The Iron Age 1914-07-02: Vol 94 Iss 1

SOVVALOVATAUUCATATUEA EATON THLE TMT 2 SOUUCUE CCU CULLCLCCUUULULECLCU CLC eC oo Established 1855 {EEE nnn TU eee LL New York, July 2 VU ] tp ayer fm %G } Y | 7 \ HUEDEEDTEDE uit 1914 No. 1 Vol. 94: —s A Departure in Industrial Management Responsible Employees of Cleveland Hardware Company Form, with Officers, a Body of Working Stockholders Who Meet to Discuss Shop Problems BY F. lL. Among the problems of the management of a large manufacturing plant is to keep in its organi- zation men who have given long and valuable serv- ice and who may feel that they have reached a point where they can do better by branching out in some line of business of their own. Another of the problems to improve the efficiency of other capable employees by having them take a more active interest in the success of the organization than they are inclined to do as mere employees. How to get away from the type of organization in which only a very few of the executive heads have is PRENTISS sion to purchase stock in the compan) Rapid growth resulting in the building of a second plant and enlarging the original plant necessitated an increase in the capital stock about three years ago and at that time $150,000 in common stock was set aside to be sold to various department heads, fore men who had been in the company long enough to de- velop and prove their worth so that the company was anxious to keep them. Various industrial companies have adopted stock distribution plans, but have carried them no further men and others holding responsible positions, Employee-Stockholder Managers of the Cleveland H irdware a financial interest in the business and authority in the management, all others being only salaried employees is a subject that attention by the Cleveland Hardware Company, Cleveland, Ohio. It has developed a plan of new industrial management which has been in operation long enough to be thoroughly tested and which is proving highly satisfactory to the company. A few years ago this company was a close cor- poration with only about half a dozen stockholders. The first step in extending the ownership and man- agement beyond a very limited few was taken sev- eral years ago when some of the department man- agers and traveling salesmen were given permis- has been given much than to allow employees promiscuously to for SuUDSCT1LDE stock so that they would feel a interest in the small stock ownership. stronger pel sonal organization by r n of Howe, er, ast the plan adopted by this company was entirely different from the ordinary one of merely selling stock to its en plovees. In fact it saw no material advantage in simply disposing of stock in this way, but it adopted a broader policy of making part those employees, who are favored with an oppor tunity to buy stock. No clain de that tl plan as carried out was adopted with any philan thropic motive any more than is the claim advanced by most plant managers that welfare work with philanthropic motives. The underlying motive is the efficiency and success of the organization. The stock distribution plan consists of picking out those employees in whom the company wishes to show its confidence and of allowing them to pur- chase stock and have an active hand in the busi- ness management. To these men the stock is of- fered at par, regardless of its real value, in lots of 5, 10 or 15 shares, and the men are allowed to pay for the stock as it suits their convenience. The stock is held in trust by one of the Cleveland banks, and as soon as one share is paid for, a certificate for that share is issued by the bank by direction of the company. Payments on the stock subscrip- tion are made direct to the company. Employees receive the usual monthly dividend at the rate of 6 per cent. per annum on all stock subscriptions whether completely paid for or not and pay to the company 6 per cent. interest on unpaid portions of their stock subscriptions. The fact that the com- pany has always been able to pay its regular divi- dends out of earnings and has accumulated a large surplus indicates that no period of depression would seriously endanger the regular dividend payments. Every employee who has been given an oppor- tunity to subscribe for the stock has done so, and many have subscribed for additional shares as soon as their original stock subscription was paid up. Should any employee leave the company he retains the stock he has bought, but he is not allowed to complete the purchase of stock partly paid for, the amount he has paid on the latter being returned to him by the company. In case a stock dividend is declared stock subscribed for, but not paid for, receives its proportion of such issue of dividend stock, which is issued to him as soon as the original stock is paid for. Up to the present time, 30 em- ployees have become stockholders and these with the officers and other executive heads form a body of 39 working partners or stockholders. This body of working partners, in addition to the executive heads, comprises all the department managers, all the traveling salesmen, the purchasing agent, the master mechanic, the machine shop foremen, forge shop superintendents, roller in the rolling mill and shipping clerk. The most interesting feature of the plan is the method employed to bring about what may be termed the joint management by the working stock- holders. Once a month these stockholders meet for dinner at a downtown hotel, and after dinner about two hours of the evening are devoted to a discus- sion of various matters pertaining to every depart- ment of the company’s business. As these meet- ings are for working stockholders, outside stock- holders who are not actively interested in the con- duct of the business do not participate. The din- ner is provided at the company’s expense, and the place of meeting is changed around from month to month among the best hotels and restaurants. A\l- though the dinner could be provided in the dining room connected with the company’s offices, it is re- garded as more desirable to take the men away from the environments of the factory. It is need- less to say that many of the working stockholders look forward with pleasure to a dinner and meet- ing in a hotel