The Iron Age 1912-12-05: Vol 90 Iss 23

THE IRON A« Established 1855 New York, December 5, 1912 q ~ SN Ss a. s N SS ~ NS Vol. 90: No. 23 A Coupon Card System for Labor Records How a Perpetual Balance Between Produc- tive and Non-Productive Labor is Maintained in a Machinery Manufacturing Plant A prominent machinery house which operates an iron foundry as well as machine shops has developed, in con- nection with its cost department, tains, at small expense, a perpetual record of all labor, productive and non-productive. is a daily coupon time card, The fundamental factor supplemented by a weekly a system which main- cost card, compiled from the coupons. The system works to insure a true balance between actual expenditure for labor, on the one hand, and dis- tributed labor cost on the other. tion, is Charged to some account, and is recorded on the Their total, therefore, must agree with the pay roll, which is obtained from entirely independent that is to say, from the time clock for ordinary day labor, from the records of the bonus system in the coupons, Fig. 1. sources ; shops and of the piece work system which prevails to some extent in the foundry. The time cards § from which the coupons are de- tached afford the means of tracing any discrepancy to its source, for they contain a history of all men’s labor, by order and part and opera- tion. The daily posting of time, which avoids the pos- sibility of error in transfer, is eliminated. The cost cards give accurately the progress of all orders week by week. The details of all elements of labor are obtainable at any time. The system is maintained cheaply; these records of nearly two hun- dred men require all the time of one girl and part of the time of one man. At the right hand edge of the daily time card are attached coupons having spaces for entries corre- sponding to the vertical divisions of the body of the card -for the order or job number (the shop system makes certain distinction between orders and jobs), for opera- tion and part numbers and the number of hours worked. Each different task which a workman performs in a day has its entry on the card and on its individual coupon. In other words, the card and coupons contain a complete record of the man’s time for one day, by order and part . and operation. At the close of each day the coupons are detached from all cards and are gathered in vertical files, by order, part ind operation number, and the tickets proper are filed by the workman’s number, which maintains a perpetual record of his labor and efficiency. At the close of the week the coupons represent a complete record of the six days. Their totals are transferred from the coupons to ae All time, without excep- - re“ TIME CARD the cost card, Fig. 2, which is furnished in varying lengths of columns to meet the requirements of an order. order and job has its cost card; represents the entire labor and material cost of the works for the week, including both productive and non-produc- tive labor, as will be explained. Each the total of these cards The cost card of every order contains an entry for each the illustration. Clock Number /o9 Date HL 16,/2 was, | noel _172| 2001 5 _ t Ord. Bes eee Foreman Fig. ees eS ' Total Time : | Part, 1—The Daily Coupon Time Card man who has been employed upon it. explanation, the record of one workman only is used in In columns are the pattern number, the workman’s clock number, the number of hours consumed on the order by that employee, his wage rate per hour and On the line below is the bonus earned by this man, which is obtained from the record of the bonus system. At the right of the column devoted to the the total wage cost. Clock ‘. /00 required to complete it. To simplify the description of the work are the columns for the material record—the number of pieces, which item is ob- tained from the shop records by reference to the part num- ber; the weight, the cost per _ piece and the total cost. A similar entry is made for every workman who has been employed on the order dur- ing the week. The summary at the right hand of the card is not filled in until the order is completed. The columns of each week- ly card are footed and the totals of the order for pre- vious weeks are added, so that the managing officers have before them the exact cost of the order to date, both as to labor and mate- rial. As the order progresses the card affords the oppor- tunity for a close approxi- mation of its complete co:t and the time which will be If the figures should cause doubt as to whether a profit will be made, an investigation may be undertaken and the reasons for the failure ascertained. When the order is completed the summary is. filled out, with a total cost of labor and material, less any credits that may have accrued, as, for example, defective cast- ings returned to the foundry or brass scrap. The addi- tion of the overhead gives the cost complete, and, of course, the difference between that figure and the selling 1311 to some order or job, price tells the profit or loss on the order. Every item of labor performed in the shop is charged including non-productive labor. This, too, is divided among jobs. Sweeping, machine re- pairs, general repairs, miscellaneous labor such as window washing, each has its job number. Each man engaged in this class of work has his time card and his coupons are fe ; i ‘ iy filled out to indicate the job to which his efforts are devoted. Each non-productive job has its cost card, which is filled out each week in the same detail as that of the productive orders. The pay-roll is made up by a clerk who has no knowl- a Uy, ia y NAME, Z 1312 THE IRON AGE g “LABOR AND MATERIAL. December 5. i912 that is, the only shutdowns have been for necessary; _.; From August I, 1911, to June 15, 1912, the plant |.) 