The Iron Age 1901-09-12: Vol 68 Iss 11

= vee 7s SFS—SAPPP SSNs Sess asees TM ee A i i te a AAT I Sa Rewienh 52 2 eteene — Cl GED TLE ASCARI THE IRON AGE THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1901. Machinery at the Pan-American Ex- position.— VIII. Brown & Sharpe Vertical Spindle Milling Machine. The new vertical spindle milling machine designed by the Brown & Sharpe Mfg. Company of Providence, cutting irregular slots in a surface and work of similar character. All levers, hand wheels, &c., for controlling the various movements of the machine are conveniently placed, thus enabling adjustments to be quickly made. The spindle has a hole its entire length and runs in bronze boxes, the bearings being ground and lapped. The lower box is provided with means of compensation for wear. With two speeds of counter, 12 changes of speed are obtained, as follows: Using main cone, six Bere, aa. ar Brown & Sharpe Vertical Spindle Milling Machine. 7 MACHINERY AT THE PAN-AMERICAN EXPOSITION. R. L, was first publicly shown at the Pan-American Ex- position. This type of machine is being more appre- ciated as the peculiar advantages it offers are constantly being better understood, and for many kinds of work is preferable to a machine with a horizontal spindle. The use of a machine of this type permits the operator to more easily see the work, and more readily follow any irregularity in the outline of the work, as in profiling, , speeds, varying from 85 to 504, and using the high speed cone, six speeds, varying from 212 to 1260 revolutions per minute. The lower end of the spindle has a No. 10 taper hole. The arbors and cutters can be held by a bolt passing through the spindle. The distance from the center of the spindle to the column is 16 inches. The spindle head has a vertical movement of 4 inches with fine hand feed, and quick return operated by the eater we ee . t, ~>. ies Pl ok. ae ~~ 2 THE IRON AGE. same hand wheel, often serving the purpose of a drill press on work already in position for milling. The spindle pulleys are carried on a separate sleeve, thus obviating any strain on the spindle due to the pull of the belt. The fine hand feed and quick return for the spindle head are operated by one hand wheel. The fine feed of 0.052 inch per revolution of hand wheel is ob- tained by a system of differential gearing, and is en- gaged and disengaged by the simple movement of a knob on the front end of the shaft. This is a most simple and novel feature, and often enables the machine to be September 12, 190) in Fig. 2. The various changes are easily and quick! obtained by the simple movement of the hand lever B The vertical shaft at the rear of the machine, whi drives the mechanism, is operated by a belt running fro the spindle pulley, the main spindle belt riding on th same. The lower cone of gears is driven from this shaf through bevel and spur gears. The upper cone of six gears behind the index plate is driven through an inte: mediate gear held by a yoke at the lower end of the con trolling lever B. To change the feed it is only necessar to unlatch the lever and slide it along to the desired THE Ron Ace Fig. 2.—Side View.—Brown & Sharpe Vertical Spindle Milling Machine. MACHINERY AT THE PAN-AMERICAN EXPOSITION. used as a drill press for work already in position for milling. A stop, with micrometer adjustment, is provided on the left side of the head for controlling the depth of cut. It is graduated to read to thousandths of an inch. The table, including oil pans and channels, is 45 inches long, 1014 inches wide, has a working surface 37% x 10 inches, three T slots 54 inch wide, an automatic transverse feed of 12 inches, and can be lowered 16 inches from end of spindle. The elevating screw is of improved design and does not run below the base of the machine; the thrust is taken by ball bearings. The greatest distance from the end of the spindle to the top of the table is 20 inches. The feeding mechanism for the table is shown at A feed, plainly indicated on the index plate, and latch it into position under the feed indicated. The feed is car ried from this mechanism through spur gears and a uni versal joint to the table. The table feed is driven by an auxiliary shaft, thus doing away with the necessity of a spline in the feed screw. The feeds of the table, longi- tudinal 26 snches, transverse 12 inches, are positive and automatic in either direction. The small lever C at the top of the index plate is for quickly changing the feed from fast to slow, or vice versa. This lever. controls a clutch that engages gears on the shaft that drives the uni- versal joint, thus making it possible to obtain 12 differ- ent changes of feed from 0.005 to 0.125 inch to one revo lution of the spindle. The knee screw is of improved design. It is of the _— La Le OTE! September 12, 1901 THE well-known telescopic form and does not pass below the base of the machine. The advantages are obvious. The countershaft has two tight and loose pulleys, 10 inches in diamter for 34-inch belt, and should run about 120 and 360 revolutions per minute. ———————————e The Youngstown Iron & Steel Roofing Company. As noted in these columns last week, the new four- mill sheet plant of the Youngstown Iron & Steel Roofing Company at Youngstown, Ohio, was put in successful operation on Wednesday, September 4. The plant has been under erection since January of this year, at which time the Youngstown Iron & Steel Roofing Company decided to build a sheet mill, and for this purpose in- creased their capital stock to $300,000. After the con- solidation of the sheet mills had been made the concern found some trouble in getting prompt deliveries of sheets, and after a careful study of the situation de- cided that their interests would best be served by having a mill of their own, which would insure them a steady supply of sheets and of the kind particularly adapted to their purposes. The history of the roofing business shows that steel sheets for roofing purposes do not last as long as iron, and for this reason the Youngstown Iron & Steel Roofing Company, when they determined to build a sheet mill, decided that they would make iron sheets, which are better adapted to their purposes and which they believe will