis., and W. C. Nones, Louisville; secretary, H. M. Kin- ney, Winona, Minn. ; treasurer, M. Rosen- field, Moline, Ill. A resolution was passed determining to help the movement for good roads and instructing the secretary to take such action as was best calculated to carry out the wishes of the meeting. Clem Studebaker of South Bend, Ind., the retiring president, occupied the chair at the banquet. through 4 or 5 inches of incandescent fuel completely deprives it of free oxygen, so, that there is none available to ignite the freshly charged coal. But air admitted simply through slits in the fire door, while helping to keep up a top flame, yet being cold and imperfectly distributed, will chill some portions of the fuel gases below the igniting point, and consequently imperfect combustion, with the production of black smoke, will re- sult. Hence, an essential requirement of devices for smoke prevention is an ample, timely and thorough mixture of air with the combustible gases distilling from the fuel. The style of furnace known as the ‘‘re- generative” is the best known plan for preheating the air which is to be supplied to the fuel through the air door. It, how- ever, is not suited for boilers and for many other applications of fuel. The former are probably the greatest smoke producers in Pittsburgh and Allegheny and are daily becoming more numerous, owing to the increasing use of steam for elevators, heating, lighting and power in buildings throughout these cities. Much of their smoke is due to badly constructed furnaces and to the fact that the boiler capacity is insufficient to properly fulfill the duty required of them. In order to preheat the top air before it reaches the fuel gases it is sometimes ad- November 24, 1892 THE IRON AGE. mitted through openings in the brick work | slowly means that a boiler must not be at the side of the fire, or through slits in| crowded. Hence the use of a mechanical the fire bridge. This is a partial remedy | stoker, and the suppression of smoke may only, because the air is rarely sufficiently | mean an increase of the number of boilers heated or mixed thoroughly enough with | to do the work formerly done under hand- the-distilling products of the coal. Bollers Must Not Be Crowded, stoking with the generation of smoke. Mechanical stokers are especially adapted for large plants where they can fAThese are mechanical arrangements, | be so arranged as to displace manual stok- more for less complicated and costly, de- saAANny een Fig. 3.—Face View of Valve Controlling Cam Mechanism. = a\ c ie ? fl lf mill ‘Wi mn eee ere LLL wee ‘ing. Their cost will prevent their adop- LLU, Fig. 4.—Section through Fig WI | | | Fig 6.—Tup View of Cam Motions. ° a 5 7 & . a VAAL Fig. 7.—Longitudinal Section of Cam Shifting Device. THE WATERS STEAM ENGINE. signed to supply the fuel, not intermit- tently but constantly, and to spread it in thin layers over the fire. There are sev- eral very good stokers now on the market which accomplish the desired result with greater or less success, according as they are permitted to feed the coal slowly or rapidly. If the feeding is made slow enough the suppression of smoke may be theoretically complete. But to feed tion in many small plants, although here and elsewhere numbers have been applied to single boilers. Where either vertical or horizontal space is restricted, it is sometimes impossible to apply mechanical stokers. Like all plans of successful fir- ing, they require intelligent manipulation or they will smoke and give trouble. Pittsburgh coal, in the form of nut or slack, is well adapted for automatic stok- 973 ers. On of their advantages is that an inferior fuel can be successfully burned by them. There are in use a number of devices by which jets of steam are arranged to force currents of air above or below the fire. They are simply in construction, inexpen- sive in first cost and repairs, require very little space and can be readily applied to existing furnaces. The best of them, even Pict ne Fig. 5.—Sectional View of Cam Con- trolling Rear Cut Of Valre. when slack is used, can reduce to an al- most invisible vapor, in less than half a minute, dense black smoke from a boiler. The Use of Steam Jets. One of the most varied and successful | applications of steam jets may be seen at a well-known mill inthis city. After sev- eral years of use of natural gas, the owners were forced to return to coal. They found, however, that with coal their boilers would not supply sufficient steam. Accord- ingly, they concluded to try steam jets to increase combustion and _ evaporation. After some experimenting they finally adopted a jet somewhat of the Bunsen burner type, which is now in successful operation on two batteries of flue boilers— the jets being placed above the fire doors and immediately below the boilers. The fuel is slack, and yet almost no smoke is visible, even during heavy firing. The same firm have also applied to 18 puddling and four heating furnaces steam jets of a different design. In these the ash pit is made tight and the steam and air enter below the grates. These furnaces are of the usual type, except that special open- ings are made for air above the fire and through the bridge wall. When the fire doors are closed no black smoke 1s visible while the steam jets are in operation. The smoke appears above the stack whenever the fire door