The Iron Age 1912-02-22: Vol 89 Iss 8

THE IRON Established 1855 Forms of a Foun New York, February 22, 1912 Vol. 89: No. 8 dry Cost System Outline of the Method of Determining the Cost of Castings, Cores, Etc., at Plant of the Ferro Machine & Foundry Company, Cleveland A complete foundry cost system that has been grad- ually developed to meet the needs of that company to pro- vide accurate records of foundry costs and operations is being used by the Ferro Machine & Foundry Company, Cleveland, Ohio. This system starts with a daily metal report or charge sheet, Fig. 1, containing blanks for filling in car numbers and quantities of pig iron and other ma- terials that go into the cupolas and air furnace. This daily report is made out by the chemist who has charge of the charging floor. Place is also provided on this re- port for an analysis report made by the chemist of each car of iron. The chemist sends duplicates of this report to the office and to the foundry superintendent. From the daily metal report a monthly cost sheet, Fig. 2, is compiled showing the total cost of all iron chergen during the month. To the! cost price of| this iron is added thei. freight charges,| x the cost of un- loading and the cost of deliver- ing the iron in the cupolas. This sheet shows the quan- tity, price, total cost and price per pound. From the to- tal charge ot ductions are made for scrap iron, defective Castings and loss in melting, the waste being Wi CLEVELAND METAL CUPOLA REPORT MATERIAL CAR NO iit) 4 obid_| I ool, monn Ib! || bddl [1 bbl teel Scrap crap Iron oke mie. dtd |_| Isis} || sls! | Islet | | legal imestone Transverse Test 3000 Deflection Ly Piston Ring Test 23 Fig. ea Metal Report or r Cha figured at 7 per cent. Making these de- ductions the balance shows the quantity and cost of good castings. A further deduction of the foundry cost gives the total cost per pound. Blanks are also provided on this report for the cost of producing different types of castings and for comparative cost and percentage state- ments, the comparison being made in any other desired period. The amount of pig iron and steel scrap on hand at any time is shown on the standard stock report. A complete record of the work of each man in the foundry is kept in a daily foundry report or molding sheet, Fig. 3. During the forenoon the time-keeper gets from the molders the number of molds they are to make and the number of ladles they will require, then estimates the total heat required for the day and makes a report to the chemist as’ to how large a heat should be provided for } 457 THE FERRO MacHINE é fouNDRY Go. REPORT [ roe ey ee | vdigseee | Hebbhl Rood Vdddds. 2s imlgeae | eBppL biol | bpbid | Vidal. ry izn_| ar Wheets | | highiob| Wlolalolol | Wraldalsteci scrap Scrap iron | Bd Unganese dae ea Peete —— | Transverse Tet 3200" ieeetee Rn cd bch ee ee ANALYSIS REPORT . ae oe s hung in the wNo | si] s | P| | oc | tc [own [si | s | Pp] ma loc fre | |, pcs on teat 000 BAS, 021,490.48 294.9.58 Yaia4| BIR 3S) Md the day. In the afternoon after pouring-off time the time- keeper fills in the number of molds each man has actually made. He then fills in the report with each molder’s wages, if working piece work, or the number of hours if working by the day. He also fills out the blanks showing the number of pieces in a mold and the number of pieces cast. During the morning the time-keeper makes out a dis- count report, Fig. 4, and sends it to a sorter or inspector. This discount sheet contains the molder’s name, the firm name for which casting is being made, the article, pattern number and number of pieces that were made. At the completion of the day’s work the sorter fills in the number of good castings, scrap castings, broken castings and weight per piece. This re- port is returned to the time- keeper who is [| thus provided OHIO ab Y Date— | AIR FURNACE REPORT SALTY +. 19 ee mation to fill in the daily foun- dry report as to the number of broken and scrap castings. The _helper’s time is also added to the cost of mold- ing. After the discount report asia | \dob} Tala Jt JA cine Rall Fee hielia =sosem . filled out it 3.50) _| each wmolder Boe og may know what the inspector has reported. In the foun- dry cost card, Fig. 5, is shown the estimated and actual metal cost, core cost, molding cost and the percentage of overhead charge. From these figures which are taken from the daily foundry report the actual cost can be quickly rge ecal Size About 5x7% In. ‘ascertained. The actual metal cost is of course obtained from the unit cost given in Fig. 2. When an order is sent to the foundry superintendent a stenographer makes out the foundry production order, Fig. 6. Duplicates of these orders, on different colored papers, go to the cost department, pattern clerk, core room and shipping department, the one going to the shipping clerk having place for filling out the record of shipment. By means of these orders the clerk in charge of the foun- dry cost card is able to check against the shipping clerk. The duplicate going to the pattern clerk notifies him to have pattern sent down to the foundry. The order to the with the infor-, 458 THE IRON AGE The Ferro Machine & Foundry Co., Cleveland. Ohio Cost of oe ren i in Cupola ber, Vat -eoenvll Lope ae et tt | yi AddAd lider) badass] ll | gE Home Scrap 4dtss0)_ |AAeel lad -A [lll | Steel Scrap | Ilda (Aoleel | bdeoloT [ILI L TT SURGE Ble ee od sayz} | ll [saat ||| | a Te Rd re -iekeet pice tt om Defective —— < . idsbolol | LES Viazelss|_| | | | Pies ating eee oe |] th PUT TE ee PET |. | TOTAL DEDUCTIONS seit PTT eal 111 | Serge TT eee tT a FOUNDRY cost _| | | | | | PT PTT idatets |1 Fuel —__ bespblsobt VF TT bhiwled || “cn ———Fpeeeerrirs eee TL = Hee eT ed tL - Peer BEERS Ole Re cy TCC Teepe TT "DISTRIBUTION or METAL 1/1/11 9 [i] PtTtit Pi | } Cost of Producing Cylinder Castings Teast tt Hab will |% Cost of Producing Cored Castings eal | th | | blldslert [11 | Cost of Producing Plain Castings lab tolo, Fe | bldhavaA lilt | Home Scrap Hele HT bade [1h I | ct PMT ij | HEE WT || PTT TT a ee CUE Ee i ie bugasia 1eeane ost Jos a ee ee! of 33 I Ne i at -2ee7 a rN h £930 zee cme] Ba A r : | ee | Hl Detective Casting cain [222052 | (4g 4, ee ea |] Loco in Melting _| sn eee ee TP ronan xoss Ppa tas | ase {fF | itn Liat 1. & Re RS eR See SNS eet |_]_ rorat.rropucr. 