The Iron Age 1901-10-17: Vol 68 Iss 16

‘THE IRON AGE THURSDAY, Ocroser 17, 1901. The New Ideal Engine Lathe. The new 16-inch engine lathe designed and built by the Springfield Machine Tool Company of Springfield, Ohio, is equipped with such mechanism as will permit the making of all changes necessary for a wide range of feeds and screw cutting without removing any parts held by nuts or washers. Of the gears used only those are running which are necessary to transmit motion from the spindle to the lead screw, and although reverse gears have been added to the head stock only seven gears transmit motion when a right hand thread and eight when a left-hand thread is being cut. All the change gears which are required on the lead screw have hubs extending on one side and revolve freely in bearings placed concentric in a disk, as shown in Figs. 2 and 7. This disk is large enough in diameter to serve the pur- pose of a gear guard, since none of the gears, of which there are eight, is visible. The disk revolves on a stud a aaa Ta THE NEW IDEAL secured to a case suspended from the front lead screw box. By revolving the disk any of the gears, which are independent of each other, can be brought in line with the lead screw. The lead screw itself has a telescop- ically arranged extension controlled by a lever. This ex- tension is reduced at its end to enter the hole in a change gear a distance equal to its thickness before the clutches with which the change gears and extension are fitted come in contact with each other. Thus when one of the change gears is connected with the lead screw it ceases to depend upon the disk for support, but is mounted on the lead screw as substantially as if secured to it by a nut and washer. Since a sufficient range of feeds or screw pitches can- not be obtained by changing the gears on the lead screw alone provision is made at the head stock for various ratios of speed. This is accomplished by means of three pairs of gears, which give five different ratios of speed for the fixed pinion, which meshes with the inter- mediate gear, which transmits motion to the gear on the lead screw. The gears contained in these cases are similar to those of the disk and are placed in position by slipping them on the reduced ends of the spindles provided with clutches to engage them, and when in position for opera- tion are really supported by the spindles, instead of the eases, whose only object is to facilitate handling and provide suitable guards. Inasmuch as only one pair of gears can be used at a time a receptacle is formed in the leg of the lathe to receive the other pairs. The in- termediate gear referred to above revolves on a stud fixed in a quadrant, since it requires no radial adjust- ment. ‘The quadrant has a projection on its lower side which is machined to the pitch radius of the interme- diate gear, and as the same provision is made on the disk for each of its gears it is only necessary to drop the intermediate gear until these surfaces meet and then secure it with a clamp lever. The range of threads that can be cut on this lathe is from 2 to 56 per inch, and a turning feed from 8 to 224 per inch. Every change required to cut any of the threads or feeds between the extreme limits can be made while the lathe is in motion. The reversing mechanism is of a type which does not require the use of a reversible countershaft for screw cutting purposes, and as it is controlled at the apron it is he Tur iR 0 Se 3 ENGINE LATHE. very convenient and sensitive. Its gears are placed be- tween the end of the head stock and the apron secured to it, and are driven by a pair of slip gears on the spin- dle, which may be slipped out of contact if no motion is desired. The reversible spindle engages the forward or backing gears by means of a positive clutch. This clutch is actuated by the operator from his position in front of the lathe carriage by a lever suspended from the apron and sliding on a rod to which itis keyed. The rod is connected to the clutch by suitable device and also serves the purpose of an automatic stop fdr either right or left hand motion, turning, or screw cutting. The ad- dition of a friction geared head spindle to a standard engine lathe is desirable since its advantages are so great as to outweigh the slight’complication of the lathe necessary for its introduction and the slight increase in cost. The frictions on this lathe are carefully con- structed and susceptible of ample and convenient ad- justment for wear. The spindle is hollow, of hammered crucible steel, with journals of large diameters and revolves in self oil- ing bronze boxes. All feeds in the apron are connected by friction and provision is made so that the friction feed and lead screw cannot be engaged at the same time. The lathe is also furnished with a taper attachment when desired, which is secured to dovetailed surfaces eh om — specs wien ny noe coger ae agi SE Rit tage. i ee ee ice owas a on ee ee a eed RARER ye ae noe Eg ore why ee 2 THE IRON AGE. on the rear of the bed. It has a screw adjustment which facilitates getting the proper taper and is ac- curately graduated. The Details of the Design. The drawings, Figs. 3-7, show some of the principal features of construction of this lathe. The following de- scription is abbreviated from the patent specifications. The disk a is journaled on a stud, a*, which is firmly held by the casing. The disk and casing are so formed as to provide a chamber for the gears. The disk is formed with a series of openings near its periphery, on each of which is journaled a sleeve having projecting flanges at one end to engage the outside of the disk and one-half of a clutch at the other end. Upon each sleeve is keyed a gear a”, these gears being of different diameters to vary the speed. The gehr on one end and the flange on the other end of the sleeves serve to hold them in position. Any one of these gears is driven by the gear b independently of the others, this gear receiving its motion through a train of gears of which the initial one, c, Fig. 7, is mounted on the spindle. This gear drives the gear d, mounted on a shaft journaled in the casing e. The arrangement of the intermediate gears will be understood from the outline drawing, Fig. 7, the gear g being driven by the gear / and clutchs being introduced between this gear and the spindle gear c. The gear b is carried by a swinging frame, which forms a bearing for the shaft h. Since the axis of the shaft h and the swinging frame are the same the gear 6 will always mesh with the gear i, and therefore the gear b can be made to engage with any one of the gears a” mounted in the disk a, this disk be- ing revolved on its stud until the desired gear is in proper position to engage with the gear b. Provision is made for transmitting motion from any one of the gears a” to the lead screw k. In the bearing. referring now to Fig. 6, is a movable sleeve formed with a rack on one side to engage the pinion k’, which is operated by the handle k*. One end of the shaft carrying the sleeve is formed with a clutch, which may be thrown into and out of engagement by means of the handle. To THE IRON AGE Fig. 3.