is opened, but disappears immediately on closing the door. Each puddling furnace has two jets of steam and each heating furnace five jets, all about ; inch in diameter. Nut coal can now be used in the heating fur- naces and slack in the puddling fur- naces, whereas lump was used formerly in both. The jets have been in use for nearly a year, and the mill owners state that they have not injured the boilers, nor the fur- naces, nor the iron, but have saved money by reducing the quantity and quality of the fuel required. Unfortunately the steam jet makes a great noise. This is not very objectionable in a rolling mill or machine shop, but will probably prevent its introduction into office buildings, where otherwise it might be useful. Objections to Lima Olt, Lima oil is at present used in various kinds of furnaces, being fed into the com- bustion chambers by means of air under considerable pressure. It makes an easily regulated, smokeless fire, but has not re- ceived much application in Pittsburgh ow- ing to its cost being equal to or greater than coal. Its disagreeable odor is also an objectionable feature. Electricity is pro - Whiten, Poe! 6. wh) SS : “ee eh AS hae ib 974 THE IRON AGE. November 24, 1892 posed for heating purposes, but at present it finds little or no application here. Every city has its peculiar needs and activities which must be recognized in at tempting to apply to it general results ap- plicable elsewhere. Of no city is this more true than of Pittsburgh, with its varied industries, its natural resources and enor- mous production. Hitherto smoke has been the black ensign of the ceaseless war- fare carried on here with the forces and materials of nature. It is estimated that before the introduc- tion of natural gas Pittsburgh consumed about 10,000 tons of coal daily and that the present consumption is about 7000 tons. In Pittsburghand Allegheny about 25,000 houses are still supplied with nat- ural gas, amounting to several hundreds of millions of cubic feet daily, and proba bly representing more than half the present coal cousumption. If, therefore, our skies are darkened now, what may we expect when the pres- ent almost smokeless natural gas fires be come smoke producers? Our finest resi- dence district, the East End, will espe- cially suffer by thechange. Already, owing to the peculiar topography of Pittsburgh, and in spite of the special smoke or- dinance recently passed, the East End is often covered by clouds of smoke, mostly produced in the lower parts of the city. Of the 10,000 houses probably occu- pying the district, itis estimated that four- fifths use natural gas at present. Black Prospect for the Future. Were the latter to return to coal and the manufactories to their former smoke emission, we can readily imagine the in- creased blackness of theskies. Allegheny would likewise suffer, though possibly to a less extent. We must confess that up to the present time, outside of coke or a gaseous fuel, there has appeared no prac- tical solution of the smoke problem in dwellings, although with a return to soft coal they will increase the quantity of emoke as the city grows. Steam boilers are probably the principal cause of smoke in the city. But there ap- pears to be no reason why they should not be rendered almost smokeless except for a few minutes daily. As many are put in buildings erected in the heart of the city, where their fires emit Cense volumes of smoke, because no adequate provision has been made by the architects or builders for proper stoking apparatus, furnaces or flues, we believe that building inspectors should in the future be instructed to see that the needs of smokeless combustion have been attended to, at least in so far as sufficient flue and furnace space are con- cerned, Locomctives and steamboats are impor- tant smoke producers here. The latter have furnaces which can be treated like those of ordinary stationary boilers. Hence their smoke can be abated readily. What Can Be Done. We cannot hope to free our city from all the smoke now poured from stacks and chimpeys. But it is within the range of present possibilities to abate the greater part of the nuisance. To this end we would recommend that the Women's Health Protective Association or some toward smoke prevention by educating the community in its principles and advo cating the use of smokeless fuels in dwell- ings, and the best stokers or other devices | in manufactures and steam plants; that our City Councils should pass an ordinance for the abatement of the smoke nuisance, | insisting on the absence of dense smoke from stationary, steamboat and locomotive boil- ers, except when fires are started, but rec- ognizing the necessities of puddling and cess of carbon for proper working; that |™me; yet the pressure upon the bearings is one of the duties of building inspectors or | considered to be equal in both cases, so of persons appointed for the purpose | should be to see that newly erected build- | ings have properly designed flues and fur- | naces with particular reference to economi | cal combustion and the non-emission of | smoke. —_—_—_——EeE Failures in the Necks of Chilled Iron Rolls.