The Iron Age 1908-11-05: Vol 82 Iss 19

THE [RON AGE Published every Thursday Morning by David Williams Co. 14-16 Park Place New York, Vol. 82: No. 19. New York, Thursday, November 5, 1908. sihecte te a Reading Matter Contents ....... pace: 1936 5 ——— — = Alphabetical Index to Advertisers ‘‘ 288 Classified List of Advertisers ” 277 | | Reming ston, Power Advertising and Subeoription, Rates “* 1356] REED F. BLAIR & CO. FRICK BUILDING, PITTSBURG, PA. STANDARD CONNELSVILLE | Photograph of COKE a hatchet penetrated by FOUNDRY FURNACE _ CRUSHED | coft point -30/30 Rem. 25 Rem. The Original and only Genuine bullets from “*STILLSON |) oe ciocding WRENCH " || 2 ses. is manufactured by waLwoatn MFG, CO., Boston, U. S. A. And bears their registered Trade-Mark 35 Rem Autoloading Cartridges Used. The Bristol Company inne an ** Loads Itself ’’ Powerful shooter—powerful seller Send for Literature. dristol’s Recording Instruments REMINGTON ARMS COMPANY, for Pressure, Temperature llion, N. Y. and Electricity Agency 3 isBroadwey, Sow York THE BRISTOL CO. lier tment ——— siocan ladies _Waterbury, Conn. WATER TUBE OG6he Babcock ¢ Q Wilcox Co., There’s More Money in BOILERS ‘See page 58 85 aa nm Samson Spot Cord rears Than there is in Cheap Grades. See Page 187. a “ . js P Sanson Cordage Works, dort. Mess |! Ng Danger of Nails Splitting TURNBUCKLES . = mama ihm No danger of nails breaking! No danger of injuring a Cleveland City Forge and Iron Co. Cleveland, 0. horse’s hoof or foot because of dull points or weak blades, TURN BUCH IES when Capewell nails are used. MERRILL BROS. i pel Maspeth, MADE BY New York, N. Y. Low Phosphorous Pig. The Capewell Horse Nail Company, Pilling & Crane “ite: rai. + Hartford, Conn. Machesney Bldg., Pittsbg. Empire Bldg., New York | es | YFAIN . oo x ee ees J ENKRINS °’ 96 1) {4 OG sie =" — ey is the most economical sheet packing to use—because, ADE IN AMERICA and if “n Bey Veteee ao 9) the weight per square yard is jess than most packings, 1] | al THE BEST IN THE WORLD SY ee eee - and consequently it costs less. Also an allowance will | THE LUFKIN RULE OO., Saginaw, Mich., U.S.A. ) New York, Loudon, Eng. Windsor, ‘Can. UW. = 5 . be made forclean scrap cuttings returned to our factory tae tt eee ai aL t) The genuine bears our Trade Mark. THE ANCIENT APOLLO -- ™ JENKINS BROS., New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicage had a perfect form, but our modern “apollo Best Bloom” |!“ SWeCOh” GOldROled Steel ta! Drawing» Stamping Galvanized Sheets THE AMERICAN TUBE & STAMPING COMPANY eiae 27 have perfect forming qualities, which (Water and Rail Delivery) BRIDGEPORT, CONN MAGNOLIA ,,icroxn METAL The Standard Babbitt of the World We manufacture everything in the Babbitt Line. MAGNOLIA METAL CO. ote bose New York: 115 Bank St. Chicago: Fisher Building. Montreal: 31 St. Nicholas St. mean more to you, Mr. Metal Worker. AMERICAN SHEET AND TIN PLATE COMPANY Frick Building, Pittsburgh, Pa. See our Ad. on page 18 THE IRON AGE BR ASS SHE __| Lhe! Plume &'Atwood Mfg. Co., WIRE Manufacturers of Sheet and Roll Brass, Wire, SHEET | Rods, German Silver and Brass COPPER} ROD Goods in great variety. WIRE | Rotting Mit Factories Thomaston, Conn. Waterbury, Conn. GERMAN fofoo mnie teae een alana SILVER WIRE ANTIMONY “A. S. P.’? Brand LOW BRASS, SHEET BRONZE,| (English Star) SEAMLESS BRASS AND COPPER |C, W. Leavitt @ Co., Agents ew York TUBING, BRAZED BRASS AND neneneneamenmarer BRONZE TUBING: + + + :|| §GOVILL MFG. CO. Manufacturers of BRASS, GERMAN SILVER, FOLLANSBEE SPECIALTIES STEEL SHEETS ENAMELING STOCK BOW SOCKET STEEL FERRULE STEEL MILK CAN STOCK CABINET STEEL PLATING STOCK TRUNK SHEETS TAGGERS FINE STEEL SHEETS FOR FINE PURPOSES FOLLANSBEE —_—__ -—_-- Waterbury Brass Co. Sheets, Rolls, Wire, and BROTH ERS WATERBURY, CONN. Brass Shells, a eiages Buttons, COMPANY 99 John St., New York. Providence, R. 1. Spectal Beass Goods os ; 1 1 eas a Q ITTS BURG K Bridgeport Deoxidized Bronze WATERBURY, CONN. Only American & Metal Co. NEW YORK CHICAGO BOSTON Manufacturers of BRIDGEPORT, CONN. HAMMERED Phosphor and Deoxidized |HenrySoutherEngineeringCo. OPEN H —" Bronze ‘HARTFORD, CONN. SHEETS Composition, Yellow Brass and Alumi-| Consulting Chemists, Metallur- Sa num Castings, large and small gists and Analysts. Complete Physical Testing Laboratory, Expert Testimony in Court and Patent Cases, Arthur T. Rutter & Co. 256 Broadway, NEW YORK. Matthiessen & Hegeler Zinc Co. La Salle, Illinois. SMELTERS OF SPELTER AND MANUFACTURERS SHEET ZINC AND SULPHURIC ACID Special Sizes of Zinc cut to order. Rolled Battery Plates. Selected Plates for Etchers and Lithographers’ use. Selected Sheets for Paper and Card Makers’ use. Stove and Washboard Blanks. ZINCS FOR LECLANCHE BATTERY. GERMAN SILVER a2 In Sheet, Wire, Rods, Blanks and Shells NICKEL ANODES BRASS, BRONZE, COPPER in all forms Small tubing in Brass, Copper, Steel, Aluminum, German Silver, &c. Sheet Brass, Copper and Ger- man Silver. Copper, Brass and German Silver Wire. Brazed and Seamless Brass and Copper Tube. Copper and Brass Rod. “PHONO-ELECTRIC” WiIREB. “it’s TOUGH.” TROLLEY, TELEPHONE Minn aaalee and THE SEYMOUR MBG. CO., Seymour, Conn. aa HENDRICKS BROTHERS _|evicoosor: BRIDGEPORT Bhass cour Manufaeturers of Sheet ana Bar Copper, Copper Fire Box Plates PHOSPHOR-BRONZE and Staybolts, Wire and Braziers Rivets! ; GERMAN SILVER Importers and Dealers in LTT. Ingot Copper, Block, Tin, Spelter, The RIVERSIDE Lead, Antimony, Bismuth, Nickel, etc. METAL CO. RIVERSIDE, N.J 49 CLIFF STREET . . NEW YORK' Tt GUNGRESS| a i Jeceived i j NOV 6 1908 a | | Copyright contr CLASS XXc. No. | New York, Thursday, November 5, 1908. nae a. en | ; ° * s centered by a guide roller placed in front of the feed Brightman Shaftir ~~ Machinery. ing roller, which has a perpendicular adjustment, and the eae feed rollers provide lateral adjustment. After leaving Machinery for finishing shafting, bronze rods, tubing, the feed rellers the material enters a hollow cylinde &e., by the turned process in all sizes from 1 to 6 in., in- through a bushing to the guide head. This guide head clusive, is built by the Brightman Mfg. Company, Shelby, Ohio. The product heretofore has been intended prin- cipally for the larger plants, but recently the company has designed equipment for shafting users who wish to One of the first essentials was make it for themselves. contains guides set in segmental slots, and having screw adjustment. The material then passes to the cutter head which contains steel cutters and guides set in segmental! slots, which cutters and guides also have screw adjust ment. This cutter or finishing head turns the material Fig. 1.