—Side Elevation of Head Stock. THE NEW IDEAL adjust the device the handle k* is moved to disengage the coupling and then the movable frame carryihg the gear b is lifted so that this gear will not engage with any of the gears carried by the disk. The disk may then be revolved until the desired gear is in position to be re- ceived on the lead screw shaft, which carries the sleeve. The gear b is then lowered until it is in engagement with the disk gear, which has been brought into proper posi- tion. It will, of course, be understood that the casing can be removed and the speed varied by having the ratio gears October 17, 1901 f and g of different diameters and reversing their posi- tion, placing f on the shaft h and g on the shaft d’, or gears of different diameters may be substituted, and in this way a great variation of speed can be obtained with a less number of gears in the disk. The principal dimen- sions of the lathe are as follows: Front bearing of the /, spindle, 2% inches diameter 4% inches long. The back bearing is 2% inches in diameter and 3% inches long. The hole through the spindle is 1 5-16 inches. The actual} swing over the bed is 17 inches and over the carriage 10 Pig. 2.—End Vier. Tus IRon Acs Fig. 4.—Sectional View of Head Stock. ENGINE LATHE. inches. The 6-foot lathe takes 2 feet 5 inches between the centers. in —_— The New Marquette Furnace.—-Construction is being pushed on the large charcoal blast furnace, which is be- ing erected at Marquetie, Mich., by the Cleveland-Cliffs Company. This furnace is to be the largest of its kind in the world. Its capacity will be 150 tons of pig iron daily. Material is now being received for the buildings, and as the foundations have all been completed the work of construction will make greater headway. It is ex- October 17, 1901 THE pected, however, that the furnace will not be able to get into blast until well along in the summer of next year. The company will bring ore to the furnace from their own ore mines at Ishpeming over their own railroad and will transport the pig iron to lower lake ports with their »wn steamships. _— International Business Relations. Considerable discussion is being caused by some re- cent trade developments. It is considered significant in fell | 7 Tsu Fig. 5.—Lengitudinal Section through Gears. Fig. 6.—Vertical Section of Gears and Connection with Lead Screw. THE NEW IDEAL some quarters that certain American manufacturers are erecting branch factories in Great Britain, while on the other hand British manufacturers are erecting either branch establishments or affiliated works in the United States. This is regarded as pointing to a breaking down of international barriers and as likely to bring about an interwoven system of manufacturing interest which may have important results. The establishments which are thus building branches on the opposite side of the Atlantic from the parent works are not in the same line of manufacturing busi- ness. It simply happens that certain American works have a heavy trade in Great Britain which is so rapidly IRON AGE. 3 increasing that it is found desirable to establish factories on British soil so as to be nearer to their market, while at the same time they will be conducted under American management and will use American methods in turning out their products. The British manufacturers who are locating branches here are similarly situated with respect to their markets in this country, but at the same time desire to avoid the handicap of the tariff duties which we levy on imports. It is not surprising that a development of this char- acter is seized upon by some writers as indicating very strongly such a commingling and interlacing of interests as must eventually lead to a sentimental union between these two great manufacturing countries. 'These writers naturally strengthen their view of the situation by also taking into consideration the manner in which American capitalists are promoting transportation projects in Great Britain or are waking investments in British securities. This would seem to be a plausible view if we had not had some experience in such international commingling of interests, the result of which was far from any such close union either sentimentally or otherwise. It will be recalled that, within the memory of men who have not yet grown old, British, German and Dutch capital poured into this country in vast amounts for the development of railroads as well as great commercial en- terprises. At that time it seemed hardly possible for any enterprise of moment requiring a considerable invest- ment to be either established or carried on without the assistance of foreign capital. Our business men then were necessarily brought into the closest contact with our cousins across the Atlantic. It might naturally have been assumed that under such conditians our relations would have been of the most cordial and intimate char- acter. Nevertheless. these relations were only permitted to extend to a certain point. Beyond that the interests of the several nations concerned were at such variance b ' Tus Iron AcE Fig. 7.