* BY CHARLES A. WINDER, SHEFFIELD. Many methods have been tried to im- prove the working qualities of the rolls, and there is still very much to be accom- plished ; but the only real improvement that has yet been successfully carried into effect is that of keeping the rolls cool by a copious supply of tepid water, without which it would be impossible to prevent disaster owing to the quick succession of hot blooms, which is nearly equal to the effect of a furnace. When we consider that the output for one pair of rolls was formerly only about 150 tons per week, and pow is from 900 to 1000 tons, it is obvi- ous that some provision must be made to accomplish the extra work. In many sheet mills, indeed, there are no means whereby the temperature may be kept down in the body of the roll, which rises to that of oxidation ; but although the cooling of the body is not attempted, a good supply of water is often provided to keep the necks as cool as possible, so that the lubricant may not burn off or the brasses cut. The consequence is that an unequal expansion takes place in the body and the neck, and though the effect does not show itself at once, yet a weakening prec ess has been set up which will eventually shorten the life of the roll, for a failure is certain sooner or later to take place, if not provided against by a suitable design. By careful consideration the temperature of the roll may be gradually reduced so that the atoms of the iron at the junction of the body and neck of the roll are not subjected to a disturbing or disorganizing influence. Some years ago my attention was drawn to certain difficulties in connection with the chilled rolls used in the tin- plate trade in South Wales, and what made the mat ter difficult to solve was the fact that while most of our friends down there were well satisfied with the rolls in every way, a few were a source of great trouble. Now the material of which the rolls were made was identical in each case, and the work they had to do was in all cases the same, but the results were extremely variable. Having suspicions that the fault lay in the design, drawings were prepared of all ro!ls sent into that district, which showed that those which were satisfactory were differ- ent in design to those that failed during their work, and the appearance of the fracture in the broken roll clearly showed the temperature of the neck and the roll to have been quite different. The metal of the body had turned a dark blue color owing to oxidation, and the fracture of |the neck had remained perfectly bright, baving, however, a ragged appearance, the /metal in many cases hanging away from the face of the fracture as thcugh torn ae 5 : 7 | away by great force. similar organization continue their efforts | : Now it is worthy of note that all chilled rolls used in this branch of trade for hot ‘rolling require to have an abnormally large diameter of necks; for instance, a roll having a diameter of 19 inches is never safe unless it has a neck of 14 inches di- ameter; but a similar roll for cold rolling is perfectly safe with a neck having a di- ameter of only 12 inches—in fact, a break- age has not at any time been reported to * From a paper read before the Iron and Steel other furnaces which require a small ex-! Institute. that the only conclusion one can draw is that the weakness has been caused in the hot roll by the unequal expansion of the body and the neck. A very interesting visit was made to a tin-plate works some time ago, where the rolls were certainly designed with some degree of care and judgment, as shown in Fig. 1, and from inquiries made the re- sult was quite equal to expectations. On reference to the drawing, you will notice that the necks are much under the usual proportion for tin-plate hot rolls, and the diameter of the body is about the same; notwithstanding which, broken necks are almost unknown in this mill. Fig. 9 is acold roll working in the same mill and giving very satisfactory results, notwithstanding the fact that it has no radii at the root of the neck. About the same time similar visits were made to other tin-plate works, where the rolls were made as shown in Fig. 2, and much valuable property was found lying on the scrap heap. Now, had these rolls all been made by some inexperienced iron founder, it might not have been so siguifi- cant, but an examination of the names upon the tenons showed that they had been manufactured by various makers who have the reputation for doing good work. Other visits were made to iron works in a different district, and the same results were shown, but in a much larger degree, as the rolls were some six or seven times the weight, and, as in case of the tin. plate rolls, the fracture was precisely the same as shown in Fig. 3, and indicated by the line A B, Some time ago a report was given in one of the iron trade journals of a bankruptcy case, near Birmingham, when the bank- rupt stated one of the causes of his failure to have been loss by broken rolls, and gave an estimate of £2600 for that item. Being unaware of the nature of the breakages, and having had nothing to do with this particular house, I can only conclude that there must have been a want of care some- where. An application was made to me scme few years ago to supply a set of three- grain rolls for cogging down billets for wire rods. It was pointed out by my friends that they had tried many roll-mak- ers, but the result wss always the same, and the neck at the leading gate end al- ways came off after a certain period of work. It is not, therefore, surprising that a-similar