70002 | zooco|oooo | dt Fig. 2—Monthly Cost Sheet, Yellow Loose. Leaf Sheet, 8%x13%4 In. The Ferro Machine & Foundry Co., Cleveland, Ohio DISCOUNT REPORT le Lddeas| pie ele Lice eel ck BS i ee ee Te FeERROMAGHINE é fouNpRy Go: DAILY FOUNDRY REPORT FOR Form No.8. 134-1-12 February 2. IQI2 5 =f | \ ™ | L Nil a aa or | a a ———: | | i is ro i. nes NTs yt i cot Tt ns 9 } 2 Se 3 or | i Fig. 4—Discount Report —? by Timekeeper. White Paper, Ruled in Red and Blue; In. Wide and 18 In. Long. 7 oe Red and Blue; 13% In. White Fig. 3—Daily Foundry Report or Molding Sheet. in Paper, Ruled r\ 22, 1912 ERRO MACHINE & FOUNDRY CO. THE IRON AGE , OHIO FOUNDRY COST CARD te CLEVELAND, OH Pattern No. 23 f) 4 J / eo Y~AFi2g => ™ A a4 Ff 2 f/ ps a | te cee ee ee ie = ———o a Gclssmo | 2 NM Memcmmatike i A Ma Tea ; DO Bs ee I ia cl cl hectic ideal elie a + Beh I So ea | FOUNDRY COSTS a ESTIMATED COST-— > sds ements ==] swipments = |sRETURN TO FOUNDRY | aS | | Ll] ed ol bel el | OT bo el ep Ah | a Tr FTTiT Ie TTT eT Te a EEE ae a daa ~ TTT TT OC vate | ase | aa | ooo | | weer | pert po | ee Tr eT TT a a e/a , woo TTT Te a PALATE ETT eidodla2bsi4izolsboo boat [Tigi tit h | Pie i rriteT Titi t titi it tT Pt Pt a a TTT a Ta a TOT TT a a a a ————Ty——T—T — ES Le LS Fig. 5—Foundry Cost Card. Manila Card, Ruled in Red and Blue; 7x10 In. ore room notifies the foreman that the order is ready to run and the number of cores required. Each core maker is provided every morning with a card, Fig. 7, on which are printed rows of numbers from time-keeper stamps the time on a card with a Calcula- graph. When the core maker brings cores up to the oven to be dried the time-keeper punches on his card the num- ber of cores that he has. When the day’s work is com- I to 335. On this pleted this card shows the number of cores each man has card there are made and the time he has put in. These individual core blanks for clock maker’s cards furnish data for the core cost card, Fig. 8, number, pattern and the core costs are transferred to the daily foundry number, rate of report. earnings and core box number. When A return casting report, Fig. 9, shows the number of pieces returned by customers and the cause of defects. ane 10 lo swear az, the core maker With the data on the return casting report the filling out on af oe Da a says} starts to work the of the foundry cost card can be completed and the in- ‘29 4 79] Symbol ys PRB ccccernroe| 299 264 289 wal 30 55 w | a | u% 81 | Core Box No. ton... cevevemseveseie] 96% 266 291 unl aS! ©! nue Aa aT 3 8 a | 243 268 293 318 | Total one OI Earnings LER <5 244 269 294 319 Ea : as | 245 270 295 320 86 101 116 131 146 161 176 191 206 221 246 271 296 321 147 162 477 192 207 222 247 272 207 322 148 163 178 193 208 229 248 273 298 323 149 164 179 194 209 226 249 274 299 324 2 117 132 118 133 mg 120 150 165 180 195 210 225 250 275 300 325 166 181 196 211 226 281 276 301 326 167 182°197 212 227 252 277 302 327 121 7 122 123 468 183 196 213 228 253 278 303 328 169 184 199 214 229 254 279 304 329 170 185 200 215 230 255 280 305 330 171 186 201 216 231 256 281 306 331 472 187 202 217 232 257 282 307 332 173 188 203 218 233 258 283 308 333 174 189 204 219 234 259 284 309 334 17S 190 205 220 235 260 285 310 335 Core Maker’s Time Card. Fig. 6—Order Sheet Sent to Card, 44%4x7% In. Room Found Cost Department, Pattern Clerk, Core and Shi Mani Superintenden lanila pping Scevumien: 5144x7% In. poseeen ™ THE FERRO MACHINE & FOUNDRY CO. CLEVELAND OHIO CORE COST CARD soo ne AF-S 5O CUSTOMERS no. x32 O00 won Spleens cts Tiong onsen 00. 2202 ¥O omnes tee gee ee wwe pant to SS Deeg a =a mx Vso | “Confluent 4 *% ip iho a®”® > ? * eet > ae mer yale LE ee NE RM sie vents eagle ik - aed . ae 7 - of z Ae gat 6 yet Te a Ria gen re ile’ 460 THE IRON AGE February 2° 1912 formation contained in these reports is transferred to -the foundry monthly cost card, Fig. 10, which shows at a glance the comparative monthly foundry costs. CLEVELAND, OHIO RETURN CASTING: REPORT Fig. er Blank for Returned Defective Castings. S. 155 THE FERRO MACHINE & FOUNDRY CO. (/} 4 CLEVELAND, OHIO FIR of PAIL? Kj TAE ARTI a ie C324 C7 made without bolting the engine to a foundation s fa being offered to indicate successful balancing an chee of vibrations of the engine. As stated eam is used betwee: tw ‘The Ferro Maanne é founpry Co pistons reciprocating in a headless cylind The point is emphasized that the energy vise lost through the cylinder heads is eliminated. solid drawn pl n rod passes through a tubular piston rod, this allowing AE My for the _ alternating movement of the pistons with respect of each “| other. The solid piston rod of one cylinder is connected with the Parrenn No. Ata tubular piston rod of the other WEIGHT EACH Ss cylinder by means of one of two unit 2<2 cross heads which there are. the FOUNDRY MONTHLY COSTS two arranged te pass each other by the tubular rods being slotted, When the pistons in the upper cyl- | cost [% om] mera | aa inder, for example, reach the end of their outward stroke, the pis- the end of their inward stroke. a tons of the lower cylinder reach ee ee eed The steam chest is located on one OE eA ord ide t h pa He and the steam is admitted to th s admitted to the | interior by means of ports at the | | | | | middle. The open end of the cyl- | | i tend inders are closed by suitable oe Lt oC ee ry | [f |] [| covers to exclude dust and other shows, the engine differs in ap- | | material from the interior of the ee eee ke he | | emus: coin cylinders. As the engraving et ae J abe Fig. 10—Card for Keeping Costs for Different Products. Manila Card, A Headless Steam Engine A Prime Mover with Two Cylinders Each Con- taining Two Pistons with the Steam Working Space Between the Pistons A steam engine with two cylinders, each cylinder hav- ing two pistons working in opposite directions with an arrangement for accepting the steam in the space between the pistons, has been patented by- J. A. Dowling, Biloxi, Miss. The outside view of the engine, as built by the Dantzler Foundry & Machine Works, Gulfport, Miss., is shown in the accompanying illustration. The two pistons are connected to cranks placed 180 