—End View of Fig. 6. ENGINE LATHE. ~ that a closer bond could not be established. It therefore seems at this time, notwithstanding these peculiar de- velopments in our recent business experience, that the movement can be considered nothing more than the de- velopment of individual business enterprises. Such de- velopments are occurring simply because opportunities for profit have presented themselves to those who are directly interested. It has always been the policy of this country to preserve friendly relations with all the world, and a special alliance with one country which may operate to our disadvantage elsewhere in trade mat- ters is not iikely to grow out of these manifestations of individual enterprise. a. panes ee eee LE eee age amr a ke ae meneame SNES SS PSSST =o emer s = < somal = a "at oR FRESE 6 msale ee FD ohana 4 THE IRON AGE. ° The Industrial Commission. Little Headway [lade in Drafting Recom- mendations. WASHINGTON, D. C., October 15, 1901.—The Industrial Commission has taken up for final consideration the first draft of the report upon the subject of the so-called trusts which it is intended to forward to Congress at the beginning of the coming session. This report will complete the work of the Commission, and the printed documents to be transmitted will embrace the full text of the testimony taken during the past three years, a topical digest thereof, a review of the evidence as it relates to the chief principles of economics, and the official report embracing the findings of fact and the recommendations for legislation by Congress or the States, or by both. The progress thus far made in drafting the Commis- sion’s final report is confined to a review of the ascer- tained facts, no recommendations of importance having yet been determined upon. Although it has not been practicable to secure the attendance of the entire mem- bership of the Commission, which now numbers 18, yet there has been no great difficulty in securing the assent of a majority to the general propositions set out in the find- ing of fact. In a general way the Commission divides the industrial combinations into two classes, those which are not monopolistic in purpose and which employ no illegitimate competitive methods, and those which seek to control entire industries, manipulating prices and fol- lowing aggressive, not to say relentless, methods of com- petition. The former class is not considered to be large. The objections to the latter class have been summed up for the Commission as follows: They are destructive of individual initiative. Their power is a menace to the public politically. They are objectionable practically because: (a) They tend to become a monopoly, raising the price of their product to the public or diminishing the output; (b) they destroy private enterprise by direct control or inten- tionally unfair competition, such as the local cutting of rates below cost to destroy local rivals. In the matter of devising recommendations to Con- gress and the State legislatures the Commission is yet a long way from unanimity. In general terms the reme- dies now under consideration are divided into three classes, as follows: 1. Stricter antitrust legislation by the States and by Congress without altering the present relation between their respective jurisdictions—the present system, but improved. 2. To have Congress release to the States its inter- state commerce jurisdiction so far as to allow the States themselves to regulate manufacturing, or trading, cor- porations engaged in interstate commerce—the State contrél system. 3. Conversely, to have the national Government take to itself a larger and perhaps exclusive control of all such corporations, regulating by act of Congress all such as do any business across State lines—the system of Federal control. The difficulty in deciding upon any of these courses lies in the fact that a majority of the 18 members cannot be brought to an agreement upon any comprehensive series of suggestions. In a fragmentary way a number of suggestions have been adopted, but no complete scheme has yet been assented to by a majority. The chief recommendation of the preliminary report, filed by the Commission with Congress a year ago, looking to legis- lation providing a method for securing greater publicity with regard to the operations of combinations, their share of the output of the industries in which they are engaged, their earnings, &c., will be repeated in the final report, and an effort will be made to give it some practical value by suggesting a means for enforcing such a general statute. Beyond this point, however, it cannot be said that much headway has been made in the drafting of recommendations. The Pressed Steel Car Company. Since the testimony was formally closed the Com- mission has received two additional affidavits, which will Qctober 17, 1901 be treated as evidence and incorporated in the printed record, one from the Pressed Steel Car Company ana the other from the American Radiator Company. The statement of the Pressed Steel Car Company is submitted by Assistant Secretary C. E. Postlethwaite, and is as follows: “The following are the answers to the questions senr us in a letter of the United States Industrial Commis- sion: “1. The name of the company is the Pressed Steel Car Company. “2. The company were organized January 12, 1901. “3. They are capitalized for $25,000,000, divided as follows: $12,500,000 preferred stock, and a like amount of common stock. “4. The product of the company consists of freight cars, truck frames, bolsters, center plates, side stakes, brake beams and other material for use in car construc- tion. “5. During the year 1901 the amount of the product will be about as follows: Number of cars built, 24,300; bolsters built, 81,800; truck frames built, 39,900; in ad- dition to a large number of other pressed steel specialties. for use in car construction. The value of this product will amount to about $24,000,000. “6. We are unable to state the percentage which this forms of the output in the United States. “7. The Pressed Steel Car Company were formed from the Schoen Pressed Steel Company and the Fox Pressed Steel Equipment Company. “8. The number of men employed by the company at the present time is 7700. “9. So far as we are aware, none of the men em- ployed by us belong to any trade unions. “10. The company do not in any way recognize trade unions. “11. There are no imports of materials similar to that