The Iron Age 1912-05-30: Vol 89 Iss 22

Z Established 1855 New York, May 30, 1912 Vol. 89: No. 22 Features of a New Machine Shop Design of Addition to Works of the Gisholt Machine Company, Madison, Wis.—How the Workmen Earn Vacations with Pay The Gisholt Machine Company, Madison, Wis., has added to its previous machine shop an L-shaped building fronting 326 ft. on Baldwin street and 234 ft. on Washing- ton avenue that is typical of the most recent practice in shop construction. The accompanying ground plan of the machine shops shows the new addition and its relation to the rest of the plant. The new portion of the shop is made continuous with the old so that the crane operating in the Washington avenue wing of the old shop now operates The new layout provides for the castings being received at the end of the new Baldwin street wing, which is the point of the shop nearest the foundry and the point where the heavy machine tools are to be located. The general arrangement will then provide for finishing the large cast- ings at the point of entrance into the shop, for moving them across the end of the shop into the general assembly bay and through the assembly floor at right angles to the original direction of travel to the shipping tracks at the Fig. 1—View Showing the Heavy Machining Bays and Bench Work Bay continuously over the entire length of the old and new shops combined. With the complete readjustment of the shop to the enlarged capacity a practically continuous move- oa of the material through the shop will be made possi- e \t the present time castings are received into machine shop on the track indicated at the location marked 7 Fig. 4, and the heavy machining is done on the large planing ma- chines placed in the adjoining floor space as indicated at 6. northeast or opposite end. Parallel with the assembling bay, in the location marked 26, and as is also illustrated in Fig. 1, the hand finishing and bench work on the lathe mountings is to be done, and in the locations marked 8, 19 and 20, the present tools are to remain for the lighter ma- chining operations. When the machine bed casting is then placed on the assembly floor, the various finished parts can be brought from a minimum distance for assembly on the bed. 133! THE IRON AGE Fig. 2—Exterior View of the New Portion of the Gisholt Shops The new building has a roof of saw-tooth design, of which a typical roof truss is shown in Fig. 7. The roofing material is a standard book tile covered with a guaranteed roofing. The upper portion of the lighting panel of the roof is a ventilator section of the Pond continuous sash type furnished by the David Lupton’s Sons Company, Philadelphia. The roof troughs are concreted, with a pro- jecting perforated trap through which the water drains into downtakes alongside of the building columns. The roof is carried on built up latticed columns, the vertical members of which are angles. These columns are ar- ranged to divide the end of the shop along Baldwin street into three bays of equal width and along the Washington street side to provide an outside bay and a craneway as- sembling bay. As indicated in the ground plan, two of the end bays, in which the heavy machine work is done, are spanned each by a 5-ton Pawling & Harnischfeger crane To facilitate the direct handling of material the runways of these two cranes extend under the span of the main assem- bly crane which operates at right angles. To provide for the difference in elevation of the crane runways thus made necessary, the roof trusses over the assembly bay have a greater height to the bottom chord as compared with the remaining portion of the new building. This is illustrated in Fig. 3. The machine shop floor is surfaced with con- crete. The end bay of the building is devoted to locker and 2 wash rooms for the men and to offices for the time and cost keeping departments. The locker facilities consist of individual expanded metal lockers, assigned to the men by number according to the number of their shop checks Individual basins for washing and shower baths are also provided. A gallery floor is hung in this bay and is given over entirely to the welfare interests of the men pending the completion of a proposed welfare building. One en- closed portion is a theater and auditorium and is illus- trated in Fig. 5. This room is devoted to the uses of the men’s organization known as the Gisholt Club. The remainder of the gallery is used as a lunching or lounging place for the men at noon as it is required under the shop regulations that all employed check out and leave the shop at noon hour. This regulation serves the double purpose of enforcing relaxation among the men and also of avoiding the general littering up of the shop in the lunch hour. With the exception of the cost keeping de- partment this end bay is practically devoted to the inter- ests of the men and also includes a completely equipped room for first aid treatment to the injured. The general locker room is enclosed with wire grating and at a con- venient place a bulletin board is erected upon which notices of general interest. are placed, a list of lost and found articles is published and mail is posted. Sanitary drinking fountains are located throughout the shop conveniently and they possess a distinct feature as illustrated in Fig. 8 in Fig. 3—Structural Arrangement of the Shop Roof and Crane Runways So That the Two Parallel 5-Ton Cranes Run Out Below the 4* : sembly Crane iy 30, 1912 THE IRON AGE ae. 1? Bering Machine Erecting 34 Teal Makers 15 Milling and Gear Cutting 38 General Otfice 19 Engine Lathes 20 Driiteng Department 2) Grindomg Department 2. Laundry 23 Lawatery 24 Toei Grimdong 25 Festshed Parts Store 26 Lathe Assembling 27 Lathe Erecting 28 Heavy Machine Teale 29 Wash Reem and Lockers 10 Showers 1 Cosi Benker: 2 Beaters 3 Emgimes ¢ Heating Fan 5 Fire Pump 6 Planeng Machines 7 Shappang— Recercreng § Turret Lathes 9 Sig and Tool Store 10 Cutting Off 11 Awte Sere Machines 12 Biactsmeth 13 Pobishemg 1¢ Milieregia 31 Bath Reo 1S Motor Storage 32 Cost Office 16 Special Tee! Department 33 Test Droughting 43 Foundry 44 Foundry Heating Plant 45 10-Ten Crames 46 5-Ton Cranes 47 1-Ten Hand Coma 44 1-Tom Traveling Sib 49 Brcyole Shed