26 working days. On three of these days only four f, were running; on 137 days, five, and on 126 days a The number of working days multiplied by the nu, Cc ce <> Fig. 2—The Weekly Cost Card Which Gives the Record of Every Order Each Week edge whatever of what the coupons and cost cards con- tain. He has absolutely no access to these records. He must depend entirely on the time clock and the piece work and bonus system records for the week. The pay- roll total is compared by the manager with that of the cost cards. If the two agree within one dollar the error is considered a negligible factor. But if it is more than one dollar an investigation is required. In practice, the limit is rarely exceeded. Where it does exist the time cards afford a simple means of running down the error. The discrepancy must show up when the pay-roll is com- pared with the time-¢ard records of the workmen. Once located in the underpay or overpay of one or more em- ployees, any coupon which may contain an error is quick!y located and the required corrections made. The coupons are preserved for 60 days in case they might be needed _ for some unexpected reason. German Practice with the Friedrich Changeable Port Increase in Life of an Open-Hearth Furnace The Friedrich changeable port was described in The Iron Age of July 20, 1911. In a recent issue of Stahl und Eisen are given some remarkable results obtained recently with its use at the Julienhiitte, Bobrek, Upper Silesia. Progress has been made in prolonging the life of the fur- nace. The total run from one big repair to the next is now about 1500 heats. The checkers stand this long run because of the presence of sufficiently roomy slag pockets. The ports are changed without regard to the fact that a big repair may be almost necessary, because the small cost thus brought about is balanced by the improved operation of the furnace due to the longer ports. If the furnace is stopped for repairs then the still useful port is removed, patched up if necessary, and placed in another furnace at the first opportunity. It may be mentioned that the build- ing up of the furnace is greatly shortened by the use of these changeable ports, for the parts with which most care must be taken, the ports, are ready to put into place. Only a little brick work is present in the back unchange- able part of the ports. The use of these ports has enabled the open hearth plant of the Julienhiitte to meet the heavy requirements for material in a way that was not thought possible when the old massive ports were used. The statistics given be- low, which are guaranteed to be correct, support this state- ment. It may be mentioned that the plant consists of six furnaces, 40 to 45 tons capacity, and a 150-ton mixer. Since August 1, 1911, the plant has been worked full; of furnaces, 266 X 6= 1596 furnace days. Of these 143 were devoted to repairing and the remainder, 1453, to oper- ating. The repair days constitute only 8.96 per cent. of the working days. This very favorable result over the long period of 10% months is the more remarkable when one considers that at Julienhiitte the pig iron process is used almost exclusively, taking about 70 per cent. of pig iron. Only about 6.5 per cent. of the steel production during the time mentioned was made by the pig and scrap process. The fact that during the pig iron process the furnace is attacked more than during the scrap process, because of the large slag volume and the extremely lively reaction which brings about at least an hour’s foaming of the charge, requires no proof. This is more especially true when, as at the Julienhiitte, the pig iron is charged without having had any preliminary refining, so that all the impurities have to be removed in the furnace. These unfavorable conditions are still further strengthened by the fact that the pig iron contains from 0.7 to 1.0 per cent. phosphorus. The advantages brought about by the lessening in the necessary time for repairs are readily understood. In addition to the direct saving in cost of repairs, they consist in a considerably increased output or in the possibility of obtaining the same tonnage from a smaller number of furnaces, and so requiring less capital to build the plant, The view is often expressed that the repair costs are not important compared with the highest possible daily output per furnace. This is not altogether the right view to take, for it is just as important to keep the furnaces in opera- tion as long as possible, and so obtain the greatest avail- able monthly output, and use the whole plant to the best advantage. The use of the changeable ports, however, enables the daily output to be maintained at a uniform high level, for as the ports burn back they can be replaced. This is shown by the record of a furnace at the Julien- hiitte which was not shut down once for a big repair during the 10% months. Owing to its position, no scrap could be charged, and pig iron alone was therefore used, which had an unfavorable influence on the output. The average daily product in metric tons (2204.6 Ib.) was as follows: 1911 Tons 1912 Tons RET REA PRE RE IE 153.0 SODOGtbe?. ..sexcsean mer 158.6 Ler oe 154.9 PEPE CE BIS 158.0 SCCM oes i. Ste ares 141.1 In December the mixer was shut down for a short time, so that the iron had to be taken direct from the blast furnace. Previous to August, 1911, the furnace was n0t used for two months, after a small repair, because the steel was not required. The last big repair was in October. ‘ember 5, 1912 . As the figures show, the best output was reached ard the end of its long campaign. The checkers were y changed once. from the results shown above it is clear that the use the changeable ports allows the efficiency of the open rth plant to be increased and the monthly output to held on a very steady basis. The full advantage of h practice is self-evident and cannot be put into figures. order that the best results may be obtained, it is of irse necessary sometimes to make changes to meet local nditions and to become used to the new method of rking. G. B. W. Dodge Pulleys for Exacting Service The Dodge Mfg. Company, Mishawaka, Ind., through ts Southern branch, 28 South Forsyth street, Atlanta, Ga., closed a deal with the Georgia Railway & Power mmpany, Gainesville, Ga., for a large iron center wood m pulley, which will transmit 125 hp. at 225 r.p.m. under mal conditions. The pulley will be used on a water- heel shaft. To provide against accident, should the waterwheel race, the pulley will be made of special design withstand a rim speed of two miles per minute. The lodge Company makes a specialty of these pulleys. A short time ago a customer ordered a Dodge iron spider