The Iron Age 1906-09-13: Vol 78 Iss 11

— ——— THE IRON AGE New York, Thursday, September 13, 1906. Molding Automobile Engine Cylinders. The Process Followed in the Manufacturers’ Foundry at Waterbury, Conn. BY L. N. PERRAULT, WATERBURY, CONN, The automobile has undoubtedly done more than any thing else to develop the highest skill and accuracy in foundry practice. The Manufacturers’ Foundry Com- pany, early to appreciate and foresee the extreme popu- larity the automobile was destined to enjoy, designed, built and equipped a foundry especially for the manu- facture of automobile castings. In this article it is aimed to give a detailed account of the method used in all needed instructions relating to the materials to be used in constructing pattern and core boxes. If large quantities are required these are made of well seasoned mahogany, with all surfaces of core boxes, most exposed to wear, protected by brass binding and all pins and dowels made of brass, of ample size to insure perfect location and permanency. The pattern and core boxes being received from the shop are carefully checked be- fore being put in the sand, care being taken to see that all loose pieces are so made and marked that they can- not be mislocated. The pattern is next sent to the flask shop to have the flask fitted ready for the molder. If a large number of eastings are required special iron flasks are made ready while the drawings are in the hands of the pattern maker; otherwise neat wooden flasks are used. Meanwhile Fig. 2.—The Cores and the Finished Casting at the Extreme Right making one of the many types of cylinders produced in this foundry, selecting for the purpose the “ Royal,” a twin type water jacketed gasoline engine cylinder of 40 to 50 h.p. The drawings, as they leave the hands of the de- signer, are first carefully examined to eliminate any fea- tures which experience has shown are likely to cause weakness in the casting from sponginess, internal strains, cracks, &¢c., produced by unequal thickness in the walls of the casting and consequent contraction due to un- equal cooling. The next point to be considered is the size and location of the core supports, which must be large enough to accurately locate and support the dif- ferent cores in the mold, and to allow free and rapid escape of the gases and removal of wires and burnt sand from the cores. In placing these supports it is en- deavored to avoid uneven parting lines, which are so likely to make ugly seams on the casting and add greatly to the time required to make the mold. These points having been investigated, the necessary additions to the drawing are made and it is sent to the pattern shop with the coremaker has been given the core boxes and necessary instructions and proceeds to bend wires to fit the various boxes. These wires are in bunches of 10 lb. each, cut in yard lengths, and are kept on wall pegs in front of and within easy reach of each workman, who is supplied with cutters and pliers for handling the wire. In many cases the wires are made to assume very odd shapes as they follow the contour of the box, for by them every part of the core must be firmly supported so as to stand the pressure exerted by the molten iron. The. re- moval of these wires plays an important part also in getting the core out of the casting, as the burnt sand be- comes loosened and readily flows from the hole left by the wires. Making the Cores, In Fig. 1 are shown the core boxes and pattern and in Fig. 2 the cores, lettered to correspond with the let- ters on the boxes in Fig. 1. Starting with the box A. Fig. 1, containing the top jacket core, which forms the water space on the head of the cylinder and is recessed to leave metal over the ports on the inside, a mixture of paeensnuarnrs Saar . agvartnina ss —— | | | | 3 . 7 i if {| 2 ANE (hae PS ON the: ROE fll ng NH iy RTS i TN eae 662 THE IRON AGE fine open grained bank sand and oil of a well tried formula is tucked into the box and so shaped as to fill one half of the core space. Next the wires, previously formed, are carefully placed and securely tucked to avoid springing; then the vents are placed. These are formed by wax yarn made on the premises from a com- position, the base of which is pure beeswax. This yarn is made in sizes varying from 1-16 to 4 in. in diameter and run into skeins about 100 ft. long. The vents are so laid as to form a network all through the core, their ends terminating in prints marked B and B on the pat- tern, these being the only support and vent outlets on this core. Looped wires or hangers are fixed at C and C, allowing the core to be firmly tied to the bottom jacket, part of the vent of which is carried through the top core into the prints at this point. The remainder of the core space is then firmly rammed, all loose parts of the box being held in position, the joints are struck off level, such loose parts as may be are removed and all soft spots are made right. Driers or forms are placed in position to support the hanging sand while it is green and the core plate is rubbed to position. The whole is then turned over, the box lightly jarred with a rawhide mallet, all hooks, &c., loosened, the box withdrawn and the core carefully examined for possible defects, such as September 13, 1906 strongly wired, as they must support the weight of the barrel cores in the mold. The inlet and exhaust cores, F and F, come next, all wires and vents being led through prints which lock into the port cores at the vent passing down through the port prints. Last come the barrel cores, G and G. These, being much larger, are made of a more open sand of weaker mixture, with a strong rod and large free vent leading to the larger end. All cores being put into the ovens are kept over night at what has proved to be the proper heat for cores of this class, the temperature being regulated with refer- ence to a recording pyrometer. In the morning the cores are removed from the oven to the bench and all forms are removed, the rough edges dressed and a careful exposed wire and vents, soft spots, &c. These having—-++ been dressed the core is removed to the oven. The finished core is shown at A in Fig. 2. The coremaker proceeds with the box D, Fig. 1, con- taining the