Fig. 4—Block Plan of the Plant of the Gisholt Machine Company he size of the overflow bowl which is large enough to pre- nt any splashing of the water over the floor. Individual tungsten incandescent lights a regular intervals from the roof for the artificial lighting. \ view of the assembly bay taken by artificial light i« own in Fig. 9. A unique I-beam insulator vhich the light wires are strung is illustrated in Fig. 10. [he direct system of heating is used with coils along the vall under the windows and overhead, along f the lighting section of the roof trusses as shown in Figs. 3 and 6. The windows in the new building are of wire glass with ventilator panels of the type furnished by the Trussed Concrete Steel Company, Detroit. if the roof structure is an extension of the gusset plates punched for the subsequent hanging of framework for shafting and hangers as illustrated. In the Washington Street wing the bay along the win- dows is used on the ground floor as a tool room and on the gallery floor for light machine work and fitting. The re- mainder of the ‘span of this wing is the crane bay which is traversed by a 10-ton Pawling Harnischfeger crane. With the exception of temporary arrangements where the 5—The Auditorium for the Gisholt Club. Easily be Converted for Shop Use struction Being Adhered to The Space Can the General Shop Con- group plan of drive as in Fig. 9 is employed all the ma- chines in the shop have individual motor drives in which a motor is connected by noiseless chain drive to a cone pul- ley. A general practice has been adopted for the shop in the use of 220-volt direct-current variable-speed , motors with a speed range of 4 to 1, belted to a cone pulley with two or three gear changes of speed. For the accurate fin- ishing of lathe parts a number of the standard Gisholt tur- ret lathes are installed. For the convenience of machine operators, circular cast-iron rotating trays with a bracket mounting directly on the machine housing are used for such tools as the operator is continually requiring. The distinctive feature of the Gisholt Machine Com- pany’s shop lies in the attitude of the company towards its employees as evidenced in the lighting and sanitary con- ditions of its shop, its wage system and its welfare work. When an employee is hired he is given a small book of shop information and instructions, which, in part, contains the following general information: The employee reports with his “hired” slip to the timekeeper and is instructed by him regarding ringing in and out on the record time clock; is assigned a locker in the locker room, and is taken to the re hung at clamp from the bottom A feature Fig. 6~View in the Drafting Room, Mela Ofies Shew- Slog: ae. ladivess peiebtine in With Linke the THE IRON AGE Fig. 7—Structural Detail Showing a Typical Roof Truss foreman in whose department he is to work. He is furnished with eight brass checks having the same number that the company places special emphasis upon promptness and regularity and in this connection has provided an “ex- as his clock card and locker. These checks are used in obtaining small tools from the tool room. He is informed tra time” arrangement as follows: The whistle blows at two minutes of 7:00 and two min- utes of 1:00 and all those who have lost no time during the week and have registered on the time clock at or before two mmutes of 7:00 and at or before two minutes of 1:00 and who remove their job tickets from their own depart- ment racks before the 7 and 1 o’clock whistles stop blow- ing will get the benefit of an extra hour on Saturday, making 60 hr. pay for 59 hr. work. A man will fail to get the extra hour in case his clock on entering shows 6:59 or 12:59 or later. Furthermore, he also fails to get the extra hour if he registers on the clock card before 6:58 or 12:58, but fails to be in his department before the second whistle stops blowing. In addition to getting the extra hour for prompt attendance during the week, a man who is neither absent nor late during the regular working hours for an entire month will, on the same conditions that en- title him to the extra hour on Saturday, be entitled to one half-day’s vacation with pay, but before one can take this vacation he must have earned twelve half-days. If the half-day is lost for one month it does not affect those earned before as they still remain to a man’s credit until Fig. 8—One of the Sanitary Drinking Foun- - tains Showing the Large Bowl he has earned twelve half-days, and he is entitled to a week’s vacation on pay, or if he prefers not to take the vacation he is entitled to an extra ‘week’s pay. If a man takes the vacation it must be at a time that will be mutually agreed upon, but the week must be taken at one time. The timekeeper starts each workman with a job ticket giving the order number, etc., upon which the man will work; this job ticket must be changed each time during the day that the job is changed; tickets will be made out by the time clerk for the department and it must have all the necessary places filled in from information obtained from the work card or from the tag attached to pieces upon which work is to be performed. Job tickets are to be deposited in the department racks at noon and night when the whistle blows, but not before. Upon entering any de- partment in the morning or at noon, the job ticket is to be removed from the rack and kept with th eoperator at all times. If an employee is absent from the shop for any length of time, an “out” card is placed in the department rack and the employee upon returning to work takes this to the time clerk and exchanges it for a regular job ticket. For the punching of job tickets to show the record of time spent on the various jobs during a day, the Gisholt Machine Company has developed and is about to place on the market a machine called the periodograph. These ma- chines, ‘located conveniently to the various departments of the shop, are connected electrically with a clock in the timekeeper’s office. The device records the passage of ~ Fig. 9—View of the General Assembly Bay Taken with Artificial Ilumination 30, 1912 tin consecutively numbered periods of fifteen minutes \t the beginning of a week the periods from 7 on