The Iron Age 1910-01-13: Vol 85 Iss 2

' > i ; THE IRON AGE New York, Thursday, January 13, 1910. New 16-In, Cincinnati Lathes. The latest 16-in. lathe built by the Cincinnati Lathe & Tool Company, 2730 Spring Grove avenue, Cincin- Fig. 2 illustrates the same model with double back gears and the all geared feed device. All of the gears in the quick change gear box are made from bar stock and those operating loose on shafts are bushed with bronze. The gear box pro- Fig. 1.—A 16-In. Lathe with Three-Step Cone Pulley, Oil Pan and Quick Change Gear Device, Built by the Cincinnati Lathe & Tool Company, Cincinnati, Ohio. sae Fig. 2.—A 16-In. Cincinnati Lathe with Wide Three-Step Cone Pulley, Double Back Gears and All Geared Feed Device. nati, Ohio, is equipped with either of two all geared feed devices, one having an unlimited range and adapted for general manufacturing and the other for screw cutting. Fig. 1 shows the lathe with a three- step cone pulley and quick change gear device, while vides 4o different changes without duplicating or re- moving a gear by simply shifting the conveniently ar- ranged levers. All of these changes can be made while the lathe is taking its heaviest cuts. Either five-step or wide three-step cone pulleys with double back gears 102 THE IRON AGE are furnished, and with a two-speed countershaft pro- vide 20 and 18 changes of spindle speed, respectively, covering a wide and carefully selected range. The spindle is hollow, made of 0.65 per cent. carbon cru- ible steel, and runs in large phosphor bronze bearings. The front one is 234 x 5% in. and the other is 2,4 x 4% in. These lathes are now supplied with a double wall box type apron, shown in Fig. 3, which gives rigid Fig. 3.—Detail of the Double Wall Box Type Apron. support and long life to all the studs and shafts, and contains gears of 10 pitch. The longitudinal and cross friction feeds can be started, stopped or reversed while the lathe is running, but cannot be engaged when cut- ting screws. A system of compound gearing trans- mits the motion to the rack pinion, and the hand wheel Fig. 4.—-Detail of the Taper Attachment. turns exceptionally easily. A chasing dial is provided for catching the threads at any point and an automatic stop to throw out the feeds. All plain bearings are scraped to surface plates and the centers fitted to gauges. The shafts are of ma- chinery steel turned and ground cylindrically true, while the bed and the head and tail stocks are planed to templets and bored in jigs. These lathes have re- duced %-in. shafts of 0.50 per cent. carbon steel with I-32 in. feed at a cutting speed of 60 ft. per minute. The taper attachment illustrated in Fig. 4 is fast- ened to the carriage and not to the bed, and may be ap- plied to a lathe originally purchased without it. The graduations at one end are in degrees and at the other in inches; either 10 degrees or 4-in. tapers can be cut on pieces not exceeding J2 in. long. The principal dimensions are as follows: CE a en 17% Se eee ey 114 a Ne cil ales 008) ab a'n'w in wip 00 28 OO 2%, Oe ee eee ery 5Y, Diameter back journal, in......... SPT kere anole a elaik 6 cae 2 7-16 Length of back box, in........... is thane Gk re Ee ao ine ak 4, Width of belt, 5-step cone, in............ dg skh ae Sie a 2% NN EIN nc a'n es 6 cep ses s0'6o 0 0 walsh Cees 3% Sane On WO ORT AED WOME cnc 6 ce ccc en weesennens 10 tol Ratio of back gears, 3-step cone....... ».e...9 1-3 and 9% to 1 CR SR Te hh ae is si oe a0 2: paws ace Diameter of countershaft pulleys, in. a Speed of countershaft, rev. per Min..........sssecceses 125 UE ee eee ; ; , Distance between centers, 8-ft. bed, in...... ; Diameter nose of spindle, In.......... 5 ibe eater wee 2 7-16 Diameter of tailstock spindle, in..... The Roe Blast Furnace Stock Distributer. BY B. G. KLUGH. In blast furnace operations no factor is concededly of greater importance than the distribution of the stock in charging. However desirable the stock in physical and chemical characteristics, or however perfect be the design and equipment, the operations will be hope- lessly handicapped if the stock is place in the furnace with improper relation of the lump to the fine stock. In all skip filled furnaces, where the stock is placed in the hopper, it enters by sliding off an inclined plane. Thus the lumps will attain a higher velocity than the fine ore and so be arranged in a vertical section on one side of the hopper, besides being projected continu- ously so inside the furnace. In hand filled furnaces the problem is thought to be largely solved by continuously placing each charge } oa —— _ Rimes: i } <= | “<Q | \ % y Fr Fig. 1.—Section of Blast Furnace Top with Roe Stock Distributer. one point farther around the periphery of the hopper than the ‘preceding charge, thus getting the stock ar- ranged in parallel spirals of each kind, provided the top fillers carry out orders. Several large furnaces have clung to the more expensive method of filling, fearing the bad distribution usually incident to mechan- ical charging. A number of very ingenious appliances have been designed to correct this very obvious fault in mechan- ical charging. All of these depend upon a certain amount of mechanical appliances on top of the fur- nace, as well as a certain degree of personal attention. There are thus two important factors, neither of which is assured reliable. All experienced furnacemen agree that the fewer working parts on top of the furnace the better, and that the elimination of the personal equation is a very desirable proposition. In consideration of the above mentioned conditions the distributing device herewith described was de- signed. The illustrations, Figs. 1 to 4, show its absolute simplicity. To make the explanation of its operation plainer, suppose the skip discharge lines to lie north and January 13, 1910 NE ak ei ele A RR Se er (a — ER EN re (te cre ALS ARETE NOEL wow f i ' January 13, 1910 south. Now, as the north skip discharges, the entire skip load is cut in two equal parts in a vertical plane by the apex line of the chutes, A. The portion to the north is deflected to the side of the hopper and enters it as though no distributer were present. The portion of this skip load to the south is deflected by the in- \ a L en Fig. 2.