bottom jacket, which consists of the main box and loose pieces which form the outer wall of the cylinder barrel, the inlet and exhaust passages and the two core prints or supports. These being the only direct parting "~~~ 1 f } +++ Hf ¥ 1] “hd PARTING LINE connected supports they must be strongly wired to stand the lifting pressure of the iron when the mold is east. This core is made in substantially the same way as that for A, all wires being led so as to facilitate their re- moval as well as to strengthen the core. Vents are led to the prints and also to the thick part of the core, and holes %4 in. in diameter are made at this point to con- nect with the hangers in core A, so that both cores can be tied together. The core having been rammed all loose pieces are drawn and supporting forms put in their place, the plate rubbed on, the whole rolled over, the box drawn, and the core dressed and carried to the oven. D in Fig. 2 shows this core completed. Two port cores, E and BE, are next made, being well wired, and all vents are led to prints which are also PARTING LINE i i ! I ‘ | _ -- THE IRON AGE Fig. 3.-—Various Views of the Casting with the Positions of the Core Prints Indicated. search made for any exposed vents, as at times the wax is displaced by the ramming and forced against the side of box. During the baking the wax is melted and ab- sorbed by the sand, leaving a clear hole in its place. These vents, if displaced, are opened as far as they lie near the surface, and yarn of a smaller diameter is in- serted and the cut filled with new sand and dried, melt- ing the wax and finally leaving a perfect vent hole.’ All cores are now given a coat of blacking by dipping them in a tub, the contents of which are constantly stirred to maintain the proper consistency. After a short period in the oven they are again taken to the bench, thoroughly dried and are ready to be fitted and assembled. First, both jackets, A and D, are put together and calipered to size (a variation of 1-16 of an inch in so thin a casting being prohibited); the jackets are now separated and the port cores B, fitted into the top jacket, the inlet and exhaust cores F are fitted into the ports and the bottom jacket is again put on to see that all parts line up and give the necessary thickness of metal. If correct, all parts are again separated and paste applied to the joints, September 13, 1906 wires inserted in hangers at C and ©, all parts as- sembled and tightly pressed together, wires tied fastening the top and bottom jacket, all joints filled with slurry and the finished core H, Fig. 2, placed in the oven to dry the paste. When dry it is removed to a storage rack until needed by the molder. The barrels are then pasted after being calipered to size and dried, and are placed on the rack. This completes the coremaker’s part of the making of the cylinder. Making the Mold. The “Royal” twin cylinder when cast is 17 in. high and 12144x 14 in. in greatest dimensions at the head or dome, % in. thick on the water jacket and % in. thick on the barrels, and is shown in Fig. 3. The pattern is parted on the dome at the center of the core prints and also at the junction of the base and barrels, with loose bosses, four at D D and two at C C for inlet and ex- haust pipes, to be drawn in after removing the main body of the pattern. These bosses are dovetailed into the pat- ern, doing away with the use of loose pins or dowels, which are likely to be lost and replaced by a nail or some other handy thing that might allow them to shift. Two core prints, E BE, support the top jacket core. Four ad- THE IRON AGE 663 sand put on. The second cheek, which has a row of spikes driven into the sides 1 in. from the bottom, is now put on top of the first and a dry sand core having cast iron chills on the bottom edge is placed between the bar- rels, as this point is too delicate to be trusted to green sand. The chills are designed to quickly cool the iron, which at this point, the junction of the jacket and bar- rel, if left to cool in the natural way is apt to be spongy and produce a defective spot in the bore that would ren- der the casting useless, as the usual expansion of the cylinder while in use would allow the water to leak from the jacket into the bore. Facing sand is again sifted over the pattern and firmly tucked up to the base of the chill core. Vent rods are then inserted through holes in the side of the flask into vent holes in the chill core and heap sand is shoveled in and rammed to the top. Next the gate pat- terns, four in number, are bedded in and the joint made, the top of the dome pattern is put on, likewise the cope, the gate pins are set in place, the patterns covered with facing sand and iron bearings, to support the core prints when rolled over, are put on each of the side core prints. A lifting screw is then put in to raise the pat- tern when the cope is lifted off, the whole is filled with Tig. 4.—The Parts of the Mold Exclusive of Cores. jacent core prints support the two port cores, which in turn lock into and support the barrel cores at the bottom. Prints G G support the bottom jacket and liberal provision is made for leading the core vents from each, as will be shown later. As these cylinders are cast in green sand the flasks, which are 18 x 24 in. inside, are of wood and strongly made. Fig. 4 shows these parts. They include two copes 6 in. deep, each having two bars conforming to the shape of the pattern to support the sand, and two cheeks of same depth with supporting strips around the bottom to keep the sand in while turning over and closing the flask, as the mold is rammed dome side up and reversed for coring and casting. The mold board is laid on a level bed of sand and the lower cheek placed on it. The corresponding part of the pattern is then properly located in the flask and facing sand, composed of one part of bolted sea coal to nine parts of fine new sand and three parts of heap sand, well mixed and properly tempered, is then sifted on through a No. 8 sieve and firmly tucked around the pat- tern. Two %-in. round iron rods are inserted through holes in the side of the flask and pushed through cor- responding holes on the opposite side. These rods serve to support the