Monday morning until quitting time on Satur- day are numbered consecutively and shown on a blue- nt to the shop. The periodiograph records these correspondingly. ticket is inserted in the periodograph at the com- pletion of each job and the machine punches the card and in it the number of the time period at that interval, te which space is provided for recording the order r of the job on which work is done. For overtime ; the reverse side of the card is used and this use of the card is immediately indicated by the position of the punch mark which is necessarily reversed as the job ticket an be entered into the periodograph in one direction only. [The use of this machine automatically records the actual spent on each job and requires only that the workman punch the job ticket at the completion of every operation. The company has in force the more or less common remium system whereby the employee is paid, in addition his regular rate, for one-half time by which he may re- ice the allotted schedule for any operation. To encourage the workmen in the suggestion of time reducing changes, the company assures him that no cut will be made in the time 10—Device for Suspending Lighting Wires from Steel Roof Members riginal limit for the operation until the employee has been well paid for his improvernent. The company also has in peration a savings system based upon subscriptions to Gisholt 4 per cent. notes in accordance with which the iployee may regularly, or at intervals, request the com- pany to withhold from his wages stated amounts for the purchase of these notes, payable on demand. The shop also has its own relief association, known as the Fuller & Johnson Relief Association, which provides protection against sickness or injury at a very low rate. The Gisholt Club was organized in February, 1907, for the purpose of promoting fellowship among the men in the shop and to provide diversions of an educational or enter- taining character. The company has no authority in the governing of the club and is simply a member, but pro- vides facilities for the club functions. The club activities include athletic, dramatic and musical organizations under paid instructors. Entertainments given exclusively by club talent are frequent. The company feels that this welfare work has demonstrated its own value in preserving the shop organization intact and on a lower wage basis than has been offered the men elsewhere. "he company has erected a beautiful office building with an underground tunnel connection from the shop. Che fo of special interest in the office is the use of t lighting in the drafting room. This system has been ‘foul exceedingly satisfactory as indicated in Fig. °, through the use of sufficient candle power. U. S. Expansion Bolt Company is now occupying new ofhces and a spacious warehouse in the Hudson Ter- minal Building, New York City, with an entrance at 48 vey street. The offices are attractively furnished, and a ‘ull line of the company’s product is carried in stock, On ‘he invitation of the company, of which Charles H. Mead ‘Ss general manager, many visitors have inspected the ‘ices and warehouse and commented favorably on the ‘ent facilities for conducting business. THE IRON AGE . 1335 Blower Equipment of American Dreadnaughts One of the factors which contributed materially to the high speeds made by the battleships Florida and Utah in their final acceptance trials is said to be the Sirocco blow- ers with which both vessels are equipped. Twenty-four blow- ers equipped for direct connected motors were designed and manufactured by the American Blower Company, Detroit, Mich., and twelve were installed in each of these battle- ships. Although the wheels of these blowers are only 33 in. in diameter, it is possible to secure a delivery of 28,500 cu. ft. of air per minute. When all of the units on a vessel are in operation at the one time the volume of air delivered to the boiier fires is 342,000 cu. ft. per minute or 768 tons of air per hour. The collective capac- ity of the fans used on each battleship can probably be expressed more comprehensively in terms of space than of weight and a clearer realization of the amount of air handled obtained when it is considered that 768 tons of air per hour means slightly more than would be con- tained in a tank 510 ft. high and having a base of 200 ft. square. Taking the usual amount of air required to burn one lb. of coal is approximately 18 Ib. or 240 cu. ft., the full set of fans running on each vessel will furnish suffi- cient air to burn 43 tons of coal per hour. One of the special features of these blowers which adapt them par- ticularly for this class of work is the small amount of space required to supply the necessary air blast. Both of these vessels were designed for a speed of 20.75 knots. Like all the other vessels for the navy they went through a builder’s trial and then through a Govern- ment trial before they were accepted. These trials were made under what might be called special conditions, the course, the crew and the officers being selected. After the vessels had been turned over to the Government and had gone into service, when they had their own officers and crews, were burning regular fuel and had become in every sense of the term regular vessels, they were put through another trial in which the conditions were those of ac- tual service. Here there was no opportunity for any se- lection or specialization in connection with the course, officers, crew or fuel. During her standardization trial the Utah ran a measured mile at the rate of 21.92 knots and during the 4-hr. trials an average speed of 21.042 knots was maintained. The figures for the Florida in these two trials were 22.54 and 22.07 knots. The New Haven Permanent Exhibition The New Haven Manufacturers’ Permanent Exhibition, New Haven, Conn., was formally opened May 22. This exhibition has attracted such wide attention that immedi- ately after its opening visitors from various parts of the country took advantage of the opportimnity thus afforded of familiarizing themselves with the products of New Haven factories. It is expected that it will prove a g convenience to buyets from out of town who visit N Haven annually in making their