deg. apart. The pistons travel from each other a distance of 18 in., and while one pair of pistons is traveling outward, util- izing the power of the steam ad- mitted, the others approach each other exhausting the steam. The steam thus enters and exhausts alternately from each cylinder. The engine is of the throttling type with plain slide valve and ball governor on the main steam pipe. The two cylinders are each 6% in. in diameter and the cranks have a 4%-in. radius. Mr. Dowling has supplied a record of a test run at the plant of the Audubon Ice Mfg. Com- pany, conducted by Wm. J. Tier- ney, New Orleans, La. It is stated that with saturated steam at 135 Ib. and a speed of 310 r.p.m., 62.25 indicated horsepower was obtained with one-third cut off, and the steam consumption was 30.6 Ib. per horsepower hour. pearance from the ordinary slide Bak ct | valve engine in the use of the two Ruled in Black; 4x6 In. cranks. The crossheads as indi- cated reciprocate on a level with the main shaft, but, of course, are midway between the levels of the centers of the two cylinders. There are, of course, only two working strokes per revolution as in the ordinary engine. The Firth-Sterling Steel Company, for which E. S. Jackman & Co. are agents, has issued a circular calling the attention of tool steel consumers on the Pacific coast to the stock of steel which it is now carrying in San Fran- cisco. This comprises a full assortment of rounds, squares, flats and octagons. Orders for Firth-Sterling Special tool steel are, however, taken in San Francisco subject to delay, owing to the heavy demand for this steel in other markets of the country. Each order is given its place, to be filled as soon as possible. It appears that the tests were Steam Engine Having Two Cylinders Without Heads and Each Containing Two Pistons 22, 1912 Rurnishing with Steel Balls ‘ethod Employed by the Abbott Ball Company \d of burnishing with steel balls employed by t Ball Company, Hartford, Conn., is the applica- hand burnishing principle to machine work. ng end of the hand tool must be very hard and iothly, and this pressure against the work, in with the lubricant or soap mixture, produces the polished surface. With the machine the steel be very hard and smooth. With a sufficient f them, combined with a soap mixture or bur- mpound in a properly shaped tumbling barrel, tion of the barrel causes them to slide over and n and out about the work, their weight giving the effect of a hand tool. In this way hundreds or thousands of are burnished at one time, instead of a piece at a time, as with the old method. Nothing requires renew- ing. excepting the burnishing soap, the cost of which is about 2 cents for a peck to a bushel of work. Each lot ires two or three pails of water. The theory is that the shape of the barrel, seen in the llustration, with a given bulk of steel balls, makes a high pile concentrating the weight on the work at the bottom f barrel, which consequently creates the necessary pressure. Each individual unit of several hundred thou- sand balls is an individual burnishing tool. The shape of the barrel also avoids the tendency of carrying the con- tents high on the inside surface, which lets the load drop back, bruising and marring the required finish of the work. The steel balls are selected for the work to be finished. If it presents a perfectly plain, smooth surface the large: sizes may be used to advantage to secure a good finish at a low cost. If, however, the work has a figured surface or small corners and crevices, the balls must be small enough to get into these places. It has been demonstrated that the smaller they are the better and quicker the results. Making a comparison of 1/16 and % in. balls, when using % in. balls, there will be 16 points of contact be- tween the balls and the surface of the work in a square inch of surface, whereas, if 1/16 in. balls were used, there would be 256 points of contact. It is self-evident that quicker work will be done by the smaller -balls, with better resul In some cases it is desirable to use a’ mixture of of the Renee cutter WI TO SEWER r Unloading a Burnishing Barrel without Losing the Steel Balls. er box is arranged to slide on cleats, so that when the f the barrel _are dumped into it the balls are riddled ‘ bottom, which is of netting of mesh coarse enough to ~ Dalls to pass through, but not the work. Then the upper ‘ning the work can be removed, and the balls can be ‘rom the lower box into the barrel again ready to use. more sizes so as to reach the small corners of the id at the same time secure a sufficient weight with- attendant high cost for the smaller balls. ‘egard to the quantity of balls required for good "e, as it is the rubbing effect of the balls that pro- « high finish on the work, it is evident that a suffi- ght must be used in order to create the pressure. g means rubbing under pressure. It is also neces- Dur THE IRON AGE 461 sary to use enough balls to keep the work separated while tumibling in the burnishing barrel, for if the pieces are not kept apart they will bang together and mar and bruise each other. ‘ The usual method is to use two pecks of balls to each peck of work that is to be treated. However, this may be varied to some extent on different classes of work. To ’ the balls are added enough water to stand about one inch above the contents, and about 4 oz. of soap in the form of chips. It is preferable that the soap chips be dissolved in hot water before being put into the barrel. The rolling is carried on 1 to 5 hr., depending upon the character of the work. The softer the metal, the shorter the time required to finish it. The operator may easily de- termine the time by an inspection of the work. If, after the rolling has been carried on for a short time, it is found The Abbott Burnishing Barrel for Use with Steel Balls that the work has a dull or smutty appearance the contents of the barrel should be emptied and fresh water and soap put in, together with a piece of cyanide about the size of a bean. It is imperative that the barrel, balls, work and solution be kept very clean and free from dirt or foreign substances at all times. The operation is carried out on work that is either to be left in its original condition