wood rim pulley, 46%4-in. diameter, 16-in. face, j-in. bore, to be tested for a rim travel of gooo ft. per minute. In entering the order the Dodge Company also arranged to make an exact duplicate. The rims of both were made from the same lot of lumber and the spiders were cast from the same ladle of metal. They were as nearly identical as it was possible to make them. The pulley for the customer was tested to a rim speed exceed- ing 10,000 ft. per min., and shipped. Then began opera- tions for testing the duplicate. A vacant room at the fac- tory was fitted with a lineshaft driven by transmission from the main jackshaft. The lineshaft was arranged to run 200 r.p.m., and driven by belt to countershaft, thence to the testing arbor on which the pulley was mounted. A strong barricade was erected and the test was made at the noon hour, when the main engine was available for varying speeds. The engine was started slowly and gradually increased to its maximum speed of 75 r.p.m. \ccording to the test readings taken, this produced an actual speed on the testing mandrel of slightly over 2400 r.p.m. This multiplied by 146, being the circumference in inches of the 46%-in. pulley, showed that the wheel had actually run at the terrific speed of 29,200 ft., or a little over five and one-half miles, rim travel per minute. Germany's September Exports Germany’s exports of iron and steel in September amounted to 502,551 metric tons, which compares with 400,141 tons in August and 433,500 tons in September, ig11. The exports were the heaviest of the year, with the exception of June. The following table shows the export movement for September and for the first nine months of the year for the most important products, as compared with 1911, stated in metric tons: September Nine months 1911 1912 1911 1912 Pig iron s..3Gn eens eaees 61,646 90,074 567,287 787,833 SCTAPS: oy o viiabradennaale bale 14,547 13,0 130,606 110,969 Blooms, billets, etc........ 46,948 51,828 471,233 491,413 Beams 2.3 c¢ueevaeebiesans 32,698 45,408 294,702 362,685 “ther structural forms..... 59,855 74,548 570,677 616,141 Heavy plates ....ccceseees 22,412 24,660 217,188 215,689 Light gigi << ba cides saue’s 9,132 8,963 79,516 92,252 Vire, unpolished ......... 20,151 25,795 181,455 201,098 Wire, polished ........e+s 13,434 12,078 105,291 113,449 Wire nallg-vivesoevdeensnion 3,96 4,430 43,789 39,142 Wrought pipe ....:+sccsss 15,893 14,627 107,717 122,475 Steel calle perce sae Renae 44,615 44,691 389,307 390,343 0 ot bc ink aes ehiee aden ,0 12,675 98,576 131,148 South Africa now boasts an iron industry. The local supply of scrap is being worked into bar iron and small gles by the Union Steel & Iron Works, whose plant located between Boksburg and Benoni, on the Rand, ~outh Africa. Another company, known as the Union ‘cel Corporation of South Agfrica, is building a similar lling mill at Vereeniging, on the Vaal River. Consul iwin N. Gungaulus, Johannesburg, states that this com- ny has a 16-year contract for the purchase of all of ‘ scrap iron and steel produced by the Government rail- toads at $4.86 per ton. THE IRON AGE 1313 Automatic Trimming and Curling Machine For trimming and curling the flanges of cups drawn from ‘sheet metal, the: E. W. Bliss Company, 11 Adams street, Brooklyn, N. Y., has recently designed and built a special machine. It is semi-automatic in operation, it being simply necessary for the operator to place the cup on the chuck and the rest of the operation is performed without any further attention. The capacity is approxi- mately 30,000 cups in a 10-hr. day. Either straight, taper or spherical shells having a maximum diameter of 3-in. and a maximum hight of 1% in. can be handled. Essentially the machine consists of a vertical turret and six spindles, each of which carries a chuck. The revolution of the. spindles is continuous through spur gearing, while the turrets are intermittently revolved by A Special Automatic Machine for Triewsing and Curling the Flanges of Drawn Cups Built by the E. Brooklyn, N. Y. Bliss Company, a Geneva movement. As a chuck appears in front of the operator he places a cup upon it, after which the chuck moves into position for the trimming cutters to act. These are driven by a chain and sprockets and consist of two rotary cutters mounted on a slide which moves by a cam action toward the chuck to trim the flange of the cup, the scrap being discharged through the machine. In the next two positions, the curling of the edge is done. This is started in the first position and finished in the second. While these operations are being performed the blank is held on the chuck by an upper spindle which de- scends upon the blank and clamps it after it has been brought into position. After the blank has been trim- med and curled, it is: discharged by two fingers mounted in a yoke which are set-to the diameter of the blank and held against a stop by spring pressure. These fingers de- scend upon the cup, gripping at the edge, and raise it until it is struck by a third one which throws it in a horizontal direction into the discharge chute. Factory inspection and law enforcement, a discussion of immediate federal legislative programme and the mat- ter of the minimum wage are features of the sixth annual meeting of the American Association for Labor Legislation, to be held in Boston, Friday and Saturday, December 27 and 28, at the Hotel Copley Plaza. Copies of the programme can undoubtedly be obtained by apply- ing to the secretary, John B. Andrews, 131 East Twenty- third street, New York City. j. H. Williams & Co., manufacturers of drop forgings, Brooklyn, N. Y., having found it desirable to arrange for the more convenient service of their customers in the Mid- dle West, have opened an office and warehouse at 40 South Clinton street, Chicago, in charge of Charles E. Hathaway, . who has represented them in Chicago for some years. It will be the aim to carry at all times a stock of their many drop forged specialties sufficient to accommodate the immediate needs of thei? customers. Adopting Piece Work and Premium Systems’ The Conditions Favorable to Piece Work —What to Consider in Establishing Rates ~-Observations on the Physically Fit Man Piece work or the premium system is