purchases. On reaching the exhibition a buyer can see grouped together samples of products of various establishments and meet r salesmen. He can thus secure direct communication .1 factories making a wide variety of products at a great saving of time. A telephone directory room in the build- ing has a collection of telephone directories of every “city of importance in the country. Should the buyer desire to communicate with parties in other cities he can do, so without leaving the building. The exhibition is the outcome of a visit made two years ago to Germany by C. E. Julin and Frank G. Scholl- horn. They saw such exhibits there, and on returning re- ported their observations to the New Haven Chamber of Commerce. Many new ideas were brought forth as the original project ripened and are now embodied in the ex- hibition. It is stated that the annual cost of up-keep will be about $10,000. The association has secured a lease on the building in which the exhibit is located at an ‘annval rental of $5000. G. E. Osborne is in charge of exhibits. The capacity of the building is 90 floor spaces and 20 wall spaces. By a rule of the association exhibits must be from New Haven or suburban districts. The basement of the building may be used for exhibits of heavy ma- chinery and products. Safeguards for Electric Cranes Further Details of Safety Provisions and Opera- tion in Plant of Illinois Steel Company Applic- able Industrial BY EDWARD to Experience has shown that the dangers connected with the operation of electric traveling cranes are far more numerous than a casual consideration would lead one to believe. Aside from such obvious sources of accidents as the dropping of a load or the possibility of a craneman falling from the structure, there are many less conspicuous hazards that may produce serious accidents. The Illinois Steel Company has made an exhaustive study of this subject, which study has been the means of exposing the dangers connected with the use of cranes in this company’s plats, and, each danger was brought to light, safeguards were developed. The extensive use of cranes in steel mills and fabricating shops makes the avoidance of dangers incident to their use a matter of vital importance, and as the safety devices and precautionary measures now used by the Illinois Steel Company are general in their application, some of them are presented in this article. Most crane accidents may be traced, either directly or indirectly, to one of the following causes: Falling from the struc- ture; being caught in the mechanism or shovked by electric conductors; being struck by a moving crane while working on the structure, or being hit by the load or by tools falling from the crane. The most obvious step in preventing the danger of cranemen’s falling f the as trom structure is to provide railed walks running the entire length of the bridge and also on the trolley. Where possible, railed walks are also pro- vided on buildings running paralled with crane runways Such walks do away with climbing the structure, where a man runs the double risk of falling or being struck by a moving crane. The standard construction on Protected Gears, Shaft Coupling and Switch for 2 > adopted calls for railings of 2 x 2 x % in. angle iron, 3 ft. 6 in. in hight. A toeboard 6 in. high is provided at the base of the railings to prevent tools and loose material from being kicked off the walks. Where there are gears hanging over a walk, the space between the toeboard and the center rail is filled in with heavy wire mesh, as shown in one of the pictures, the idea being to prevent the gears from falling in event of their working off the shafts. All other gears and parts of the trolley mechanism which Establishments Cranes Generally K. HAMMOND would fall with the loosening of keys or breaking ports are encased. An important point in preventing injuries unde; crane by falling tools and other material is an ar; ment to keep such appliances in a safe place whe: actually in use. Fixed boxes are provided on the Protected Walks and Safety Bumper for Cranes bridges for this purpose, as shown in one of the engravings, and a rule is made of clearing away all tools and materials which have been used in making repairs before starting the crane to work. Hooks and cables of adequate strength are, necessarily, a matter of primary importance for safely handling heavy loads. The cables are sub- ject to wear and they are one of the points which require particularly careful inspec- tion. The cables may also be damaged through the strain they receive if a load is hoisted high enough to bring it into contact with the crane. This danger is eliminated through providing hoist-limit switches which act automatically to shut off the power when the load has been raised to a given point. In making the hoist hooks, the cross-sectional area may be made too small at some one point, thus making this section too weak to safely carry the re- quired load. An accompanying drawing shows the hook design which has been adopted by the company, together with the specifications for hooks of different carry- ing capacities. The care which is taken to insure hav- ing safe cables and hooks is supplemented by the use of a system of signals to pre vent the craneman from starting up the hoist when the men below are not ready. Another important precautionary measure is observed in requiring the cranemen t? take the necessary time to bring the trolley exactly over the load before starting the hoist. It the cable is at all inclined from the perpendicular the load will swing when it is raised from the ground, and may strike the hookers and other men who are working near it. Stairs or fixed iron ladders leading to platforms at¢ provided as the means of getting to the crane cab, as illus- trated in an article by Robert J. Young, safety inspecto’ Illinois Steel Company, in The Iron Age of Januaty + The system of ladders and platform was developed 1336 May 309, I9I2 mize the cnances of a craneman being shocked by the tric power rails while getting to his cab. As a further ‘ection all trolley wires entering the crane cabs are ired to be covered with a substantial insulating erial. A heavy piece of angle iron is also placed er the power rails