last longer on the roof than steel. With this in view, the company placed contracts for two double pud- dling furnaces, a squeezer, bar mill and four sheet mills. The squeezer, bar mill and sheet mills were placed with the Braddock Machine & Mfg. Company. at Braddock, 2a., who made remarkably quick time in building and delivering the machinery. The main building is of steel construction, 300 feet long by 130 feet wide, and con- tains four hot mills, with accompanying roughing rolls, two cold mills, a sheet bar mill, two double puddling furnaces, squeezer, shears and other equipment. The building is commanded by a 40-ton electrical traveling crane, furnished by the Niles Tool Works Company of Hamilton, Ohio. The boiler plant contains two batteries of 600 horse-power each Sterling water tube boilers, also four Mehan waste heat boilers of 300 horse-power each. The machinery is electrically driven, power being furnished by a 150-kw. generator. The company have their own switch, giving them direct connection with the Erie, B. & O., Pennsylvania lines, Lake Shore and Pittsourgh & Lake Erie systems. It is the intention to also make a limited amount of steel sheets. Sheet bars are received on their own tracks in 25 to 30 foot lengths and sheared, after which they are taken to the heating furnaces, reheated and rolled into sheets. Tne bar mill is not yet ready to start, but it is the in- tention of the company when it is running to break down their own billets into bars, believing by doing this they can get bars better adapted to their requirements. The company have also built a galvanizing plant and will furnish galvanized sheets of iron and steel, as well as black. It is contained in a building 150 x 60 feet and has modern equipment. The sheet mill is located on a site containing 7 acres of land, and foundations are already in for two more hot mills, which will be added in a short time. The concern have also about finished a new and very complete office building, which they ex- pect to occupy in a short ume. It is furnished with kitchen and dining room, the intention being to furnish meals to the employees. It has also toilet rooms and everything necessary for a first-class office building. The business of the Youngstown Iron & Sceel Roof- ing Company was established in Youngstown jn 1894 in a small way, and has steadily grown since that time. About two years after the business was started the com- pany took up the manufacture of metal lathing and bridge flooring, in which they have built up a very large trade. Two years ago the Youngstown Range & Stove Com- pany were incorporated, the plant being located just beside that of the Roofing Company, the concern mak- ing a specialty of the manufacture of the Youngstown IRON AGE. 3 steel range, a high class range, for which they have had a large demand. The new sheet mill will supply the entire requirements of both the Youngstown Iron & Steel Roofing Company and the Youngstown Range & Stove Company, and will also allow the concern to be sellers of sheets in the open market. They have al- ready entered a large number of orders and their sur- plus product for the balance of this year is practically under contract. Much of the success of these two con- cerns is due to John O. Pew, who has been general man- ager of both since their inception. Mr. Pew is thor- oughly versed in the requirements of the roofing trade, and believes that by having control of the sheet mill and knowing the stock that is going into the sheets it is possible to furnish better roofing to the trade than ever before. The two concerns have the same officials, these being L. E. Cochran, president; @ M. McKelvy, vice- president; Mason Evans, secretary and treasurer, and John O. Pew, general manager. ect An International Aluminum Association. It has been announced from Germany that negotia- lions are proceeding between the Neuhausen Aluminum Company, the big Swiss producer, and the Pittsburgh Aluminum Company, who are said to dominate the American market, with a view to the establishment of a convention “for the improvement of the industry,” which is a euphemism for raising prices. According to Engineering, the negotiations promise to be successful, and if they should turn out so no secret is made of the intention to put up values immediately. Nothing is said about the inclusion of the English company, or about the French and the other Swiss producers, but no doubt one and all will give at least moral support to any efforts toward the end designed. The production of aluminum eing limited, and in the hands of a very few individuals a scheme to regulate prices is easy, given active or pas- sive sympathy on the part of the components, the more especially as the demand is about up to the output. Au- thoritative figures for last year are not yet available, but the compilations of the Metal Gesellschaft of Frank- fort show that for 1899 the aggregate was 5,748,380 kg., of which the United States furnished 2,948,380 kg., Switzerland 1,300,000 kg., France about 1,000,000 kg. and Englanéc about 500,000 kg. The Swiss figures include the production of the Rheinfelden Works, as well as of the Neuhausen, but not that of the Lead-Gestein, which had then been but a short time in operation. It would be interesting to know if anything has been done to secure the adhesion of the Rheinfelden and the Lead-Gestein as members of the convention. In that case and assum- ing that the Pittsburgh Company really do dominate the American market, control is assured, Irrespective of the rest, who, as we have already said, will probably support the movement. If the rate of increase of pre- vious years was maintained in 1900, the total production must have exceeded 7,000,000 kg. Certainly the produc- ers have done their best hitherto to keep pace with the demand. In 1898, 4.033.704 kg. were reported; in 1897, 3,394,400 kg.; in 1896, 1,650,676 kg.; in 1890, 175,388 kg. and in 1895, 13,292 kg. Germany is the largest con- sumer, drawing most of its supplies from Switzerland and smaller measure from France. It imported 922,000 kg. in 1899. The American industry has made the most striking progress. In 1893 only 141,336 kg. were pro- duced. By 1896 the quantity had increased to 589,676 kg.; by 1897 to 1,814,400 kg. and by 1899 to 2,948,380 kg. Switzerland has advanced with more deliberation from 650,000 kg. in 1895 to 800,000 kg. in 1898 and 1,300,000 kg. in 1899. , - The New Castle Rolling Mill Company.