applicable to any work that can be thoroughly inspected. It is not suited to the assembling of fine work, but is all right for the as- sembling of the rougher classes of machinery where the designer has allowed ample leeway for poor workmanship, where the customer pays a low price, and where a perfect machine is not absolutely essential. The output per man in a plant changing from day work to piece or premium work will increase in the ratio of three to five. When Piece Work Is Not Advisable Piece work or premium work can be used on the ma- chine operations of. the automobile engine. All pieces can be gauged and inspected as they come from the ma- chines. Piece or premium work cannot be used without danger of a bad product on the assembling work, because thorough inspection here is impossible. An assembler can screw a stud carefully into the hole that has been’ par- tially stripped and the job will pass the inspection and the running test. When the buyer tries to tighten down the nut on this stud, on account of a leak, the thread will be stripped. An assembler discovering that he has not placed enough liners or shims between the connecting-rod and the cap to prevent the pinching of the crank, may leave these bolts loose rather than waste his premium time in correcting the matter. The engine will pass all tests, but give trouble afterward. The ground bearing of the valve on its seat may be broad on one side and narrow on the other. and still be tight and pass the test. This valve will not stay tight as long a time as one that has an even bearing all around. Inspection will not discover faults in assembling. The workman must be depended on to do good work. Eliminating False Moves To get the most out of piece work, both for the work- man and the firm—for the workman a higher total wage, and for the firm a lower piece rate—every false move, no matter how seemingly insignificant, must be absolutely eliminated. This can be done to some extent by the work- man, but can be accomplished better by having an intelli- gent overseer stand by the man while at work and call the man’s attention to each one of his false moves. A good way is to have the man count aloud the number of movements he makes. He will soon be interested in the possibility of reducing this number. The molder in the foundry making small molds, may be putting one too many shovelfuls of sand on his mold which afterward has to be struck off as superfluous. In striking off the mold he may make two moves where one fong sweeping move would do the work. Setting the Time on a Piece When a man is able to do the task without making any false moves, time him. See that he is moving rapidly, that is, not holding back because you are timing him. From his time on one piece figure what his output would be for a day. The actual output will drop below this on account of small delays now and then. The allowance will be different on different classes of work. On work requiring very little physical effort, the allowance will be *Copyright, 1912, by Stuart Dean. Ninth article on Shop and Foundry anagement. BY STUART DEAN ~—— small. On work taking great physical effort, this alluv- ance should be as high as 40 per cent. That is, a man will have to rest 40 per cent. of the time on the heaviest work. His resting generally takes the form of working slowly in the afternoon when he is tired, and quitting work rather early. For instance, set the molding rates as follows on small molding after getting the true time of one mold when the molder is hurrying: 2% minute mold add 40 per cent.; total time 3% minutes; 5 minute mold add 40 per cent; total time 7 minutes; 74% minute mold add 40 per cent; total time 1014 minutes; 10 minute mold add 40 per cent.; total time 14 minutes. On heavy piece work or premium tasks be sure to use a powerful man—a man physically fit for the work. There are men who never tire. The only effect enormous, con- tinued physical effort has on them is to make them raven- ously hungry. The energy expended is taken from the food the man eats and not from the man’s tissue. He is burning food, not flesh. I remember asking a workman who was doing very heavy work all day if he felt tired at night. He was a muscular, short, thick set man. He said, “No, I feel just as fresh at night after I have eaten my supper as when | started in the morning.” He was physically fit for the task and felt no injurious effect from overwork. Few realize what an enormous amount of work the physically fit man can do. A fireman on a big locomotive puts 15 tons of coal through an 18-in. door upon the fire in a run of five or six hours. At the Lake Erie docks men are paid 18 cents per ton for cleaning up the ore in the hold of an ore boat after the automatic unloader has handled all that it can (80 per cent. of the cargo). They have made as high as $12 per day of ten hours, which means 6,67 tons of ore were shoveled in one hour. On straight work, not cleaning up, they are paid 13 cents per ton. When eight men are in a hold shoveling into 1-ton buckets each man handles five or six tons of ore per hour. A rate of eight tons per hour has been reached. The daily wages run as high as $6.50 to $7.80 per day. These are instances of the ability of the physically fit man for heavy work. When skilled mechanies, in any trade, are paid $3.25 for ten hours, the piece worker will earn $4 to $4.50 a day; the exceptional man will be able to make about $5 These figures are for work where the piece rate has been correctly set. The workman must keep up a good speed all day to make the money. Handling Work by the Specialist System Where work can be specialized by having a man do but one or two operations, costs can be greatly reduced. This system of specialization increases the output per man and improves the quality of the product, because each specialist is an expert on his one particular part of the work. A product made exactly to the drawings will result, becatse interchangeability is a necessity to the system. A firm can easily increase its force of skilled workmen, even when labor is scarce, for it is easy to break in green men who can be taught to do one or two operations only. Never make the mistake of putting a skilled mechanic 0” this simple work; it will be distasteful to him, and he will not be successful at it. 1314 ember 5, [912 Lake Iron Ore Shipments for 1912 Total by Lake, 47,444,000 Tons—New Northern Pacific Dock at Superior \uLUTH, Minn., November 30, 1912.