on the crane bridges, preventing the ting cable from forming a short circuit across them ase of a side pull. Where open type controllers are ed accidents have been caused through the flash injuring operator’s eyes. This danger has been effectually arded against by providing asbestos-lined steel guards r the movable contact parts on controllers of this type. [he usual methods have been adopted for guarding gearing, shaft couplings and other moving parts. The tures show examples. To prevent accidents while men working on or near the crane runways, the use of suards to, announce the approach of a crane was illus- trated in the i$sue of January 5. The guards are mounted the trucks and extend 1 ft. 6 in. in front of the wheels. This length is such that guards on adjacent cranes work- , on the same runway do not interfere when the cranes ump, and space is provided in the stops at the end of all rane runways to allow for the guards. Eight-inch, five- w wire brushes or cast steel guards are used, clearing rails by 4% in. The new steel guards are made with a rib on the side so that if there is nothing else for the man to catch hold of when his hand is shoved to one side, he will naturally cling to this rib. Where two or more cranes are working on the same runway, temporary stops are used for isolating any crane while it is shut down for repairs. Steel castings are used for the stops and a red signal lamp is also used on a crane when it is down for repairs, the amp being mounted in a position which makes it easily seen from all approaching cranes. Hoisting Hooks Design of Dimensions, Expressed in Inches, in Following Table la te tae a 5 6 8 10 iv | 1) | 1 13 De 1 oo 4|&| |] &|¢ | wl oo 8b eo # | im | im | 1% | 1 | 18 | | 2 | OH 1a | 2 24 | 28 | 38 a | a | st | 64 if | 18 | ae | 18 | 28 | om | 2M | ot le Cae imap [ao if | 18 19% | 28 | 28 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 38 1% | im |i 12 | 28 | om | a8 | 8 [on a [a | |e |e t 2) | oe fe 2 (Uf oe Pee ae ae ee ivy | 18 a 1 184 38 24 2] | 3% | 48 ive | 14 1 | 2 | 2m | 2H | 3x | 3H | 4h tj wi at als | al] e | a) tt | tt | tm | ite | 1h | 1H | 1S | 2) he” 1b | fe | tm | 1 | 2k | 8 | 28 | om 24 | 2h | 2 | om | aw | oe Poe | oF | 8 4 42 39 | 64 7 ee o | 11 «| 134 THE IRON AGE 1337 Safety switches are placed on all crane bridges, as also here shown, to shut off power. Whenever it is necessary to go on top of a crane the safety switch is pulled and a warning notice is placed on it, stating that the crane is shut down for repairs. This method is to preclude the possibility of men being injured through having a crane accidentally started while a repair man is working on the mechanism. The crane runways are equipped with bump- ers, which engage with bumpers on the cranes to take up the shock. The bumpers on one crane also engage with those of the adjacent cranes on the same runway. The customary use of gongs to warn men working in the shops of the approach of the load is supplemented by having the hookers walk ahead of the load to warn workmen to get out of the way. To secure the maximum control, all cranes are provided with load, motor and foot brakes. The plungers and weights of these brakes are encased so that it is impossible for them to fall if the supports were to break. Each crane operator serves through an 8-hr. shift, and after each period he makes a complete inspection of the crane before being relieved by the next man on duty. The results of this inspection are reported on the form, which gives spaces for noting the condition of both the main hoist and the auxiliary hoist. The scope of the inspection is shown by an “Instruction” blank, with a copy of which the operator is presented. A copy of the blank is here reprinted. Before being placed on duty as a crane oper- ator the man is fully trained concerning the dangers con- nected with the work, and he is also required to become familiar with the “Rules to Electric Cranemen,” which are printed on an 8 x 10%-in. card. Enameled signs also bearing these rules are mounted in a conspicuous place in every crane cab so that the importance of observing all safety measures is kept constantly before the attention of the cranemen. These rules are as follows: Electric Crane Report In making out reports of crane conditions, cranemen will please note carefully any necessary repairs to the following parts (including all apparatus used in connection therewith): Auxiliary Hoist Brakes Platforms Main Hoist Brakes Cages Main Hoist Cables Trolleys Auxiliary Hoist Cables Gears Collectors Controllers Motors Ladders Wheel Buffers Foot Brakes Cable Pulleys All Bearings and Bolts Limit Switches Safety Switches Bridge Wheels Shieve Wheels Safety Guards, such as:— ‘ear Covers, Sign, “Do Not Move” Sign “Rules to Cranemer” Guards front of Truck Wheel If crane was in collision make report of the fact on this Slank, giving result of collision and repairs necessary on this account | This is signed by the general superintendent. ] Rules to Electric Cranemen 1. Never leave crane cage without opening main switch, 2. Never go on top of crane or permit any one else to do so without opening main switch in cage and safety switch on top of crane, and put a warning sign bearing your name on safety switch. 3. Whenever safety switch is found open, do not close same until you are absolutely sure that no one is om crane or crane runway. Examine trolley carefully. 4. Keep crane clean, well oiled and in good working order, using the tools you have for this purpose. 5. Report to repairman any needed repairs which you cannot handle. 6. When crane is down for repairs, assist repairman. — After completion of any job, make sure that bolts, stools, etc., have been removed so that no damage to machinery will result when crane is operated, and so that nothing can fall off crane. 7. Where there is more than one crane operating on 4 runway, each crane shall be provided with temporary stops, to be at to the rails for the purpose of isolating a crane w repairs are being made on same. 8. Under no consideration permit your crane to bump into an- other crane until you are positive that no one on thé other crane is :7 a position to be injured. Orders from anyone to the contrary are to be disregarded. 