or is to be,plated. In other words the articles are rolled both before and after plating. The operation is the same, irrespective of the kind of metal. If the work is not to be :plated it is taken directly from the barrel and dried in clean hard wood sawdust, preferably in a hot sawdust box, or if the pieces are of a nature to stand it, they can be placed in a tilting barrel with sawdust and tumbled a few minutes to dry. If the work is to be plated, it can be taken from the barrel and cleaned in the usual manner, and after plating returned to the burnishing barrel with a fresh solution and. steel balls for the final finish, which requires about half an hour, The soap mixture used with the steel balls is very im- portant. Ordinary soap may stain the work and attack the steel balls on account of its salt or other corrosive elements. Mild soap is best because it will not atiack the metal. There are several burnishing compounds manufactured for special use with steel balls. Small light articles will stand faster speed than heavier articles, the variation being from 10 to 30 r.p.m. for ordi- nary classes of work. The usual speed is 15 r.p.m. The Brown-Ketcham Iron Works plants at Indian- apolis, Ind., and Greensburg, Pa., have been turned over to the purchaser, the Noelke-Richards Iron Works, Indian- apolis, by the trustee in bankruptcy, Frank L. Stalnaker, the sale having been approved by the referee in bank- ruptcy. The Noelke-Richards Iron Works will move its headquarters from its former plant to that of the Brown- Ketcham Indianapolis plant. Two dividends have been paid the Brown-Ketcham creditors, making a total of 85 cents on the dollar. ‘Details of a Machine Brecting Shop Additions to Works of the Birdsboro Steel Foun- dry & Machine Company, Including a Heating System with Underfloor Concrete Ducts Increasing business, particularly in the way of heavy used for heating, the main conduits being u:d duty pumping machinery, has necessitated the providing of considerable additional facilities in connection with the plant of the Birdsboro Steel Foundry & Machine Com- pany, Birdsboro, Pa. . The most important addition has been the new erecting shop, which embraces several im- proved features, both in connection with the building it- self, as well as its equipment The building measures 64 ft. 6 in. x 122 ft. on the ground plan, and has a height of 40 it. to the top of the crane runway. It is of steel frame construction, with brick walls extending 18 ft. from the ground, above which the walls are of cement plaster on expand- ed metal Intermediate beams strengthen the expanded metal be- tween columns. The cement walls are 2 in. thick, composed of two coats on each side of the ex- panded metal. The area of: the window space is large, represent- ing 25 per cent. of. the full wall space. The roof is of 2 in. tongue and grooved yellow pine, on which a slag roofing is laid. A monitor 7 ft.°6 in. high, with windows on all sides, surmounts the roof. The floor has an 18 in, slag fill, on which chestnut sleepers are laid, 18 in. between centers, the space between the sleepers being filled with concrete. On these 2% in. yellow pine planks are laid, which constitute the floor proper. A spur of standard gauge track from the railroad siding passes through one View in Steel Foundry, Showing at Left the Loam Grinder, Toward the Right the Drying Ovens and in Background the Open Hearth Furnaces end of the building; this siding has a storage capacity of four or five cars and permits of moving cars to loading points without the necessity of calling on the railroad for shifting cars. The American blower system, using exhaust steam, is is blown into the shop. the erecting shop. foundation walls. a so as not to interfere in any way with the op A concrete duct reinforced 58 top and 38 in. in width and 36 to 39 in. in insi heig extends around the greater part of the shop, cl to th From the duct terra cotta bra K- tend to sheet metal uprights, through which the warm ‘ At a low point in the system a siphon trap is located in order that any water which might View in the Erecting Shop Showing End of Crane Runway from Machine Shop 462 leak into the duct can readily be removed. Man- holes located at conven- ient points with covers flush with the floor allow cleaning the duct when this may be found neces- sary. The air from the blower is deflected to the right and left into the two main ducts, extending in opposite directions and at the point of bifurcation ‘there is, a pivoted deflec- tor. The upright heat ducts are generally 18 in in diameter, of galvanized iron, with a pair of 10 m curved deflecting tops © elbows, as shown in an accompanying view in the erecting shop. In_ the summer the same system is used for maintaining 2 current of fresh air in the building. The equipment of the building consists of a 3° ton Morgan Engineering Company’s crane of ft. span, with a 10-ton auxiliary hoist. The runway of the general machine shop crane extends into the erecting shop and makes_conveniet! handling of castings and machinery. The machine tool equipment of the erecting shop includes a 60-in. Cle open side planer, an 8-ft. Cincinnati -boring sill, veland a 6-ft ndries for rolling mill ry Ce ener me a Stee a +} TY iI | pen hearth furnaces rl stings in addition al machine shops, east of » IQI2 a Bauch multiple spindle, a Fifield lathe with a 34-ft. bed and a special boring lathe with a 40-ft bed. stand, 30 x 7 ft., on concrete piers, on support heavy cast-iron erecting tables, is side of the shop. Directly in front of this sting tank, which is placed beneath the floor. in. in diameter and 30 ft. long and on the square manholes, spaced 12 in. apart for al- se of any desired section of the tank. Adams- ing arc lamps are used for illumination. ddition which the Birdsboro Steel Foundry Company has recently completed is a flask served by a 10-ton crane, of 40-ft. span, on oo ft. long, with 27 ft. head room. This handles tly from the steel casting foundry floor, and - to handle sand from the main storage bins to oply bins adjacent to the foundry floor. Room Extending from Steel Casting Department and Showing Annealing Furnace ompany | and operates gray iron and blast fur- ] kes special hy- other ma- he