—Latest figures 1 the various railroad docks, covering iron ore ship- ts by lake for the year as as below. Though these y be changed by a few thousand tons they are substan- ly accurate as a final total: 1912 Gross tons ith, Missabe & Northern (Duluth).................. 10,505,577 ith & Iron Range (Two Harbors)............000e05s 9,370,970 Great Necglieh Sanne Ds sca su ced ccevevsaevaeueceas 13,936,899 S Lime. Cane S Gu Wibind <p Laie ecee une dens cebewnare 305,000 Lake Superior & Ishpeming (Marquette)..............-.. 2,224,217 Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic (Marquette)........... 1,054,085 cago & Northwestern (Ashland)...................6. 3,776,500 Soo Line (Ashland). .......s.00- eas Ride oR Cals Bi 1,018,788 Chicago & Northwestern (Escanaba)................... 4,050,190 Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul (Escanaba)............. 1,202,600 47,444,826 (o this must be added whatever all-rail shipments are made direct to furnaces, which may be heavier than usual. Docks are left unusually clean of ore, the lake season ceased during good weather and did not drag on in freez- ing cold as is sometimes the case. The fall has been es- pecially favorable for traffic, which continued in great volume to the very last. Some vessel owners expect to maintain their ships in commission for two weeks, taking grain and coal, and many vessels will be utilized as grain storage during the winter, either at the head of the lakes or at Buffalo, so that the fleet will be a trifle late in commencing the ore business next spring. High grain freights late in the year have been of material assistance to vessel owners, who have not made much money out of ore this year. Rates of 40 cents from the head of the lake and of 25 cents from Escanaba have not conduced to net earnings. Northern Pacific Dock at Superior lt is planned by the Northern Pacific Railway to erect this winter a small steel and concrete iron ore shipping. pier, similar in design to the latest dock erected by the Great Northern, at Superior, Wis. It will be a short pier, with capacity for the handling of about 1,000,000 tons a ear, and it will be some years before that capacity will e required. The road has lands on the Cuyuna range and has some traffic contracts that may amount to not far from 100,000 tons in 1913 and more later. The Soo line, which handled 300,000 tons over its Cuyuna range ship- ping pier this year, will increase capacity in the expecta- n of moving the tonnage of several additional mines in 913. It is understood that one of the Cuyuna range prop- erties, mining a manganiferous ore of 55 to 60 per cent. ombined iron and manganese, has sold 200,000 tons to be lelivered over a period of two years, the sales.being to two large interests making spiegeleisen. Two other man- ganiferous mines are being developed in that vicinity, from either of which small shipments can be looked for in the ming season. "he Meriden Iron Company, of Virginia, Mesaba range, erected this year a log washery in the top of its shaft house. It has been mining a low grade silicious ore that t has been able to pass through this washing plant suc- essfully. Just now it is in trouble with the city and property owners, for it is mining under the town. It has iven an indemnity bond to protect the municipality and heen granted the right to continue mining, but property vners have asked for an injunction to prevent it from ving the streets adjacent to their property and the prop- rty itself, although the company controls mineral rights the lands in question. The case will be decided very "he coal deposits of this country, according to the ited States Geological Survey, furnish so large a sup- ply that it is equivalent to 4000 times the present annual of exhaustion. Although the total mined to the close 1911 was 8,730,572,427 net tons, it is estimated that r 90.5 per cent. of the original supply remains to be IT ned. THE IRON AGE 1315 A 21-In. Gap Bed Engine Lathe An engine lathe having a swing of 21 in. and capable of accommodating work 6% in. wide in front of the face- plate in the gap has been brought out by the Willard Ma- chine & Tool Company, Cincinnati, Ohio. The lathe is designed’ to serve the double purpose of the jobbing and the manufacturing shop. By removing the filling piece in the bed, work 21 in. in diameter with a 6%4-in. face can be operated on in the gap and by replacing the filler the lathe is transformed into a regular standard engine tool, having the rigidity of lathes of the latter class. The head- stock is massive with a bearing of 21% in. on the bed, and the spindle is of 0.60 per cent. carbon crucible steel. The front journal is 2% in. in. diameter and the hearings are of phosphor bronze scraped to fit the spindle. The carriage has a bearing 18% in. long on the V’s and the bridge is 73% in. wide with a dial for screw cutting The compound rest is made large to add to the rigidity. A New Gap Bed Engine Lathe with a Swin of 6% In. Built by the Willard of 21 In. and a Gay achine & Tool Company, Cincinnati, Ohio A feature of the apron is that it is cast in one piece, making it stiff and strong and all holes are tapped and reamed in a jig. The crank handle for moving the carriage is at the left side of the apron, an unusual position in gap bed lathes. As this handle is usually moved to the right side of the apron its location on the left side, it is felt, makes it very convenient for the operator. To stiffen the carriage when it overhangs the gap, a gib is attached to it at the right side of the apron. The removable filling piece is finished by scraping to obtain a perfect fit. It transforms the tool into an engine lathe with a 13%4-in. swing, that is identically the same as the company’s regular standard 13-in. engine lathe illus- trated in The Jron Age, August 25, 1910. Three lengths of bed, 6, 7 and 10 ft. respectively, are furnished. The equipment of the lathe includes a cabinet leg under the headstock, an extra large faceplate and the filling