manufactured by this company. “12. We have been exporting about 3 per cent. of our product in our export trade, and this will undoubt- edly extend largely in the near future. We have already shipped cars to England, France, Spain, Egypt, Cape Colony and Natal. A shipment of 450 cars will be made in a few weeks to New South Wales, Australia. “13. Our prices for export are made up on the same basis as those for our domestic trade.” The American Radiator Company. The statement of the American Radiator Company is submitted by President Joseph Bond, and is as fol- lows: “The American Radiator Company are a corporation: organized under the laws of New Jersey February 10, 1899. The authorized capital stock is $10,000,000, di- vided into 100,000 shares of $100 each, $5,000,000 being preferred stock and $5,000,000 common stock. There has been issued $3,000,000 preferred stock and $4,893,000 of common stock. The principal piants of the company are located at Buffalo, N. Y.; Detroit, Mich.; Titusville, Pa.; Springfield, Ohio, and St. Louis, Mo. “The business of the company is the manufacture and sale of heating apparatus and appliances. This company produce practically about 50 per cent. of the entire output of the United States in this line of pro- duction. It is evident, therefore, that we do not have a monopoly, but, on the contrary, meet with competi- tion at every step. The policy of the company is to ex- tend their business not so much by taking business from our competitors as by increasing the actual use of steam and hot water heating apparatus in the United States. We are endeavoring to educate the people to the advan- tages of these systems of heating, and are producing new and more perfect systems and apparatus to meet the demand thus created. As an instance, but by no means the only one, I may mention that we have given consid- erable attention to the matter of small heating plants for private residences and are creating a new line of busi- ness in this direction. “We do a considerable export business, principally to Europe, exporting steam and hot water heating ap- pliances. We do not sell in foreign markets for a lower price than that charged for similar articles in the United: States. “ This company are not so much a new organization as a reorganization. The American Radiator Company, organized under the laws of Illinois, had been in exist- ence about ten years, and’ when in the early part of 1899 it was determined to increase the capital and en- large the operations of the company to meet their grow- ing business it was thought advisable to organize a new corporation under the laws of New Jersey, instead of in- creasing the capital stock of the Illinois corporation. The new corporation immediately after their organiza- tion purchased the entire property and business of the old company. As I have stated, the principal reason for this reorganization was to provide a greater capital in order to enlarge our business. A further advantage is found in the purchase of raw materials, inasmuch as these can now be purchased in large enough quantities, when the market conditions are favorable, to carry us over periods when the market is not so favorable.” W. L. C. SS ee The Besly Band Polishing Wheel. An illustration is given herewith of a new polishing wheel which has recently been placed on the market by THE BESLY BAND POLISHING WHEEL. Charles H. Besley & Co., 10 North Canal street, Chicago. This machine was developed in the firm’s own shops. They had found much difficulty in securing expert polish- ers and were obliged to devise something to meét the emergency. With this machine an inexperienced man of fair intelligence, after a little practice, will be able to do fine work. The wheel is for this reason especially suitable for small shops in which no expert polisher is employed to set up wheels and keep them in order. With this machine the polishing surface can be changed from fine to coarse in a minute or two. The complete machine consists of a pedestal, a countershaft and a spindle to hold either one or two emery band polishing wheels. These wheels are made of cast iron. An elastic surface is produced by a felt covering. The emery or other abrasive material is a piece of emery cloth, which is tightened firmly around the wheel. To reset the wheel or change the grade of emery it is only necessary to re- move a band and replace it with another. It has been found by the experience of the firm that these wheels are no more expensive than solid emery wheels. The ma- October 17, 1901 THE IRON AGE. 5 chines are also made with one wheel mounted on the spindle, with the other end of the spindle suitable for buffing, and are furnished with cushioned or with a hard surface. — ———<G>—_________—_—— A Lost Industry. Under the above caption the Detroit News recently published the following interesting article: Detroit nas ceased to be a point for the production of pig iron, after having been the home of that industry for 44 years. The scarcity of charcoal, which is the only fuel used in the production of iron in Michigan, has caused that industry to disappear from the Eastern shore of the State, never to be resumed. The Gaylord Furnace, near Belle Isle Bridge, went into blast March 1, 1857, and has been in continuous service for 44 years. The last ore was smelted last May, and the only business now engaging the attention of the company is the settlement of the affairs, preparatory to a final disbandment. The resident officers of the com- pany are Prof. C. A. Kent, president; F. B. Gaylord, vice- president and secretary, and Nicolas Woods, treasurer. The Union Iron Company went out of business in 1898, and Mr. Gaylord and others, who had organized a new company, built a new furnace at Deseronto, Ont., using some of the machinery of the Union Furnace, which they purchased. This step was caused by the Dingley tarift law, which placed a prohibitive duty on Canadian charcoal. For a while the Gaylord Company shipped charcoal from Pennsylvania, but that was too expensive, and the only course before them was to stop business. The Gaylord Iron Company for many years owned charcoal kilns at various points in the State and in De- troit. Here they made charcoal from wood shipped from