sand under the dome when the mold is closed. The cheek is then filled with heap sand, care- fully rammed and the joint or parting made and parting riddled heap sand, is rammed, struck off, the gate pins removed and thoroughly vented, the lifting screw se- cured by a bar and the cope lifted off, the screw removed and the hole left by it plugged with sand, the base pat- tern and gates withdrawn, the mold dressed and the cope put back in place, the whole carefully clamped and rolled over, the sand around pattern nailed, the joint made, and the top cope pattern and flask put on. Facing sand as usual is riddled on and tucked around the pat- tern, iron bearings are now placed on each of the side core prints to help support the jacket core, the lifting screw inserted, bars tucked, flask filled with riddled heap sand rammed up and struck off, a bed of soft sand is spread over the top of the cope and the bottom board rubbed down to an even bearing, care being used, as there must be no hollows or soft spots which would allow the mold to strain. The board is now removed and the cope thor- oughtly vented with a \4-in. vent wire, after which the cope is lifted off, turned over and laid on the bottom board, which has been laid on a level bed of sand. After slicking the joint the sand around the pattern is swabbed with a thin solution of molasses water, the pattern is lightly rapped and drawn from the sand, the swab is again lightly used on all projections and the edges of the core prints, and the mold is dressed or finished with the necessary tools. Provision is now made for allowing the gas to escape ee nel Ais et ay — Sa ree «SL xine 664 THE IRON AGE from the vents in the bottom of the jackets and port cores in this manner: Taking a hollow brass tube or sprue cutter % in. in diameter the molder forces it, in turn, through the sand at the center of the bottom of each print down through holes bored in the bottom board for that purpose. The mold is carefully cleaned of all particles of loose sand by a bellows or cleaner and then given a coat of plumbago with a camel’s hair brush. A dating stamp pressed into the sand leaves the date in relief on the casting, which can thus be readily identi- fied at any time as belonging to that day’s cast. The parting sand is now brushed off the joint of the cheek, the sand around the pattern swabbed and the pattern lightly rapped and drawn from the sand. The edges of the mold at the junction of the dome and bar- rels are secured with finishing nails, bosses C C, Fig. 3, are picked in and the corresponding cores are secured in place and the whole finished and blacked. This cheek is now lifted off and set aside, the four bosses D D in the second cheek are picked in and the mold finished and blacked, lifted off and set aside. The loose sand is now cleaned out of the bottom cope, which, as already seen, was finished before rolling over. The molder now takes a gasoline torch and dries the dome or water jacket part of the mold, which must be Fig. 5.—The Bottom Cope with the Cores in Position. thoroughly dried, as the iron at this point is only % in. thick. This done, the mold is ready for the cores, which are now brought from the racks and laid on a board near the mold. The cores are carefully cleaned and examined by the molder for any possible defects and an iron gauge fitted over both barrel cores to make sure that they are of exact length, for any variation in these would seriously affect the compression of gas in the cylinder heads. A small noodle of flour and water is rolled and laid in the bottom of the jacket and port prints, encircling the vent holes, to prevent any iron getting into the vents while being cast. The jacket core, which, as before shown, also contains the inlet and ex- haust port cores, is now set in the mold, care being used to see that each part is properly aligned, as the variation of but a small fraction of an inch would shut off the metal and cause the loss of the casting. Straps are now inserted in the vent holes in the core at G G and a channel cut in the sand leading to slots in the sides of the flask. The straps are laid in the channels and sand tucked over them and slicked down and flour paste put over the ends of the core prints. This method abso- lutely prevents the iron running over the cores and into the vents, which if not allowed a free quick exit would, in foundry parlance, cause “ fireworks” and destroy the mold and cores. The lower cheek is now set in place on the bottom cope and is in turn followed by the second cheek. The barrel cores, which lock into the port cores and are thereby accurately aligned, are next set in place, as shown in Fig. 5, and a roll of noodle placed around the vent holes. A %-in. vent hole is punched through each core print in the cope over the barrel cores, the runners are made and the cope is put on and securely September 13, 1906 clamped. The vent straps are next drawn out from the flask and the mold is ready to be cast. Casting. Two ladles of hot iron are now brought up to the mold, carefully skimmed and the mold poured while a boy with a hot skimmer lights the vents. When suffi- ciently cooled the runners are broken and removed and the mold left to be shaken out and the casting removed to the cleaning room by the night force. The next morning the cleaner removes all the core wires, using a hook, bar and pinchers for that purpose. The withdrawing of the wire loosens the burnt core sand, causing it to crumble, when it can be easily re- moved by lightly tapping the casting with a hammer and by a rolling motion which brings each core hole in turn to the bottom and allows the sand to escape. The easting is next sent to the emery wheel and the gates, &ec., ground off; then to the pickle bench, where it is thoroughly drenched and allowed to remain all night. Next morning it is thoroughly washed with hot water and after becoming dry goes to the testing bench, where it is subjected to a water pressure of 150 lb. to the square inch and carefully examined for leaks, sweats, &c. This done, if perfect, it is marked and shipped. It might be well to add herve that the Manufacturers Foundry Company uses a special mixture for its cylin- ders, pistons and piston rings which