piece for the gap. In spite of the decrease in the production of iron, says W. T. Thom, of the United States Geological Survey, the value of the total mineral production of the United States for 1911 reached the enormous total of $1,918,184,384. Of this the value of the metals was $672,179,600, the remainder representing the non-metals. Coal led the list, with a value of $626,366,876; pig iron was second, with a value of $327,334,624; clay products third, $162,236,181; copper fourth, $137,154,002, and petroleum fifth, $134,044,752. While the total value for 1911 is about $70,000,000 less than for 1910, it is greater than that of any other year ex- cept the banner year of 1907, when the $2,000,000,000 mark was passed. The Hausman & Wimmer Company, iron and steel scrap, 111 to 115 Second avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa., has pur- chased the entire scrap iron plant of A. Epstein at 1640 to 1646 Orleans street, Detroit, Mich., and will run it as a branch of the Pittsburgh business. The Canton Iron & Steel Company, Baltimore, Md., is preparing to start its rolling mill, which has long been idle. The plant will be ready for operation about the middle of December. Influence of Pouring on Quality of Stee! A Study of Ingot Defects, Their Origin and Their Effect Upon Steel Rolled Into Plates—How to Avoid Blowholes Dr. C. Canaris, steel works ‘superintendent at the Schulz-Knaudt plant near Duisburg, Germany, recently prepared a paper on “The Influence of Pouring on the Quality of Low Carbon Steel,” an abstract of which ap- pears in Stahl und Eisen. While he wrote of conditions at the above plant, Dr. Canaris’s article has a good deal of matter of general interest. It relates entirely to plate steel, and to ingots that are rol'ed directly into plate and not into slabs in an intermediate mill. Bottom pouring alone is used. It is pointed out that incorrect handling during pouring can ruin the best material and cause the ingots to suffer from the following defects: 1. Shrinkage cavities. . Contraction cavities.. . Excessive segregation. Large blowholes. . Blowholes near the surface. . Scabbiness and scales. These defects influence the plates rolled from the in- gots, sometimes to a very great degree. For instance, the cavities give laminations which may penetrate a long dis- tance, requiting much shearing in order to have solid steel left. Excessive segregation often causes the plates to crack when being worked up. Ingots with large blowholes give unsound plates, and*those with blowholes near the surface give pitted steel, both kinds being totally useless in most cases. The bad effects of scabs are well known. Proper pouring and handling of the steel has also a great influence on the output of the rolling mill, and there- fore on the efficiency of the plant. For instance, if a 70 per cent. output can be increased to 73 per cent. with proper care, in a mill rolling 100,000 tons of ingots per year, and Anh wh it is assumed that the difference between the price of- plates and scrap is $15, then the increase in value is $45,000 in the year, or about 60c. per ton of finished product. There is also the advantage that the output of the mill can be increased without enlarging the plant, and the amount of scrap is decreased. The six defects are taken up in de- tail below, together with their causes and the means to be taken to obviate them. 1 and 2.—Shrinkage and Contraction Cavities By shrinkage is meant the decrease in volume when the steel passes from the liquid to the solid state, and by contraction that which takes place as the solid metal cools from the end of the freezing to lower temperatures. The process when a mold is filled with steel is briefly as fol- lows: A solid crust quickly forms around the walls and the bottom. This is followed by others and the solidifica- tion takes place in this way. The shrinkage is taken up by the liquid interior in the early stages, but after awhile the top freezes over and a hollow place begins to form in the ingot because there is not enough liquid steel present. It usually takes the shape of an inverted funnel, and is known as the pipe. After the freezing, contraction begins, the ingot draws together, shortens in length and pulls away from the wal!'s of the mold. The pipe is reduced in dimension, due to the drawing together of its walls. LOWER TEMPERATURE, LESS PIPING It has been established that the size of the pipe de- creases considerably with lowering of the initial tempera- ture. This is very important, for by pouring at the lowest possible temperature the formation of the pipe is greatly prevented. Slow pouring has naturally the same effect, for as the steel slowly rises in the molds a great deal of heat is lost by radiation. The shrinkage can a'so be neutralized in low carbon steel by the formation of blowholes. As is well known, liquid steel can dissolve gases which are evolved during solidification. The first layers of steel to solidify are free from blowholes because the gas finds free passage through the still liquid steel. As the metal solidifies, how- ever, blowholes form. They neutralize the shrinkage, in some cases altogether prevent it, and greatly reduce the size of the pipe. Under ordinary conditions the blowholes are small, with pure metallic surfaces, and weld together during rolling. Details are given of the methods used by Dr. Canaris to produce pipe-free ingots of sizes varying from 161% x 8% in. at the base to 5942 \x 22 in., and 882 Ib. weight up to 28,660 Ib. A number of the ingots were cut open in order to determine directly the size of the pipe, but in most cases its size was judged by the length of lamination that had to be sheared away. A certain amount of lamination js caused by rolling, but if it exceeds 2 to 534 in., depending on the thickness of the plate, then it is tolerably certain that it is due to the pipe. DETAILS REQUIRING CARE The results of the tests carried out emphasize the im- portance of having the ingot molds smooth and straight on the inside. Otherwise uniform shrinkage and contraction will be impossible and the formation of the pipe favored. For the same réason‘the molds must be at as uniform a temperature as possible. The kind and arrangement of the runner