—The New Castle Rolling Mill Company, organized recently at New Castle, Pa., areasking bids: for the erection of a rolling mill to contain a 16 or 18 inch three-high mill. The equipment asked for is the rolling mill, one roll lathe, 30-foot band saw, two roll straightening machines, two drill presses, alligator shear, one 400 and 700 horse-power engine, 1000 horse-power boilers, &c. The company will manufacture light section rails, agriculturai shapes and bars, &c. — - Se ae PORE emu ore THE Machine Cast Foundry Pig Iron.* BY ALBERT LADD COLBY, METALLURGICAL ENGINEER OF THE BETHLEHEM STEEL COMPANY. As my invitation to address you this evening was re- ceived from your secretary only 10 or 12 days ago I have not had time to collect photographs or prepare lan- tern slides illustrating the various forms of ingenious machines for casting pig iron in iron molds now installed at many of our blast furnace plants. Nor have I had time to collect samples of machine cast iron other than from the Bethlehem Steel Company, with whom I am connected. ° Pig iron cast in iron molds is known by various names in the trade, such as “chilled pig iron,” “iron cast in chills,” “ machine cast pig iron,” “ machine made pig iron,” ‘‘ sandless pig iron,” “sand free pig iron,” &c. You are all familiar with the older method of cast- ing pig iron in sand. The stream of iron coming from the furnace and passing down the center of the casting house is turned to fill the first row of sand molds usually located at the far end of the casting house, although at some furnaces the bed nearest the furnace is filled first. When one row or bed of molds is nearly full a gate is opened and the iron passes from the central “ runner” into the second row, &c., until the cast is completed. The main stream is called the “ runner;” the feeder to each row or “ bed” of molds is called the “ sow,” and the sand molds branching off from the “sow” are the “ pigs.” No one can be about a blast furnace very long with- out having brought forcibly to his notice the difficulties attending the casting of pigs in sand. Furnaces some- times smelt and reduce the ore irregularly, so that there are always times when the casting house is hardly cleared ready for another cast before the furnace should be again tapped. This is especially true if the skimmer has been washed away in the previous casting, and much of the iron covered over with a mass of cinder, so that the work of breaking up the hot iron and carrying it out of the casting house has been unusually hard. Work on the hot pig beds is severe at best, and there is al- ways trouble getting laborers to stand this heavy work with its rapid changes of temperature, especially as it means work every day in the year, including Sundays and legal holidays. With a small product of say 100 tons per day the easting of pigs in sand is not so serious a matter, but some better method of casting became absolutely necessary with the modern furnaces with a daily output of 300 to 500 tons, or even more. As Uehling says: “ Necessity is the mother of invention, and the casting machine came into existence through shear necessity, not to say desperation.” As far as I know seven different forms of pig iron easting machines have been built and operated. The Uehling machine, designed by E. A. Uehling, was first put into successful operation at the Lucy Furnace of the Carnegie Steel Company in September, 1896. Heyl & Patterson, Pittsburgh, designed and erected for the Cambria Steel Company another form of casting ma- chine, which was put into successful operation in Feb- ruary, 1899. Mr. Davies designed and successfully oper- ated a casting machine at a blast furnace plant in Canal Dover, Ohio. John M. Hartman, Philadelphia, erected a casting machine at the Hellertown furnaces of the Thomas Iron Company, which was first successfully operated on June 23, 1900. Erskine Ramsey of Birming- ham, Ala., designed another form of casting machine for the Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Company. In England R. H. Wainford designed and erected at the Clarence Works of Bell Brothers, Middlesbrough, a casting machine which has since been referred ‘to as “the Bell Clarence pig casting machine,” and finally, Karl Orthof Donawitz, near Loeben in Styria, has de- signed still another-form of casting machine. At some blast furnaces, both at home and abroad, iron molds are used instead of molding the pigs in sand. This has been the practice for many years at the char- coal blast furnaces of Sweden. " * Paper read before the Philadelphia Foundrymen’s Association. IRON AGE. September 12, 1901 Advantages of Machine Cast Pig iron, The advantages of machine cast pig iron to the mak- ers of basic open hearth steel are now universally recog- nized. The number of basic open hearth furnaces re- ceiving molten iron from a mixer, or direct from the blast furnace, or in some cases from a cupola, is on the increase. In cases where the iron is charged as pigs the machine cast iron is always called for, and sand cast basic iron accepted only at a reduced price. With a machine made iron there is no sand to attack the basic furnace lining. The higher proportion of combined car- bon in the chilled iron makes the iron melt more rapidly, and as the combined carbon unites during melting more rapidly with oxygen than the graphite does the bath when melted is lower in carbon than when using sand cast iron, and hence more quickly converted into steel. These ddvantages in brief mean less fuel and increased output. In puddling furnaces the machine cast iron is also more advantageous than the sand cast iron. The vari- able quantity of silica, with some little alumina added to the bath in the form of sand adhering to the sand cas. pigs, causes irregularities in the basicity of the puddlin, cinder, and hence irregularities in the amount of phos- phorus and sulphur removed. With machine cast iron the basicity of the puddle cinder is governed more closely by the silicon in the pig iron and the silica