9. Do not allow men to ride on load carried by crane, or on crane hooks. Refuse to move. 10. Do not move load without signal from proper man. 11. Before starting to hoist place the trolley directly over the load to avoid swinging the load against workmen. 12. Hookers must walk ahead of loads carried by cranes, and warn men on the floor to get out of the way of the load. 13. Cranemen must not use controller to supply — 14. Remain on duty until relief appears, unless by proper foreman. 15. Remain in crane cage ready for duty. 6. Se your ree wear turn for loose or —- gears, s, ladders, runways, ings, warning bells, signs, sweepbrushes, cables, brakes, ete., and make a ae the in our cranc. Do not fail to report anything that t may save someone's life. the form provided when you go off which you leave is out of order. 1338 Blowholes in Steel Ingots* Investigation Showing the Welding of Cavities in Crucible Steel BY J. E. STEAD Experiments with a honeycombed ingot of 0.5 per cent. carbon crucible steel were made at the works of J. H. Andrew & Co., Ltd., with the assistance of the manager, J. L. Potts, and his melter, Mr. Duckenfield. Two steel ingots from the same mixture were melted in such a way that one was honeycombed and the other sound. The honeycombed steel rose to nearly 10 per cent. of its length after teeming, whilst the sound ingot did not rise, but contracted down its central axis. We may assume that about 9 per cent. of the volume of the honeycombed ingot was occupied by blowhole cavities. The ingots were forged to a smaller size after heating to a wash welding temperature, estimated at not less than about 1100 deg. C., sufficient to melt the scale on the surface, and were divided into two parts. Half of each set of bars were reheated to 1100 deg. C. for one hour, and were then rolled to bars I in. in diameter. The remaining halves were heated in the usual way without soaking, and were also forged to 1 in. round bars. All the bars were “reeled” after forging. Portions of each of them were turned down to prisms of % in., % in., % in. and %4 in., and through each a hole was drilled, so as to make a series of cylinders with walls 3/16 in. in thickness. A similar hole was drilled through portions of the bars which had not been reduced in diameter by turning. The cylinders thus prepared were cut up into a series of rings about % in. in depth. The object of making these rings was to determine the degree to which they could be expanded before breaking, and to see if at their outer polished surfaces they would open out into seams on being slightly strained. The outer parts of the rings were brightly polished, and the rings were expanded by driving into them a hard taper steel drift. “<a Experiments Comparing Sound and Honeycombed Ingots The results need not be given in detail. It is sufficient to state that in no single ring after slight expansion was any unwelded steel detected, and in every case when frac- ture was effected the steel on each side of the parting showed evidence of contraction or plastic flow. We may conclude, therefore, that the surfaces of the rings were as sound in the steel from the bars of the honeycombed as they were in the steel from the sound ingot, and as there was no difference between the bars with and without soak- ing, we may be certain that soaking after wash welding, in this case at least, was of no advantage, because the forg- ing in the first instance produced as perfect welding as was possible, and no soaking afterward could improve what was perfection. Although the welding up of the blow- holes was apparently good, there was, however, a great difference in the physical properties of the rings from the respective ingots. The rings from the sound ingot expanded on the aver- age about 50 per cent. more before breaking than those from the honeycombed ingot, a peculiarity suggesting at Bt THE IRON AGE Fig. 1—Sec- tion through closed-up oxi- dized cavity. Black part rep- resents cinder; white part, metal Fig. 2—Same as Fig. 1 aft- er heating for 3 hr. at 950 deg. C. Dark parts are actu- al ae and unreduced slag inclusions Fig. 3—Same ig. 2 after heating for 1 hr. at 1100 deg. C. . Dark parts are ac- tual spaces and unreduced slag inclusions Fy. 4—Same as Fig. 3 after heating to 1100 deg. C. and _ forgin down to small- er size. Dark parts are slag inclusions. first sight imperfect welding of the blowhole walls. A careful examination of the fractures revealed the presence of dull lines of microscopic fineness in the rings from the *From a paper read before the Iron and Steel Institute, London. May 30, 1912 honeycombed ingot, while nothing of the kind co detected in the steel from the sound ingot. Further, on bending the broken rings from the honey- combed ingot, it was found that some portions of them could be bent to a greater extent without breaking thay others, while there was not such variation in the stee| from the sound ingot. In the cases where fracture occurred on slight bending these dull lines could almost always be de- tected on the broken surfaces, but none were present in the portions of the same rings which could be bent to a much greater degree before fracturing. Obviously these dy! lines and reduced ability of the steel to extend were co-related. Segregation of Manganese Sulphide As the steel contained only 0.02 and 0.03 per cent. of sulphur respectively, it seemed improbable with such a small amount of sulphur that there could he any materia! segregation of manganese sulphide in the blowholes. To determine whether there was or not, cross-sections ‘of the inch bars from the sound and honeycombed steels were cut and polished, and auto-sulphur prints were obtained on bromide paper. The results showed that the sulphur was distributed evenly in the bar from the sound ingot, but was segregated in the places where there had been honeycombs in the unsound ingot. Sulphur prints taken from a cut section of the honeycombed ingot itself also proved that the cavities contained sulphides. We may, | think, be satisfied in concluding that the dull lines are co-related in some way with the sulphide segregation. Finally, sulphur prints of the fractures proved that the dull lines were rich in, sulphides. That clean