bricks is of the greatest importance. The steel must rise in all the molds uniformly. If this is not the case, then it will rise too quickly in some of the molds, and this favors pipe formation. Also at. the completion of pouring an equalization takes place, and the steel tries to flow from molds where it is at a high level to others where it is lower. This causes suction cavities, which often extend the whole length of the ingot and make the resulting plate altogether useless. This important point is further developed in the paper, particularly with regard to the number of different sized molds to be filled from one pouring funnel, and the proper placing of the molds over the openings in the runner bricks. These bricks must be carefully laid so as to give a free passage to the steel. The size of the nozzle used in the pouring ladle must also be chosen to bring about pouring that is neither too fast nor too slow. The author recom- mends one of 20 m.m. (0.78 in.) original diameter. INGOT PLATES TO REDUCE PIPE When the mo!ds are filled within about 4 in. of the de- sired hight, the rate of pouring must be reduced to allow equalization. As soon as the proper hight is reached the pouring must be stopped. The surface of the steel, es- pecially with very low carbon heats, usually sinks a little in the molds. The pouring is then resumed until the surface is again even. This is repeated several times until freezing has begun in the separate molds and a crust has formed about 1 in. to 1% in. wide. Then ingots weighing less than 1 ton should be immediately covered with their plates. Gas evolution is still taking place and is not completely pre- vented by laying on the plate. The pressure thereby pro- duced in the interior of the ingot will either close the pipe or \ery greatly reduce it in size. This is confirmed by the results given in the following table: Thickness of Length of. Heat Ingot Weight,lb. plate,in. lamination,in. Covered 373 1 1863 0.39 25. Late 2 1863 0.39 27.6 Late 3 1863 0.39 11.8 Early 4 1863 0.39 7.9 Early 539 5 1565 0.49 11.8 Early 6 1565 0.49 9.8 Early 7 1565 0.49 27.6 Late & 1565 0.49 29.5 Late 191 9 2315 0.57 39.4 Late 10 2315 0.57 37.4 Late 11 2315 .57 39.4 Late 12 2315 0.57 15.7 Early With ingots weighing more than a ton large pipes often occur notwithstanding the observance of the above precau- tions. A further procedure in the case of such ingots 's to top pour a little steel into them directly from the ladle after the completion of the bottom pouring and the forma- tion of a crust, then immediately to cover them with their plates. This process is logical, according to the theory of pipe formation, and is regularly followed by Dr. Canaris with excellent results. The precautions and methods rec- ommended to avoid piping are summed up below: 1316 : L ember 5, 1912 Correct condition of the ingot molds. Uniform temperature of the molds. Proper design of the pouring brick. Careful laying of the pouring and runner brick. Careful placing of the pouring funnel and ingot molds. Slow pouring. Repeated pouring, after the completion of the pouring proper, to maintain the level of the steel in the molds. Early covering of the ingots with ingot plates. A small amount of top pouring after the completion of bottom pouring. 3.—Segregation \wing to the greater fusibility of the segregate during formation it has a tendency to rise in the ingot and is sted by the gases which are being continuously evo!ved. r this reason the greatest segregation is found near the of the ingots, and its bad effects are well known. Segregation cannot be prevented by modifications in the pouring, so that all that can be done is to aid the natural endeavor of the segregate to rise in the ingot, in order that t can be sheared away together with the laminated part. [his is brought about by slow pouring and keeping the top f the ingot hot. In other words, the same methods used to prevent the pipe formation must be used in this case, except that the early laying on of the plate is not recom- mended, as it hinders the evolution of gas, which helps to sweep the segregate toward the top. On the other hand, pouring a little hot steel on the top of the ingot is very good, as is self evident. Through the use of these precau- tions the bad influence of segregation can be greatly les- sened. Experience shows, however, that shearing away the aminated part is not always sufficient to remove the segre- gate. Very often the greatest segregation is below the deepest part of the pipe, so that an apparently sound and good part of the plate must be sheared and scrapped. 4.—Large Blowholes Under ordinary conditions the large number of blow- holes found in soft steel ingots are generally small and lo not show in the finished plate. They have either been completely welded up or else their walls have been pressed together very. strongly. Large blowholes, however; can be aused by improper handling of the metal during pouring, nd are not removed during rolling. According to Lede- bur they are caused by the presence of foreign materials. lor instance, if a small piece of loose runner brick comes n contact with the rising stream of liquid steel, it brings ibout a sudden cooling of the steel immediately around it. This cooling causes an evolution of gas, and in this way the blowhole is formed. It sticks to the foreign substance ind is prevented from rising. If the foreign material con- sists of oxide of iron then the evolution of gas is es- pecially active because carbon monoxide is formed. Large blowholes can also be caused by air that is ucked down by the stream of steel during pouring and ‘annot escape. If they are large, their walls do not weld together during rolling, and blisters appear in the finished plate or else are seen after annealing or during the further working of the steel. The parts showing this appearance must be sheared away, so that in this respect also a low- ering in output is caused. If these large blowholes are to be avoided then the lds must be cleaned very carefully. After every cast walls are covered with a layer of oxide of iron, and this, together with any other material, must be removed ud the molds covered with a thin graphite wash. Natur- ally this must be done before they are placed in position ver the runner bricks. Further, these bricks should be leaned and the openings blown out with hand bellows. Top pouring should not be used under any circum- tances, because as the stream strikes the stool little glo- ules of metal fly off against the walls of the mold. They ickly freeze, arg covered with a layer of oxide, and give to blowholes as mentioned above. A great deal of r is also sucked down into the steel along with the de- scending stream, which cannot escape, as it is prevented the incoming metal. Bottom pouring avoids these evils nd the escape of the gas is favored. The following thods therefore must be used to avoid large blowholes. 