Canada. and also had a large Canadian trade for their iron. This trade is now supplied by the new furnace at Deseronto, The charcoal iron made by the Gaylord Company was extensively used in the manufacture of malleable iron castings and car wheels. Much of it was consumed in Detroit, and the rest was shipped to Canada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and England. In the latter country it competed successfully with the Swedish pig iron. Owing to her location with respect to iron ore and mineral fuel for smelting it is not likely that Detroit will ever num- ber blast furnaces among her industries again. —_ —— Proposed Stove Manufacturers’ Steel Plant. Those who attended the annual meeting of the Na- tional Association of Stove Manufacturers at Boston will vemember the address of President Stanhope Boal, and his allusion to the use of sheet steel by stove manufac- turers. The excellent suggestion made by Mr. Boal has heen taken up, says the Leader-Dispatch of Piqua, Ohio, and a company are being formed who will probably have a number of stove manufacturers as stockholders. It is said to be the intention of such a company to build a plant, at a cost of about $750,000, to consist of open hearth furnaces, rolling mills and planishing and gal- vanizing works, capable of manufacturing the various grades of steel now used by stove, furnace and range manufacturers. Men who are thoroughly familiar with the manufacture of refined, planished and polished steel and other grades of sheets are said to be largely inter- ested in the formation of this company as stockholders and officers in the management of the plant, which will have a capacity for an annual output of about 25,000 tons. Stove manufacturers have complained of their in- ability to obtain the highly finished sheets used in some goods. owing to their being manufactured at compara- tively few mills, so that orders must be placed several months ahead in order to obtain stock. This trouble was especially emphasized during the recent strike. Mr. Boal’s suggestion is that the plant be run on the co- operative plan, the product to be consumed by the stock- holders of the company, and any profit that may be de- rived to be paid back in dividends. ce if fae Re ne ~omeme 3 ‘ = wa RR Sy 4 te j - ‘4 Cae ~<a me nance é Be Boe ons anche samp ene eae 6 THE IRON AGE. The Development of the Pig Casting Machine.—II. BY A. KE. FAY. (Concluded.) Ferris Wheel Machine. In Stahl und Eisen for August 15 Prof. E. Belani pro- poses a Ferris wheel machine for casting pigs. The chief object is the avoidance of what he terms the “ bar- barous practice”’ of suddenly heating the molds by October 17, 1901 chines side by side, each carrying two series of 150 chills each—that is, 600 in all. Each one containing 150 pounds of metai, the plant would take care of an output of over 40 tons. Allowing a space of 0.4 m. (15% inches) for each chill, a wheel 20 m. in diameter at the line of the chills would be required. The professor says that eee ee ee ee ee eae TEER ERD ARS Te! . rT yf t T : yunees -eeneeenei a —-. ~ j “ANA MEANY YA" 3 4 THs IRon AGE \ USYUSYUS Fig. 7a.—The Ramsay Machine. pouring metal into them and then suddenly cooling them in water several times during a heat, and 20 or 30 times during each day. A framework is provided, rotating on a horizontal axis and bearing on its circumference two series of molds, hung on trunnions and kept in an upright position by gravity. The molds have overlap- ping lips, and are poured continuously near the _ bot- Tue [Ron AcE Fig. 8. for the same work (without filling a chill twice) three ordinary Uehling machines, or one 120 m. long, or a Davies or Ramsay machine 100 m. in diameter, would be required. He says the wheel should be run at a speed of 0.1 m. per second at the circumference, 12 chills be- ing filled per minute; this allows 10% minutes per rev- olution. This construction would be equivalent to standing a Davies machine up on end, as it would be 65 or 70 feet high, and although the abolition of the water bath and the sudden changes in temperature of the molds would undoubtedly be an advantage, yet it does not seem desirable to erect two or three structures like this for each blast furnace. Ramsay Machiaoe. Erskine Ramsay has designed a machine (shown in Fig. 7a‘, in which the metal is first poured continu- Campbdell’s Machine. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PIG CASTING MACHINE. ‘ tom until all on one side of the wheel are full, then they pass up and around once and a half apparently. They are overturned when they come to the top the second time by a cam striking projections on the bottoms of the molds. This cam is movable so as to allow the molds to pass it once. The pigs fall onto a chute and glide into cars. Meantime the other half of the molds are being filled. An impossible method of driving the machine is illustrated. It is proposed to place two of these ma- ously down a trough into the outer end of a controlling device called a “ pouring drum.” This drum is cylin- drical in shape, having a cylindrical passage extending axially through it, and is provided with six or more ducts leading radially from the central passage to its circumference. Between these ducts there are walls to cut off the flow of metal from all but the lowest one. The drum is mounted in a horizontal position above the path of movement of the molds, and is geared to rotate vith the table at the same circumferential speed, so that ach of the outlets as it comes to its lowermost position gisters with a mold, the distance between the outlets n the drum being equal to the distance between the molds. This device permits continuous pouring with- ut necessitating overlapping lips on the molds or de- dectors between them, and no costly means for impart- ing an intermittent motion is needed. Although Burden used a device of this nature for distributing ore in his machine it is a new thing in pouring molten metal. Ramsay uses hammers to loosen the pigs, and sprays juting on the molds by means of a steam jet. The molds are simply laid on open bearings, so that if one becomes cracked it can be removed and a new one supplied with- out stopping the machine. It is to be understood that the