—View of Distributer at Right Angles to Fig. 1. clined plane of the chute bottom B and enters the hop- per, cutting the north portion at right angles. The south skip in discharging its load is cut in the same way as the north skip, except that the directions are reversed as compared with the direction of the streams from the north skip. In this way every two consecutive skip loads charged enter the hopper and are distributed on four points. This is done every time tL eum f Fig 3.—Secticnal Top Plan View. in exactly the same way, without any dependence upon either man or machinery. Furthermore, since the coke is discharged directly on the chutes, the usual fall to the hopper which preva- lently breaks up the coke is avoided. Practically all other devices have added to rather than diminished this undesirable feature of breaking up coke. There being no working parts, there is nothing to clog up or interfere in any way with the operations and no atten- tion is necessary, as when constructed of heavy plate THE IRON AGE 103 the appliance will outlast an ordinary furnace lining. This distributer was put in use on furnace B of the Toledo Furnace Company, Toledo, Ohio, after about four months of its second blast. Thus there was an excellent opportunity to show the comparative work- ings of the furnace with and without the distributer. Prior to its installation the stock was tested by hand at four points several times daily. The average variation of the top of the stock was 5 ft., the maximum being 9 ft. and the minimum 1 ft. After the installation of the distributer the hand testing was continued and the variations of the four points were found never to ex- ceed 2 ft., with an average variation of 1 ft. This campaign was being made on a patched lining, and after about eight months operation the furnace devel- oped a “hot spot.” But before two days had ‘elapsed this “hot spot” extended in a ring of uniform hight entirely around the furnace. No better testimony to the uniformity of the stock distribution could be offered. The furnace was run both before and after the installation on basic, malleable and foundry iron in turn, using different classes of stock in every case. Forty-eight hours after this top was put on the tuyeres showed a more uniform heat than had ever been noted previously on this furnace. In discussing this distributer with the manager, while he would give out no figures for publication, the general statement was made that the saving in fuel lig. 4.—One Section of the Distributing Device. the uniformity of product and the increase in produc- tion more than paid for the entire cost of installation in one month. The device is protected by United States patent No. 926,357. The inventor, J. M. Roe, also has patented a modification of the distributer adapted to furnaces using a single skip car. oa Oe The United States Sherardizing Company, New Castle, Pa., has granted Sherardizing licenses to the Muerer Bros. Company, Brooklyn, N. Y.; Bromwell Brush & Wire Goods Company, Cincinnati, Ohio; West- inghouse Electric & Mfg. Company, East Pittsburgh, Pa.; Union Switch & Signal Company, Swissvale, Pa. ; Canadian General Electric Company, Toronto, Can., and National Wire Goods Company, Niles, Mich. The National Metal Molding Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., is turning out about 30 tons a day of Sherardized con- duit pipe and is now erecting a plant to double its ca- pacity, being unable to keep up with its orders. The Ernst Wiener Company, whose general offices are at 50 Church street, New York City, has opened new offices in the following cities: No. 38 Sycamore street, Petersburg, Va.; Ocala, Fla.; Toronto, Ont., Can.; Apartado 123 bis., Mexico City, Mex. New ad dresses of other branch offices are as follows: Los Angeles, 223 W. H. Hellman Building; Philadelphia, 1103 Land Title Building; San Francisco, 112 Market street. 104 THE IRON AGE January 13, 1910 American and European Machine Shop Methods.—l. The Shops and the Industrial Schools. BY WILLIAM H. DOOLEY.* As an American goes about among the machine and engineering factories of Europe he is greatly sur- prised at the difference in the organization of the metal industries in Europe and the United States. The European factories do not utilize machinery and all sorts of devices to save manual labor, which is carried out so extensively in the United States. Then, again, there is lack of the division of labor in the factories. In all the European factories they attempt to make all kinds of tools, while in the United States the industry is so highly specialized and each factory makes only a few lines of tools, and in a great many cases only one type of machine. As a result of this difference in or- ganization the majority of American manufacturers can undersell in European territory the native tool manufacturers, and this despite the ‘lower wages paid in Europe. The American machine tool houses, which, for ex- ample, are engaged in making boring mills may be ex- pected not only to turn out a highly specialized tool, but to offer various sizes of this tool in a highly per- fected form. Such American establishments can hope to undersell, every day in the year, a European firm which occasionally makes, and then to order, a tool of the same type. This fact is recognized all over Europe. The same statement applies to lathes. In other words, we owe our ability to excell the foreigner to superior shop organization and to superior technical knowledge. Our Superior Shop Organization. The question may be asked, Can’t the European manufacturer copy our shop organization? The pres- ent shop organization in our country is distinctly American and is due to the tendency among the artisan class of this country to abandon the slow hand proc- esses. This tendency has been as strong as the tend- ency in Europe has been to disregard machine proc- esses. Moreover, there has been developed among the (metal workers) laboring classes in the United States a mobility such as is unknown elsewhere in the world. In this way ideas and methods have been car- ried from one shop to another. Another advantage which has contributed to the rapid development of our methods of