—Turning Machine for Shafting, Built by the Brightman ‘ Mfg. Company, Shelby, Ohio. Fig. 2.—Brightman Shaft Straightening and Finishing Machine. a lower cost of production of the machines in question and more compact form. To these ends all unnecessary appurtenances have been eliminated, with the result that the machines can be sold at a price fairly competitive with that asked for the ordinary class of machinery that is used for this work. Fig. 1 shows the turning machine. The rough bar, tube or rod is fed in at the left end by a set of feed rollers which are driven through worm wheels and worms attached to perpendicular and horizontal shafts, from a four-step cone pulley to regulate the feed. The material to size, after which it is ready for the straightening or finishing machine, shown in Fig. 2. The heads of the turning machine are bolted to a cylinder having hollow bearings, through which the ma- terial passes in the process of turning. The cylinder is driven through a gear by a pinion on a horizontal shaft. The bed of the machine is a receptacle for a soap solution which is continually pumped to the cutters by a small pump in the rear of the machine. This solution drains back into the bed and is used over repeatedly. A casing that surrounds the cutter heads retains the chips or turn- 1278 ings, which can be readily cleaned out while the machine is in operation through side openings in the casing. At ench end of the machine tracks are provided upon which a gripping device travels which will hold the material from revolving with the machine. Material as short as 8 ft. can be turned, and there is no limit to the length except the space allowed in the building. The machine illustrated in Fig. 2 is for the purpose of straightening rounds in the solid, both rough and finished, steel pipe, bronze rods, tubes, &c. The straightener con- sists of a bed with upright pedestal bearings, supporting a revolving frame which has hollow journals and the straightening mechanism. The latter consists of three rolls having concave surfaces. The rolls are supported by bearing blocks, having a swivel and screw adjustment. The roll supports are secured to the revolving frame so as to project alternately from opposite sides. At each end of the straightener, tracks are provided upon which travels a gripping device similar to that on the turning machine and performing the same function, namely, that of holding the material to be straightened from revolving. The contact of the concave rolls in the revolving frame will produce varying speeds according to the amount of concave surface put on the rolls. A cer- tain amount of slipping of the rolls on the work occurs which has the effect of producing a very fine finish, as well as straightening the shafting. The rolls are adjusted at an angle to the shaft according to its diameter, and each roll has a segmental line of contact with the shaft. This will prevent all gouging out or breaking of edges of flaws or cracks which might be found in the surface of the material, and will admit of such flaws and cracks being smoothed over. Both machines are furnished for either belt or motor drive. The turning machine weighs approximately 13,000 Ib. and the straightening and finishing machine about 21,000 Ib. +e Galvanized Steel Grillage Beams. The receivers of Milliken Brothers, Inc., 11 Broad- way, New York, have lately made some extensive exper- iments in connection with protecting from oxidation the steel grillage beams used in building construction. More or less water is present in nearly every building where grillage beams are used. Therefore, unless the beams are absolutely protected, there will be oxidation. As such beams are not usually exposed to view and cannot be examined, if oxidation takes place after the building is up and the oxidation becomes serious, the security of the building is threatened. Finding that coating the beams with paint, asphalt or tar cannot be absolutely relied on for a great length of time, Milliken Brothers have experimented with gal- vanizing by the hot process, after all the shop work has been done on the steel. It has been shown that concrete will adhere to galvanized steel beams as firmly as to unpainted beams which are largely used for grillage work and much better than to painted beams. Archi- tects and engineers who have had occasion to examine galvanized Ashlar anchors and galvanized pipes used in connection with concrete have found that concrete will attach itself as readily to galvanized material as ungal- vanized material. The advantage of galvanizing is that it gives the steel beam a complete zinc coating, which will resist the action of the water and therefore protect the steel. The expense connected with the galvanizing is considered small in comparison with the resulting ben- efits. ee A British Marine Engine Consolidation.—The Liver- pool Journal of Commerce of October 24, says: “ We are in a position to state, with official confirmation, that the whole of the marine engine works of the northeast coast are on the eve of jointly signing a working agreement in the form of an amalgamation representing firms valued at a total of £5,000,000. The scheme includes practically all the marine engine firms carrying on business on the Tyne, Wearside, Tees and at Hartlepool. It is expected that the signatures will be all completed within the next THE IRON AGE November 5, 1908 proceeding for eight The basis of the scheme is economy in produc- tion, by concentration of management, classification and week. Negotiations have been months. standardization of work so as to get the maximum amount of production from the different classes of ma- chinery. There will also be a scheme of proportionate pooling of profits.” ———_>4--e—___—— A Garvin Combination Grinder. An 18-in. disk grinder has been