Aldrich pump the Jackson belt achine and dia- e drills for mine he steel casting served by two and 30 tons capacity, it to make cast- 75,000 tons iron foun- upola and air stings are made. im castings are ts specialties, as hydraulic cast- iachine shop is the among other th some of the aners and boring the Easé. The fur- is the only Pittsburgh that operates its own blast ron foundry, steel foundry and machine shops. mphasizes 700 and 800 men are employed. The capacity of S is in excess of the machine shop require- astings are sold in the rough. THE IRON AGE 463 The American Iron & Steel Mfg. Company The twelfth annual report of the American Iron & Steel Mfg. Company, Lebanon, Pa., gives the following condensed balance sheet as of December 31, 191! issets eto se elewike.e's $1,100,388.66 Bills receivable Gages none Accounts receivable—net aid es ocx beh aee 461,913.50 WaVORtOry 6.4 scccess ; : stig he 6 600% 6s pee Insurance and taxes, unexpired value 4,760.28 920,662.07 880,000.00 Real estate, plants and equipment.. : jee Less allowances to provide for depreciation Total 7,889,043.50 “itttes. Wages—accrued, not due Accounts payable Preferred stock Common stock Undivided profits, payable January 1, none none 3,000,000.09 2,550,000.00 1912 2,339,043.50 . $7,889,043.50 “As Total President James Lord says: in the previous year, prices con- tinued to decline, without any re- covery, throughout the year. Dur- ing the year a special dividend of 2 per cent., amounting to $11,000, was paid in addition to the regular divi- dend per cent. Additions were made to plants and equipment amounting to $129,026.45.” The directors for 1912 are: Ed- ward Bailey, Horace Brock, John W. Brock, B. Dawson Coleman, Edward R. Coleman, Tlomas Evans, W. C. Freeman, James Lord, H. M. M. Richards, J. H. Sternbergh and H. M. Sternbergh. The executive officers are as follows: James Lord, president; John Brock, vice-president ; or 5 Penn H. M. M. Richards, treasurer; D. G. Scott, secretary. The executive committee consists of John W. Brock, Horace Brock, Edward R. Coleman and W. C. Freeman The regular monthly meeting of the Philadelphia Foundry Fore- View in the Iron Foundry of the Birdsboro Steel Foundry & Machine Company men’s Association was held in that city on the evening of February 13. An interesting discussion led by James Whitehead took place on the subject of shop manage- ment. Electric welding also came up for discussion and will be made the subject of an address at the next meeting. For Improvement in the Quality of Steel Rails A Conference of Rail Manufacturers and Railroad Presidents in New York—President Farrell on the Railroads’ Responsibility for Present Specifications At the invitation of Chairman E. H. Gary, of the United States Steel Corporation, a conference lasting all day was held at the Railroad Club in the Hudson Terminal Build- ing, New York, February 15, attended by presidents of im- portant railroad systems and by presidents of steel com- panies engaged in the manufacture of rails. It is to be followed by other conferences, in the effort to secure co-operation in the improvement of rail quality, and mean- time this matter is in the hands of a joint committee of the manufacturers and railroad presidents. The following statement was given to the press by Chairman Gary: A Conference Committee Appointed “A meeting of representatives of practically all the railroads of the country and representatives of the manu- facturers of rails of the country was in session during the entire day. The meeting was called by Judge Gary to con- sider the subject of improving, if possible, the character and quality of rails. After a full discussion of the whole subject, in which nearly every one present participated, a committee, consisting of all the members of the Executive Committee of the American Railway Association and the presidents of the manufacturing companies was appointed to tabulate the data already obtained, to receive further information and to consider the subject and to report their recommendations at a future meeting to be called by the chairman of the Executive Committee. “This committee consists of Presidents Willard of the Baltimore & Ohio, Loree of the Delaware & Hudson, and Mudge of the Rock Island, and Vice-President Kruttschnitt of the Harriman lines, and several other railroad officials. The manufacturing companies are represented by Presi- dents Dinkey of the Carnegie Steel Company, Buffington of the Illinois Steel Company, Schwab of the Bethlehem Steel Company, Clarke of the Lackawanna Steel Company, Wood of the Maryland Steel Company, Felton of the Pennsylvania Steel Company, Price of the Cambria Steel Company, Crawford of the Tennessee Coal, Iron & Rail- road Company, and Farrell of the United States Steel Cor- poration. “It was the unanimous sentiment that everything prac- ticable should be adopted to secure a rail that is entirely safe. The committee will meet at a date to be fixed by Chairman Gary and President Willard, and a meeting will probably be held within a week or ten days.” The last series of conferences between representatives of the steel companies and the railroads, held in 1907 and 1908, was conducted by the engineering staffs rather than by the executives of the respective companies, as was the case last week. The previous conferences were concerned with questions of discard, drop tests, chemical composition and other details of metallurgy and testing. The intention now is to go thoroughly into the issues involved, the in- quiry to include comparisons with specifications of Eu- ropean railroads. The American Railway Association’s committee, which has been at work on the problem for several years, has gathered a vast amount of data which will be available in the work of the newly constituted joint committee. The full list of members of the executive committee of the American Railway Association, all of whom are members of the joint committee referred to in Judge Gary’s statement, is as follows: Daniel Willard, president Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. H. U. Mudge, president Chicago, Rock Island & Pa- cific Railway. W. G. Besler, vice-president and general manager Cen- tral Railroad of New Jersey G. L. Peck, general