manufacture in the United States is the comparative freedom from in herited and over-conservative ideas. This country has entered upon its industrial development (particularly the metal trades) unfettered by the old order of things and with a tendency on the part of the people to seek the best and quickest way to accomplish and manufac- ture every piece of machinery. In all the European countries or communities where there are metal works and where it is the prin- cipal industry the transition from the household or small establishment to the plant or factory system was hampered by guilds, elaborate national and local re- strictions and by the national reluctance with which a people accustomed to generations of fixed methods of work, in which they have acquired a large degree of skill, abandon those methods for new ones. It was natural, also, that in spite of the superior advantages ot machine methods, hand processes of manufacture should still continue side by side with them in the ma- chine shops. On the other hand, the European manufacturer has the advantage of having the disposition and govern- ment on his side. This is a very important point at SS * Principal Lawrence Industrial School, Lawrence, Mass. this period of the world’s history, because competi- tion, which naturally exists in a form at least equally acute between the manufacturers of different coun- tries, is liable to be seriously handicapped in the in- dustrial race by want of complete knowledge of the circumstances which either hinder or assist their rivals. Hence a very prominent place must be given to the aptitudes, dispositions and habitual practices of workmen. The European manufacturer is not troubled by ignorant labor leaders insisting on terms which could not be granted without serious injury to the busi- ness in which they are engaged. The apprenticeship system is in vogue because the manufacturers have more faith in their workers than we have. Germany Our Nearest Rival, Of all the European countries Germany is the near- est rival to this country. The average American does not realize the gain made by this country. The Ger- man manufacturers are putting more engineering thought into their designs than at any other time in the history of tool construction. The mechanical skill still holds in favor of the Americans, and will prob- ably remain to their credit in the case of those Ameri can firms which are paying close attention to the draw- ing rooms. Every tool that is imported into Germany is subject to scrutiny, and if engineering skill backed up by careful mathematical deductions can make an improvement, the German will be the first to discover the fact. Within a short time a new machine will be on the market with some improvements. The great industrial section of Germany lies along the Rhine, and particularly the iron steel works are carried on principally in Disseldorf, Essen, Duisburg, Oberhausen and Ruhrort. The modern industrial evo- lution of the Rhine District in iron and steel manufac- tures, which have attained such a remarkable develop- ment, is probably due in the first instance to the coal mines of the province and of Westphalia, which ad- joins it on the eastern side, and in the second to the great waterway of the Rhine and an excellent system of railroads. In Diisseldorf the iron and steel factories are on the outskirts of the city. The factories (iron and steel) are equipped with foundries and employ a great many men. Messrs. Haniel & Lueg employ 2000 men and make all kinds of engines and machinery. Heavy machine tools, hydraulic presses and steel ingots are sent to Glasgow and Sheffield; also crankshafts for electrical machinery in large quantities are sent to Manchester. The workingmen live in flats and not cottages. Essen does not represent the most common type of industrial community; it is simply a one-man town. In 1811, when the first crucible furnace for casting steel was set up by a poor, hard working young man, Friedrich Krupp, the total population of Essen was under 4000. In 1901 it was 183,500, out of which the Krupp contingent numbered about 84,000. Now this and a great deal more is essentially the work of one man, and it is unparalleled in the history of industry. The corporation now owns iron and coal mines, and has put up over 4000 houses. Number of Employees in Krupp Works. Steel works at Essen and proving grounds..........--. 33,917 Gruson works at Buckau...........-ee eee etree eeeeees 3,848 Shipbuilding yard at Kiel......--.--.+ ee eee err eer rece 3,746 eet, MR se eae CHRD SO OTRAS CNA e Tea ew EAS 9,896 Blast furnaces, iron ore mines, &C.........5e essere eens 11,784 IED eh acca A GG SW lee Hig SS SCN a alain Rh Reh 63,191 oo ene January 13, 1910 Apart from Krupp’s the industries are not exten- sive. The products from Krupp’s are very varied. Their fame is chiefly associated with war materials, but all kinds of finished and unfinished materials for railroads, engines, tools, mills and other industrial ap- pliances are turned out in large and small quantities. The shops have been built at very different dates and vary accordingly; but as a whole they possess in a marked degree that order and cleanliness which is the most distinguishing feature of German factories. This extends to the foundries, where one uswally finds dirt, smoke and confusion. A specialty here is the casting of very large ingots of crucible steel; it is a remarkable sight and an ob- ject lesson in German methods. Ingots of 85 tons are cast—a feat which is not attempted elsewhere. The steel is melted in small crucibles which are carried by _ hand, and therefore contain no more than two men can lift. Scores of such crucibles go to the making of an ingot of considerable size, and they occupy many fur- naces, which are ranged on both sides of the foundry, with the ingot mold in the middle. At the signal the furnaces are opened and the crucibles are drawn out and seized by a small army of workmen, who run them down to the mold and pour them in. It is clear that to do the thing on a large scale perfect method in prepa- ration and order in execution are necessary. The maneuver is carried out with military precision and promptness. In a moment the place is aglow with the white