experience has proved to be equal, if not superior, to any used by the much vaunted makers of foreign cars. All material entering into the making of these castitigs being bought on very close analysis and the mixtures governed by the same method, the buyer is assured of always obtaining uni- form castings possessing a very high tensile strength, and in every way suitable to the use for which they are designed. ee ————— The Philadelphia Foundrymen’s Association. The one hundred and fifty-ninth regular meeting of the Philadelphia Foundrymen’s Association was held at the Manufacturers’ Club in that city Wednesday even- ing, September 5. There was a good attendance con- sidering that this was the first meeting after the usual summer recess. Dr. E. BE. Brown called the meeting to order and presided until the arrival of President Thomas Devlin. August A. Miller acted as secretary in the ab- sence of Mr. Evans. There was no formal reading of papers, the business session being taken up largely by a discussion of plans to take care of the American Foundrymen’s Association and its allied organizations, which will meet in Philadel- phia in annual convention in June, 1907. ‘The president was instructed by motion to appoint a General Commit- tee of Arrangements, to be announced at the next regular meeting of the association. The report of the treasurer showed a balance of 2278.68 on hand, with all bills paid. At his request a committee was appointed, consisting of the president, secretary and treasurer, to investigate and designate a suitable depository for the association funds. There being no further business the meeting adjourned, and those present proceeded to the roof garden of the club, where luncheon was served, during which a number of short addresses were made and the matter of the enter- tainment of the American Foundrymen’s Association was still further discussed. ————_—-- At Washington, on September 6, the Isthmian Canal Commission opened the bids for 40 mogul locomotives. The award was made to the lowest bidder, the Baldwin Locomotive Works, Philadelphia, whose bid is $458,600 for the entire contract, Colon delivery. The bid of the Lima Locomotive Machine Company, Lima, Ohio, was $475,000, and that of the American Locomotive Company, New York, $526,000. Five Mallet compound locomotives recently built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works. for freight service on the Sreat Northern Railway are the heaviest ever con- structed. Each locomotive has 12 driving wheels. September 13, 1906 The Steel Corporation’s Proportion of Trade. The Bulletin of the American Iron and Steel Asso- ciation presents an interesting table showing the percent- ages of production of iron, steel, iron ore and coke by the United States Steel Corporation and by outside pro- ducers of the United States in 1902, 1908, 1904 and 1905. The figures are based on the most authentic statistics available, the corporation having reported to the Ameri- can Iron and Steel Association its share of all the items covered in this statement. The table is as follows: Shipments of iron ore from the Lake Superior region......... Se ON MI ahs ee. ad ele ciple meme ds «Gm eee Production of coke... Bessemer, basic and all other kinds of pig iron.............. Spiegeleisen, ferromanganese, ferrophosphorus, &c............ Total pig iron, including spiegel, ferromanganese, &c...... Bessemer steel ingots and castings...................se00e Open hearth steel ingots and castings................ 6.445. a no 25g od 6 ose ae iw ve. erk po ee ee Ee Te Fe ee eee oe ea Plates and sheets, excluding nail plate.... Waki Steck veb one end's 6 6d5 smahs emcee eines <a In the products enumerated in the table, says the Bulletin, the percentages of the corporation show in- creases in but two instances—namely, coke and wire nails. In 1902 the corporation produced 37.4 per cent. of the total production of coke: in 1905 it produced 37.9 per cent., an increase of 0.5 per cent. In wire nails it produced 64.8 per cent. in 1902 and in 1905 it produced 66.1 per cent., an increase of 1.3 per cent. It will not be inferred from the figures we have presented that the United States Steel Corporation did not greatly increase its production of iron ore and of all forms of iron and steel from 1902 to 1905. On the contrary, it has in these four years made great progress in enlarging and utiliz- ing its productive capacity in nearly all the lines men- tioned. But the progress made by independent com- panies in the same years has been productive of aggre- gate tonnage results a little larger than those achieved by the corporation. The table completely disproves the statement so often made that the United States Steel Corporation is a monopoly which controls the iron ore, coke and iron and steel industries of the country, and that it stifles all competition in these lines of industrial devel- opment. ————_>-- oe —_ Wages, Hours and Cost of Living. The Bureau of Labor of the Department of Commerce and Labor, Washington, D. C., gives in its Bulletin No. 65, for July, 1906, an exhaustive presentation of the re- sults of an investigation into wages and hours of labor in 1905 in the principal manufacturing and mechanical! in- dustries of the United States, taking identical establish- ments with those investigated in 1904. A summary of the results is as follows: In 1905 the average wages per hour in the principal manufacturing and mechanical industries of the country were 1.6 per cent. higher than in 1904; the average hours of labor per week remained the same as in 1904, and 6.3 per cent. more persons were employed in the establish- ments investigated. As there was no reduction in the average hours of labor per week, the average weekly earnings per employee were 1.6 per cent. higher than in 1904. As there was an increase in the number of em- ployees as well as in the weekly earnings per employee, there was a considerable increase in the weekly earnings THE IRON AGE 665 of all employees, or, in other words, in the amount of the weekly pay roll. This increase was 8 per cent. in the establishments investigated. The retail prices of food, due weight being given to the quantity and cost of the different commodities con- sumed, were 0.6 per cent. higher in 1905 than in 1904. As the average wages per hour increased more than the retail prices of food, the purchasing power of wages in- creased. In 1905 the purchasing power of both hourly and weekly wages was 1 per cent. higher than in 1904, or, expressed in other words, an hour’s wages in 1905 —1902.