brought out by the Garvin Machine Company, New York City, the frame of which suggests the company’s specialty—milling ma- chines. The unique feature of the grinder is the manner of oscillating the work table. The oscillating is accom- plished by power from a crank pin in a worm wheel on the overhead countershaft, which is connected by a rod to a rocker carrying the table. The rocker arm is slotted where the rod connects to it, providing an adjustment for varying the extent of the swing of the table. The table A New Wheel and Disk Grinder Built by the Garvin Machine Company, New York. has vertical adjustment of 3% in., its surface has adjust- able squaring edges, and it also has an extension that draws out for long work. Opposite the 18-in. disk wheel is a solid 12-in. emery wheel, with a guard and work support. The lever tail- stock shown on the floor at the base of the machine is used for grinding off round washers or collars. The V block fits in a groove in the table, and is used for finish- ing the ends of shafts, removing the burr which comes from cutting off or centering. Grease cups are provided for the oiling of all bearings to exclude emery dust and grindings. A new plan is followed in putting on the emery disks. The disks are kept in stock, and have their backs already coated with a glue preparation that when moistened causes the disks to adhere firmly to the steel disk without requiring a press for applying them. The weight of the machine is 1150 Ib. ee es By an unusual coincidence, the White Star Line’s largest three steamers were at dock in New York at the same time last week, as follows: Adriatic, 25,000 tons; the Celtic, 21,035 tons, and the Baltic, 23,876 tons. These vessels total 69,911 tons, surpassing the displacement of the famous Spanish Armada by 10,791 tons. November 5, 1908 Woods Truing Devices for Wood Planer Heads. In developing its specialty, wood planing machinery, the 8. A. Woods Machine Company, Boston, Mass., has demonstrated that to increase the capacity and improve the product of a planer, harder knives, better grinding and more accurate setting are important. In this connec- tion the company has brought out a truing device for JONE KNIFE MARK PER REVOLUTION | | | | } | | | 1 | , WO KNIFE MARKS PER REVOLUTIO | FOUR KNIFE MARKS PER REVOLUTION Fig. 1.—Comparison of Knife Marks on a Board Surface. grinding the cutting knives while they are revolving at cutting speed, and thereby true them so that the several knives will fol- low one exact path, each doing the same amount of work as the others. It has been found that no matter how careful the setting of the knives in the head while it is at rest, inaccuracies develop when it is set in motion, as evi- denced by the knife marks on the wood,.that made by one blade be- ing always more prominent than the others. This is known as the revolution mark, as distinguished from the individual knife mark, which is left by each knife of a Fig. 3.—A Planer and Matcher with Top and Bottom Truing Devices Out of Action. head that has been carefully trued at its regular cutting speed. The difference is readily apparent in the finish of the board. Thus with a feed of 100 ft. and a speed of 3900 rev. per min. by a four-knife cutter head, the THE IRON AGE 1279 individual knife marks, when all teeth are cutting equal- ly, would measure 13 to the inch. The revolution marks made by one knife ‘which does more than its share of the work would be one-quarter as close, or 34 marks to the inch. These relations, exaggerated, are shown in Fig. 1. Experiments have proved that, owing to centrifugal force, the setting of knives while the head is at rest, no matter how accurately this may be done, will yield to distortion when the head is speeded up; therefore the necessity of truing the knife edges while the head is running at working speed. After the edges become dulled another truing restores them to their required keenness, and the process may be repeated until the heel produced by the grinding becomes so large as to be objectionable. The truing device shown in Fig. 2 is typical of the line. It consists of a straight slide bar with a slide carrying an abrasive stick. In operation the slide bar is set parallel to the cutting cylinder and the slide is slowly moved from end to end while the cutter head is revolving. Provision is made for moving the stick toward or away from the head, and holding it firmly to the work. The top truing device is a permanent fixture of the Fig. 2.—A Top Truing Device for a Planer and Matcher Made by the S. A. Woods Machine Company, Boston, Mass. machine to which it is attached, being firmly hinged so that it may be swung back out of the way when not in use, as shown in Fig. 3. On the planing and matching machines the bottom device always remains in position, the slide being drawn out to one side when not in use, as also shown in Fig. 3. The tru- ing process on the bottom head can be completed without stop- ping the machine or raising the top cutter head. On the molders the bottom truing device is de- tachable, the drop table being swung down to permit of attach- ment or removal. The company also makes a side head truing device, which is rigidly held on the matcher plate and is moved vertically past the cutters by a screw and crank, Angular adjustment may be made for truing the cutters to give a bevel edge on the stock. The device may be quickly at- tached or removed while the ma- chine is running. equally well with knives of high speed steel. The operator is cau- tioned, however, to take special care in this work, because the sparks given off are very dull, and hardly visible in a bright day, making it necessary to rely on feeling and sound rather than sight to determine when the process of truing is complete. The truing devices work . g | : f f oe 1280 THE IRON AGE November 5, 1908 TOOL STEEL MAKING IN STYRIA.’ BY R. F, In a metallurgical sense the Austrian Empire is one of the richest countries of Europe, and Styria especially is and always has been the ideal country for tool steel making. It possesses the most extensive and excellent supplies of spathic ores, while its forests furnish charcoal and its mountain torrents abundant water power. It is only natural that the history of the Styrian steel trade should be a venerable one and its origins be lost in the mists of remotest antiquity. In Roman times Styrian steel was famous. To quote Swank on this point: “ Among the provinces which con- tributed largely to the Roman supply of iron was Noricum corresponding to Styria and Carinthia in Austria. Both Pliny and Ovid who lived at the beginning of the Chris- tian era speak of Norican steel as being of superior qual- ity, and it is certain that ferrum Noricum was celebrated throughout Italy before their day. The best .of swords were made from it in the reign of Augustus, Horace speaks of them. The spathic ores of Styria are still in high favor and the supply of ore, especially in the famous iron mountain of Erzberg, shows no sign of exhaustion at the end of twenty centuries of almost constant use.” In the eighth century mining was taken up again at the Erzberg and has not been stopped since. Throughout the middle ages Styrian steel was considered superior be- yond comparison, and was in fact shipped to the remotest corners of the civilized world, which is astonishing, if we stop to think how difficult, slow and unsafe transporta- tion was in those times of the “ Holy Roman Empire of German Race.” About 1740 the Sheffield watchmaker, Huntsman, for the first time succeded in refining steel by melting it in a crucible. He, however, exhibited the “ worldly wis- dom,” as Percy politely styles it, of keeping his process secret. According to the popular tradition of Sheffield, knowledge of the process was finally obtained by the “ heartless and knavish trick of a rival steelmaker,” who, disguised as a shelter seeking vagabond, stole the secret and made it the property of the metallurgical world. The Styrian Steel Makers are Progressive. Now Styria was the ideal country to take up the new process. For, besides its pure ores, its charcoal and water power, it moreover possessed both graphite and clay excellently fit for crucible making, while other countries get the graphite, for instance, all the way from Ceylon. Raw steel, the material of old fame and produced in the old way on the charcoal hearth, was now used for remelt- ing in the newly introduced crucibles, and in fact still is to-day. This accounts for the rather widespread opinion that Styrian steelmakers are incurable, sticking to old- fashioned methods and afraid of improvements. This widespread opinion is, it is safe to say, a widespread mistake. They do keep up old methods until the new prove superior, but they do not drop them for cheaper ones at the cost of the product. On the con- trary, Styrian steelmakers have always been the very pioneers of progress. At Urtl, for instance, a blast fur- nace is recorded to have been in operation since 1567, and puddled steel was regularly produced as far back as 1835. Another instance is the history of tungsten steel. Franz Mayer of Styria is assigned the credit of having first applied tungsten to cast steel on a large scale. He ex- hibited samples of it at the Vienna Congress of 1858 at a time when tungsten alloy steel was generally considered a ridiculous experiment. Franz Mayer himself perhaps realized to. a moderate degree only the most astounding development tungsten steel was to take. The path he showed us has led to quite unexpected points of view and actually to a new world, metallurgically speaking, the world of high speed work. Not wishing to dwell upon the tool steelmaking process in general, I shall merely mention a number of special features characteristic of Styria which, it will be seen, ones * Read before the New York Academy of Sciences, Section of Astronomy, Physics and Chemistry, and reprinted from the School of Mines Quarterly of Columbia University. BOHLER. are sO many special reasons for the superiority of Styrian tool steel. Modern Appliances. Take for instance the Kapfenberg works, the largest crucible steel plant in existence, situated about an hour’s ride from the old iron city of Leoben of mining school fame. Founded in 1446, they are at the same time the most ancient and the most modern. The entire heat treatment throughout the work is under control of an extensive pyrometric system and the latest types of elec- tric hardening, annealing and melting furnaces are in use, as well as all of the modern physical and microscopical testing devices. Different from the methods customary in this country, the crucibles at Kapfenberg are manu- factured on the premises and are used only once, although the majority of them would be able to bear a second or third charging. The reason for limiting their use to one heat only is to be found in the nature of the crucible process, which, far from being a mere remelting opera- tion, involves a multitude of chemical reactions taking place between the iron, carbon, manganese of the raw materials, the carbon and silicon of the crucible material and the different slags formed at the various stages of the melting. Most of these reactions vary in degree when the same crucible is used repeatedly, therefore absolute uniformity of the product can only be depended upon when crucibles are used but once. In order to be able to fulfill this great desideratum and furthermore to have absolute con- trol over the chemical composition of the different kinds of crucibles employed for the various qualities of tool and special steel, the Kapfenberg works include a crucible factory on the premises. : Only very pure graphite can be used for the purpose ; when containing impurities to any extent it has to un- dergo a special purifying treatment. Styrian graphite as used for crucibles contains on an average: AlO2. FeO; P2Os K,O 6.12 0.44 0.01 0.43 Cc Sid. 13.04 H,0 77.80 1.95 per ct. The refractory clay is dried in spacious sheds, then crushed by electrically driven grinding mills, and in the state of a fine dry powder conveyed by means of elevators to the storerooms. Suitable amounts of these materials are then taken through rotating mixers and worked into a paste in a battery of troughs and the plastic mass fed into a set of squeezers. Every squeezer supplies the material for a pair of double acting shaping presses from which the crucibles emerge in their final form. The cru- cible