heat of the furnace, the figures run from all sides and come staggering down in pairs with the pots full of liquid steel. It is a scene of intense activity, but without confusion. One after another the glowing pots are emptied; the molten metal runs like thick soup and plumps into the mold with a bright sputter. In a few minutes it is all over; the furnaces close again, the used crucibles are thrown aside, and already the cast mass begins to congeal and change color, while presently it dulls to yellow, and the tint deepens as you watch. The steel so made is the purest known, close grained, homogeneous and uniform throughout. This is not done in this country (United States), where the impatience of hand processes, which is characteristic and has led to such remarkable developments of auto- matic machinery, has its weak side. The most recently built workshops at Krupp’s are quite up to date in their construction—light, spacious and airy, but they are in no way superior to the ones in Sheffield, England. German Factories Clean and Orderly, The most striking feature of German iron and steel factories is their clean, orderly and well kept condi- tion. These qualities seem to be universal, and they extend to the dirtiest and most untidy departments. The German foundries were a revelation to me. They are as clean and well kept and almost as light as any other shop. The remarkable order maintained is sys- tematic, and in a large measure intended to promote the prevention of accidents. In the accident preven- tion rules of the Rhine-Westphalian Engineering and Small Iron Industries Association I find in the first paragraph that “The gangway in all workshops must be broad enough to exclude as far as possible injury to persons using them by machinery or transmission parts in mo- tion. They must be kept in good condition and must not be blocked by the heaping of material or the trans- portation of articles.” Compare this with most of our (United States) en- gineering shops. There is no room. The different parts of the American shops are congested and manu- factured or half manufactured articles are lying pro- miscuously about in all directions, blocking the fan- way. The entire freedom from such disorderliness in German shops and workrooms undoubtedly conduces to efficiency as well as to safety, and it is secured chiefly through the habits of order inculcated into all THE IRON AGE 105 alike—workmen, managers and owners—by the mili- tary discipline they have alike undergone. Fencing of machinery, however, is less complete and costly than that which is required in most factory districts in Eng- land and America. With regard to the installation of machinery and workshop appliances, the German establishments are, generally speaking, quite up to the mark. They make use of electric power, automatic tools and similar mod- ern devices to as great an extent as any in England or America. There is no hesitation in introducing inno- vations and no opposition on the part of the work peo- ple. Machinery and tools are procured from any part of the Continent or any country without regard to any consideration but suitability; but Germany is year by year becoming more self-sufficing in this respect. Their small tools are as good as the American, their heavy ones as the English. Outside the rooms, German workshops are well provided with sanitary washing and dressing accom- modations. The workmen are more cleanly and care- ful in their habits than the English; they generally keep a working suit of clothes and change before and after work. Consequently, lockers are provided. Baths are common, particularly shower baths with hot and cold water, and in summer they are much used. The practice of providing comforts and conveniences for them (the employees) is commoner in Germany than in this country or England. The work people in the German iron and steel fac- tories are good, steady, regular and trustworthy, but not as quick as the Americans, but they do what they are told and do it well. German mechanics are often seen working on an engineering order from England and they use the original drawing with the English measures. Could the American mechanic do the same? The German mechanics are not in the least inventive; they never make suggestions, nor is there any system of encouraging them to do so, but they keep the rules and do not shirk. This is one of the principal reasons why the German industry is so strong. Werking Hours in Germany. Roughly speaking, the working hours in the metal works are 10 a day. The following time schedules, taken from various representative machinery works, will show exactly the length and distribution of the day’s work. Hours in Enginecring Works at Diisseldorf. NS i cay ata ea Ane ede eC Ca bay 00s Cha adaes 6.30 a.m, Peer ere Te re eee COT Tiree Ss aa Cakecwmilk oem oa deere Caraibi a dawate eee 12 to 1.30 p.m, a tar ik al wads gl Se ah aaa RON rte a 4.15 to 4.30 p.m, 35 da ab cign a Wa cares 6 Waa ale heater ee a ee 6.30 p.m, Total 12 hours, minus 2 hours for meals, = 10 hours. Week, 60 hours. Hours in Machinery Works at Diisseldorf. RE Ta: Nine ied gerd tegen aii es a ok Se aah ai ak ea ak aca al ac 7 a.m, SE 64 cc enna ee te keke wees wes i Demd aqae 12 to 1.30 p.m. CE 1 k67:6s Che OCC ERE CRRA WLR REAR EARS kaa Oa 6.30 p.m. Total, 11% hours, minus 1% hours for meals = 10 hours. Week, 60 hours. Hours in Outlery Works at Solingen. ND 5 sara os whee aed ws Rate aul lo bo ww ee oreo ae a he 7 a.m. ES bs coc nc S14 NGS cena cians 9 to 9.15 a.m. (youthful workers), 9 to 9.30 a.m, I saa: aterm cidioa i d':aCcard. & taal rita aL or ae 12 to 1.30 p.m, Dt aC ART Ne PERE Oh ee ....4t0 4.15 p.m. (youthful workers), 4 to 4.30 p.m. CS kid ww nich aoe ale ae Ch Wi ween ewan wale eelieneeelaee 7 p.m, Tota), 12 hours minus 2 hours for meals = 10 hours. Week, 60 hours for men, 58% hours for women (law forbids the employ- ment of women after 5.30 p.m. on Saturdays and on the eve of holidays) Hours in Engineering Works at Chemnitz. DL dada nedeawn eer was dees alde aaa 6 a.m. (winter, 7 a.m.) Sreakfast ....... ee ee ee ee 8 to 8.30 a.m. es oc. a ba Sed ha heard ONS beds @lnh rata 12 to 1 p.m. BO ek edie dsl oe eRCbaeisenedeneaw loca eon 4 to 4.15 p.m. CN Siac bie ees