dining room, which many of them seldom, if ever, patronize individually. The din- ners are always held Sa‘urday evening so that the men have plenty of time after leaving work at noon to dress for the occasion. The business sessions of the working stockhold- ers following the dinner are usually presided over by C. E. Adams, the president and general man- ager, who opens the meetings with a talk about 2 THE IRON AGE July 2, 1914 various topics in connection with the operation of the plant. Talks are also often given by other executive officers. An interesting feature of these talks is that the men are taken into full confidence with the management. Figures showing the cost of manufacture and various items of operating ex- pense are given fully and explained. If, for ex- ample, a foreman knows by actual figures the amount of gas the furnaces consumed in the pre- vious month, or the lighting bill, or the loss that will be caused should a piece of steel be spoiled under a drop hammer, the impression that has been created by the presentation of the actual monthly bills will make him more diligent in his efforts to prevent waste and loss. At the same time he will be sure to keep in mind that even though only in a small way, he is one of the owners of the plant and as such interested in preventing avoidable losses. Three or four meetings were held before the men realized that the company was in earnest in its efforts to make all the working stockholders actual partners in the business and that advice in the plant management was really wanted or would be followed. At first, too, there was more or less con- straint among the men who lacked experience in expressing their thoughts and particularly before an audience of two score men. However, this feel- ing has to a large extent disappeared and the men freely participate in the discussion and offer good practical suggestions that are carried out. They were quick to learn that their advice was really sought, when they found that suggestions made Saturday night were often put into effect Monday morning. Whenever the suggestion recommended at a meeting of the employee stockholders is re- garded as impracticable by the management, the officers feel that it is their duty to present convinc- ing arguments to show why proposed plan or change should not be put into effect. The general plan followed at the conference ot working stockholders is to turn the meeting over to one of the various departments after a preliminary talk by the president. Some one presents a paper on a subject pertaining to his department which has been previously assigned to him and a general dis- cussion follows, in which a lively interest is nearly always taken. Not only have the foremen, super- intendents and other employee stockholders outside of the executive officers cultivated their latent tal- ents at the meetings so that they are able to present facts and arguments forcibly, but their viewpoint has been broadened and they have developed into business men of good judgment. The operation of the system means an advanced form of team work in which the president, department managers, superintendents, foremen and others meet on com- mon ground as employed or working stockholders, all working together for the good of the organiza- tion. Pressed Steel Substitutes for Forgings and Castings A number of interesting uses of pressed steel parts as substitutes for forgings and castings have been worked out by the Oakes Pressed Steel Company, Indianapolis, Ind. It is stated that the business of this company has been developed almost entirely from new uses to which pressed steel could be adapted. One of the instances where a casting has been supplanted by a pressed steel part is the driving pulley for the fan of an automobile engine. When this part was cast it cost approximately 16 c., including the machine work necessary to finish it, while in pressed steel the cost has been reduced as low as 8c. and no machining is required. In this way a finished pulley has been produced ready to assemble which is claimed to be stronger and to weigh only half as much. To Make Molding Machines Most Effective Suggestions Growing Out of Experience—Prone- ness to Regard a Mechanism as All Sufficient without Requiring Exercise of Molder’s Judgment BY H. W. LENGFELDER* It has been said that the amount of defective castings, when molds are made on a molding ma- chine, is greater than when made by hand. This is probably true in many cases, but there is no valid reason why this condition should prevail. The molding machine can and ought to produce molds where the loss is less than in hand work. Where it does not, the failure is due to ignorance. We must continually bear in mind that the machine is only a mechanism; it has no brains. The intelli- gence necessary to produce good molds must be fur- nished by the operator. It is this lack of applied knowledge of good sound molding principles that causes so much complaint. Any man can not make molds on a machine. It is true that any one can make the mold, but the production of molds which will give a high clean percentage of clean, sound castings requires an intelligent preparation of mate- rials and utensils. COPES TOO SHALLOW There are several factors that lead to bad cast- ings made, for example, on a squeeze machine. The use of copes, which are too shallow, lead as much as anything to trouble. The prevailing idea, to economize and get large production, is to cut the amount of sand, and the cope comes in for its share of paring. This is no economy at all. For many reasons it is far better to increase the depth of the cope. The squeeze then does not become too hard, shrinkage is reduced and blow holes largely eliminated. It is especially so where tubing is used to cut the inlet for the metal. In using the tubing the rammed sand is made still harder, often too hard, and causes the metal to boil while entering the mold, a condition that is not conducive to per- fect castings. When the pattern is irregular and has high and low portions, good results are obtained by a little judicious hand work and special bottom boards for the drag that conform to the contour of the pattern; but in the cope, where an even surface is