molds in all of these machines are overturned in the manner adopted by Davies. Complete descriptions and illustrations of the im- provements designed by John M. Hartman of Philadel- phia were given in The Iron Age on September 28 and November 16, 1900. Collins Machine. As has been stated, this type of mf&chine has been represented for several years in the copper industry by the Walker machine, and two more have recently been designed for that use. That of R. G. Collins is very elaborate. It consists of two intermittently and alter- natingly revolving tables, each carrying near its periph- ery a series of mold carriers, which are raised to and held in a vertical position by resting on the edge of a spiral cam, which lies in the path of the mold carriers. The cam is abruptly terminated at its higher point, from which the mold carriers, in turn, are precipitated, be- ing inverted. As they drop off they hang pendent until raised again by the said spiral cam. When the mold car- riers are thus inverted, the carriers, mold and ingot, or cake, are immersed in water. The ingot falls out of the mold by the shock imparted by the carrier striking a fixed but replaceable anvil arranged for this purpose. The mold and carrier remain in the water bath for a cer- tain definite portion of the revolution of the table, and are cooled thereby until they are automatically raised into a vertical position, when the mold is again ready for the reception of the molten metal. The motion of the tables carrying the mold carriers and molds is pro- duced by a power which is controlled by a man who manipulates the ladle. The ladle is located in a plane above the tables, and in a position midway between them. It is provided with two lips on each opposite side, so that two molds may be filled at one and the same time on either side. After a pair of molds have been filled on one side of the ladle the operation of tilting the ladle for the purpose of filling a pair of the molds on the opposite side liberates the motive power which moves the table on which the molds have just been filled, thereby carrying them ahead one notch and sub- stituting an empty pair ready to be filled. At the same time a mold carrier on an approximately opposite side of the table drops off of the spiral cam, falls into the water, disposes of its ingot, and remains in the water until raised again in the course of the operation. While ene of the tables is stopped for filling a pair of molds on it, the other is being rotated one step. The ladle may be fed from the furnace by a siphon. This scheme for controlling the rotation of the tables by means of the tilting of the ladle makes a most beautiful and in- genious mechanical device, but seems too complicated. lt is impossible that this machine should ever come into dangerous competition with the Davies style of machine, aud it is not seen how it can with that of Walker. The latest copper casting machine, which was patented five or six months ago, is simply a modification of Walker’s tiichine. A very simple machine has recently been de- S ned especially for casting zinc by W. & J. Lanyon; it bas no new features, the molds being dumped in the old Way by hand. Casting Sash Weights. About the only other important use to which it has n attempted to put machines of this general type is casting of sash weights. Generally the molds are ‘ed in an upright position and are automatically yetober 17, 1901 THE IRON AGE. , opened and closed, being poured from the ladle as is the usual custom. F. N. Cline’s machine seems to be the simplest. A. K. Barker’s machine has an elaborate wa- ter cooling system, and has horizontal mold frames, with several cavities in each. This machine, as a whole, has not yet been constructed, but the water cooled molds have been successfully experimented with. First Casting Machine from Wales. To summarize: The first suggestion for a casting ma- chine of any kind came from Wales about a century and a half ago, and it was a machine of the type under consideration. The first real development took place in this country three-quarters of a century ago, in small machines designed for casting lead balls and other small articles. The only further part that Europe had in the development of these machines came shortly after Bes- semer’s great discovery,.and, although they were used quite extensively, especially in Sweden, they did not bear directly upon the modern machines. The next steps were again taken in America about 1870 in the attempts to improve the apparatus for carrying out the Eller- hausen process. The nearness of these machines to practicability was not recognized, however, and the need of them, for any purpose except that for which they were designed, was not felt, and when they were no lon- ger needed for that they were abandoned and forgotten. Spasmodic attempts were then made for a number of years to use the principle for casting slag, and with some success, but not enough to cause much real progress. It was about ten years ago when attention began to be forcibly directed to the value of machine cast sandless pig, and it was in 1891 that Hibbard first designed a ma- chine for producing it. He was shortly followed by Vaughen with improvements, but it was not until 1898 (after the success of the Uehling machine was assured) that Davies devised the machine that now represents this type in practice. This, with the Ramsay, Hartman and Cooxton varieties, is all we have in blast furnace practice as yet, and only two of these are in actual op- eration. As to the copper industry, it seems that Walker’s ma- chine, together with Dyblie’s (to be described later), has already worked a revolution in the process of casting anodes, wire bar castings, &c. The Endless Chain Machine. In this form of machine the molds are secured to an endless chain, traveling around sprocket wheels mounted on horizontal shafts. The molds aré filled soon after coming up over the rear wheel, and the castings or pigs cool while the molds pass from this point to the front wheel, where they are discharged, generally by simply falling out as the molds come to an inverted position. These machines, like the turntable ones, are of two kinds, those with closed divided molds for castings and