in the “ fix,’’ causing greater uniformity in the composition of the cinder, which in turn gives more uniform product, and tends to prevent sudden and irregular cutting of the furnace linings. The increased proportion of carbon in the combined state in the machine made iron is likewise an advantage, as the puddling operation is thereby short- ened without detriment to the product. In the use of Bessemer pig iron and of low phos- phorus pig iron, whether melted in the cupola for the Bessemer converter or melted in an acid open hearth furnace, the same advantages result by the use of ma- chine cast iron as have already ben outlined above. In the Foundry Trade. It is, however, the application of machine casting to foundry pig iron with which this audience is most in- terested. Let me first call attention to the economic advantages resulting in the use of a machine made foun- dry pig iron, and then speak of the difficulties attending its introduction in the foundry trade. In purchasing a machine made foundry pig iron the customer will receive 2240 pounds per ton of iron shipped; there can be no dispute about short weights, and that abomination, the “sand ton” of 2268 or 2256 pounds per ton is abolished. The amount of sand ad- hering to iron cast in sand varies greatly. When the iron is loaded directly from the casting bed and only has a short haul to the foundry the sand on the pigs is ex- cessive. If loaded from stock and hauled a considerable distance more of the sand shakes off before the pigs reach the cupola platform, but at best that remaining is a detriment, and frequent cause for dispute in weights and an expense in melting. In melting machine made iron the founder will find that he uses less limestone, and that therefore less slag is produced. This means less fuel to dissociate the car- bonic acid gas in the flux and less fuel to melt the smaller amount of slag produced; also less loss of iron in the slag. The machine cast iron also melts easier, an item which gives a further saving in fuel. The melted iron is cleaner, contains no dross and that frequent cause for defective work, “ dirty iron,” is absent when using a machine cast pig iron. Another advantage of machine cast iron is that the pigs of the cast are more nearly alike in chemical composition than pigs of a cast of iron run from the furnace into sand; and furthermore, that there is a greater uniformity in the different parts of a machine cast pig than in sand cast pigs. This greater regularity of the different parts of a cast is: due to the fact that the furnace is tapped into 20-ton ladles and the iron is thus mixed before casting the pigs. These are more uniform in composition, because they solidify more rapidly in the iron molds of the casting machine, and hence there is much less time for the im- September 12, 1991 THE purities to segregate toward the top and center of each pig. Those interested in knowing the actual difference in composition occurring in sand cast pig iron are referred to an article written by the speaker and published in The Iron Age of June 2, 1898. Fouudrymen’s Objections to Sandless Pig Iron. The speaker has met with four objections made by foundrymen to iron cast in chills, whether in the metal molds substituted for the beds of sand in the casting house or the molds of the casting machine. 1. The prejudice against all machine cast iron, due to the sale of some sandless misfit basic pig iron for foundry purposes. 2. The large size of the machine cast pigs. 3. The close grained fracture as compared with the fracture of sand cast iron. 4. The difficulty in drilling the pigs for analysis. 1. There is a well grounded prejudice to machine cast pig iron, owing to the sale to foundrymen of misfit basic iron cast in chills, which, although perhaps high enough in silicon, is also often high in sulphur. Doubtless in many cases this iron had not the best analysis for the Tue lrow Ace No.1. Combined carbon es I OE Nn gc ase ban ik aleld RES oe 0.75 eS os acai wie Wale wok sve worm 0.61 Te hee ce a 0.68 FRACTURES OF THREE PIGS OF SAME CAST OF IRON OF purpose for which it was sold to the foundryman. It was perhaps too high in sulphur, and very likely too low in total carbon for the kind of casting into which it was made. The unsatisfactory result attending its use has given a bad name to all machine cast iron in general, and has prejudiced the foundryman againstits use. This is unjust to those furnaces making first-class machine cast foundry iron, but the prejudice is not to be wondered at; it can only be overcome by a straightforward explana- tion of the facts, and by giving a guaranteed analysis of the standard machine cast foundry pig iron offered. 2. The large size of the pigs of machine cast iron has been objected to. Some of the casting machines make a large pig, too heavy to conveniently handle on the cupola platform, and too large for economic melting in small cupolas. The Bethlehem machine cast pigs, however, weigh not over 90 pounds each, and are of such a shape as to be readily broken if destined to be melted in very small cupolas. 8. The main stumbling block to the introduction of machine cast pig iron in the foundry is the appearance of its fracture; its looks are against it. There are two ways of meeting this objection. First, by proving to the foundryman that the machine cast iron, although having a close grained fracture, will make, if it has the right chemistry, as soft and as easily machined a casting as an open grained sand cast pig iron of the same analysis. The close grained fracture is due to the quick cool- ing and to the temporary conversion of considerable of the total carbon into the combined form, with a cor- respondingly temporary reduction of the percentage of IRON AGE. 5 Vo. 2 Vo. 3. Graphitie : carbon. Silicon. Sulphur. Phosphorus. Manganese, 3.52 1.81 0.018 0.083 0.50 3.32 1.81 0.017 0.084 0.51 3.50 1.80 0.014 0.082 0.52 IRON, SAME COMPOSITION. graphite. The change of carbon is caused by the chill- ing action of the iron molds of the casting machine, and the further and deeper chill caused by the sudden cool- ing of the hot pig by immersion in a bath of water. This difference in the proportion of combined carbon is illustrated by the following analyses of a cast of Beth- ha lehem iron, a portion of which was cast in sand and a portion in the casting machine: Sand cast. Machine cast. Cast No. 7602. Per cent. Per cent. Combined carbon............. 