result happened in my own case. At the time the actual cause appeared to be unaccountable, but the experience that has been gained since then convinces me that the failure was entirely due to the un- equal expansion of the neck and body, for the leading gate was very close to the end of the roll (a mistake that is often made), thereby causing the end of the roll to be greatly heated near the junction of the neck, which was kept cool by means of a copious supply of cold water. Another interesting case occurred about the same time, when the diameter of the necks of a pair of chilled rolls was reduced to save power; the area of the bearings was maintained, and the result up to a cer- tain time was so satisfactory that the pro- prietor of the mill decided to adopt the smaller necks inthe future, thinking he had given the rolls a fair trial after having run them avout a month or five weeks. It was found, however, that we had been a little hasty in drawing our conclusions, and cur plans were seriously interrupted by the necks breaking off. On examination the fracture displayed a dark ring, which sub- sequent experience proved to be the result of an unequal expansion of the body and the neck, although at first it was put down to a faulty casting, having that appear- ance. Had it been so, however, a failure would have taken place much earlier. November 24, 1892 Evidently a rupture was set up on the periphery of the neck, and by frequent heating and cooling the molecular con- struction was disturbed, which caused the fracture to travel toward the center until the remaining portion became too small to resist the work put upon it. I[t is a source of regret that, owing to the death of the owner of the mill, the new design was never tried. Continental mill owners do not appear to suffer from the failuze of roll necks so much as some of our mills at home; but | there are two good reasons to account for| that fact. The first is they adopt a| modified design of roll, as shown in Fig. | 4, which is a roll belonging to a Frerch | house, and in Fig. 5, which is working in | Belgium; but the difference of design in Fig. 4 is not sufficient to account for the ' FAILURES difference of result. It may be that we| in England make our rolls do much more work than they do on the Continent. This, indeed, is very probable. In the event of a breakage of a roll, the radii and diameter of necks are often looked upon as the sole cause of mischief, and conse- quently they are in many cases increased to meet the required need. Trouble of this kind has been overcome by these means; but it appears to me that it is a very unscientific mode of procedure, and! that bringing the neck up toward the diameter of the body is assisting to bring about another evil and conducting the} heat to a place where it is not wanted, the | longitudinal cracks upon the face of the necks being evidence of overheating; it | also considerably increases the friction, particularly if the necks burn off the| lubricant. Larger radii, without increas- ing the diameter of the neck, are not so serious. The design approaches Fig. 7, THE IRON AGE. gradually, thereby allowing the neck to be kept cool without the fear of causing a movement of the molecules of the iron at the junction of the neck and body. This really is the duty performed by the large radii. Although it is by some used only as an extended area to give greater strength to resist the pressure upon the necks during the time the rolls are at work, yet it appears to be unnecessary and productive only of evil. Of course, in estimating the breaking strains of the rolls as shown in Fig. 6, we must take into consideration the torsional strain and the resistance offered by the steel or other material that is being rolled as well; but as there are no datain my possession to work upon, probably the members present, many of whom are in daily contact with the work, may assist me. LATER 100° F. — TEMPERATURE OF BODY A ‘e “e SHRINKAGE OF 6 NECK Very much, of! 975 the barrel, so that the temperature may not be so great at the junction of the neck and body, the roll having comparatively small radii; it has also a set-off at the end of the neck to which the tenon is at- tached, so that the strain in cooling in the sand is not so great as it otherwise would be when the two parts of the casting are so disproportionate. Fig. 4 shows the same roll under condi- tions which are a fair sample of many others. Before closing my paper, and in order to substantiate my views upon this question, let me ask you to consider that the failure of the necks of chilled-plate rolls often takes place after a considerable period of working—only sometimes they occur soon after being put to work; but as the fail- ure in those cases is attributable to some & 714 GIVING SHRINKAGE OF BODY ABOVE THAT Fig. 8. IN THE NECKS OF CHILLED IRON ROLLS. course, depends upon the material, the, specific cause other than that which we temperature and the draft; but it ap-| pears to me that the necessary pressure re quired to reduce steel at the heat at which it is usually worked is much below that | of the breaking strains of the roll. Fig. 8 gives the behavior of the roll | during work, and we may form some idea | of the strain at the junction of the neck | and the body by the difference of the tem- perature and dimensions at the different parts of the roll, which