those with open topped ones for pigs. Campbell Machine. The idea of attaching molds to an endless chain ‘seems to have originated in France, where it was used in the brick making industry as early as 1843, but the first machine for casting metal was invented by Geo. W. Campbell of Belleville, N. J., in 1847. The brick ma- chines had molds of the open topped variety, and Camp- bell had that idea in mind, as appears in Fig. 8, but his more important device, being designed for casting lead bullets, had divided molds, as shown in Fig. 9. The eastings are shown dropping out of the molds. A con- tinuous trough was made along the outer face of the mold sections connecting the sprue holes, the metal be- ing poured continuously. Campbell stated that if the castings were not readily detached from the molds that operation could “ be aided by a small trip hammer strik- ing each section at its lowest point.” The next metal casting machine of this type, with open topped molds, was invented in Chelsea, Mass., in 1848 by Bachelder and Dyer. It was designed for forming type, and evidently was not of much value. J. P. Driver added some new features to Campbell’s machine in 1863, consisting of a spring actuated hook to loosen the cast- ings and the provision of several parallel series of molds in one machine. aa ee crap ties ed PS INET IN aa a ~“S ™ r 5 AR FS TR SS Sr nay ae a ae ee ee ya 8 THE IRON AGE. In the casting of ingots probably the first suggestion in this line was made by Bessemer about 1860, when he proposed an endless series of ingot trucks or cars on tracks passing successively under the pouring spout. Blair Machine. The real beginning, however, was not made uniii 1866, when Thomas Blair, who has been mentioned in connection with the ,turntable machines, invented the first endless chain pig casting machine. As shown in Fig. 10, it was exceedingly complete, considering that it was the first designed for the purpose. f is the spout from the melting furnace; h, h, h, h, air blast nozzles; g, 9, 9, g, platforms, whose angle to the horizontal is adjustable; i, an air cooling fan; nm, a hammer operated by a tappet for loosening any pigs that might stick; 0, a cleaning brush. After the invention of such a complete machine little interest will be taken in the bullet cast- ing and compressing machines invented six or eight years later in England by Napier and Wilkinson. They introduced several new features, however, which will be referred to later. There was no continuous series of inventions in this line, as there had been in the turn- October 17, 190! frame work, and on the return hung down freely belov so as to pass under the stationary cam. All this part o the chain hanging down was contained in a water tan! A hydraulic lift was provided for removing the ingot from the tank. Slag Casting Machines. A number of slag casting machines, which wer brought out about this time, had a very important bea: ing on this subject. The first of these, which was pat ented by a German company (Vereinigte Kénigs und Saurahiitte Aktiengeselischaft) in 1885, showed pans with overlapping lips, cooled on the bottoms by heavy streams of water for a long distance, and then on top by a stream descending directly on the slag in the pans. The most important of these machines, however, was designed by Wm. Hawdon in the same year. It was fully described in The Iron Age on March 10, 1892, and Tue IRON AGE The Blair Machine of 1866. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PIG CASTING MACHINE. table machines, each one leading up to the next and finaily evolving into a practicable and useful machine. There were really no inventions of any importance be- tween 1866 and 1884, although a few patents had been taken out on machines for various purposes. Burden’ again suggested casting “pig blooms” on an endless chain machine in 1869, but did not,:so far as known, design a machine. In 1871 David Joy proposed a plan for removing slag from the furnace by an endless band, and a similar device was soon after worked practically at Walker by Thomas Bell. Woodward in England and Wilmart in France again tried the same thing a few years later, but they added nothing of value. Several type casting machines of this kind were proposed, and M. J. Shimer designed a simple looking machine for casting sad irons. ‘ Durfee and Egleston Machine. The third important invention in this line was made in 1884 by W. F. Durfee and T. Egleston. It was de- signed for casting copper. There were two sprocket wheels on the same level, and midway between them at considerable distance below a stationary cam to dump the molds, which were held in an upright position by counterweights, after passing over the rear sprocket. Between the sprockets the chain was supported in a horizontal position by rollers mounted in bearings on the August 16, 1894. When the first of these articles was written Hawdon had eight of his machines at work at the Newport Iron Works of Sir B. Samuelson & Co., at Middlesbrough-on-Tees, and the second contained a photograph of one installed at No. 6 furnace of the Cam- bria Steel Company, at Johnstown. The pans after be- ing filled passed through the air for a short distance, then into a water tank, where they were cooled on the bottom by passing along in the water near the surface, being sprayed on top at the same time, and then passed through the air again to the cars, into which the slag blocks were dumped. They could be further cooled here by spraying or otherwise. The chain was supported «t the ends by the sprocket wheels and at the ends of the tank by idlers. There were about 90 pans, and the m:- chine occupied a space of from 80 to 100 feet by 8 fee", which seems too great a length, especially for sla This was a most important invention in this art, a! most of the machines which have proved practically us - ful have been mere improvements on it. The improv - ments have generally been made for the purposes f shortening it and enabling the product to be easily d charged. Naturally the first machines to follow it we @ designed for cooling slag. The dumping of the bloc 3 directly into a water tank situated under the front e’ 1 of the machine and removing them from the tank | J means of a second endless carrier was suggested JY — y VS oe 2.5 aw October 17, 1901 THE IRON AGE. 9 sath in 1889 in England. This shortened the machine onsiderably. The machine of Wm. Moore (1894) showed overlapping lips and a track arrangement very much like that now in use. Recently H. K. Geer has suggested mounting the whole apparatus on transverse tracks, so as to accommodate several furnaces success- ively. About ten years ago a German firm (Rheinisch-Nas- sauische Bergwerks und Hiitten-Aktiengesellschaft of Stolberg) patented an intermittently operating machine of this type for casting pig lead. The molds instead of being mounted on a chain were merely connected to- gether by links, the projections for engaging the sprocket wheels being fastened to the bottoms of the molds. None of these machines, except Hawdon’s, came into use to any extent until E. A. Uehling brought out his Tue IRon AcB Fig. 11.