faces of cavities in crucible steel can be per- fectly welded together under treatment identical to that to which the honeycombed ingot was subjected has been fully proved; we are therefore satisfied that the inferior ductility in cross-sections of the bars made from the honey- combed ingot was due to the presence of sulphide of man- ganese threads which prevented the metallic faces from completely coming into contact. Blowholes with Oxidized Walls During the latter part of the year 1911 a series of trials was made, with the assistance of Mr. Parkin, to determine whether or not artificially formed cavities with oxidized walls could be welded up. It was taken for granted that if no carbon were present in the steel, oxidized blowholes could not be perfectly welded. In the first experiment with a 2-in. square steel bar about 8 in. in length containing 1.2 per cent. carbon, a small hole was drilled nearly to the bot- tom, along the central axis. The bar was then heated to redness and oxygen gas was blown down the hole, +0 as to oxidize the walls of the cavity. After heating to about goo deg. C. it was hammered, so as to bring the sides of the cavity into juxtaposition. The bar was then heated to and maintained at a temperature of about 1100 deg. C. for one hour, and was at once forged down to a smaller size. When cold it was nicked at intervals and broken at the nicks, and the fractures examined. They indicated imperfect welding near to what was originally the open end of the bar, but below this for two-thirds of the length the welding appeared to be perfect. On microscopic examination of the polished cross-sec- tions of the parts where welding appeared to be good it was found that the seam, originally consisting of oxide of iron, had been practically reduced to the metallic state, with the exception of minute globular dust-like in- clusions, probably of iron or manganese silicate—the residue of the oxidized steel which was incapable of being reduced by the carbon. But for these excessively minute inclusions the welding was perfect. On bending a polished and etched section to open the joint, the metal at this point being lower in carbon than the surrounding mass, extended and then broke, showing a perfectly crystalline fracture, @ proof that good welding had been effected. Effect of Soaking and Forging In a second experiment with the same steel a bar was prepared as above described, with the exception that after the cavity was oxidized and closed the bar was heated to 950 deg. C. for three hours. It was then cut in half; one- half was retained for examination, the other was reheated at 1100 deg. C. for one hour, and without forging, it ws allowed to cool. It was again cut into two portions, one © 30, 1912 1 was heated to 1100 deg. C. and then forged down smaller size. The other part was reserved for exami- n. Each of the three specimens was sectioned, pol- and examined microscopically without etching. igs. I and 2, representing magnifications of 330 diam- show that by heating at 950 deg. C. the carbon of steel reduced the iron scale to metallic iron, which ned in separate grains, surrounded either by some t amount of unreduced oxide, or gaseous spaces, or th n attempting to bend the specimens, the grains at once rated; there was no cohesion, they had not completely tallized together—a result not surprising, for the vol- of metallic iron is less than that of its oxide. g. 3 represents the same bar as the last after heating oo deg. C. for one hour. The drawing shows that the iter mass of the reduced iron grains had crystallized cther and pressed to one side the intervening gases, and mpelled them to segregate into relatively large bubbles t a considerable distance from each other. The micro- ructure of the joint in the third portion, which had been eated to and forged from 1100 deg. C., was identical i that in the bar of the first experiment, which had een heated to 1100 deg. C. for one hour and then forged , smaller size, and is represented in Fig. 4. The weld- ing was perfect, with the exception of the minute globular nclusions previously referred to. In a third experiment the steel bar was treated exactly in the first, but the bar itself contained only 0.50 per cent. carbon. The welding was found to be complete, but e joint previously occupied by the scale now consisted { carbonless ferrite, and the adjacent steel contained less irbon than the mass of the steel itself. These results show, as was anticipated, that if the walls of the cavities are not too thickly scaled and a sufficient quantity of car- on is in the steel, the scale itself can be reduced practically entirely to the metallic state, and this can be welded up to the sides of what was originally the cavity. Signs of Blowholes in an Axle lt is generally assumed that blowholes, which terminate n one side through the outer skin of the envelope of steel ingots, having access to oxidizing gases, get so severely oxidized on their walls that no welding of the cell walls curs, and that in rolling out they are simply extended ind appear at the surface of the rolled sections as rokes, which penetrate to the full depth of the extended blow- [t is only necessary to describe a single instance. This was a railway axle, on the surface of which there was ample evidence of pre-existing cutaneous blowholes in the ingot, for at intervals there were longitudinal lines or fine grooves an inch or more in length. A cross-section ver- tical to the surface, after polishing, was sufficient to reveal ihe position and depth of these rokes. The depth varied ‘—Diagrammatic Sketch Showing Section of a Roke in a Steel Axle with Surrounding of Reduced Scale one-hundredth to one-fifth of an inch, The outer «o\clope was completely decarburized, as is usual in low medium carbon steels which have been reheated in an sing atmosphere previous to forging or rolling. THE IRON AGE 1339 There was a complete absence of the minute inclusions in this envelope; the steel contained no carbon, but the ferrite immediately in contact with the scale, and for a little distance beyond, contained minute globular inclusions, while at a greater distance the crystals of iron contained none, ‘ The diagrammatic sketch, Fig. 5, explains better