have been care- fully noted by means of a micrometer. The tests were made immediately after the roll ceased work on a Saturday, and before commencing work on Monday | morning. Many more interesting cases might be brought forward, but they would only be a repetition of those already given, and are as well known to many gentlemen here as to myself. | our consideration. have before us, we must leave them out of Taking the generality of rolls which may have worked two, three or more months, the fact that they | * s ; have worked so long sufficiently proves that they are strong enough to resist the strains put upon them in the process of rolling, as long as the molecular construc- tion of the metal at the junction of the neck and body is not disturbed; but at |every heating and cooling, and also dur- ing the time they are at tension, as is the case in an unequal expansion, every vibra- tion of the mill is assisting, though in a very slight degree, to cause a rupture which must eventually end in the failure of the roll neck and serious loss to all concerned. —— Extensive coa! mines at Fuente, Mexico, have been purchased by C. P. Huntington Fig. 7 is a design for a chilled-plate | of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company and reduces the diameter and temperature! roll, which has been reduced at the end of | for $500,000. << a eee an it~ Sin im. ~ _ = 976 Development in Electric Metal Working.* By FREDERICK P. Roycr, Boston. The art of working metals by electricity, the invention of Prof. Elihu Thomson, embraces the various operations of weld- ing, brazing, shaping, forming and tem- pering; but the department of work in which carriage and wagon manufacturers are specially interested is that of electric welding, and while it may not be best at this time to enter into a thorough technical discussion of the subject, still there are a few fundamental principles which may be interesting, and which will now be de- tailed briefly. The Electric Welding Process, To heat a piece of metal by electricity, the method in practical use is to pass an electrical current having an enormous volume through the piece to be heated. Similarly, if we desire to weld two pieces of metal by electricity, we force through the pieces a current having a volume so great that the metal, on account of its resistance, cannot carry it without rapidly inducing heat. In case the current is forced through the continuous piece of metal, the heat pro- duced is equal throughout; but if we pass the same current through the two pieces of metal touching each other, the resist- ance is greatest at the point where the two pieces touch, and the heat is necessarily produced there first. Two pieces of metal cannot be brought so closely together that the resist- ance at the point of contact will be as low as in the solid metal; consequently, the heat is necessarily first produced at this point, and after it is once generated the resistance at this heated point increases, for the reason that hot metal is always a poorer conductor of electricity than cold metal. It is consequently a building proc- ess. The ratio of increase of resistance and the increase of heat at the desired point become practically constant. When the metal reaches the desired welding tem- perature the pieces are forced together by end pressure, and a butt weld is made. This pressure for small sizes of work is supplied by various forms of hand levers, but in larger welding hydraulic pressure is ordinarily used, the hydraulic cylinders for the purpose being a part of, and at- tached to, the welding machine. The re- sult of this end pressure is an enlargement THE IRON AGE. November 24, 1899 the engineer, so that it can be cared for at little or no extra expense. One or more welders can be distributed through the works, and in localities where there may be no arrangements for power, but where they can be conveniently operated, sev- eral welders can be run from one dynamo; and there are already instances where five, six or more welders are placed in different buildings and on different floors, running constantly from a common dynamo and fed from a never-varying pressure. The direct apparatus above referred to is found to be advantageous for small work, as the welding of wire, cotton ties, rims for baby-carriage wheels, &c , and where cleanliness at the point of welding can be observed. For all larger work, however, the indirect apparatus is far preferable. The dynamo is of special construction, and varies materially from that used for lighting purposes, and yet can be so built, if desired, as to furnish current for incan- descent lamps needed in the works where the welding plant 1s placed. The dynamo generates an alternating current of 300 volts, which is less thay one-third of that required for the lowest potential primary circuits used for lighting purposes, where an alternating current is generated. The welder itself consists chiefly of a transformer or converter, in which the cur rent of electricity generated in the dynamo is changed from one having a reasonably high electro-motive force and varying vol- ume to one having a very low electro. motive force and an exceedingly large volume. This converted current is carried through an electricial circuit made up pref- erably of massive copper and the pieces which are to be heated for welding. That is to say, we have