—., -——1903.— 1904.-— -1905.—~ Cor- Inde- Cor- Inde- Cor- Inde- Cor- Inde- pora- pend- pora- pend- pora- pend- pora- pend- tion. ents. tion. ents. tion. ents. tion. ents. —FPer cent. —Per cent.-~ —Per cent.— —Per cent.— 60.4 39.6 58.8 41.2 53.8 46.2 56.0 44.0 45.1 54.9 43.8 562 37.9 62.1 48.4 56.6 . 387.4 62.6 34.2 65.8 36.5 63.5 379 62.1 14.3 35.7 399 60.1 44.3 55.7 43.8 56.2 81.0 19.0 81.0 19.0 70.5 29.5 74.9 25.1 44.7 55.3 40.4 59.6 446 55.4 44.2 55.8 73.9 26.1 72.0 28.0 69.0 31.0 67.4 32.6 . 52.4 47.6 51.0 49.0 50.4 49.6 51.4 48.6 65.7 34.3 63.5 36.5 61.0 39.0 60.2 39.8 65.4 34.6 65.6 34.4 57.2 42.8 53.6 57.9 42.1 60.3 39.7 55.1 44.9 54.6 .59.4 40.6 59.9 40.1 58.0 42.0 57.4 71.5 28.5 73.1 26.9 71.3 28.7 69.9 31.1 68.9 29.8 70.2 28.6 71.4 31.0 108 49.2 51.2 48.8 478 522 47.3 64.8 35.2 70.6 29.4 67.0 33.0 66.1 75.1 24.9 75.5 24.5 71.3 28.7 71.3 would purchase | per cent. more food than an hour’s wages in 1904. The average wages per hour in 1905 were 18.9 per cent. higher than the average for the 10-year period from 1890 to 1899, inclusive. The number of employees was 33.6 per cent. greater, and the average hours of labor per week were 4.1 per cent. lower. The average earnings per week in 1905 were 14 per cent. higher than the average earnings per week during the 10 years from 1890 to 1899. The aggregate weekly earnings of all employees—that is, the total amount of the pay rolls—were 52.3 per cent. higher in 1905 than the average during the 10-year period named. The retail price of the principal articles of food, weighted according to family consumption of the various articles, was 12.4 per cent. higher in 1905 than was the average price for the ten years from 1890 to 1899. Compared with the average for the same 10-year period, the pur- chasing power of an hour’s wages in 1905 was 5.8 per cent. greater, and of a week’s wages 1.4 per cent. greater, the increase in purchasing power of weekly wages being less than the increase in purchasing power of hourly wages because of the reduction of the hours of labor dur- ing the period. The average wages per hour in 1905 were 21.5 per cent. higher than in 1894, the year of lowest wages during the period covered, and weekly earnings were 16.7 per cent. higher. The purchasing power of an hour’s wages was greater in 1905 than in any other year covered by this investigation, being 7.7 per cent. greater than in 1894, the year of lowest wages. and 1.3 per cent. greater than in 1896, the year of lowest retail prices. The purchasing power of a week’s wages in 1905 was 3.5 per cent. greater than in 1894, but 2.7 per cent. less than in 1896. ee The statistical summary of vessels totally lost, con- demned, &¢.. published by Lloyd's Register, London, shows that during 1905 the gross reduction in the effec- tive marine of the world amounted to 883 vessels of 792,354 tons, excluding all vessels of less than 100 tons. Of this total, 382 vessels of 527,978 tons were steamers, and 501 of 264,376 tons were sailing vessels. The per- centage of losses to vessels owned was 4.47, which com- pares with an average of 4.42 per cent. for the five years 1900-4 and of 4.88 per cent. for 1895-1900. SSE FS eer: PSS TNS TT > anriEEcneenrerrR EERE cmee a i ameoae maefingnes THE IRON Oil Extraction. Improvements in Methods of Extracting Oil from Feed Water for Marine Boilers. BY A. B. WILLETS, U. 8S. N. Although oil is now rarely used in the cylinders of the vertical engines now so universally employed for propelling steamships it is still impossible to avoid its use on piston rods and valve stems, and also, to some degree, in the cylinders of the auxiliary machinery, es- pecially where these are horizontal. It therefore con- tinues to be necessary to provide means for abstracting oil from the feed water before it is delivered to the boilers. Many devices have been invented for this pur- pose and The Iron Age has.published, from time to time, descriptions of the types adopted in the Navy, where the matter of boiler protection is so momentous. In recent years grease extractors have been considerably modified, and the outline of the improvements here pre- sented, it is thought, will interest engineers in the mer- cantile marine service as well as those in the navy. The most rational order of procedure for preventing oil accumulations in boilers is as follows: To minimize the oil used in the cylinders and on piston rods at the stuffing boxes; to extract as much oil as possible from the exhaust steam before it reaches the condensers; to extract oil from the condensed water passing from the condensers to the feed tanks; to extract it from the water in the feed tanks by passing it through filtering material, and to extract it from the feed water pass- ing from the tanks to the boilers. The cylinders of the main engines, being generally vertical, can be operated satisfactorily without oil. Oil, however, being used in considerable quantities on the piston rods at the stuffing boxes, will creep along the rods, particularly in the low pressure cylinders, where frequently the internal pressure is below atmospheric. Oil is also used in the cylinders of pumps and blower engines, and some auxiliaries and dynamo engines have oil baths in which the cranks and piston rods dip and from which oil finds ingress through packing boxes to the exhaust steam. It is from these sources that the bulk of the trouble continues to come. It is highly im- portant to isolate the cylinders of those auxiliaries which operate in oil baths enough to remove the stuffing boxes from this bath. This is being done, especially in dynamo engines, to the very appreciable lessening of the amount of oil delivered with the exhaust steam. Extracting the oil from the exhaust steam before it reaches the condensers appeals to the engineer as ideal, as the oil is kept out of the condensers, pumps, feed tanks and piping, as well as the boilers. While this has been attempted