0.250 0.920 Graphitic carbon............. 3.210 2.460 TOE CHI sk. ce ice wc cvs as SOO 3.380 OR or eee 3.00 2.99 SOF OCCT ER eee 0.95 0.95 PR ai soe ba5 kee slaws 0.770 0.773 fc Siraiuecc aren an eawars 0.041 0.041 The increased percentage of the combined carbon, the uniform close grain, and in Some cases the increased ii? density of the machine cast pig iron, gives higher tensile strength on specimens cut from the chilled pigs than on those cut from the sand cast pig. This increased ten- sile strength is misleading, for it only exists in the pig itself. When both the machine and sand cast pigs of the above cast, No. 7602, were remelted separately in SHOWING DISSIMILAR APPEARANCE OF SAND CAST a cupola and cast into similar sized test ingots, standard test specimens threaded on each end and of an area at point of fracture of 1 square inch, gave the following results: Tensile strength. Pounds per square inch. Standard U. S. Army. Test specimen cut from— A rere rr 41,000 OO DIR ic. 6 ocisin ct vcemesinde cacitansiene 15,000 Cast Cast vertically. horizontally. Test ingot cast from machine cast pig. ..17,000 17,000 Test ingot cast from sand cast pig....... 16,300 18,000 Castings made at the same time as the above test ingots from remelted sand and remelted machine cast iron were machined with equal ease, and showed similar fractures. The following analyses show that the excess of combined carbon in the machine cast pig disappeared after remelting: * ~ Carbon. ——, Combined. Graphitic. Total. PA ia idin cca rane rae 0.250 3.210 3.460 Machine cast pig..........--+0-- 0.920 2.460 3.380 ’ Test ingot cast by remelting sand cast pig— CHD POREIGE Ts vic cee cvcsccevtecs 0.368 3.022 3.390 ee INS 5-690 6 bc cetiee ns 0.470 2.930 3.400 Test ingot cast by remelting ma- chine cast pig— CHAE VERCIOSUT . cccciscccievccccnes 0.257 3.100 3.357 3.364 ee eee 0.336 3.028 *For a more detailed account of this experiment see The lron Age of June 20, 1901, pp. 22-23, and “ Journal of American Foundrymen’s Association,” Vol. X, June, 1901. 6 Another practical illustration of the fact that the chill in the pig iron does not reappear in the casting made therefrom, if the chemistry is right, is the use of old chilled iron car wheels by foundrymen. At one time when old car wheels were cheap the speaker knows of an instance where 5000 tons were purchased by a maker of cast iron pipe. The wheels showed a deep chill, but the chill did not show in the pipe. The wheel made strong pipe, but it was uniformly gray in fracture, and contained no hard or chilled spots. The second method of meeting the objections of the appearance of the fracture of machine cast iron is to sub- mit to the foundryman facts showing how often the appearance of the fracture of sand cast iron is mislead- ing, and prove to him that chemistry is the only safe guide to uniform success in the foundry. How can reg- ular results be expected in the foundry when buying pig iron by grade when the published analyses of nine different brands of say, No. 1 Northern coke foundry iron vary as follows in silicon: 1.75, 2.00, 2.40, 2.53, 2.70, 3.00, 3.08, 3.25 and 3.44 per cent. These analy- ses, as well as the following, were selected from S. R. Church’s book, entitled ‘“ Analyses of Pig Iron,” published in May, 1900. Notice the wide variation in silicon in 19 different brands of No. 2 Southern coke pig iron: 1.73, 1.92, 2.01, 2.14, 2.16, 2.25, 2.32, 2.40, 2.42, 2.45, 2.47, 2.50, 2.88, 2.90, 2.92, 3.05, 3.12, 3.30 and 3.79 per cent. These variations could be proved by further quotations to exist in all the different grades of both Northern and Southern coke foundry pig irons. In fact, the argument can be narrowed down to the different shipments of No. 1 iron of the same brand and from the same furnace. Let the foundryman have each car of his No. 1 iron, purchased only on grade, analyzed for silicon and sulphur for, say two months, and the wide variations in the figures will surprise him. The converse of the above statement also holds good, for often iron of the same brand and of widely different grade, as shown by the fracture of the sand cast pigs, is exactly alike in chemical analysis. Why should a foun- dryman continue to purchase iron by the appearance of its fracture when every conscientious furnaceman will admit to him that wide variations exist in the composi- tion of the same grade of iron, and that often the foun- dryman pays a higher price for a No. 1 X iron than there is any necessity for ? The speaker does not mean that the foundryman can safely ignore the fracture of sand cast pig iron if he does not include the total carbon in his chemical speci- fication, especially if he must make very soft castings, but he does mean to have it understood that if the foun- dryman specifies the correct silicon, sulphur and total carbon, with possibly manganese desired, that he can safely ignore the appearance of the fracture and stoutly refuse to pay a higher price for an iron of the composi- tion he desires, because it happens to have a No. 1 X fracture. Among the advantages claimed for machine cast iron some have made the statement that the appearance of the fracture of machine cast iron is a safer indication of its quality than with sand cast iron. The value to the furnaceman of the chill cup test, used at some fur- naces as an indication of the sulphur and silicon con- tents of the pig, is cited in illustration of the above statement. The speaker thinks, however, that it will be *The exhibit created considerable interest and discussion on account of the fact that it included five kinds of pig iron, low phosphorus, Bessemer, basic, mill and foundry. and in each case when possible, as shown by the following analyses, a low and a high silicon iron had been selected. The samples were arranged in pairs, one sample showing the fracture of a low manganese iron, and the other of a high manganese iron. Low Phosphorus. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Per gent. No. 1. No. 2. No. 3. No. 4. NT ee heat engi lac ie 0.74 0.77 2.02 2.07 NN a babe ee ee 0.35 1.73 0.32 2.00 PEE Gib bakin wie kee ...0.016 0.025 0.017 0.017 ao ee 0.025 0.028 0.027 Bessemer. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Per cont. = No. 5. No. 6. No. 7. No. 8. iN Le bir each Dae 1.04 1,03 2.54 249 EE ee eee 1.12 2.55 1.30 2 20 ER rn ta a th itil a es 0.056 0.049 0.023 0.027 eee 0.061 0.065 0.060 0.068 THE IRON AGE. September 12, lv01 found in actual practice that the fracture of machine cast pig iron, especially from different furnaces, is an unsafe guide, and should not be depended upon by the foundryman as a substitute for the chemical analysis. To prove this opinion the speaker has taken the trouble to bring samples here to-night of the different kinds of machine cast pig iron made at Bethlehem, and desires to call particular attention to the marked influence of the presence of manganese on the appearance of the frac- ture of both low phosphorus, Bessemer and high phos- phorus pig irons.* The size and shape of the molds used in different makes of casting machines and the differ- ent methods used for cooling the hot iron by water will probably make it impossible to compare the fractures of machine cast iron from different furnaces. 4. The fourth objection which the speaker has heard made about machine cast iron is the difficulty in drill- ing the pigs for analysis. This brings up the general question of how to sample pig iron, to which important matter I will ask your attention in concluding my re- marks. Sampling Pig Iron for Analysis. With the more general incorporation of chemical specifications in contracts governing the sale of pig iron for all purposes the question of how to determine whether the shipper has lived up to his contract be- comes more importart. If seller’s and buyer’s chemists do not agree the first step should be an exchange of sam- ples to check accuracy of analytical methods; in some eases the service of a reference chemist will be required. Such a test is only just when the sample drillings are ground and thoroughly mixed, and when a sufficient quantity for duplicate analysis is distributed to each chemist. Marked differences between the furnace analy- sis on which the casts of pig iron are selected for ship- ment on a certain contract and the report of the buyer’s chemist on the cars of iron received will more often be due to improper sampling of the iron than to inaccurate analytical work. Every one knows of the unavoidable variations in the chemical composition of different parts of a cast of sand cast pig iron, or for that matter in different parts of a single sand cast pig. (See The Iron Age, June 2, 1898, pages 13-16). The furnaceman must consider each cast of iron as a unit, and should spare no pains or expense to obtain a sample representing the true average of the cast. He cannot honestly claim to have done this unless he has taken four or preferably six samples of the molten metal during casting; when the casting machine is used the sampling can best be done as the large ladles of iron are being emptied into the molds by filling a small test ladle at stated intervals. If these test ladlefuls are cast into sinall ingots the sample analyzed should consist of an equal quantity of drillings from each of the four or six ingots; if each small ladleful is poured into water the same number of shot from each sample should be pounded together to make the average sample of the east. In filling an order the furnaceman must consider each cast as a unit, and select those casts for shipment the furnace analyses of which fall within the customer's specification. As cars vary in size, and as the railroads always insist on having them loaded to nearly their full capacity, it is impossible to ship each cast of pig iron separately, for it may weigh less, but more often con- siderably over the capacity of the car: the best the fur- Basic. Per cent. Per cent. No. 9. No. 10, Ee eae, Cee en een he eee 0.36 0.35 I ee te ears 2o o Gite | ane punts 6 Piel mm meee 0.84 1.86 a Seer ee EL PERE ete Pe a 9.060 0.053 PO a5 <m:b. wise area egraks 49:88 pen mie win ee 0.827 0.801 Mill Per cent. Per cent. No. 11. No. 12. Oe eR rn re ee 1.20 1.20 SEE EE ELE Te FY, 3 ES 1.20 1.80 7 RE AS SSS, Oe ee eo are a ee es ee 0.035 0.025. ONES ">. 5h nturcca did akin ia din: o Ohler edihlep % Grae 0.823 0.770 Foundry. Per cent. Per cent. Yo. 13. No. 14. dn sis s ep h ho cea cathe ereveeeuewemaen 2.54 2.49 NS EE Te eT ee PT 0.88 1.78 A aS Hirer hein deo Ses etait Aa raea rg ibairyicg eis 0.033 0.087 SR 6 cave ch ener de vided ove ds Lekwaseeet 0.749 0.847 naceman can do, therefore, is to load casts of similar sili- con and sulphur contents on the same car. It is obvious that the customer’s chemist when sam- pling the iron must consider each carload as a unit, and from what has been said it would be manifestly unfair for him to condemn a car of iron on the analysis of drillings from only two or three pigs. A good routine method of sampling consists in selecting two pigs from the surface of the carload of iron at points equally dis- tant from each end of the car and two more pigs from the bottom of the car, preferably at different distances from the end of the car. These pigs should be broken and drilled in the fracture preferably by the use of a wide angle blunt pointed drill, 2 or 3 inches in diameter, using rather a slow feed, so as to obtain uniformly fine drillings. If this requires a larger drilling machine or more power than can be assigned to the task a number of holes may be drilled in the face of each pig, using a smaller drill. If the analysis of an equal portion of carefully mixed drillings from each of these four pigs shows a wide variation from the chemical specification under which the iron is purchased the car of iron should not be con- demned by the customer without taking a more thorough sample, consisting of a dozen, or better 20, pigs selected from different parts of the car. The pigs should be se- lected arbitrarily and no attention paid to the fracture. With sand cast iron sold on a guarantee of 0.050 per cent. a customer could unfairly condemn many cars shipped by selecting only the pigs showing the closest grained fracture, and by taking drillings for analysis with a small