required for the snap weight, another course is necessary to reduce the pressure over the high points. GOOD PRACTICE WITH IRREGULAR PATTERNS A good plan is to use a frame on the cope part of the flask about 14 in. or '» in. deeper than the depth of the squeeze. In the pressure board open- ings can be cut over the high parts to relieve the pressure. All this requires a little extra work, seemingly unnecessary operations if you please, such as taking off the frame and striking down the surplus sand level with the cope, but these are the very things that will produce good castings, the object, after all, that foundrymen are striving for. When half patterns are mounted on each side of a board more or less trouble is found with shift. Usually the pattern shop comes in for condemna- tion, but in many cases the trouble is with the flask or slip boxes. It is absolutely essential that the flask pins be rigid and perpendicular to the face of the board. As the pins deflect from the per- pendicular and as the thickness of the board in- creases, the amount of shift in the casting increases. *The author gave other aspects of the usefulness of the molding machine in The Iron Age of January 23, 1913 For this reason it is better to have patterns mounted on thin plates, or better still, to have a separate board or plate for cope and drag. Where slip boxes are used, tapered flasks and boxes excepted, provision should be made so that in slipping the jacket over the mold, the cope can- not be shifted. The cope and drag being rammed from a smooth surface can easily be shifted. For this reason we have a bead of sand around the pat- tern which also serves the purpose of reducing the runouts. Probably better than slip boxes are cast iron bands, made to fit easily into the snap-flask. In using bands some provision must be made to hold them in place. Where they fit loosely, they will cause shift also, because in setting the cope to one side on edge the band loses its position with regard to the pins and in closing shows a shift. The safest and best plan, no doubt, is the tapered snap flask and iron slip boxes. LENIENCY IN MOLDING MACHINE WORK In the endeavor to get a large daily output, men are permitted to slight and eliminate operations, which are always insisted on, however, in hand molding. For instance, the workman is not re- quired to vent the mold regardless of the shape of the pattern. Of course there are many classes of work where venting is not necessary, but instances can be cited where loss of castings was excessive on this account. Where runner blocks are used for pouring, judg- ment must be used in placing them properly, and avoiding too great a squeeze under the block. Small blank gear wheels, hand wheels, etc., which must be gated from the hub, will cause no end of trouble, if the necessary precaution is not taken to insure that the sand is not squeezed too hard over the hub. The machine shop will find the defects, even if they are not seen in the foundry. The construction of the pattern, the proper mounting and gating, are the problems which must be solved by the fore- man. Much less can be done to minimize defectives, if care and good judgment are used. Frequent examples of so-called economy that have proved costly can be seen in many foundries. In one case, in order to use a certain size flask the patterns were placed so close together that in pour- ing, the gate between them broke down, and of course a large loss resulted. In other instances too many large chunks have been placed in a mold to reduce the cost per piece. The result was a loss of 15 per cent. in one bad casting, which more than offset the attempted saving. Better quality and a greater quantity of cast- ings without additional labor is the object in view. The prime factor should be good castings. Where the piece work system prevails, some foundrymen think that their loss on defective castings is only the labor and fuel necessary to remelt. If this were true, little need be said along this line. It is safe to say, however, that in foundries where cost re- ports are kept, this loss is shown to range from $20 per ton upward. Therefore efforts directed to cut down bad castings will usually prove profitable, and the future successful foundryman will have to pa) close attention to this aspect of the business. 3 The Manufacture of Crucible Steel’ The Equipment and Procedure as Typi- fied in the Plant of the Braeburn Steel Company — Growt BY GEORGE The pioneers in crucible melting are said to have been the Chinese, who used the process many centuries ago. But the art in China never pro- gressed beyond the initial stage. The redi father of the crucible steel industry was Daniel Huntsman, of Sheffield, England, a clock maker, who found it impossible to get uniform steel from which to make his springs and he hit on the idea of fusing blister steel in a crucible. This was in the latter part of the eighteenth century and the melting of crucible steel has changed but little since that time. The details have changed somewhat but the actual process is niuch the same. The material to be melted is loaded in a crucible, covered with a cap to keep out the gases, and placed in a hot hole and left there until melted. The cru- cibles have changed, the holes also have been changed in shape and size, and the method of heat- ing is not the same but the process is practically unchanged. Clay crucibles were the first of which we have any definite knowledge. They held about 50 or 75 lb. and lasted but one heat and very often cracked and went to pieces before the steel was melted. Clay crucibles of the present day are much more durable and are extensively used in Europe, but little in this country. They have one decided advantage over the plumbago, or graphite, crucibles inasmuch as they do not throw off any carbon during the melting process. The plumbago crucible, which is the most gen- erally used in this country, consists of about equal parts of plumbago and clay. The greater part of the plumbago is imported from Ceylon. These *From an address, on retiring as chairman of the me- chanical section of the Engineers’ Society of Western Penn- sylvania, February 3. +Secretary and general pany, Braeburn, Pa. manager, Braeburn