with a spirally arranged extractor which separates the oil by centrifugal action it has never been extensively adopted, owing to the obviously added back pressure in the exhaust and the necessarily bulky con- trivance for handling freely the quantity of steam from large powers. Condensation of steam also occurs during this separation and much feed water is lost with the separated oil, unless a further separation of these two elements is effected. The difficulty of abstracting only the oil from the exhaust steam efficiently, automati- cally, without loss of feed water, and without mechanical difficulties, including close attention, has not as yet been satisfactorily overcome, so that this field is still open to the inventor. Extracting the oil from the water of condensation as it passes from the condensers to the feed tanks has been but recently adopted in the navy, the methods used prior to this being the fourth and fifth in the above list, which will be commented upon later. The extractor used for this scheme, Fig. 1, is very much like the Ma- comb bilge strainer described in the issue of April 27, 1893, only it is used in reverse order, the entering water being on the outside of a filter-cloth covered basket, through which it passes to the feed tanks. Owing to AGE September 13, 1906 the large amount of filtering surface needed to readily care for the great quantity of water condensed from high powered machinery it has been found advisable to sim- ply use these strainers in the delivery pipes from the air pumps of auxiliary condensers in large ships; but as nearly all of the oil comes from these auxiliaries this has been quite satisfactory, and leaves to the filtering material in the feed tanks the care of the water con- densed from the main engines proper. In the operation of this apparatus it is necessary to frequently change the strainers, as they become clogged with oil. To do this quickly there is provided a spare basket covered with a clean filtering cloth or “ stocking,” which is always ready for use. A three-way plug cock is also provided, as shown in the sketch, by which the water can be shunted around the extractor instantly when it is desired to change the basket. The work of by-passing this water, throwing back the swing bolts of the bonnet of the strainer, removing the strainer and putting in a new one, closing up the box and shifting back the plug cock to its original position, can be ac- complished in three minutes or less with the largest size thus far used—a strainer for a 6-in. delivery pipe. As the exposed surface of strainer cloth should be at least 30 times the area of the delivery pipe, this basket must be comparatively large, and its handling is 70 FEED TANK FROM PUMP SECTION OF Pie AT METAL BASKET COVERED WITH FILTER CLOTH ANO CLOSELY PERFORATED WITH Jig mOLES Tre [ROW AGE Fig. 1.—An Oil Extractor for Inserting Between the Condensers and the Feed Tanks. more readily accomplished by having the strainer box placed so that the top bonnet is just above the level of the floor plates. It will be noticed that there is a cen- tral guide rod for the basket which prevents the outer filtering cloth from scraping against the sides of the chamber while being lifted out, as such scraping would cause the shedding of part of the accumulation of oil and decrease the efficiency of the strainer. As soon as this strainer is removed the spare basket is inserted and the box closed up. The stocking from the removed strainer is then taken off and a clean one substituted at once, the dirty one then being thoroughly washed and dried for future use. These stockings are made from ordinary linen filtering cloth simply sewed to shape. Of course there are short periods during the operation of changing in which the water is by-passed without filter- ing, but the quantity of oil thus escaping the strainer is comparatively small and is readily taken care of by the ordinary strainers in the feed tanks. One might well ask why feed tank filters or strainers themselves do not prove amply efficient? As this is the next method in the list, it can be briefly stated that the principal difficulty lies in changing the material as fre- quently as demanded for proper protection. These feed tanks are large and are so built as to make the chang- ing of the filtering material a serious plece of work, only to be attempted in port or when the engines are not in use. In fact they are not generally designed for opening up at all while running the engines, and as September 13, 1906 a consequence much of the oil washes through where the quantity is at all considerable. Recently, however, there has been patented a device for such tanks by which the filtering cloth is gradually changed automati- cally, by being slowly rolled up on a roller at one end of the tank as it is unrolled from another at the other end, and there is so much merit in this arrangement as to make it the very. best substitute in the tanks for stationary filtering material. Fig. 2 illustrates the latest form of extractor for use in the method of extracting oil from the feed water as it passes through the feed pipes to the boilers. The form is such as to avoid very sharp turns in the flow, and the filtering basket can be changed by by-passing as in the arrangement illustrated in Fig, 1, the difference being, that the water is now under very high pressure and there is always more difficulty attending the changing of these strainers in the feed pipes, due not only to this high pressure, but also to the apparatus being necessarily located in the firerooms, where everything is hot and involved. It is therefore most desirable, in installing apparatus of this nature, to give careful consideration to its location, with a view to making the changing of baskets as easy and comfortable to the men as possible. This means everything to the complete success of the YW at? Y ron roar <fEDE— I re — ~wAOM PUMP ° = 'O 80K EA "SECTION OF FILTER BOX THe IRON AGE Fig. 2.