manager Pennsylvania Lines West of Pittsburgh. T. E. Clarke, general superintendent Delaware, Lack- awanna & Western Railroad. Fairfax Harrison, president Chicago, Indianapo Louisville Railway. B. F. Bush, president Missouri Pacific Railway. J. Kruttschnitt, director of maintenance and opera- tion, Union and Southern Pacific svstems. H. E. Byram, vice-president Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. L. F. Loree, president Delaware & Hudson Company. A. W. Sullivan, formerly general. manager Missouri Pacific Railway. Stuyvesant Fish, director Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway. W. C. Brown, president New York Central Lines. F. A. Delano, president Wabash Railroad. is & President Farrell’s Statement Attention has been directed sharply to the matters at issue between the railroads and the steel manufacturers }\ the statement of President Farrell of the Steel Corporation made recently when he appeared before the Stanley Com- mittee at Washington. Mr. Farrell made the point that “steel manufacturers to-day are druggists; they are deal- ing with prescriptions from the railroads.” In so saying he added that “rails are not going to be any cheaper if the railroads continue to exact from the manufacturer the conditions of more discard—producing an ingot and cut- ting it in sections and throwing away the rest of it.” In making it clear that the character of the rails produced in recent years has been largely determined by the rail- roads, Mr. Farrell said: “The public demands, and rightly, that railroad trans- portation shall be safe and that rails shall not break. | am absolutely convinced that if the railroads are to accom- plish this they must be prepared to face a greater wear of steel rails. In other words, under the severe and often un- known demands of modern railroad traffic, choice must be made between safety and wearing quality in steel rails. “Beginning about 1890, the railroads of the United States began to ask for higher carbon in steel rails in order to secure greater wear; and the rail makers unwisely, and many times under protest, made the quality of steel de- manded. Gradually the specifications called for still higher carbon, until to-day I believe the steel is within the danger zone of brittleness. The carbon is so high that we get the brittle rail. “It is true that many of these hard rails never break, but the liability to breakage is much greater than in the old-time softer steel; and the influence of the unavoidable contingencies of manufacture, such as seams, pipes, and segregation, is much greater. In many respects the steel is more doubtful,- more dangerous, and more treacherous. It is unquestionably, in my judgment, an unsafe grade of steel, in view of the severe conditions of service. LOWER CARBON RAILS WOULD BE SAFER. “If safety is to be the first consideration, lower carbon, softer steel would seem to be necessary. With such steel the various unavoidable defects or variations of commer- cial rails would be far less dangerous. Seams, pipes, and segregations would all be less dangerous. Less likely, also, to cause breakage would be the cold working in straighten- ing, and the many contingencies of track and rolling stock would be less likely to cause breakage. “The breakage of rails is frequently caused by 1m- properly ballasted track, uneven bearings on cars, flat wheels, engine-driving wheels being out of round or badly worn, unbalanced driving wheels, center of gravity of en gine too low, slipping of engine drivers, and prolonged low temperature. : “I believe I am correct in stating that harder steel 1s used in rails in the United States than in any other coun- try, and yet our wheel loads and train loads are much greater than those on foreign roads. The British Board of Trade, which bas authority in such matters in Great 464 ry 22, 1912 ild consider the high carbon used for rails in ry as dangerous, especially as our phosphorus, in rails at least, is also higher than theirs. MORE METAL IN THE SECTION, vith increased weight of motive power and roll- became necessary to strengthen bridges, eng- ot try to do so by using a harder and higher rength steel. They increased the amount of kind they had been using, because they knew have a safe steel and a large factor of safety. present time we are rolling some rails for the ith Wales Government, for which they are paying er ton, not $28. They are manganese steel rails, yn curves and grades. railroads should not endeavor to the increased wear of rails under modern con- y using a rail that is so high in carbon that it is be brittle. You might say that a soft rail would iore quickly. The old soft rails, under the con- their day, gave very satisfactory wear, and it is ef that that wear would be less rapid than most timate; providing, of course, the section of rai Instead of using an 80-pound rail with lower hey might use a g0-pound rail—a heavier rail uld give more actual metal to be worn away be- too weak. pinion the proper course for railroads to pur- ise a heavier rail of softer steel, making safety e object, and getting the maximum wear they can onditions.” ngineers of rail becomes Coke Pusher and Coal Leveler ombined coke pushers and coal levelers have built by the Alliance Machine Company, the Koppers by-product coke oven lant of the Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Company, Cory, Ala. Novel features of design and construction lied in the machine, the most important of these ng the placing of the coal leveler directly over the coke her ram and the arrangement of the cage so that the is directly over the pusher ram and under the er. This arrangement, it is pointed out, gives him iew and consequently command of both rams at and as both rams are in the same vertical plane iys possible to stop the machine in the same posi- itive to the oven when coke is being pushed out or charge of coal is being leveled. The system of permitted by this construction gives a rigid ma- | one that is said to be well adapted to stand all ks incident to the operation of this class of ma- ently ance ( hio, for ichine is driven by three alternating-current mo- e mill type, each of which is controlled by an in- reet railway type of controller. The machine THE