Steel Com- h H. of the NEILSON# Industry crucibles are capable of withstanding a very severe temperature and can be used a number of times, depending greatly on the nature of the mix and also whether the crucibles are replaced in the fur- nace before they get cold. The usual practice is to get as many heats as possible from the crucible without letting it cool. As soon as the melted steel is poured out it is re-charged by hand, or by means of a mechanical shaker, and the crucible returned to the melting hole. THE FURNACE The modern crucible furnace is of the regenera- tive type and is heated by gas, generally producer gas, although where natural gas can be obtained it is often used. Natural gas is probably a more costly way to run a furnace but it has many advan- tages over producer gas. It is easier to regulate, as the flow is constant, which is not the case with producer gas unless a large holder is used. It is free from the poisonous fumes of the producer gas and is much cleaner. I am not in a position to say whether or not it is harder on the crucibles and furnace than producer gas. The capacity of a furnace is spoken of in pots, that is, the number of crucibles the furnace will accommodate at one time. The furnace holes, in which the crucibles are placed, hold 6 crucibles so a 36-pot furnace is one of 6 holes. The gas enters the holes at the bottom on one side, mixing with the air immediately before entering the melting hole, and passes out at the opposite side and then through checker work to the stack. When the valve is reversed the direction of the flow of the gas is reversed. This is done every 15 or 20 minutes and in this way the checker work on both sides is kept hot. The gas should not be pulled through the is A 36-Pot Furnace in the Works of the Braeburn Steel Company, Showing Also the Ingot Molds 4 July 2, 1914 melting hole too rapidly. If it is, it will cut the port holes and also cut the crucibles. The gas should fill the melting hole and show a small flame around the covers. This is a sure indication that the gas is getting around the crucible and not pull- ing across the bottom. The detail of the hole is here given, and a modern 36-pot furnace is shown in the accompanying reproduction of a photograph. CHARGE OR MIX The basis of good crucible steel is iron and con- sequently the better the iron the better will be the steel. Therefore, it is vitally necessary that iron low in phosphorus and sulphur be used. As the crucibles generally in use hold 100 to 125 lb., the mix or charge is weighed up in lots of that weight and placed in pans, called weigh pans, from which it is transferred to the crucibles. In order to get the exact analysis the weighing must be carefully done, in many cases to the exact ounce. When the crucible is filled it is covered with a cap. This is done to exclude deleterious gases which otherwise would impregnate the steel. When the material to be melted is weighed up the amount of carbon given off by the crucible must be taken into consideration. If this is not done the carbon content of the ingots will run higher than expected. The new pots, as a rule, do not throw off as much carbon as they will the second time used and after the third heat the amount thrown out will be immaterial. The length of time necessary to reduce the mix to a molten state varies, depending on the makeup of the mix itself, and will take anywhere from two to five hours. When the steel becomes fluid it is usually good practice to “kill it,” or in other words drive out the gases which would otherwise result in blow holes in the ingot. This process of “killing” usually takes from 20 minutes to one hour or longer. MOLDS The molds in general used are known as split angle molds. They are made in two pieces, held together by rings and wedges, one ring at the top and one at the bottom. The three essential quali- ties are long life, smooth finish and tight joints. If the inside finish is not smooth the ingot will have a rough surface which may result in defects in the finished bar. If the joints are not tight the hot metal will work through and form a fin on the ingot. This fin will have to be removed, which means added cost. If it is not removed it will work into the steel and cause complications. The smaller molds have the bottoms cast with the sides. The larger molds, 7-in. and over, have no bottoms as a rule, the molds being set up on removable bottoms. Before the molds are used the general practice is to smoke them with rosin, or some other heavy, greasy, smoke making material. This prevents the ingots from sticking and also makes a smoother surface. The molds should also be warmed before using. TEEMING OR POURING Teeming is a very important feature and is not merely dumping the hot steel from the crucible into the mold in a haphazard way. In the first place the stream must be steady; if it is stopped and then started again there will be a weak spot in the ingot. The chilling of the metal first poured, however slight, will result in a non-homogeneous mass and the ingot when hammered will break at the point where the stopping of the stream occurred. The stream should never be allowed to strike the sides of the mold, if it does it will cut the mold and the result will be rough ingots and in a heat or two put THE IRON or AGE the mold out of commission; also the stream should be started as gently as possible. If it is teemed in without care the metal will splash against the sides of the mold and cause the lower part of the ingot to be rough. This teeming is not as easy as it looks and it takes considerable practice to make a man an expert. The weight lifted is quite considerable, the crucible and the tongs weigh about 60 lb. and the steel about 100 lb., a total of 160 lb. This weight has to be lifted and held steady so that the steel will flow from the crucible evenly and at a uniform rate. Some of our strongest furnace men never learned to teem properly. They had the strength but could QV --- may ‘ - He oe ' y 1 Ee ee We = = = = —-9--g— - - — — — =i SECtion showing front of Arch be 5 4e--9" » ‘ ayo SN ” 4 Se - ~9o = en - = 21 -—- mg Sectionjat A-B Scale %, . = | ft. 2-Courses---~! + -—-Section-snowing ' Details of Hole in a