factory has a capacity of from 12,000 to 15,000 cru- cibles per week, while the drying houses hold 50,000 to 70,000 of them. Careful and gradual drying indis- pensable, the crucibles are therefore kept slowly traveling through the drying houses, being shifted at certain in- tervals from cooler to hotter and drier sections, the entire trip taking six to seven weeks. The second characteristic feature and perhaps the main cause of the excellence of Styrian steel be found in the extremely pure ores of the Erzberg, that is, Ore Mountain. The view shown in Fig. 1 gives an idea of a small section only. The giant steps or terraces shown go up to the hight of 5000 ft.. and the whole conical mountain of that peculiar reddish iron ore tint, sur- rounded by wood clad and snow topped mountains reach ing 6000 ft. and more, really presents an imposing ap- pearance. Besides being of so great an historical and metallurgical interest, the Erzberg is in fact one of the sights of the Alps. Erzberg ore is almost entirely free from noxious impurities; crude ore yields 38 per cent. is may to 40 per cent., roasted ore as much as 52 per cent. of iron. Analysis made by the Austrian Government Assay Office average for the crude ore Fe =: 38.9 per cent. Mn = 2.1 per cent. P — 0.017 per cent. Ss traces. Cu traces. At the base of the mountain very silicious ores are found that are smelted in coke blast furnaces, while the higher regions consist of ores low in silica, as given in Table I. Table I.—-Analysis of Erzberg Ore. From mountain From mountain base. Oe at — aa et i ei Nee iil cic cee i oe rd spi M605 iis Sc ace eh 2 3 4 3 S10. oS ee achat oa ty 0S ee 16 10 Ri sa BR SCAME Cree NOEs dae 24 26 87 I Saracen Wied a kste’e wea . ; ne RO Soak 2 eee eo ete é 8 ‘ 2 GE see eek ooo ybkan | : ' . Styrian Charcoal Furnace Practice. While the working of Erzberg is uniform and carried on for common account by the Austrian Alpine Mining Company, the smelting in the charcoal blast furnaces at Vordernberg is under the management of the various owners. The one controlled by the Kapfenberg works is shown in Fig. 2. They all look very much like this one, reminding one of a medieval castle rather than of a sky- scraping coke blast furnace. Also, they do not produce quantity but quality. Table II.—Comparison of Blast Furnace Practice. Pounds of charcoal burned per ton of iron produced. White iron. Gray iron SO OI a Soa oa asp aie a dS cal eee 1,300 1,500 Ri HI NS Sk araldcw 2's Gra cecil “aad os Orton os 1,850 2,050 rr 1,640 to 1,800 2,400 The hight of Styrian charcoal blast furnaces varies between 40 and 50 ft., their throat diameter ranges from 3% to 6% ft., their bosh diameter from 6% to 11 ft.: the output in 24 hr. amounts from 20 to 60 tons. The ratio of fuel to burden varies from 1.3 to 1.31%4 as com- pared with the ratios of 1.2 to 1.2% in general Swedish practice (low figures for gray, high figures for white iron). This is due to the fact that the Styrian siderite is easily reduced, and that owing to its peculiar composi- tion enly a small quantity of flux is needed. For the same reasons the amount of fuel burned per ton of iron produced compares favorably with the figures for Amer- ican and Swedish practice (see Table II.). Typical analyses of Styrian charcoal pig iron are shown in Table III. Table FiI.—Analysis of Styrian Charcoal Pig Iron (Ledebur). Gray. Mottled. White. Re amy pr a6 5 ae geet aioe wel as Se 3.01 3.72 Ee CU Eee ae 2.26 cae BO. inns d tad Seen eae 2.52 2.33 0.69 Eble s daiwa cin a aglaw nee 1.35 1.79 0.12 Ie atest seu'a an eee ee 0.05 0.03 0.02 D6 deecs wad Ree 0.038 0.04 0.07 ee. Ce: hs ss cee ee eee 0.11 0.05 Fig. 1.—-The Erzberg or Ore Mountain in Styria. November 5, 1908 THE IRON AGE 1281 Because of the easy combustion of charcoal the blast is kept at a lower pressure and a lower temperature than is customary in the case of coke. With coke the large amounts of ashes contained in the fuel and the chemical nature of these ashes make a greater quantity of flux necessary, and the slag thus formed has a melting point superior to the temperatures generally reached in char coal blast furnaces. At the low temperatures of the latter the metal is less liable to absorb S, As, Sb, Cu, Ti, &c., and this fact, togther with the initial purity of the fuel, results in the greater purity of the product. Charcoal Refineries Used. The pig iron is converted into steel in the charcoal refinery, and this extensive use of charcoal may be con- sidered another special feature of Styrian steelmaking. The refining process is a costly one, as one may judge by the time it takes; to convert a given quantity of pig iron into steel it takes as many days on the charcoal hearth as it takes hours in the puddling furnace and minutes in the Bessemer converter. Nevertheless this ancient way of refining has been maintained ; for the production of a high carbon steel, chemically pure so to speak, is more to be depended upon by this process than by any other. The oldest apparatus and the one still in common us¢ is the finery fire or hearth. It is a-flat pit lined on all four sides with iron plates, above one of which is placed, slanting downward, the tuyere for conducting the blast. The pit having first been filled with charcoal, the pig iron is placed on it and melted down by the blast. The chemical reactions underlying the operation _are different in character from the other methods of decar- burization technically employed. With gray pig iron the process is carried out in three stages bearing different names. In the first, called “ fining,” silicon is oxidized into silicic acid, the greatest part of the manganese and part of the carbon. In this way gray iron is converted into white. The second stage, the “crude refining” in- volves further oxidation of the carbon partly by the direct action in the air, partly by the indirect action of the oxides contained in the slag. At the end of the second stage the material has acquired the qualities of steel. Finally the third stage, called “ complete refining,” con sists in the oxidation of the remainder of the carbon, that is to say, in the conversion of steel into wrought iron. Consequently if gray pig iron be used for making wrought iron, the material