a circuit which is made up of several feet of beavy copper and a few inches of iron, steel or other metal to be welded, in which the voltage is so low that no shock can possibly be given the operator and no danger whatever can re- sult therefrom. The power of conducting electricity which the copper possesses is so high that practically no heat is caused in this metal by the electrical current pass- ing through it, but as the current passes through that part of the cir- cuit consisting of the pieces to be welded the resistance through these pieces is so high that a welding heat at the point of junction is quickly secured. This heat is perfectly and ab- solutely regulated by reactive coils and other forms of apparatus. The work is never hidden from the operator, as is nec- or upset of the metal at the point of con- | tact, the size of the upset depending upon the section of the stock welded. This may be removed in various ways, as will be hereafter described. There are two distinct types of electric welding apparatus for producing the above results. The first machines built were planned for what is known as the direct method of welding; those built later and in more general use to-day are of the in- work, In the former the dynamo and welding apparatus are combined in one machine, the current passing directly from the collector rings of the generator to the piece to be welded. In the indirect type, the dynamo and welder are separate pieces of apparatus. The dynamo is complete in itself, and can be located near the source of power, con- nected by wires carrying the current gener- ated to the welder, which can be placed in any convenient location for the work to be done, and at a distance of several hun- dred feet from the dynamo, if necessary. This makes it possible to place the dy- near the source of power and in charge of - Read at the Buffalo Convention of the Car- riage Builders’ National Association. essarily the case in a forge fire; the neces- sary pressure can be applied at exactly the right moment, and uniformly good results are obtained. No detrimental foreign matter can be introduced into the weld, as is frequently the case when coal or coke are used, and any impure substance exist- ing in the metal in the immediate vicinity of the weld is ordinarily expelled by this welding process. To illustrate this it has been frequently shown that if a piece direct type and specially used for larger | °f iron, after being electrically welded, is ground or planed off and etched with acids, the structure of the metal at or near the weld will be closer and finer than in the original bar, and thorough and exhaustive tests made upon the welds show that an absolutely perfect union has taken place. The metal becomes homogeneous at the point of welding. Metal Working by the Use of the Are. The Thomson electric welding method, which has been thus briefly described, sometimes called the incandescent proc- ess, is now in quite general use throughout the country. It is totally namo or generator in on engine room or | different from what is known as the arc process, and should always be distin- guished from it. By the arc method, in- vented by De Meritens, a current of com- paratively high voltage is used, one ter- minal of the generator or other source of current being attached to the metal to be acted upon, and a portable carbon penci! forming the other electrode. This pencil is brought in contact with the work at any desired point, establishing the arc, which is maintained until the required heating effect is produced. The tempera- ture of the electric arc is greater than any other known source of heat, and its ap- plication to metal working is destined to play an important part in the manipula- tion of metal in the near future. Development in Electrical Metal Working. In the year 1888 the electric welding process was first practically applied to commercial work. Machines were rapidly built for various purposes, and welding plants were soon established in various large works throughout the country for a great variety of purposes, Iron, steel, copper or brass wire of vari- ous sizes are united into long lengths; rods and bars of iron or steel are welded, shaped and forged by electrical heat; axles, tires, small parts of carriage and wagon work are turned out in large and rapidly increasing quantities; tubes of iron or steel are welded together in lengths of several hundred feet, and bent into spirals or oblong coils of sizes and shapes required; parts of bicycles are brazed or welded, as the case may be; iron agricult- ural wheels are welded spoke to hub and spoke upset to tire; fine grades of tool steel, as Mushet or Jessop’s, are welded to machine steel, forming tool blanks, which may be used with great economy in all machine shops; lead composition plates are electrically connected for storage bat- tery purposes; forgings of 10 square inches of section are heated by the welding proc- ess and united by enormous hydraulic pressure; ship stanchions, rods and shaft- ings are easily welded by powerful ma- chines in our different navy yards, and the field is rapidly broadeving for a greater variety of work and with most satisfac- tory results. The newly developed meth- ods of producing aluminum and the con- sequent decrease in its cost, promises to open a wide field for this process, as the metal can be welded