Crucible Furnace not master the art. When a ladle is used, of course, the difficulty of teeming is done away with, as the steel can be dumped into the ladle as fast as pos- sible and the teeming is then done from the ladle itself. Both methods have their advantages. It is necessary that the molds be set up straight, or in other words plumb; if they are not the melter is more than likely to teem against the side and a mold out of plumb is likely to have a bad effect on the steel as it chills. Before the steel is poured out of the crucible the dirt, which has risen to the top, should be removed. This is easily and quickly done by means of a steel rod known as a flux stick; the flux will adhere to it and can be removed without trouble. PIPING IN THE INGOT The worst enemy of the crucible steel melter is piping. Piping is caused by the sides of the ingot cooling faster than the center. The molten steel which comes in contact with the sides of the mold cools much faster than the center of the ingot. This cooling effect of the mold is felt for as great a dis- tance, approximately, as the mold is thick. In other words a mold 2% in. thick will have a chilling effect on the hot steel for that depth and the result is that the steel thus affected will separate from the rest and the pipe will form. Of course, this result is greatest at the top of the ingot for the reason that the tendency of the pipe to form lower down is off-set by the metal from the upper part of the ingot filling in the space. There is no cure for pipe after it gets into an ingot as it cannot be welded out or worked out and will result in the splitting of the steel when hardened. The most general mode of treating pipe is to use hot tops. A hot top is a brick made of fire clay with a hole through it, the size of brick and hole depending on the size of the ingot cast. The method handling hot tops is as follows: When the mold has been almost filled the hot top is placed on top of the hot steel in the mold and the hole filled with the melted steel. This plug, as we may call it, settles into the pipe as it develops and also has a tendency to keep the top of the ingot hot and thus lessen the pipe. The hot top, however, does not prevent the formation of small cavities below the main portion of the pipe. It should be remembered that the hot top brick must be heated to as high a temperature as it will stand before being placed in the ingot. If this is not done the cold brick will chill the steel and destroy the usefulness of the hot top. A number of patent molds have been tried but all have been of indifferent success and the added cost has worked against them. There is no doubt that the present style of mold aids piping and all of us who are makers of high carbon steel are living in hopes that some day someone will discover a mold that will eliminate it, at least to a great extent. Some of the present molds, those for instance which are tapered with the large end up or those that have hot material packed around the top, are merely adaptations of the hot top idea. When the ingots are cold they are removed from the mold and topped, that is, the top is broken off so that a clean fracture is obtained. This is not a laborious job and two trained toppers can top a large number of ingots during a day’s work. A trained eye can tell from the fracture the carbon content of the ingot within 0.05 per cent. This is not as difficult as it may seem and anyone with practice can become very efficient. The manganese, phosphorus, sulphur and silicon cannot be deter- mined this way. Neither can the carbon of high speed steel be determined from the fracture. WORKING The process of working the steel after it is made is of great importance and the old rule of thumb days are over. The heating of steel was guessed at and many a good piece of steel was ruined by a worker who inherited his trained eye from his grandfather. Luckily for the steel maker the use of pyrometers is becoming more general every day and guessing at hardening temperatures is rarely done. No steel can be made fool proof and no overheated steel can be made as good as it was before it was overheated. It can, if not too far gone, be restored partially but that is all. High speed steel is as near fool proof as any but even it can be harmed by too much fire. Rolling, like hammering, must be carefully done if good results are to be expected. The heating should be exact, not guessed at. If the heat- ing is not made to conform to the carbon content of the steel the results will not be satisfactory. Roll- ing crucible steel is not a tonnage proposition; it cannot be rushed out if good results are expected. To illustrate: In reducing a 3-in. square billet of open hearth to 14-in. round we would have, say, 14 THE IRON AGE July 2, 1914 passes through a mill driven at high speed and at the finish a bar approximately 100 ft. in length. With crucible steel, to obtain a %%-in. round, we would have 21 passes through a mill driven much slower and a bar about 12 to 14 ft. long, but the extra and slower work means a finished bar much closer to size, planished and free from scale. HAM MERING Hammers are of two kinds, single leg and double leg. The single leg hammer has one ad- vantage, the absence of one leg allows the hammer- man to work both across and lengthwise on his die, which is at times an advantage. This hammer, however, is more difficult to keep steady than the two leg hammer as it has a tendency to spring with the blow of the ram and thus work loose on its foundation. The different size hammers and the size of the work usuaily done on them is as follows: A 500-lb. hammer is capable of handling bars ', in. up to and including *4, in. A 1000-lb. hammer handles bars from #4 in. to 1°g in. A 2000-tb. hammer can work bars 1°, in. to 3 in. and a 3-ton hammer bars from 3 to 6 in. Of course, smaller or larger sizes than those enumerated can be worked on the various hammers, but the general practice is within the limits given. The 500-ton steam hydraulic press will work high carbon ingots 16 in. square. The press has some advantages over a hammer. It is much easier on the workmen as it is frec from shock and jar and for this same reason it coes not cause deterior- ation