—Holmboe Machine. machine. Mr. Uehling has described his machine and advocated the use of sandless pig before several metal- lurgical and scientific societies in this and foreign coun- tries, and the machine has been illustrated by nearly all the trade journals in the world which are devoted to the iron and steel interests. His interesting paper, read be- fore the Pittsburgh Foundrymen’s Association, was re- produced in The Iron Age on March 3, 1898, and the ma- chine installed at the Lucy furnaces in September, 1896, was fully illustrated in the issue of April 22, 1897. The machine is therefore so well known that it is not neces- sary to give a detailed description here. The chief trouble with the early machines had been the difficulty caused by the molten metal burning out the cast iron molds and sticking to them. To overcome this Uehling sprayed his molds with fire clay, graphite, loam, lime, &c., and provided means for continuously applying this spray. This did away as a general thing with the neces- sity for mechanical means for ejecting the pigs, and was the most important feature of Uehling’s original machine, for all the rest of it was old in the art. The D provided an endless chain crayon molding machine with an oil reservoir, and automatic means for pumping the oil and injecting it into the molds, in 1891. Numerous. rotary brick making machines, invented since 1869, have had means for sprinkling the empty molds with sand, and several of them have had spray pipes for injecting a lubricating material, such as oil, to prevent the clay sticking to the molds. With all this in metal casting and other arts, it would seem that it did not require a great deal of real invention to bring out Uehling’s broad idea, which is set forth in his claims as “ continuously injecting refractory material into the empty molds as they return to be filled with molten metal.” Work of Uehling. But Uehling had the foresight and good fortune to combine all these old features in such & way as to pro- duce a practical machine at just the time when some such machine had become almost an absolute necessity in blast furnace practice, and this, plus the energy which was devoted to the subject by the inventor and his asso- ciates, made the machine commercially and financially successful in a very short time. The extent of this suc- cess was indicated at the beginning of this paper, and was such as to stimulate inventors and manufacturers to devote a great deal of time and money to the improve- ment and perfection of casting machines, and especially those of the endless chain variety. Previous to Uehling’s invention there had been only about half a dozen patents granted by the United States on this type of machine; but there were five in 1899 and seven in 1900 and about the same number of turntable machines have been patented in this country during the past three years. Uehbling, Miller and Scott have made many improve- ments on the original machine, among them being a pouring device having two oppositely projecting spouts to deliver simultaneously into the two parallel carriers which are generally used for large outputs, a new de- sign for the links and method of attaching the molds, a yieldingly supported discharge chute, a lime mixing tank and spray nozzle, a water tank above the whole device for spraying and cooling the links, and a mold composed entirely of fire clay, hydraulic cement or other refractory material, or made of such material supported on a skeleton framework of metal, as a substitute for the metal mold coated with refractory material. They have also patented in Great Britain a mold with am overlapping lip shaped like an inverted V, which appears NS a | at ‘ Tus IRon Act Fig. 12.—The Uehling Machine. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PIG CASTING MACHINE. overlapping lips enabling continuous pouring had been used in practice on chain slag casting machines since 1885, and had been proposed by Burden for the turn- table machines a quarter of a century before Uehling studied the problem. The spraying of the pigs in the molds had been done by Hawdon, Truran and others, and the use of two or more series of chain molds had been suggested a half a century before, although it was for a bullet casting machine. As to the coating of the molds, Burden had proposed taking them off the table and immersing them in clay water by means of a crane in 1869; Wilkinson had provided means for cleaning the molds after each cast and had brushes revolving in an oil vat for coating the molds in 1872; Peck had provided an endless chain slag cooling machine with means for discharging sand into the molds in 1888; and, in a differ- ent but somewhat analogous art, Quinn and Moulton to be exactly like the device proposed by Napier, im 1870, for his endless chain bullet casting machine. Holmboe Machine, Le L. C. B. Holmboe of the Illinois Steel Company has- suggested some improvements on this machine which consist chiefly in mounting the molds on the chain im sockets of such shape as to allow injured molds to be- easily removed and replaced, and to permit the molds to drop a short distance in these sockets as they pass down over the discharge end of the machine, in order- to jar the pigs out (Fig. 11). He also has a lifting de- vice for clevating the molds into position on the chaim on the return, a s