than words the appearance under the microscope. There can be little doubt that the ferrite containing the inclusions surrounding the remaining unreduced oxide was at one time oxide or scale in a blowhole, that this was reduced practically entirely to the metallic state by the carbon in ihe adjacent steel, and that the particles of reduced iron had crystallized together and to the steel itself, producing a practically perfect weld—indeed, on straining, so as to vend the steel, there was no opening out at the junction uf the two zones. The minute inclusions are the residual portion of the scale which could not be reduced by carbon or carbon monoxide at the temperature at which the steel had been heated and rolled. Conclusion In conclusion, it seems reasonable to believe that under the ordinary treatment to which honeycombed ingots of steel are heated and rolled, internal small cavities or blow- holes do become perfectly welded up, provided there is an absence of sulphide segregations, and that even when these segregations are present, as they are not in continuous lines but occur only at intervals, the clean metallic faces between them come into contact and weld together. It seems also justifiable to conclude that surface blow- holes which become oxidized on their walls during the heating and rolling of the ingot, do become more or less completely welded. The conditions favorable to this weld- ing must be sufficiently high temperature, and maintenance of the steel at that temperature for a long enough period after the cavities have been closed, to admit of the carbon in the adjacent steel being afforded the opportunity to re- duce the oxide scale. Performance of Electric Motor Trucks Some figures comparing the horse-drawn and the elec- tric motor vehicle were recently selected from records of a prominent industrial concern by the Wm. D. McJunkin Advertising Agency, Chicago. They are here presented in tabular form and show a considerable reduction in cost per * mile traveled and per ton carried per mile for the electric compared with the horse vehicle, with the greater show- ing apparently for the smaller-sized trucks. In emphasizing the advantage of the electric vehicle, mention is made of the small number of working parts in an electric machine as compared with other forms of automobile, and this fact is regarded as unquestionably resulting in low repair cost and similarly in high durability. The operation of an electric truck is, of course, simple, and it is generally understood that the insurance rates are low because of the minimum chance of fire. It is claimed that few business men attach sufficient importance to the low cost of power for operating an electric truck. Miles Ton miles Cost Cost Cost per 1-Ton Trucks per day perday per day per mile ton-mile ae. gona ben 17 17 $7.13 $0.419 $0.419 Electric ....... 35 35 6.89 v.20 0.20 2-Ton Trucks Matte © 4.¢¥ece 16 32 8.37 0.523 0.261 Electric .....-- 30 60 7.99 0.27 0.135 3%-Ton Trucks Maree.” scécncnae 35 52 8.41 0.56 0.162 Electric §.....-. 27 94 0.35 0.10 9.57 The continued growth of the business of the Lagonda. Mfg. Company, Springfield, Ohio, has made the erection of a new three-story reinforced concrete office building necessary. The present office was located in one end of the factory building, but greater factory and office facili- ties were needed. Although an addition was made to the factory not very long ago, the business of the company has increased so rapidly that delays have occurred in filling orders, which will be eliminated by the construction of this new building. The Worcester Pressed Steel Company, Worcester, Mass, has made up to date 1,000,000 pressed steel wrerich sockets. 1340 Five-Cylinder Engines for Reversing Mills Analysis of Their Advantages and Also of Considerably Increasing Steam Pressure + An interesting presentation of the advantages of using five simple engines for driving a reversing mill, with the cranks spaced at an angle of 72 deg., was made by John W. Hall, Birmingham, England, in a paper read before the May meeting in London of the Iron and Steel Institute.. The author dealt with the severe duty demanded of the steam engine working a reversible mill, taking into account the high momentary power requirements and the necessity of bringing to rest and starting in a reverse direction heavy masses of metal. He discussed briefly the limitations to operating the reversing-mill engine condensing, and the use TWO CYLINDER ENGINE » Vi YY yoy Wi Z TURNING MOMENT “6 CUT OFF Fig. 1—Energy Diagrams of Two-Cylinder Engine of compound engines, steam turbines and an engine having two cranks set 90 deg. apart. What he had to say of en- gines with three and more cylinders was as follows: An accompanying cut shows that if a third cylinder be added to ah engine and the cranks are spaced at an angle of 120 deg. apart, the valves may then be set to limit the admission to half stroke, and yet there will be an effort of 190,000 ft. Ib. available for starting the engine. The saving in steam due to limiting the maximum cut off to half instead of to three-quarters of the stroke, as in the case of a two-cylinder engine, will be about 30 per cent. at the latest cut off, when the consumption of steam 1: highest. The turning moment of the three-cylinder engine when running is also much improved. At high speeds, when shocks are most detrimental, the variation between the maximum and the minimum turning efforts is as 2.2 is to 1 in the two-cylinder, but only as 1.5 is to 1 in the three- cylinder type. The running at slow speeds is also better, because the weights of the three cranks balance each other in any position, and there is none of that tendency to “hang” displayed by two-cylinder engines when both cranks come to the bottom. With two cranks at right angles the center of gravity of the cranks, pins and connecting rods is situated at a considerable distance outside the axis of the crankshaft; THE IRON AGE May 30, i912 at high speeds this sets up a large unbalanced force tenq- ing to move the engine as a whole upon its foundations which must be massive to absorb the vibration. With three cranks spaced equally there is no such unbalanced force tending to move the engine as a whole. T