—An Oil Extractor for Inserting in the Feed Line to the Boilers. appliance, and those who have had long experience in the “ whale’s belly” of engine and fire rooms afloat can fully appreciate the truth of this statement. The writer would advocate preferably the use of the filter boxes shown in Fig. 1 (not patented) wherever practicable. The pressure in these lines being never heavy, the parts may be made as thin as is consistent with good casting, the only precaution being to make the bonnets sufficiently stiff, with ribs, to prevent springing, as even a light pressure on such a large surface is apt to cause leaks at the bonnet joint. The use of swing bolts is also advisable in facilitating the changing of the baskets; and there should be fitted on the inlet side of the apparatus a small pressure gauge to indicate the time for renewing the baskets, the clogging up of the cloth gradually increasing the pressure on that side of the apparatus. pom. - — The Production of Graphite in 1905. WASHINGTON, D. C., September 11, 1906.—A very con- siderable increase in the production of graphite in 1905 is recorded in the annual report of the United States Geo- logical Survey. The production of crystalline graphite in the States of New York and Pennsylvania in 1905 was 6,036,567 lb., with a reported value of $237,572, an in- crease in quantity of 355,390 lb., but a decrease in value of $875 as compared with the figures of the previous year. This brings the average price per pound slightly THE IRON AGE 667 below 4 cents, as against 41-5 cents in 1904, This aver- age price means little, as the range of reported values was between 31-5 and 7% cents. The statistics of pro- duction also fail to indicate fully the activity in the mining of crystalline graphite, as the tonnage of crude graphite reported as mined but not refined is not in- cluded in the totals given. Amorphous Graphite. The graphite produced in the States of Georgia, Wis- consin, Michigan, Alabama, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Colorado and Nevada has generally been classed together as amorphous. The variation in the purity of this so- called amorphous graphite is extreme, some, like that of Colorado and Alabama, being essentially crystalline and of high grade, while the graphite mined in Georgia is an impure graphite schist. The total quantity mined in the States mentioned, which rank as producers on the basis of tonnage in the order given, was 21,953 net tons, valued at $80,639, as against 16,927 tons, valued at $82,925, the revised statistics of production for 1904. The average price per ton determined from these figures would be misleading, inasmuch as the reported values range from $1.25 to over $100 per ton. In value of product New York leads with a production nearly equaling the rest of the country combined. Penn- sylvania is second: in rank, followed by Wisconsin, Georgia, Alabama and Michigan in the order named. The imports of graphite in 1905 amounted to 17,457 tons, valued at $983,034, as compared with 14,195 tons, valued at $905,581, in 1904. It will thus be seen that the imports, which are of the crystalline variety, are of con- siderably greater importance than the domestic product. Uses, The characteristics possessed by graphite make it a mineral of much industrial importance. The largest use that is made of it is in the manufacture of crucibles, muffles and other articles designed to be exposed to high temperatures. Considerable quantities are used in the manufacture of lubricants. The extreme thinness of the flakes and their flexibility enable them effectually to cover rough metal surfaces and thus to reduce the friction between the bearings. Flake graphite is also well adapt- ed for use in the manufacture of paint, stove polish and electrotypers’ powder. Large quantities of both erystal- line and amorphous graphite are used for foundry fac- ings. The impure and cheap graphite material mined in Georgia is used to color fertilizers. Another use of crys- talline graphite is as a protective polish for gunpowder and as a packing material for the delicate electric lamp filaments, but a more unusual application has been its use to color and glaze both tea leaves and coffee beans, the pure graphite being a harmless material, which pro- tects these against moisture and adds to their attractive appearance, Artificial Graphite, The production of artificial graphite has steadily in- creased since its introduction upon the market in 1897, and in 1905 the increase was greater than ever before. The quantity of this variety of graphite that was manu- factured in 1905 amounted to 4,591,550 Ib., valued at $313,980, which is the largest quantity produced in any year since its first introduction*on the market. This is an increase of 1,343,550 lb. in quantity and of $96,190 in value as compared with the 1904 production. The aver- age price per pound received for the 1905 was 6.38 cents, bringing the price back to about that of 1903. It would appear from these statistics that the use of the artificial product is being rapidly extended, and it probably now comes into competition with the natural graphite in many lines of manufacture, especially in the electrical trade. For certain purposes, however, it seems certain that nothing can take the place of the mineral and that the production of crystalline graphite in this country will steadily increase. Ww. L. C. $$» The Trades Union Congress of Great Britain, in ses- sion at Liverpool, on September 7 unanimously in- structed the Labor members of Parliament to introduce a bill providing for the nationalization of all railroads, canals and mines in the United Kingdom. a La ai a REY Ties eT es te ae . { ‘ ¥ Ae Ee nn ees SR i a RATE FE GON 668 An Iron Smelters’ Village in India. BY C. M. WELD. Iron smelting is still practiced by the natives of Indi although the day of export of the famous wootz (steel) of the Deccan, the raw material of the-Damascus blade, is now no more than a tradition. In fact, the tide has long turned, and foreign bars and rods of wrought iron and steel are invading even the distant jungle bazaar, the very home itself of the native product. For certain purposes, however, the village smith, or lohar, still pre- fers the soft jungle iron, and he pays a price for it measured by what he has to pay for the more advanced and more readily fashioned foreign article. The native smelter thus receives a mere pittance for his handful of product, but he continues to labor, clinging to