IRON AGE mbined Coke Pusher and Coal Leveler Built by the Alliance Machine Company, Alliance, Ohio 465 is:built of steel and bronze throughout, the details of the machinery being worked out along the same general lines as that followed in the design of a modern steel works crane. Bronze-lined capped bearings are provided for all the shafts. The strokes of the pusher and the leveler ram are 58 ft. 6 in. and 48 ft. 6 in. respectively, the leveler being adjustable vertically for 3 in. on either side of its normal position. The total hight of the machine above the top of the rail is 24 ft. and the distance from center to center of the track rails is 30 ft. Power Double Seamer For double seaming the heads of drums and other sheet metal packages, the Niagara Machine and Tool Com- pany, 639 Northland avenue, Buffalo, N. Y., has brought out a machine which it designates as its No..9 special A Special No. 9 Double Seamer Built by the Niagara Machine and Tool Works, Buffalo, N. Y. power double seamer. In using this machine the heads must be previously stamped to the proper shape by a press and dies and the work to be doubly seamed is clamped between the top disk and the lower double seaming chuck, which is shaped to svit the work. The double seaming chuck is driven by bevel gears and the apindle carry- ing it has an adjustable and thrust bearing. The carriage with the double seaming rolls mounted in a_ turret head is operated by a screw and a_ hand wheel. Either two or three rolls are used, ac- cording to the type of the seam and the thick- ness of the metal, which should not ex- ceed No. 16 gauge, be less than 32 in. in diameter and 45 in. in hight. The motion is controlled by a friction clutch actuated by one of the hand levers at the right of the ma- chine, and the other is used to lower the upper clamping plate, which is counter-bal- anced. 466 A New Sturtevant Steam Turbine Reversing Buckets to Secure High Steam Efficiency —Improved Form of Rotor Buckets and Their Manufacture A new type of steam turbine which employs reversing steam buckets and introduces a new design of lubrication for the main bearings and which has also a floating packing box arranged to serve as a relief valve has been brought out by the B. F. Sturtevant Company, Hyde Park, Mass It is designed for direct connection to machinery not de- manding relatively high speeds yet requiring good effi- ciency, such as blowers, ventilating fans, gas exhausters. mechanical. draft installations, electric generators and centrifugal pumps. The accompanying illus- trations will serve to indicate the main points of the turbine, but the details of the oiling scheme and of the floating packing box will have to be held for a later issué. The steam enters an annular steam chamber in the casing of the turbine through a_ balanced throttle valve. From this chamber it passes through nozzles to the rotor or bucket wheel. These nozzles ‘expand the steam to a pressure equal to the ex- haust pressure in the turbine, so that the steam leaves the nozzles at a very high velocity, impinging against the semicircular rotor buckets and imparting the impulse to the rotor and leaving the buckets in a reverse direction to that of entry. In leaving, the steam enters the semicircular reversing buckets made in one piece wjth the nozzles. The action is to again reverse the direction of the steam and drive it back into the rotor. Thus the steam enters and leaves the rotor three times before its kinetic energy is absorbed and its velocity drops to nearly that of the rotor. It then passes out into the exhaust. In the drawing of the rotor and nozzle sections the vanes of the rotor straddle the edges of the nozzle. It has been demonstrated that when the steam from View Showing Rotor and the Distributed Steam Nozzles Combined with Reversing Buckets the nozzle enters the bucket it strikes the upper edge of the lip just entering the jet of the steam nozzle and the semi- circular turn at the bottom and spreads out over the whole area of the bucket before making its exit. The speed of the steam being 15 times greater than that of the rotor the THE IRON AGE February 22, 91> greater part of it has time to leave the bucket the supplementary port or reversing bucket shown ; 1jf- ately below the nozzle section. From this port th is redirected into the rotor and the remainder en succeeding bucket shown just coming into the comp.<s the drawing. By this time the bucket mentioned | val Nr 0 YW NOS SSNs SS Section of Sturtevant Steam Turbine vanced so that the steam is next caught in the buckets alongside of and beyond the nozzle. [he rotor is a solid forging of open-hearth steel, the buckets being of semicircular form milled into the rim. The method of cutting these buckets is of exceptional me- chanical interest and is here shown. The cutter is a gear with cutting edges on the back of the teeth and driven by a similar gear, the work being done in an especially de- signed and patented machine The former method, using an ordinary shank cutter necessi- tated the cutting away of a part of the bucket to give clearance for the shank, which necessarily weakened the rotor construction and was _ found to reduce efficiency. The new method cuts faster and also smoother, the peripheral drive being more powerful and re- sulting in no chatter. The rotor buckets are protected by the rim of the wheel, which is raised above them, and the construction of the wheel and stationary buckets is such that if by any chance they should come in contact none of the buckets would be injured. It goes without saying that the solid wheel is practically in- destructible and danger o! buckets working loose is elim- inated. The Tobin bronze nozzles and reversing buckets are cast together in segments. The nozzles can be __ separately closed by hand valves on the exterior of the casing. When the engine is to be operated continuously on ‘a light load one or more of the nozzles may be closed to secure economical operation. Where the demand for power varies widely this feature offers a distinct advantage. > The only parts requiring lubrication are the main bear- ings, which removes the possibility of oil in the exhaust Steam Consumption of Turbine Operated Non-Condensing with Dry Steam at 