EGET Ae Se hieiee eee 6 p.m. (winter, 7 p.m.) Total, 12 hours minus 1% hours for meals = 10% hours. Weck, 6114 hours. Hours in Steel Works at Essen (Krupp). SD chien eC aM eit hye Sinee Ge Eathe wm bw Wid Geb dim oa'o 16a @ 0 bre 6 a.m. OS RE a ee a ees Ft ee cso coche e ie bigas aa bhbe she's s seo eee 12 to 1.30 p.m. Ps Sid bain othailed tists +6 ob0s bab ob a he's oe 4 to 4.15 p.m. Pesaran baok hh aaa Cone chs eee bows ewe eee 6 p.m Total, 12 hours minus 2 hours for meals = 10 hours. Week, 60 hours, ” The great difference between England and Ger- many is that Germany averages about one day more than England. This difference is due to the half holiday on Saturdays and difference in meal hours in England. The deliberateness and respect for meals is as characteristic of Germany as indifference to them and hurry are of the United States. Wages are but little less in the manufacturing (Rhineland) section of Germany than in Germany. In engineering workshops in Prussia, fitters—called engineers in England—earning 36 shillings ($8.76 a week; men doing the same work in England were get- ting 38 shillings ($9.25) a week, the standing wage of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, but the week is 60 hours in Prussia against 54 in England. Industrial Education Essential for Our Continued Supremacy. The writer has already pointed out that the Ameri- can manufacturer of machine tools excells the Euro- pean manufacturer in shop efficiency and superior technical knowledge. But the European shop manu- facturers are learning wonderfully well how to get the maximum capacity—of work out of tools. Of course, it takes time, and one can often see two men on a gear cutter, where the American designer of tools never con- templated that more than one man should be employed. On the whole they do not yet understand, in the great majority of the German shops, how to operate the greatest number of tools with the least number of men. This calls for the highest degree of intelligence and skill, such as is found to-day in the most enhanced form in our best American shops. But this is some- thing that can be copied and learned in a very short time, and if we Americans propose to keep ahead in shop efficiency and in our ability to run a shop with the least possible number of men, we must look to the training of our workmen from boyhood up. This can be best done not by the crude methods of the machine shop, but by this experience supplemented by industrial education. There is a well founded belief on the Continent of Europe that the loss of English trade in machine tools has been due to this very lack of industrial education. The Germans, on the other hand, by an elaborate sys- tem of education, have been able to educate their workers to such a degree of efficiency that they no longer purchase machine tools from England. How Industrial Education Sprung Up in Europe, In the early days of the last century, and in some places to-day, the machine shop trade of Europe was conducted on a small scale by a master with a number of workers and a few apprentices. The master took the boys and taught them during a certain number of years the machine trade. He was legally bound to do this. This was, as history proves, a good method only so long as the master had time to teach the apprentice and the apprentice had time enough to spare to learn all about his trade. But when the modern era of pros- perity was being ushered in by the great political, so- cial and industrial revolutions, the master was so busy maintaining himself against the competition of others and keeping up with the technical advancement of his trade that time failed him for the instruction of his apprentice. On the other hand, the apprentice found that the trade had developed to such an extent and such complexity that he could no longer learn its fun- damentals by mere activity in his master’s workshops. There was no time to teach nor to learn. Teaching and learning had to be done in some other place and at some other time. Whee could it better be done than THE IRON AGE January 13, 1910 in a meeting of all the apprentices with teachers to in- struct—in other words—in a school. When could meetings or schools best be held but outside of work- ing hours, namely, in the evenings and on Sundays. Thus we see the first stages of industrial or tech- nical education in the metal trades—sessions to meet the needs of apprentices—on Sunday mornings and work day evenings. These schools are called continu- ation schools, because originally they were the evening schools for elementary school graduates. The best in- dustrial schools in Europe are in Germany, and in or- der to give an idea what these schools are doing the writer will describe one of the best continuation schools for machinists’ apprentices at Munich. (To Be Continued.) ~~ + The Philadelphia Foundrymen’s Association. The regular monthly meeting of the Philadelphia Foundrymen’s Association was held on the evening of January 6 at the Manufacturers’ Club, with President Thomas Devlin in the chair. After transacting routine business and receiving reports of standing committees, the following were elected to membership in the asso- ciation: Matlack & Bates, pig iron and coke merchants, Pennsylvania Building, Philadelphia, represented by H. C. Matlack; Marwick, Mitchell & Co., Drexel Build- ing, Philadelphia, represented by A. W. Norman. The subject of corporate taxation by the Federal Government, as provided for in the recent tariff act, was again brought up for discussion. It was decided that a special meeting of the association should be held on the evening of January 17 for more thorough con- sideration of this important matter, and that corporate interests in the foundry and allied trades be invited to be present and participate in the discussion, en which further action by the association would be based. There being no further nominations, in addition to those recommended by the nominating committee, the following officers were unanimously elected for the en- suing year: President, Thomas Devlin; vice-president, Elmer E. Brown; treasurer, Josiah Thompson; secre- tary, Howard Evans; executive committee, Walter Wood, chairman, H. L. Haldeman, Thomas