easily and as quickly as either steel or iron. Special machines have been necessarily built adapted to the requirements of these different grades of work. The conditions are constantly changing, and welders vary- ing from 50 pounds weight to that of sev- eral tons are built as called for to meet the demand from various sources. Atthe works of the Johnson Company at Jobns- town, Pa , several hundred large welds in connection with their various forms of roadbed construction are made daily. There 10 square inches of steel or iron are easily welded together, a pressure of 150 tons being supplied by heavy hydraulic appliances, to reduce the burr or upset and finish the metal. The complete welders are installed at their works, five of them for rail work alone, and weighing upward of 30 tons each. The leading carriage and wagon manu- facturers were first in the field, and among those who then became interested in welding by electricity were Studebaker Bros. Mfg. Company of South Bend, Ind.; Haydock Bros. of St. Louis, Mo. ; the Parry Mfg. Company of Indianapolis, Ind. ; the Racine Wagon and Carriage Com- pany of Racine, Wis., and the Kentucky Wagon Mfg. Company of Louisville, Ky. They investigated the process thoroughly, aud electric welding machines are now in active and successful operation in their shops. The Cleveland Axle Mfg. Com- pany of Cleveland, Ohio, the Sheldon Axle Company of Wilkesbarre, Pa., and the M. Seward & Son Company, of New Haven, Conn., were also among the first to install apparatus. November 24, 1892 THE IRON AGE. 977 eee OO, SSS ooaes=SqQeeeeee —— ————————————————— — — — TTTNTeae®e_QNeRgzlqaqOQNwewe*e“*$S0— NNN ee. ONONNNNGONNGG _—cvV7 ling, where large quantities of metal are to | size of the circle to that of a hub band» Comparisons of Cost of Electric and Forge Welding. Inquiries are constantly made as to the cost of electric welding in comparison with that of the older forge methods, and it is to this important matter that it is desirable to give special attention in this paper. There are two important elements that enter into the cost of welding: the labor required at the welder and the necessary power to drive the dynamo. Regarding the labor, an engineer, always employed in carriage and wagon factories, can easily attend to the running of the dynamo. The machine is simple in its construction, it requires but very little care; it must be properly oiled, the brushes and collector rings kept clean, but beyond that needs little or no atten. tion. One man only is needed to operate the welder, where the pieces to be united are of regular shape, and the weight is such that they can be easily handled. In case great rapidity of work is essential, an assistant, generally a boy, will be the only additional helper required to facili tate the handling of stock. In the case of axle work, two men are generally needed, a blacksmith to do the welding and a helper in reducing the burr or upset under hammer and in setting the axle, turning out easily 150 sets of 1-inch axles, or 100 sets of 14-inch axles, as the case may be. In case of light iron buggy tires, one man can easily weld from 700 to 800 daily with a helper, at low wages, to bring the stock to the machine and take it away. In the case of steel tires, 400 to 500 can be similarly welded. On heavy wagon tires somewhat more help is needed. At the Studebaker Works two heavy tire welders are placed side by side, with a hammer conveniently located, and a force of five men turn out a large product daily. The smaller parts of carriage and wagon work are easily managed by a single oper- ator. Fifth wheels, step irons, carriage rails, dash irons and other similar classes of work are turned out with great rapid- ity. The removal of the upset or burr at the point of welding is of course an element of cost, and can be removed in a variety of ways. Grinding was at first tried, but this was found to be too slow and expensive in connection with wagon work. Rolling was also attempted, but found to be im- practicable commercially. Hammering has been found to be the cheapest and most effective method so far tried. All welds retain sufficient heat after they are re- moved from the welding machine to be hammered as much as may be required. Not only does the hammering reduce the burr to the sizeof the metal, but materially strengthens and improves the weld. Various hammers have been designed working directly in connection with the welding machine, but with wagon and carriage work the ordinary light power hammer is found to be most efficient. Either power or hydraulic presses have been found to be efficient in some varieties of work, When welding apparatus was first intro- duced into carriage works, the cost of preparation of the parts to be welded was quite an item of expense. It was at that time thought best to remove all forms of oxide which might have accumulated on the steel or iron, but as this required both time and labor, it was speedily abandoned and it was decided to be more economical to increase somewhat the force of the cur- rent used for the welding, even at the ex- pense of additional power required, and no preparation of the metal is now re- garded necessary, as far as the ordinary oxide formed by the rolling of metal bars is concerned. Should there be a heavy red oxide, or serious accumulation of foreign matter, it is best to remove this be