drill in the top part of eaeh pig. Sampling Machine Cast Pig Iron. When the iron is machine cast the proper sampling of each car is a laborious undertaking. If low in silicon the iron is so deeply chilled that the pigs can only be drilled in the center, if at all; the presence of 1.00 to 2.00 per cent. of manganese also renders machine cast iron very hard to drill. When impossible to drill the reduc- tion of chips of the chilled iron to a powder in a steel mortar is a slow operation, unless the laboratory is un- usually well equipped for such work. The speaker has described in The Iron Age of June 2, 1898, a very con- venient form of steel mortar and pestle with which sam- ples of chilled iron can be quickly pulverized. Without for a moment denying the right of the buyer to check the furnaceman’s analysis the speaker believes that the furnaceman has a much better opportunity of determining, by conscientious sampling, the true average composition of each cast of iron, and he ventures to pre- dict that with the more general introduction of machine cast iron the customer will purchase iron from furnaces where proper care is used in sampling, and then rely, with only an occasional check, on the furnace analysis of the casts loaded on each car, which information should be given on cards tacked on the inside of each car, and also by postal card advices of each day’s ship- ment from the furnace. This suggestion does not apply to the closer inspection necessary in some cases if the customer suspects that the furnaceman is shipping a little of his “‘ misfit” iron on the bottom of each car of pig iron guaranteed as * standard.” This dishonest practice, unfortunately carried on to some extent, is sure of detection sooner or later, and is sure to react seriously on the reputation of this furnaceman’s iron in the trade. If several cars of the same iron are to be placed in one pile, in order to equalize the difference in the chemi- cal composition of the carloads, the first car unloaded should be distributed horizontally and evenly through- out the length of the proposed pile, the second carload similarly on top of this, and so on. Then by using ver- tically downward from one end of the pile, iron will be obtained which will conform very closely to the average analysis of the drillings from each car. The greatest advantage which will result by the gen- eral introduction on the market of machine cast foundry pig iron, in the speaker’s opinion, is that it will tend to hasten the day when foundry pig iron will no longer be sold by grade, based on the appearance of the fracture, but will vary in price according to its chemical analysis, which is fair alike to producer and consumer. September 12, 1901 THE IRON AGE. 7 Carbo-Mangan. The Carbo-Mangan Company of Nyack, N. Y., are now manufacturing and selling a steel refining coem- pound called “ carbo-mangan.” This is the first that the compound has been placed on the general market, but under the name of the Excelsior compound its inventor, John H. Smith, placed it with many large firms, such as the Cramp Shipbuilding Company, John S. Naylor’s People’s Works, Neafie’s Ship Yards, the Portsmouth Navy Yard, &c., where it has been successfully used for several years. It has been recently adopted by contract- ors on the New York subway, where its use on the auto matic drills is giving highly satisfactory results. Carbo- mangan acts on the metal from surface to center. Its use results in a gain in tensile strength and toughens the metal without hardening or rendering it brittle. Two pieces of steel cut from the same rod were tested by Riehle. One piece was untreated and broke at an ulti- mate strain of 36,000 pounds per square inch. The other, treated with carbo-mangan, required an ultimate strain of 42,000 pounds to break it. Many of the tests made by Riehle showed a gain in tensile strength of over 33 per cent. The cost of using the compound averages about 14 mill per pound of metal treated. A cast iron bath is furnished at cost by the company and which they recommend to all users of the com- pound. It keeps the compound covered when not in use and prevents the accumulation of a scum of dirt or dust so detrimental to any successful work ‘with steel. Since the entire cover is removable at will, the bath ad- mits of the treatment of a large tool or blade. When it is employed the compound uses up more slowly. The bath holds 30 pounds of carbo-mangan and leaves ample working room, this amount of compound lasting a large shop several months. _— al The Red River Furnace Company.—The Red River Furnace Company will, on October 1, acquire the prop- erty of the Red River Iron Company and Clarksville Furnace Company, including the Helen Furnace and limestone properties and the ore lands in Montgomery County, Tenn. In addition this company have pros- pected and bought 1500 acres of low phosphorus ore lands in Hickman County, Tenn., on which ore wash- ers and mining plant are being built. This recently ac- quired ore property, together with the company’s splen- did limestone quarries, puts the Red River Furnace Com- pany in a strong position as to raw material, and will enable them to continue to manufacture the Red River iron, which has attained a high position in the ‘Western market as a strong foundry iron. The capital stock of $200,000 has all been subscribed. Graham Macfarlane holding 999 shares; M. Savage, 1 sbare; R. B. Hickman, 499 shares; H. L. Williams, 500 shares, and H. N. Leech, 1 share. The company are expending $50,000 on new plants and improvements at the furnace. The officers are Graham Macfarlane, president; H. R. Williams, vice- president; R. B. Hickman, secretary; Mary A. Senter, treasurer. Under this same management the Red River Iron Company have been very successful. With in- creased resources they should do better in the future. There is a noticeable absence of water in the capital stock. _ — An erroneous report has been going the rounds of Western newspapers relative to the intention of the English Supply & Engine Company of Kansas City, Mo., to start a rolling mill. It is not their purpose by any means to engage in this branch of business. They are opeyating a foundry and machine shop devoted to the manufacture