M. Ey- non, S. S. Knight and Walter T. MacDonald; trustees, Thomas Devlin, Josiah Thompson and Howard Evans; official chemist, George C. Davis. The paper presented for the evening discussion was on “ Electric Furnaces and Electric Furnace Products,” by Henry M. Lane, editor of Castings, Cleveland, Ohio. The paper was illustrated with a large number of lan- tern slides, while samples of abrasive products, refrac- tory materials and metals and metal alloys made in the electric furnace were shown. The various types of electric furnaces in use in this country and abroad were described, as well as their products, such as car- borundum, alundum, aloxite and other abrasives, arti- ficial graphite, pig iron, steel, aluminum and ferro- alloys. Duplex processes, in which the final treatment of metals is made in the electric furnace, were particu- larly referred to. The most important use of the elec- tric furnace for steel work has thus far been in com- petition with crucible steel. It might be adapted for the final treatment of molten iron to be used for gray iron castings, for purposes demanding stringent speci- fications. Mr. Lane was given a unanimous vote of thanks for his interesting paper, after which luncheon was served. The Western Society of Engineers, 1735 Monad- nock Block, Chicago, has elected the following officers for 1910: President, J. W. Alvord; first vice-president, O. P. Chamberlain; second vice-president, A. Bement; third vice-president, W. K. Hatt; treasurer, A. Reich- mann; trustees, L. E. Ritter, G. M. Brill, W. W. Cur- tiss. January 13, 1910 Agricultural Machinery in France. Paris, December 23, 1909.—During the recent de- bate in the French Chamber of Deputies on the new customs tariff M. Plissonnier made a most interesting speech on the subject of agricultural machinery, of which the following is a slightly abridged report: “T am a purchaser and at the same time a builder of agricultural machines. I was one of the first to make these machines in France. My brother is also a manufacturer. I have been in business 4o years. I construct about a third of the machines I sell, I pur- chase another third from my French colleagues who are makers of special machines and the rest I buy abroad—a few in Germany, more in England, and finally in America, the home of the world’s great in- dustry. “ At the present moment Italy, to encourage the use of agricultural machinery and thus eke out the scanty supply of labor, allows premiums to the buyers of ma- chines. Tunis, a country under our protectorate, has abolished the customs duty on machines. Eastern countries also facilitate their importation. In France the difficulty of finding labor tends to increase the use of machines. “The American manufacturers who rule the mar- ket, not only in France but throughout the world, have —and this is their strength—a capital of a milliard francs ($200,000,000). They employ over 100,000 workmen and annually produce finished goods to the value of $112,000,000. These figures were obtained by M. Pecard Mabille when he went to the Chicago Ex- position. The annual output is 470,000 sowers, 128,000 manure spreaders, 655,000 instruments for bean and beet root cultivation, 790,000 harrows, 1,311,000 plows, 115,000 harvesters and binders, 60,000 simple harvest- ers, 62,000 hay cutters, 236,000 horse rakes, 367,000 mowers, 19,500 grain sorters, 76,263 corn shellers and 11,369 horse or steam threshers. The French makers, M. Pecard Mabille wrote, must specialize and combine to establish prices, so as to sell as cheaply as possible with a fair profit. This is what is done by American manufacturers; they have all (at least the large firms) the same terms, to which they adhere strictly, thus avoiding cutting prices. “In 1907 France imported 34,839 tons of agricui- tural machinery, valued at about $4,800,000. Of this 22,205 tons came from the United States, 3989 tons from Great Britain, 2391 tons from Canada, 3655 tons from Germany, 1299 tons from Belgium and the re- mainder from other countries. “T must do justice to the efforts of French manu- facturers. I have bought from firms which specialize and sell as cheaply as or even more cheaply than the Americans. All the firms who have taken up special lines show good results. Thus, in 1907, French makers exported machines to a value of $1,270,500. The 1908 exports were valued at $1,382,000. At the present mo- ment these firms which have the necessary capital and plant have specialized certain machines and have closed the French market to the foreigner. Thus, for- eign horse rakes, haymakers and extirpators are no longer imported; several works in the north and east, at Nevers, at Montataire, furnish all the machines of these kinds required by French agriculture. One maker at Bourbon-Laney has supplied over 12,000 this year. All these manufacturers sell cheaper than the Ameri- cans. There are two large makers of grain sorters, at Niort and at Paris, who are masters of the market. I am not aware that any of these articles are imported. Threshing engines and machines are made at Vierzon, Nevers, Orleans, Chateauroux and Liancourt. Hardly any foreign made threshing machines are now em- ployed in France, only some 15 or 20 English machines entering our ports each year. “As to vineyard apparatus, pumps, presses, filters, &c., no foreign manufactures are used. Factories exist THE IRON AGE 107 at Lyons, ‘n the Ille and Vilaine, at Amboise, Paris, Beaune, Villefranche, Carcassonne and Bordeaux and are everywhere prosperous. The milk question has as- sumed great importance of recent years. Until quite lately cream separators were all of foreign make. A Cambrai firm took up their manufacture and can now successfully withstand foreign competition. As to root cutters, these are made in eastern France where cast iron is creapest. They are no longer imported. The same is the case with the special plows known as Bra- bants. M. Bajac of Liancourt has specialized these, and neither American, British nor German firms have sought to imitate him. “T have mentioned the persevering efforts of these French manufacturers, who all commenced business in a very modest manner and now rule the French mar- ket. I will now compare a few French and foreign prices. The 