must be melted down three times, while in the ease of white iron the first fining is dispensed with and two meltings suffice. For the production of steel complete refining is not required and two meltings are >» ms a am 4 waite ree Ne Ron ee er, 3 on Rare nn reese ee nit ere SE rae etn rare. 1282 sufficient in the case of gray iron, or only one in the case of white iron, On an average the charcoal posed of: hearth steel is com- C = 0.800 to 1.300 per cent. Mn = 0.043 per cent. Si = 0.020 per cent. S = 0.005 per cent. P = 0.015 to 0.019 per cent. Cu = 0004 per cent. Co = traces. Ni = traces. This analysis shows that if the carbon be deducted all the other impurities taken together amount to 0.087 to 0.091 per cent., half of which is manganese. Refined steel is therefore superior in chemical purity to any other kind of raw steel and forms the first and most valuable raw material for the manufacture of Styrian crucible steel. In the second place puddled steel is used as a further raw material, mostly in connection with refined steel. It is made from the same charcoal pig iron in puddling fur- naces of a special kind with a slight charge. By this method, however, it is not possible to produce steel of such chemical purity as by the finery process, owing to the higher temperatures of the gas furnaces, the greater rapidity of the reactions, and the difficulty of regulating the temperatures at the various stages of the process. THE IRON AGE November 5, 1908 The melting takes from 3 to 4 hr.; its progress is tested by the foreman with a search iron. The chemical reactions now taking place in the interior of the crucibles build up one of the most complex problems of scientific metallurgy. Certain amounts of iron oxide are inevitably brought into the crucible on the surface of the pieces of raw steel and pig iron, and also by the slag contained in the weld steel. Moreover, there is air in the spaces be- tween the material. On melting, the oxides present and those formed under the influence of the inclosed air first form an oxidizing slag, rich in iron, that acts upon the carbon content of the bath. Carbon monoxide is formed and produces a slight boil. If the: crucibles are poor in graphite, a decrease in carbon can thus take place during this first period of the process; if, however, the crucibles contain a considerable amount of graphite, no loss of carbon will be noticed in the steel. During the following period of the melting the slag gradually grows poorer in iron. This is partly due to the carbon in the steel and in the crucible material now acting upon the Fe,O, contained in the slag, partly to the dissolving of crucible material bringing about an increase of the total quantity of slag. The slag by and by loses its oxidizing influence and the graphite laid bare by the dissolving of the crucible wall is absorbed by the steel. Fig. 2.—The Kapfenberg Charcoal Blast Furnace in Styria. To produce the softest kinds of crucible steel, ingot iron must be used. It is made from charcoal pig iron in a@ small basic open hearth furnace specially designed for the purpose and yielding a product of extreme purity. These products then, charcoal pig iron and the ma- terials derived from it in the different ways described above (together with tungsten, chromium, molybdenum, nickel, vanadium, tantalum, uranium, &c., or their alloys in the case of special steels), form the raw materials for the manufacture of Styrian tool steel. In carefully cal- culated proportions they are charged into the preheated crucibles as will be seen presently. The Modern Styrian Crucible Furnace, Different from the type in use in this country, the modern Styrian crucible furnace is of the overground pattern, allowing an easy handling of the crucibles by means of suspended tongs. One furnace holds 40 to 50 crucibles, the object of limiting the number being to in- sure uniformity of temperature which could not so well be obtained if the furnace were built to hold more. The furnaces are fitted with Siemens regenerators and have a forewarming pit with two separate compartments kept at 400 degrees and 800 degrees C., respectively. The empty crucibles are placed in the first compartment, and after remaining there for 4 hr. they are filled with the raw materials and transferred to the second chamber for another period of 4 hr. They are finally shifted red hot into the melting furnace. At the same time the silicon of the clay is reduced and conveyed into the bath. The temperature is of great influence on these re- actions and so is the presence of manganese. The rdle of the latter is particularly complicated. It makes a great difference whether the manganese is contained in the raw materials or added as Mn,O, and at what stage of the process the addition is made. As to the last stage, the “killing” and the nature of the changes taking place during that time, the views of the different authorities do not coincide. The general belief is that the killing may be due merely to the evo- lution of gases. It is more likely, however, that killing chiefly acts through enabling the metal to absorb further silicon from the walls of the crucible, thus increasing its solvent power for gas* and thus enabling it to retain in solution during solidification the gas which it contains when molten. When this stage has been reached, the foreman operating the charge will give the signal for the teeming. Such slight differences of temperature as should happen to exist betwéen the different crucibles are equal- ized by uniting the 40 crucibles of one charge in a ladle previously heated, from the bottom of which the steel is east into iron molds. The Care Taken to Secure Good Ingots. By a special device in the form of a collar of refrac- tory material the pipe due to shrinkage is localized at the * Howe, “‘ Metallurgy of Steel.” p. 304. November 5, 1908 very top of the ingot and entirely removed. Every ingot is tested as to physical homogeneity, grain structure and purity of surface, flaws being carefully removed by emery wheels or pneumatic chisels, before the ingot is taken to the hammer plant or rolling mill. The latter, electrically driven, does quick work and heavy hydraulic presses are in operation for certain