125 lb. Pressure This is, of course, an important point when the is to be used for heating systems or feed-water ters. A channel oiling ring is used to obtain positive ation without the use of a pump. The oil is taken the oil pocket by the rapidly revolving channel- ped oiling ring, and is held within the ring by centri- fugal force until it is diverted to the bearings by means of , scoop as shown in the illustration. The ordinary oiling ring, it is held, has a tendency to throw the oil from the bearings instead of concentrating it where it is needed. channel scoop produces a positive pressure which forces the oil to the bottom of the bearing where the greatest pressure and consequent need of lubrication ex- ists (he speed of the turbine is regulated through a balanced throttle valve by means of a powerful governor of the centrifugal type. In addition to the main governor an emergency governor is set at a predetermined maxitnur speed. If for any reason the main governor loses con- trol a separate emergency valve is instantly and auto- matically closed through an entirely distinct mechanism. ——— etch Showing Method of Reversing Steam Between the Rotor and the Stationary Buckets Alongside of and One with the Nozzle Sketch Showing how Buckets Are Formed in the Rotor THE IRON AGE 497 The new turbine is built in five sizes with standard rotor of 12, 18, 24, 30 and 36 in. diameter. By suitably combining the size of a rotor, rotative speed, nozzle ca- Method of Lubricating the Main Bearings pacity and steam pressure a range of from 5 to 200 hp. may be covered by the unit best adapted to the work. Corrosion of Boiler Tubes The National Tube Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., presents an interesting array of experiments on corrosion of boiler tubes in its Bulletin No. 4. Considerable space .is given to an abstract from the Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers, May, 1904, of the report by Rear Ad- miral John B. Ford, U. S. N., in which the details of apparatus and methods followed are described that were used in carrying out a series of tests for the purpose of ascertaining the relative cor- rodibility of lap-welded Bessemer steel, lap-welded iron, seamless cold-drawn steel and seamless hot-drawn steel boiler tubes. Following this a summary is given of corrosion tests of wrought iron and steel conducted under various auspices in subsequent years. Numer- ous illustrations are given of the rela- tive pitting of steel and iron pipes after varying periods of exposure to the tests. The conclusion is drawn that steel pipe manufactured eight or ten years ago has proved to be at least as durable as wrought iron of the same period in actual service and that it is reasonable to expect improvements in new mate- rials, to which class pipe steel undoubt- edly belongs, compared with wrought iron. It is stated that prevention of the rusting of unprotected iron and steel under the conditions of actual service has not by any means been accomplished, and these materials will always tend to return to their original state in na- ture, but “the uniformity of corrosion attained in present day pipe steel is a long step forward,” The American Railway Association's statement of idle freight cars in the United States and Canada shows that on January 31 the total was 32,581, a de- crease of 57,704 in two . The-con- tinuance of cold weather with the con- sequent interruption of traffic is respon- sible for this large decrease. In the two weeks preceding January 17 the de- crease Was 45,000 cars. * s erway * E ‘ 5 . wa i. nk Whalen tai See a i 7 Te EN eee ORR SL tee Sete stad ey 4608 THE IRON The No. 4 Farwell Gear Hobber A Recent Addition to the Line of the Adams Company for Cutting Spur, Spiral and Worm Gears and Worms. \ new gear hobber adapted for cutting spur, spiral and worm gears and worms up to a maximum diameter of 24 in. has been recently added to the line built by the Adams Company, Dubuque, lowa. The maximum pitches of the gears turned out by this machine, which is designated as the No. 4 Farwell universal spiral gear hobber, are 3 in cast iron and 3% in steel. The range of feeds and table speeds is in keeping with the wide- variety of work han- dled and make the machine universal in its application. If desired the hobber can be arranged and the necessary change gears furnished to cut a single thread worm or screw of very fine pitch and from that on up to all pitches and numbers of teeth for worm, spiral and spur gears in- cluding all prime numbers to over 1000, Another special feature of the machine is the ease with which it can be converted into a continuous or circular milling machine. Fig. 1 is a view of the machine arranged as a gear hobber, while Fig. 2 shows i t equipped for operation as a continuous mill- er. The posi- tion of the head when cutting a spiral worm is brought out in Fig. 3. The. vertical feeds of the cutter head range from 0.002 to 0.5 in. per. revolution of the table, which can be geared to make one revolution for every two of the cutter, or to make one revolution for a thousand or more. revolu- tions of the cut- ter. This wide February 2 AGE lig. 3—The Head Tilted for Cutting a Spiral Worn small number of moderate-sized spur gears and pinions This machine is equipped with a central inclosed bevel gear drive that is necessary to enable the head to b swiveled to any angle, as shown in Fig. 3, for cutting spiral] gears and worms. It is pointed out that the compactness and rigidity possessed by t he builder's No. 3 hobber, which was il- lustrated in The Iron Age, Sep- tember 8, 1910, has not been secured, but to give as much rigidity as pos sible the saddle and the swivel have been made unusually heavy and wide. The cutter spindle is large and has a hole extending entirely through range of feeds it. The arbor and table speeds proper passes is not needed through this for the ordi- Fig. 1—The New No. 4 Farwell Universal Spiral Gear Hobbing Machine Built by the Adams hole and 1s nary spur, Company, Dubuque, Iowa driven by a long spiral and worm gear cutting. To obtain it no additional complica- tion of the mechanism was resorted to, and this range was secured by the compounding of a comparatively Fig. 2—The Machine Arrange