75-liter cream separator from Sweden sells at $35; the English Alexandra, go liters, at $40; the Cambrai firm I mentioned sells a 75-liter separator at $30.80. The McCormick mower is sold at $60 to $64; the Wood at the latter price. French mowers cost about the same. The importers of these American ma- chines sell them wholesale to their French agents at $54. The French constructors sell similar machines at $47 to $48. Some 7ooo French mowers are made yearly and nearly 40,000 American machines are im- ported during the same period. An American mower imported into France pays $2.40 for case and packing, $3.60 freight, $10 duty, 80 cents insurance and various formalities, making $16.80 in all. In 1888 1000 reapers were sold; now 40,000. Then, to sell a couple of dozen I had to make application after application to large landowners; now all farmers alike use them. The peasant who has but one horse no longer reaps with a scythe; he buys a machine. An 8-hp. British threshing machine costs from $980 to $1020; a Vierzon (French) machine costs $600, $700 and $800. The Ransome ma- chine pays $82.44 duty, $55 freight from England to Orleans, and various small extras, total $157, or about 25 per cent. on its sale price.” coccinea iiatiininnsemen Positive Expansion Bolt Tests. A. C. Seaman, 1638 Hutchinson street, Philadel- phia, Pa., has had tests made of the %-in. and %-in. diameter positive expansion bolts which he manufac- tures, by the Riehle Brothers Testing Machine Com- pany, which show the following tensile strength as compared with other makes of such bolts: Other Seamah. makes. Pounds. Pounds. Oe Ee ee re ee rey 6,020 3,210 Pl an) Ua et a ish gir oe ae eater a erase 12,500 9,820 The test of the Seaman bolts was made in granite. The %-in. bolt stood a test for tensile strength at a load of 12,500 lb., when the bolt broke at the thread. This is taken as proving that the Seaman type expan- sion withstands a greater tensile strain than the bolt itself. ——— The Colson Hardware Company and the Georgia Hardware Company, Brunswick, Ga., have been con- solidated under the name of the Butts-Dubberly Hard- ware Company. On February 1 the new company will move into enlarged quarters, a three-story brick building at the corner of Gloucester and Grand streets, which will be fitted with modern fixtures and conveniences. The company will carry a large stock of hardware and machinery supplies, and in addition to doing a regular retail business will conduct a wholesale department. It will be incorporated with a capital of $75,000, all of which is to be paid in by March 10. The combined stocks of merchandise invoice approximately $60,000, and the new company takes these over clear of all liabilities. 108 THE IRON AGE January 13, 1910 MECHANICALLY HELD IMPURITIES IN STEEL. A Method of Eliminating Oxide, Slag and Gases and Preventing Segregation and Piping—The Place of the Electric Furnace. BY GEORGE By mechanically held impurities the writer means oxide, slag (whether ordinary or manganese silicate and sulphide) and gases thrown out of solution by solidification. Heretofore it has been deemed more im- portant to make steel as free as possible from certain of the chemically combined or the alloyed impurities— mainly phosphorus, sulphur, silicon and copper—and apart from oxide and blowholes, little or no attention has been paid to the mechanically held impurities. It is plain that mere chemical purity is not in the least a guarantee of mechanical excellence in steel. Indeed, it is not perfectly clear that there is any gain at all in quality over that of not excessively impure steels. (Dr. P. H. Dudley thinks that the poor quality of pres- ent day steel rails is due not to high phosphorus and sulphur, but to entrapped slag, and Professor Howe agrees with him.) Moreover, the probability of the mechanically held impurities being detrimental is one that has always been recognized, and has of late years been strongly indicated by experimental work. (How- arth, Andrews, Bannister, Rosenhain, Job, Snow, Fay, Howard, Wickhorst, Campbell and probably others of whom the writer is not aware.) Yet in spite of these considerations there has been compartively little effort that I am aware of to eliminate such impurities, oxide, blowholes and piping excepted. Partial Correctives Now in Use. It is true that it has been recommended to hold open hearth steel in the ladle as long as possible before teem- ing into the molds, in order to give these impurities a chance to rise to the top and escape or join the slag, but this is obviously an inadequate and risky performance. It is also true that thermite has been used by W. Mathesius to retard the solidification of steel in the mold, but this again, although an important improve- ment and far better than the first mentioned plan, is still somewhat inadequate and uncertain for these rea sons: The heat of the thermite reaction is only at the top of the mold, and we cannot be sure that it will al- ways penetrate to the bottom; the heat is not under con- trol and perhaps not long enough continued at the criti- cal point of solidification; and lastly, segregation and piping are only partly prevented in any case. Again, it is true that the Riemer process of preventing piping, where a blowpipe flame is applied to the top of the liquid steel in the mold, with the design of keeping the top of the ingot liquid, is a valuable and effective one (and incidentally also the preheating of the mold very effectually prevents segregation, it seems, and greatly lessens blowholes, but this process can have but little effect upon entangled slag. Moreover, it does not en- tirely accomplish its object of avoiding piping. The same criticisms doubtless also apply to the recent Had- field patent, in which coal and blast of air replace the blowpipe flame of Riemer. Still, again, it is true that Krupp lined the upper part and Wellman the entire mold with nonconducting material. But although this is a step in the right direction, it is obviously nothing more and is far less important than the very great forward strides of Riemer and of Hadfield, just con- sidered. Finally, it is true that in the crucible and also in the electric process of making steel the molten steel