of steam engines and boilers, and will prob- ably operate that branch of their business under the name of the English Iron Works Company. The Cleveland Pneumatic Tool Company have opened a Chicago office at 335 Wabash avenue, in charge of H. S. Covey, where samples of their complete line of chip- ping, beading and calking hammers, the Cleveland long stroke riveting hammers, piston, rotary and breast drills may be seen. THE Efficiency Test of a Continuous Rod Mill. An interesting test was conducted by Robert W. Hunt & Co., Chicago, Ill., July 15 to 27, 1901,:to determine the efficiency of a Morgan continuous rod mill—viz.: The amount of fuel used in gas producers and boilers; the amount of billets heated and weight of rods rolled, to- gether with all data relating to the operation of the plant. The following is condensed from the report in question: Description of Plant. The plant consists of a Morgan continuous rod mill having 14 passes, six sets of rolls for roughing and eight sets for finishing. A general view of the mill is shown in the accompanying engraving, Fig. 1. The mill is oper- ated by a single cylinder, non-condensing Cooper Corliss engine. The cylinder is 34 inches in diameter and 48- inch stroke. The roughing rolls are driven by gearing IRON AGE. September 12, 1lyU1 There are two Morgan gas producers, each fitted with the Bildt feeding device. The producers are 8 feet in- side diameter and 12 feet high. They are blown by means of a steam jet of special form, which siphons into the producer heated air from under the furnace. This blast enters the producer at the center under a hood, and is regulated by a valve at the front of the furnace. There are six horizontal tubular boilers, 70 inches by 22 feet, fitted with George grates, but during this test only five were used, as the other was cut off to supply steam for driving artesian wells. Method of Testing. The following observations were taken: 1. Weight and number of billets. 2. Number of billets not rolled into rods. 3. Weight, number and size of rods rolled. 4. Weight of mill scrap and finned ends. 5. Weight of coal used on producers. 5 Weight of coal used under boilers. Indicated horse-power of both engines. Fig. 1. THE MORGAN CONTINUOUS ROD MILL. and the finishing rolls by belting. The reels are also run from this engine. A Buckeye engine, 10 x 18 inches, supplies power to the air fan, dynamo, air compressor and the pumps for supplying water to the rolls and the rod conveyor. The rolls for charging billets into the heating furnace and to the mill, the feeding device on the producers, the turn- ing lathe and driil press and the scrap shears are also operated from this engine. The furnace, which is directly behind the continuous mill, has a bed about 15 x 32 feet, set on a slope of one in six, as shown in Fig. 2; the billets are charged at the upper side and pushed down by means of a ram operated by a steam cylinder. The air enters a space in the wall on the lower side of the furnace through ports left for that purpose. It is then drawn over the top of the fur- nace and enters the fan, which forces it into and through a heater surrounding the stack and down through con- duits (under the floor) into checker work and under the furnace floor. The heated air enters the furnace through cast iron boxes set in the wall at the lower side of the furnace. The gas from the producers enters the fur- nace through a flue under the floor and mixes with the air—the proper proportion being obtained by means of water cooled flat valves. 8. Pressure of steum in boilers, gas in chamber and draft in stack. 9. Temperature of gas in chamber of heated air, and of flue gases. 10. Kunning time of mill, and accidents and cause. 1. The billets used were uniform in size, 1% x 1%, and approximately 30 feet long. The billets were weighed in carload lots. Each car was carefully weighed, loaded and emptied, on accurate track scales, and a care- ful count of billets in each car was kept. During the two weeks’ run four different lots of steel were used— viz.: Bessemer and open hearth steel from the Illinois Steel Company and National Steel Company, the carbon ranging from 0.12 to 0.13. 2. A careful account was taken of all billets weighed and not rolled into rods. 8. The rods were weighed in trucks on a double beam platform scale. The number of bundles and the time of weighing was recorded. No. 5 rod was rolled through- out the entire run, with the exception of four hours on Friday and Saturday mornings, July 26 and 27, when No. 4 rod was rolled. 4. The mill scrap and finned ends were weighed separately, and after each turn were cut up and dis- posed of. The finned ends were all cut off on the hot September 12, 1901 THE IRON AGE. 9 conveyor before the bundles were weighed. This work was carefully watched. The long pieces cut off by the knife at the end of the roughing mill were saved and used as test pieces for the finishing mill, but the rod made was not long enough to save, and was counted as mill serap. 5. The coal used in the gas producers was weighed in wheelbarrows before it was wheeled up to the pro- ducer house, and was kept separate for each producer. Samples were taken continually for chemical analysis. 6. The coal for the boilers was weighed in carload lots, and that which remained at the end of the week was weighed back. During the first week only the coal necessary for running the mill was weighed—i. e., from 6 a. m. July 15 to 12 noon July 20; but for the second week the entire amount was recorded—i. e., the extra coal for banking tires, getting up steam, &c., or all the fuel used between noon July 20 to noon July 27. The coal used in the boiler house was Black Hill coal from the Pawnee Mines, Illinois. 7. Both engines were indicated at frequent intervals during the entire test. Quality of Rods, The rod rolled was slightly oblong in section, there being about one-half a gauge difference between maxi- mum and minimum diameters; but this section was uni- form throughout the length of the bundle. The maxi- mum variation was less than a gauge, and more often less than one-half a gauge. In cutting off finned ends no distinction was made between the rods which were to be used by the maker and those which wer