of furnaces and foundations adjacent to it. It works the steel all the way through and gives it a density which a hammer does not. This is probably due to the fact that pressing the steel causes it to flow while the blow of the hammer is merely local and is not sustained long enough to affect the steel to the center. Hammered steel, that is, steel worked into shape under a hammer, must be very carefully handled if the best results are to be obtained. The bar to be hammered must not be overheated; if it is the coarse grain resulting will not respond to the refining in- fluence of the hammer, but it must be soaked or in other words heated through. The hammering must be done intelligently and the blows of the hammer regulated to correspond to the diminishing tempera- ture of the bar. It is also important that the work done should not be done under a hammer too heavy or too light for the work. A heavy hammer will rupture the steel and a hammer too light will neces- sitate too many blows and continued reheating. The weight of a hammer is, in shop parlance, governed by the weight of the ram, piston rod and piston head. For example, if the hammer is a 6-ton hammer then the rod, ram and head weigh 6 tons. That the forming of combinations has not caused a decrease in the number of plants engaged in the manufacture of crucible steel is clearly shown in the following table: Year No. of Companies Gross Tons 1889 43 111,500 1892 45 105.000 1894 48 99,000 1896 45 98,700 1898 45 177,000 1901 45 175,000 1904 57 226,610 1908 79 295,385 In 1901, the period of combinations, it shows that there were 45 companies engaged in the manufacture of crucible steel, while in 1908, there were 79 companies in the business. These fig- ures were taken from the reports of the American Iron and Steel Association. July 2, 1914 NEW HEALD MAGNETIC CHUCK A Line of Flat and Rotary Types with Various Origina] Features The Heald Machine Company, Worcester, Mass., has brought out a line of magnetic chucks in which are embodied what are believed to be a number of original features. In the first place the holding power is great, as will be seen in one of the ac- companying illustrations, where a 16-in. rotary chuck is shown holding two 1-in. cube test blocks, each of which is sustaining a pull of 112 lb. As one block is at the center and the other close to the outer circum- ference of the magnetic face, the even apportion- ment of the magnetic power over the entire face is demonstrated, as the two scales give the same read- ing. The electric power re- quired is small. Owing to the small amount of dead surface on the face of the chuck the range of work which may be held is great, down to very small dimen- Pull of 1 te Ub. Bothy at sions. The non-heating the Center and the Quter qualities are important, netic Surface and, moreover, the chuck is waterproof. Therefore, no ventilation is required. An interesting and un- usual element in the design is the ease with which the chuck can be changed for different voltages. No change in the winding of the coils is required, a simple rearrangement of the lead wires connecting the poles being all that is necessary. The chuck is of steel throughout, a special soft steel having great permeability being used. The chuck consists of a body or shell—integral with which are cast the poles and the top plate. The poles are ground flush with the edge of the body, so that the top plate is in perfect contact with them. Each pole has its individual coil. Each pair of poles forms a complete horseshoe magnet, the A Flat Chuck Used in Conjunction with a Scraper Table THE IRON AGE 7 The Interior of the Chuck Showing the Arrangement of the Coils work lying directly across the ends like an arma- ture. The 16 poles of the 12-in. chuck are con- nected up for 110 volts in two groups of eight. If it were desired to change the chuck for 220 volts it would only be necessary to connect the poles into a single group of 16. The advantage of this arrange- ment of coils is that the magnetic current has only a short path to travel, which means not only that the holding power is exceptionally great and is dis- tributed evenly over the magnetic face, but also that the amount of electric power consumed is small, which, in conjunction with correctly wound coils minimizes the degree of heat generated. The A Rotary Magnetic Chuck Holding a 15-Lb Grinding Operation Casting for a coils are specially treated to render them water- proof and to sustain any heat which might result from some unusual circumstance, up to 550 deg. F. As the lines of force are confined to the short direct paths between the poles, the magnetic current does not reach the body or outer wall of the chuck, and consequently is not transmitted to the machine upon which the attachment is mounted. The face plates of the chucks are interchange- able and removable, so that, though they are of liberal thickness to withstand wear and loss of metal from resurfacing, when the time does come that they are worn down to the limit, they may be replaced quickly. They are held in position by screws entering from the underside, so that there are no screw holes on the face through which water might finds its way. The rectangular or flat chucks are provided with adjustable side and end stops for holding and locating work, which is a desirable - THE IRON feature when in use on planing, shaping and mill- ing machines. The rotary chucks have centering circles and a pilot hole in the center. An interesting example of the use of a rotary chuck mounted on the spindle of a Heald internal grinding machine is shown. It is holding a 15-lb. steel casting of a magneto frame 11 in. in length and having a 5'4-in. hole. The closed end, with its Replacing a Burned Manufacturing Plant Factors Considered by the Cincinnati Pulley Machinery Company — Fire Protection a Feature — Home-Made In preparing plans for rebuilding the plant of the Cincinnati Pulley Machinery Company, Coving- ton, Ky., the management decided on a structure of a different type from the old building that was destroyed by fire about 18 months ago. The vexa- tious delay in making shipments on orders pre- viously booked convinced the company that it was not possible for any