purposes, but the greatest part of Styrian tool steel is hammer forged. Again, this process is slow and costly, but the best kneading of the material and thus its finest grain is obtained by it. Such hammer forging, with the heat treatment and proper manipula- tion in general, appears to be of greater influence on the final quality of high class tool steel than is often thought to be the case. It requires particular care, a skilled eye and a trained hand, and may in fact be called an art. Now in the course of centuries of intimate acquaintance with tool steel, generations of workmen have arisen in the Styrian Alps with whom this art has become second nature. In consequence of all of this, Styrian steel will be met with everywhere. Besides all kind of tools it is used for scores of other purposes in which highest quality is the main requirement; army rifles, armor piercing shells, shrapnels and shotproof screens are now made of it, and so are the vital parts of recoil field guns, motor cars, steam turbines, &c. Even in America, in the world’s greatest of ironmaking THE IRON AGE 1283 course in event of disobedience being for the commission to certify the facts to the Secretary of Internal Affairs, charged with supervision of the railroads by the con- stitution of the State, and the Attorney-General for prosecution. The commission, however, takes the posi- tion that the order is necessary for public safety and ex- pects it to be followed. A committee of managers of com- panies has been received by the commission and agreed to put the order into effect. The commission is now acting upon complaints rela- tive to shipping and other details of railroad operation and will announce a number of decisions shortly. It has now got into full working order, an elaborate system and organization having been perfected. i A New Acme Hot Pressed Nut Machine. The accompanying illustration shows the features of a line of hot pressed nut machines recently placed on the market by the Acme Machinery Company, Cleveland, Ohio, for making nuts by the hot pressed process. This machine has been especially designed for rapid work pro- duction and low cost for repairs. The bed is a single steel casting four times as strong as an iron bed of the same weight. The gears are steel castings with cut teeth. The cutter slide, crowner slide and piercer slide are steel castings. The linings are hard- A New Hot Pressed Nut Machine, Built by the Acme Machinery Company, Cleveland, Ohio. and iron using countries, Styrian steel is used to a large extent, being found in the workshops of a number of the largest railroads and imported on a large scale for the United States Army Ordnance Department and other im- portant concerns, . ———o-- eo The Pennsylvania Railroad Commission. HarrispurG, Pa., November 2, 1908.—Pennsylvania’s new State Railroad Commission has issued its first regu- lation, directing that after November 15 the street rail- road companies of the State prohibit riding on the front platforms of closed cars and that all riding on open cars be limited to the capacity of the first seat. This order, which was sent to 168 operating companies in the State, was issued as the result of inquiries made into accidents and will be effective no matter what crowds are to be handled. It has caused some discussion in view of the fact that in some of the iron, steel and coal dis- tricts the operatives of plants and mines are required to ride outside because their presence in the cars in working clothes might soil the seats or the clothing of passengers and cause claims for damages. There is also considerable interest in the regulation in that it directs that the order be obeyed when the act creating the commission is held to give it only power to recommend to companies certain lines of action, the re- ened tool steel, phosphor bronze and cast iron strips, plates and bushings. The operating cams are steel cast- ings with hardened tool steel faces running against hard steel rollers. When the piercer is punching the nut all the rest of the mechanism ceases its motion, so that there is never any pressure on the nut during the moment of piercing, thus lessening the tendency to strip or score the punch or piercer. The bed of the machine is so designed as to contain oil pools into which all the cams dip at every revolution. The new movements introduced into these machines, together with their great weight and power, make it pos- sible to form steel nuts on them as readily as iron nuts. The machine is made in two sizes. The 1-in. machine weighs about 7 tons, occupies a floor space of 9 ft. 1 in. by ») ft. 1 in., and requires 744 hp. for its drive. The 1% in. machine weighs 10 tons, occupies a floor space of 11 ft. 2 in. by 5 ft. 8 in., and requires about 10 hp. ‘niles sess The rolling mill of the Weller Rolling Mill & Forge Company, Gadsden, Ala., recently operated by the Emery Steel Company, has been leased by the R. C. Forster Com- pany, Birmingham, Ala., which will use the plant to sup- ply billets for its mill in East Birmingham. It is not the intention of the R. C, Forster Company to produce fin- ished bars from the Weller mill at the present time, but when the market will warrant its doing so the company will probably turn out finished bars there. 1284 The Lash Steel Process.