1. Very careful cleaning of the molds outside the cast- ing pit. THE IRON AGE 1317 _ 2, Cleaning of the built-up pouring plates and blow- ing out of the runner brick channels. 3. Avoidance of top pouring. 5.—Blowholes Near the Surface Under ordinary conditions a crust of completely sound material forms on the walls of the ingot. This is only the case, however, if the metal is so thinly liquid that the first gas evolved can easily penetrate it, and if the evolu- tion is not too active. As soon as the metal becomes vis- cous, for any reason, then the free passage of the gas is prevented. The uppermost layers, which quickly lose a great deal of heat by radiation, are viscous toward the end of pouring and do not allow the gas to pass. This causes a great pressure in the interior of the ingots, which presses back the gas evolved near the ingot walls. A sec- tion of such an ingot shows a series of blowholes tightly pressed together just beneath the surface, their long axis perpendicular to the ingot walls. The interior of the in- got is usually free from blowholes. If these blowholes only occur locally they may be due to the presence of foreign matter, as mentioned before. Such ingots give bad plate. The thin outer skin is burnt off in the soaking pits and slag penetrates the blow- holes. The finished plate is then completely covered with pits and is known as pitted steel. It must be cut up and scrapped. In so far as this can be prevented during pour- ing care must be taken first of all that the metal does not set too early or too quickly in the ‘molds. They must be preheated before being used. Also the temperature must be as uniform as possible, otherwise local places may show the surface blowholes. Care must be taken that the steel rises uniformly in all the molds, otherwise the steel will cool more quickly in those molds in which it rises the most slowly. This is the reason why sometimes only certain ingots from a heat will show this blowhole forma- tion, and usually such ingots are those farthest from the pouring funnel. On the other hand, it is also necessary not to pour too quickly, for then the gases do not have time enough to escape properly. Attention may therefore be drawn again to the necessity of properly designing the pouring plate, properly laying the runner bricks and arranging the pour- ing funnel correctly. Also the molds should not be poured too full, but up to within about 6 or 10 in. of the upper edge of the mold, to avoid too rapid cooling of the upper surface. The means to be used to avoid surface blow- holes, so far as pouring is concerned, are therefore: 1. Sufficient and uniform heating of the molds before use. 2. Thorough cleaning of the molds outside the casting pit. 3. Proper design of the pouring plate. 4. Careful laying of the pouring plate and runner bricks. 5s. Avoidance of pouring the molds too full. 6.—Scabbiness and Scales Improper pouring will cause the ingots to have a rough, scabby surface. These scabs are caused by metal being thrown off during pouring against the walls of the ingot mold and freezing there. They are immediately covered with a layer of oxide. When the rising steel covers them up they are not absorbed but are clearly visible on ‘he outside surface. Plates rolled from such ingots usually show scabs or scales, which have to be chipped off, caus- ing increased operating costs. To avoid this scabbiness especial care must be given to the temperature of the molds. For instance, if hot soft steel enters a cold mold there is a sudden cooling and an active evolution of gas which sprays the metal against the walls of the mold. Further, these scabs can easily be caused by top pouring, especially if the nozzle is somewhat eaten away, so that the steel is poured in a wide stream. To avoid this trou- ble, therefore, these precautions must be taken: 1. The molds must be properly heated. 2. Top pouring must not be used. Unfortunately all these precautions cannot always be observed, especially in plants that are pushed for tonnage because their capacity is too small. For this reason other methods have been worked up, such as the Harmet com- pression process, which needs a very expensive installa- tion and which can only deal with a part of the output. 318 AGE THE IRON December ; \Qi2 f It is also questionable whether this process can influence k favorably the position of the segregate. For these rea- sons this process is only suitable for certain plants, and Dr. Canaris recommends the thermit process for re: ving the pipe. It has given him good results, as previous|y de. scribed by him. Are Profits a Proper Measure of Efficiency? Standard Costs Furnish the Basis for Com- PS tla parisons, but These Cannot Profit—Sales BY STERLING H. BUNNELL Related to Net The November meeting of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers was devoted to a paper by Edward B. Passano, Baltimore, entitled, “Measuring Efficiency in Manufacturing on a Basis of Profit.” Mr. Passano said, in part: “The term ‘results’ as used in connection with business is synonymous with gain. The efficiency of a business is rated in proportion to the percentage of profit earned. The determination of hour cost is the object of the ac- countant. The engineer has adopted mechanical produc- tion as the basis of his work, and has established the amount which shall be produced in a given time. Neither accountants nor enginéers by their different units of meas- urement get the true record of efficiency in terms of profit and loss. True efficiency is the ratio between the profit on wha