live manufacturing concern to cover all losses by fire with an insurance policy. This is a question that many manufacturing firms have overlooked. The new plant is 50 x 192 ft., two stories, with a basement in the front end. It is of regular mill construction and is equipped with a sprinkler sys- tem throughout, while factory hose is provided at different intervals for emergency use. The motive power of the plant is a 75-hp. electric motor, driven by an 85-hp. Nash gas engine. The overhead The West Bay of the Shop Showing the Arrangement of the Machines at Either Side and the Space in the Center Which Is ; Unfinished Utilized for Piling a AGE July 2, 1914 small central hole, was only 1% in. in thickness, excepting, of course, at the circumference. This end was in contact with the chuck. The result was wholly satisfactory. The time required to grind the hole, removing 0.011 in. of stock, was 9 min. A scraper bed equipped with a 10 x 30-in. magnetic chuck, an adaptation which should result in im- portant economies in scraping, is also illustrated. Cooling Tower shafting on both the first and second floors is ar- ranged for group drive. Probably the most efficient and cheapest cooling tower that could be used for reducing the tempera- ture of the water circulating through the gas engine cylinder jackets is installed here. It consists of a series of eaves troughs, with closed ends, with the bottom of each trough perforated, so that when the hot water is discharged into the top gutter it drains through to the trough below. From the bottom trough which has no perforations it is re- turned to an underground cistern and pumped back through the system. With an arrangement of this kind during the hot summer months extra cooling troughs can be added at very little expense. This home made apparatus has enabled the company to cut its water bill to a minimum, as the loss from evaporation is very little, and only once a week has Se Sh . and Finished Stock July 2, 1914 A Home-Made Tower for the Cooling Water Composed of Eaves Troughs Gas Engine Jacket it been found necessary to fill the cistern from the city’s water mains. The west bay of the shop is arranged with ma- chines on each side and sufficient space in the cen- ter for piling unfinished and finished stock. The finished parts are transported to the assembling room on the second floor on hand trucks that are pushed on an electric freight elevator which serves the two floors. At the rear end of the assembling and testing room is the shipping department, located close to the elevator. The company is devoting most of its time to the manufacture of sensitive drilling ma- chines, and while its receiving and shipping depart- ments are located in the rear of the plant, work has been so outlined that a heavy rough casting is finished on machines near the point of entry, while the lighter parts are machined near the front end. The elevator for transporting machine parts to the assembling floor above is located at the rear end, so that the arrangement noted reduces the hauling of heavy pieces to a minimum. The company’s offices are located in the front end of the building. The superintendent’s office ad- joins the main offices, but is so situated that he has an unobstructed view of the operating floor. The workmen’s washroom is located in the base- ment and is equipped with individual wash basins and metal lockers. N. & G. Taylor Company’s Improvements The N. & G. Taylor Company, Philadelphia, has awarded a contract for a 100-ft. addition to the open- hearth steel department of its works at Cumberland, Md., to provide space for another 25-ton basic furnace. The building will be of structural steel sheathed with corrugated galvanized sheets, to be erected by the Belmont Iron Works, Philadelphia. The new equip- ment will include a 40-ton overhead traveling crane with a 7%-ton auxiliary hoist, built by the Alliance Machine Company, Alliance, Ohio; a standard high type four-motor open-hearth charging machine, built by the Wellman-Seaver-Morgan Company, Cleveland, Ohio; a full supply of charging boxes, narrow-gauge locomotive trucks and two 30-ton ladles. The power plant will be enlarged by a 24 x 24-in. piston valve heavy duty Harrisburg engine, directly connected to an eight-pole engine type Crocker-Wheeler 300-kw. gen- erator. A new motor-driven shear, manufactured by the Long & Alstatter Company, Hamilton, Ohio, will be added to the bar mill. The enlargement of the open- hearth department will nearly double the present out- put of steel. The improvements are expected to be com- pleted by early autumn. The Great Northern Plating Works, Chicago, an- nounces its removal to its new plant at 2500 Ogden avenue, corner of Campbell avenue. THE IRON AGE 9 By-Products From Producer Gas The issues of Stahl und Eisen for March 19 and April 2 contain an extensive article by Otto Wolff on the obtaining of by-products from the pro- ducer gas made in iron and steel plants. In the introduction the consumption and production of ammonium sulphate is given in detail for Germany and other countries. If all the nitrogen contained in the average Westphalian coal could be recovered as sulphate it would amount to about 70 kg. per ton, worth about 19 marks; that is, it would be of more value than the coke. The average production per ton is only 12 kg. of sulphate, 750 kg. of coke, 5 kg. of benzole, 25 kg. of tar and 150 cu. m. of ex- cess gas. If this gas were burned in gas engines and electricity produced and sold at 2 pf. per kw-hr. the value of the products from the ton of coal would be 22.92 marks. If the coal were gasified in producers and the by-products obtained, experience has shown that 45 kg. of sulphate would be ob- tained, which alone would be worth about 12.50 marks. At the same time 4000 cu. m. of gas would be obtained which if transformed into electricity and sold, as in the case of coke-oven gas, would give a value to the products from a ton of coal of about 42 marks ($10). The well-known Mond process is then described in some detail with reference to the existing plants, most of which are in England. The newly worked out Lynn process is then taken up, which does not differ from the Mond process in principle, but in the