* with the Heroult Electric Furnace. Results Secured BY F, A. J. FITZ GERALD, NIAGARA FALLS, N. Y. The object of the paper is to describe the Lash process [patented by Horace W. Lash, Cleveland, Ohio, and de- scribed in The Iron Age of August 8, 1907] and the pos- sibilities of its application to the electric furnace. Dis- cussions which inevitably arise when a metallurgical process of this kind is successful, as to whether a similar method has been tried before, are upprofitable and out of place. The mixture used in the Lash process consists of finely THE IRON November 5; AGE 1O¢ Ss in the electric furnace from a mixture of ore and carbon, this being best illustrated by the work of Major Stassano In the experiments made at Sault Ste. Marie, under the auspices of the Canadian Government, pig iron was pro- duced from ore, the consumption of energy amounting to about 0.28 hp. year per ton: but in the Stassano experi- ments the energy consumed per ton of produced amounted to 0.62 hp. year. If the energy required to produce a ton of steel in the electric furnace could be reduced from the amount required in the Stassano experi- ments, and brought nearer to the results obtained per ton of pig iron at Sault Ste. Marie, the field of usefulness of the electric furnace in the metallurgy of iron and steel would be very greatly extended. The serious difficulty experienced in most processes for the manufacture of steel direct in the electric furnace is the serious loss of metal in the slag. This, however, was not to be feared steel Heroult Furnace as Employed at Niagara Falls, divided ore, coke and iron high in metalloids. The metal- loids contained in the cast iron appear to act as reducing agents, and besides this the cast iron appears to act as a carrier of the carbon, so that in the working of the process it may be supposed that carbide of iron. (as Fe,C) acts as a reducer. Besides these main constituents of the mixture lime or other fluxes may be added, saw- dust to make the mixture porous, and some suitable binder when it is desired to briquette the mass. The advantage of using the Lash process in the open hearth furnace is due to the greater cheapness of iron in the form of ore than as pig iron, so that other things equal the greater the proportion of iron that may be used in the form of ore the cheaper the process. It is well known that steel has been directly produced * Abstract of a paper read at the fourteenth general meeting of the American Electro-Chemical Society, in New York, Octo ber 31, 1908 N. Y., In Connection with the Lash Steel Process. in the Lash process, as preliminary experiments made in the laboratories of FitzGerald & Bennie showed that the steel obtained from the Lash mixture amounted to 98 per cent, of the iron contained in the charge. Of the various furnaces which might be used to inves- tigate the working of the Lash process, it was found most convenient to build a 3-ton furnace of the Héroult type. One of these furnaces was built at Niagara Falls under the direction of Robert Turnbull and about 50 tons of steel produced. Chemical and physical tests of some of these steels are as follows: Chemical Analyses. Heat Heat Heat Heat No. 9. No. 11. No. 23. No. 27. CN iii5 since 45's .0.10 0.08 0.92 0.22 BEAMOAMESE 2... cc csecs 0.75 0.09 0.41 0.94 Phosphorus .......... 0.015 0.015 0.038 0.033 | _ gS ee e 0.070 0.007 0.026 0.056 Silicon . 0.02 0.09 0.13 0.03 Novembe eS) aS Ss THE IRON Physical Tests. Tensile Elastic Blongation. Reduction Ileat No strength. limit. Percent. Per cent. a Gk win tere pe e' ere wee cae 54,000 33 5S Bass Ra was ace oN a oe 77,000 45,000 28 56 The physical tests were made from pieces 1 in. square. The elongation was determined in a length of 2 in. The steel of heat No. 27 was treated with 0.1 per cent. of titanium. In making the steel a great many different experi- ments were tried, and this changing of conditions, as well as the inadequacy of the apparatus used, prevented the attainment of the highest efficiency. Nevertheless it was found that the Lash mixture could be completely reduced and steel obtained therefrom with a consumption of only 0.27 hp. year per ton. An excessive amount of energy was used in finishing the steel, owing to the in- experience of the men employed; nevertheless, it is be- lieved, from the results of the experiments, that on a commercial scale a production of four tons of steel per horsepower year can be reached. While trouble was experienced in some of the experi- ments owing to the rapid wearing away of the electrodes, this objection was overcome to a great extent, and it is believed that this source of expense can be brought down to a reasonable amount. In the Stassano furnace the consumption of electrodes would probably be less than in the Héroult furnace, although it is not possible to say whether the energy consumption would be as low. The electrode problem suggests the advantage of a furnace in which no electrodes are required, like the Colby-Kjellin induction furnace. Unfortunately this furnace is not suitable for the handling of slags which are inevitable in the Lash process, but the modification of this type, known as the Réchling-Rodenhauser furnace should give interesting results, as it has a form which is not open to the objections found in the earlier designs. Discussion. In connection with the reading of the paper, Mr. Fitz- Gerald threw on the screen a view of the Héroult furnace as employed in the experiments at Niagara Falls. It is reproduced herewith. The ingots were bottom cast, the steel being poured from the ladle into the center runner Shown at the right of the illustration. The ingots weighed from 200 to 425 Ib. A view was also given of the Rochling-Rodenhauser modification of the Colby- Kjellin induction furnace, in which it is the expectation to test the Lash process eventually. The original type of this furnace was only used for refining operations, the narrowness of the channel making it impossible to handle In answer to questions, Mr. FitzGerald said that at first in the experiments at Niagara Falls it was found that a good deal of iron went into the slag—up to 15 per cent. in some cases. In later runs the loss amounted to 6 per cent. 3ut when the power consumption was brought down lower, the loss of iron in the slag was also much reduced. He showed some excellent cold bending tests of Lash process steel; also one bent bar of steel containing 1-10 of 1 per cent. titanium, in which a fibrous structure was shown, resembling wrought iron, together with laminations. The cast iron used in the furnace at Niagara Falls was in the form of borings or shotted pig iron. The mixture had varied somewhat as to the per- centage of ore, but for the most part 60 per cent. iron ore slags. was used, 28 per cent. cast iron, with the remainder made up of fluxes and carbon. Henry D. Hibbard referred to the great advantage of the electric furnace in the production of heat without oxidation. In the open hearth furnace all the effects are produced by oxygen. It is the great servant of the steel- maker, but it must be fairly well eliminated or it will give all manner of trouble. Yet the drawback