his caste, although nearly pushed to the wall, typefying the in- tense conservatism of India. From the degenerate and poverty stricken battiwala of to-day back to the men who wrought the famous iron column at Delhi must indeed be a far cry. The details of the present practice in India differ with almost every locality, and to enumerate these differ- ences even if the data were at hand would extend these notes beyond reasonable bounds. It was my privilege to spend a half day in a village of smelters in the southern part of the Raipur District, Central Provinces. The practice obtaining there may well be taken as a fair type of present day Indian iron smelting, and as such merits description. The Village of Ungara, Ungara’s present position is a mile west of the south- ern arm of the great Dhulleé Hill, in the Dondi-Lohara Zemindari. I say present position, as a smelter’s village differs from the ordinary village in that it is temporary— it moves from place to place with the exhaustion of the immediately available supply of fuel for charcoal. As a consequence, the smelter is never a land holder; his village is seen lying in jungle, not surrounded by fields. He plies his trade during the eight dry months of the year and during the rains he works for a daily wage in the fields of the neighboring villages. Eight families lived in Ungara at the time of my visit, all Gonds by race and agaries or smelters by caste. Each family operated one furnace or batti, men, women and children alike doing their share of the work. Both ore and charcoal were brought from Dhbullee Hill. No charges were paid for either, but an anual royalty amounting to $2.92 per furnace was paid to the local zemindar or land holder within whose province the village lay. The ore, a rich weathered hematite, was dug from soft disintegrated pockets along the flanks of the hill, outlying portions of a very remarkable body of ore which occupies the greater part of both Dhullee and Rajara hills. It was carried in small baskets, 40 lb. at a time, to the village, and there broken by hand on flat stones to the size of a pea, to prepare it for the furnace. Charcoal was made by cutting, stacking and burning in heaps in the most primitive fashion. The wood of any tree of suitable size served for charcoal for the furnaces, but bamboo charcoal alone was used in the refining hearths, Description ot the Furnace, The furnace may best be described by aid of the ac- companying sketch, Fig. 1, which represents a vertical section, front to back, with the tuyeres, bellows, &c., in position. A furnace in good repair but out of blast is well seen in Fig. 2, reproduced from a photograph. To build a furnace, a shallow pit is first dug and a foundation is laid of clay. The stack is then built up of clay, mixed with a little straw or chaff, to a hight of 40 in., the shield in front rising some 6 in. higher. It is roughly semicircular in plan, the straight front being 26 to 28 in. wide. The shaft has a diameter of 4 in. at the top and 9 in. at the boshes. The opening at the hearth is 8 x 8 in., the front wall is 2 to 3 in. thick, and the side and back walls are 12 to 15 in, thick. A band of twisted withes near the top serves to hold the structure together. THE IRON AGE September 13, 1906 It takes about a week to complete such a furnace, and it will generally serve through one smelting season of eight months. To prepare the furnace for blast, it is first cleaned and repaired wherever the previous operation has made repair necessary. The hearth is then packed with fine, wet charcoal, and the tuyeres are placed in position. These are two in number, made of potter’s clay, 8 in. long and about \%-in. inside diameter. They are placed slightly diverging inward and at a slight angle downward. The outer ends rest on an upright iron rod. The front Fig. 1—-Vertical Section of an Tron Smelting Furnace of the Type Used by Natives in India. of the hearth is then luted up with clay and finally smeared over with powdered charcoal. A board of tri- angular shape is next put in place, its three supports be- ing a lug or projection on the iron tuyere rest and the two points of a forked stick, planted a foot or so back from the furnace. This board serves as a rest for the bellows. The furnace is now filled with charcoal, with a handful of iron ore on top, and live coals are blown in through the tuyeres. The bellows are then attached, al! joints being carefully luted, the connection is weighted down with a stone and blowing begins. The Biast, The bellows are made of untanned goat skin. They are two in number, cylindrical, and distended by means of bamboo rings. The top is left open and is gathered up and grasped by the hand in such a way as alternately to open and close the bag as it is extended and com- pressed. The two bags are drawn down at the lower end and fastened to a double clay nozzle, made to fit snugly into the outer ends of the two tuyeres. The bel- lows are about 10 in. in diameter and 15 in. long when stretched. The operator stands in front of the furnace, grasps a bag in either hand and alternately fills and ex- pels, throwing his weight first on one, then on the other. Each bag is filled about 50 times a minute. Women as well as men take their turn, changing off every half-hour or so, A pair of bellows costs the smelter in the neighbor- hood of $1.30. Its life is about two-thirds of a smelting season. The Furnace Fed by Hand. When the furnace is once well in blast it is fed con- tinually with ore and charcoal, one handful of the former to two or three of the latter. This goes on till two small basketfuls of ore and two large basketfuls of coal have been consumed. The slag is removed from time to time by running a small rod into the luted hearth front. The puncture is in each case left open only a minute or two and is then luted up again. The first slag is generally drawn about half an hour after blowing in. The heat runs for three to five hours. At the end of that time the bellows are removed, the hearth front is pried open and the pasty bloom of “ kutcha,” or half- finished iron, is drawn out. This is hammered to expel September 13, 1906 the slag and is then cut into two pieces and each piece is further refined separatel