construction and arrangement of the plant. Less room is required, and better heat economy is obtained. The first plant in Germany was erect- ed at Waldhof. It has been in operation about 2'% years, and the producer practice, together with the sulphate production, has been satisfactory from the beginning. A plant is also under construction for a German steel works to furnish gas for three open-hearth furnaces and six heating furnaces. Tables are then given to show the importance of a constant and so far as possible maximum burden on the plant to insure economy. This can be at- tained in steel plants by using the gas both in fur- naces and in centrally located power plants. In favorable cases 1 cu. m. of producer gas can be made for 0.18 pf. compared with 0.38 pf. for the ordinary process, and by using gas engines 1 kw-hr. will only cost about 1 pf. (0.24c.). Record Life for a Blast Furnace Lining The long life and slow life of which British iron masters boast, in giving records of blast furnace linings, is strikingly exemplified in this paragraph from the London Ironmonger: “Cochrane & Co. on May 29 put out of blast the No. 2 furnace at the Ormesby Iron Works, Middlesbrough, for re-lining. The furnace was blown in on May 8, 1876, and has been in blast for over 38 years, which is a record of life for a blast- furnace lining throughout the world. The total make of pig iron for the period was 1,365,387 tons. The furnace was only damped down during the Cleveland miners’, the Durham coal, the Northeastern Railway, and the national coal strikes.” The Pittsburgh Crucible Steel Company’s furnace at Midland, Pa., which was blown out April 30, 1914, after a campaign of 7 years 7 months and 14 days, had made 1,053,673 tons of pig iron on one lining. This was an exceptional performance but the record was not the greatest that has been made in American blast furnace practice, the motto in this country having been for many years, “A short life and a merry one.” The Bingham Mfg. Company, maker of automobile accessories, has leased the plant of the Electric Locomo- tive & Engineering Company, Cleveland, Ohio, and will shortly begin the manufacture of motor trucks. The Manufacture of Gray Enameled Ware Interesting Press Room in Plant of General Stamping Company — Motor Drive from Jasement Eliminating Overhead Shafting Rapid strides have been made in manufacturing economics in the past few years, but it is safe to say that in no line of manufacturing has the cost of production been reduced more rapidly than in the production of enameled kitchen ware. The housewife wonders at the bargains she is getting when she purchases a gray enameled stew pan for 10 cents when she compares her purchase with One End of the Pressroom Showing the Disk Scrap to the what she had to pay for a similar article a few years ago, but probably does not realize that the re- duced cost of her kitchen utensils due to the manufacturing processes that have greatly less- ened the cost of production and at the same time have improved the quality of the ware. Probably in no line of manufacture is competition keener. Goods are sold in large lots at not a wide margin of profit and the manufacturer to be successful must bring his cost of production down to the minimum by having the maximum plant efficiency, which includes plant arrangement and manage- ment and the installation of modern machinery and various labor-saving equipment. As the cost of enameled ware has declined the demand for it has increased and the output of up-to-date present-day plant is enormous. is a large Blanking Presse Baseme 8 nt 10 and The latest addition to the plants making gray enameled ware is that of the General Stamping Company, Canton, Ohio. Being the last built, it is claimed that this is the best plant of the kind in this country and that it is unexcelled by any of the European plants. An idea of the extent of the en- ameled ware industry is shown by the fact that this plant was designed for a maximum output of ’ 5 : A ie ik vk Circle Shearing Machines and the Chute for Conveying 1 the roreground 100,000 pieces per day. Its product is what is known to the trade as one-coat ware, being given but one of enamel. As a sheet metal working plant the factory has a number of interesting and orig- inal features designed both to make the cost of production as low as possible and to eliminate the danger from accident. The plant occupies approxi- mately 4 acres of ground on a site adjoining the Pennsylvania Railroad and consists of a number of group-arranged buildings providing a floor space of 135,000 ft. The buildings are one-story structures, a few of them also having basements. The principal buildings are the stamping depart- ment, 100 x 288 ft.; dipping and drying building, 30 x 250 ft.; pickling department, 42 x 100 ft.; furnace building, 130 x 250 ft.; packing and shipping department, 250 x 168 ft.; machine shop, coat sq. July 2, 1914 View in the Pickling Department 42 x 50 ft.; mill room or grinding department, 27 x 75 ft., and office building, 27 x 98 ft. There are also a mixing building, boiler house and other small structures. The general type of construction is brick and concrete with steel roof trusses and sawtooth roofs. These roofs all face the north and provide a large amount of skylight surface. The buildings have 13-in. brick walls, the larger structures having 48 x 48-in. and 48 x 36- in. pilasters spaced 20 ft. and the roof trusses are supported by steel columns spaced 40 x 50 ft. The general type of roof construction is 1!.,-in. pine covered with corrugated steel, the sheet steel used for the roof and in other parts of the plant being Tonean metal made by the Berger Mfg. Company, Canton, Ohio. The floors are of *,-in. maple laid on concrete and cinders. The furnace building has a *%-in. iron floor laid on concrete and supported by steel joists. The roof of the pickling building is of the monitor type supported by wooden trusses and has a plank floor laid on 2 x 8-in. beams rest- ing on concrete. The grinding room has a con- crete floor. In this are located two specially de- signed mills, one 6 ft. and the other 7!» ft. in diameter, for mixing enamel. The mixing building adjoining the mill building is