is “killed” or allowed to stand liquid for a considerable time (and in Sejournet’s process is cooled and re- melted) before it is teemed, and it is to the relative freedom from oxide, slag and gases that the superiority AUCHY, PHILADELPHIA. of crucible and of electric steel is attributed. But as Stead has said: “It is a mistake to secure the greatest freedom from oxidation and slag in making steel, and then pour it through air into molds, which means oxi- dation and slag freshly formed.” Moreover, in the crucible it is essential that the ferromanganese be added immediately before teeming. But the manganese sili- cate and sulphide thus formed do not always perhaps have time enough in that case to rise to the surface. Still another difficulty is that the gases thrown out of solution by solidification do not escape. Also segrega- tion and piping in the ingot are not avoided. Steel Must Be **Killed*® in the Molds, Whether we like it or not, there is obviously but one way to free steel from oxide, blowholes, gases, manganese silicate, sulphide and other slag, to prevent blisters, ghost lines and markings (except those that come from subsequent operations) in the finished steel, and avoid segregation and piping in the ingot We must kill in the molds. We must hold the steel liquid, after the addition of a deoxodizer (ferromanganese and ferrosilicon or high silicon ferromanganese, when the mold is basic lined), in an electrically heated and preheated refractory lined iron mold, or a graphite mold if small (the mold preferably if not inevitably basic lined in either case), and in a reducing at- mosphere for a considerable time, in part at a tem- perature barely above, alternating with one barely be- low, the solidification point of the steel. Thus we give the gases, the manganese silicate and sulphide formed from the ferromanganese addition, and the common slag mixed in with the metal, all ample opportunity to rise to the surface. Afterward, to prevent segregation and piping, the heat playing on the outside of the graphite mold or on the top of the steel in the refrac- tory lined iron mold, must be gradually lowered—that at the top last in the first case, so that piping will be les sened and segregation prevented, after which when the ingot is cold the pipe may be altogether destroyed by remelting the extreme top of the ingot and again cooling gradually. The mold, if a graphite one, after being sawed off at the bottom, may then be lifted from the ingot, or the mold may be seized by a machine and inverted (as must be done with an iron mold), thus dumping the ingot out from the top, with the advan- tage of having the mold at once ready for use again. 3ut in that case, of course, the taper of the mold must be from top down and the steel must be top teemed, both of which steps are earnestly recommended by Howe. It would seem that the best method of heating in the case of the graphite mold would probably be to have it surrounded at a convenient distance by a mov- able refractory lined screen and heated by electric arcs within this screen. The reducing atmosphere is probably best secured by a previously placed layer of charcoal at the bottom both within and without the mold, and mold and screen provided with a fire clay or fire clay lined cover. Or, if the mold is a refractory lined iron one, then the best method of heating would be by radi- ation from an arc inside the cover. Making the Furmace the Mold. Or an obvious corollary to this process would be to combine mold and furnace in one; that is, to melt and refine as well as kill and cool in the mold—in other words, to.use the furnace as a mold, omitting the teem- January 13, 1910 THE IRON AGE 109 ing, and after removing the slag, killing the steel and remelting the top as above described, to dump out the cold ingot directly from the furnace. This would in- volve using, on the one hand, an electric furnace of such a type that, is in the Stassano, the bath is not agitated by a current of electricity passing through it (the mechanical agitation, of course, being stopped when the killing is started), or using, on the other hand, the old crucible principle, heating the crucible by electric arcs as above described, and preferably, if not inevitably, using a basic lining to avoid the con- tinuous reduction of silicon from the crucible by the manganese and the carbon, and the continuous forma- tion of carbon monoxide gas. The points of difference in this process from the Stassano, on the one hand, or the old crucible process, on the other, would be: 1. The heat treatment. 2. The withdrawal of the steel from the furnace solid in- stead of liquid. 3. The elimination of molds and teem- ing. 4. A product absolutely, and not merely relative- ly, free from oxide, blowholes, slag, segregation and piping. The practical difficulties to be apprehended would be “stickers,” cracked walls, diminished output and increased cost. The first would not probably be more serious than now. The second also would not be more so than it is now in the open hearth ladle. With re- gard to the third, it must be understood that operations would not have to be suspended until the charge had entirely cooled down; but as soon as the heat was turned off the furnace could be withdrawn from the overhanging cover and electrodes and a_ freshly charged one substituted. As to the fourth, the cost would be no greater than in the present auxiliary elec- tric. Preventing Segregation by Gradual Cooling, The statement made in the course of this description that segregation would be prevented by cooling gradu- ally is one that would of course be disputed by most. The writer’s reasons for believing it, in the face of the strong and plausible theory to the contrary, are briefly these: In the first place, it must be remembered that testi- mony is not absolutely agreed on this point. Professor Howe, in the Transactions of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, 1907, p. 77, says that “the effect of ingot size and of the rate of cooling is in dispute; ” and although the theory that slow cooling favors and rapid cooling hinders segregation is so strong and logical a one that he himself cannot but help advocate it, at the same time, with judicial and