The Iron Age 1914-09-10: Vol 94 Iss 11

HUVAVUEVATAEUATAEDADA EDU ETOETOETOETUE TET TATA AED AD EDU ATAETAEEUADN ETA ALA ATHENA UE AUA EAA AEA EAA AAUAUAAOUADUADUADLASHAOAAODORDOEDUALOELOOUOELOEUOOOOEAEOEEDUNEEOEAEDEDOEEUEDOEEOEEUREO ERMA EEDEEVRTENAnAN = iiiill Established 1855 New York, September 10, 1914. Vol. 94: No. 11 The Cause of So-called Cuppy Wire An Explanation Offered for the Epi- demics of Brittleness, with Cup and Cone Breaks, Which Develop in Wire Mills BY KENNETH B. LEWIS* HE problem of “cuppy” wire, familiar to all quently subsides before a carefully organized r American wire manufacturers, is discussed at search can get under way. Sometimes it hang some length by a Swedish correspondent of Jern on for weeks. Small manufacturers generally re Kontorets Annaler. He presents a comprehensive, ject car after car of rods until the trouble seems logical theory, the soundness of which he claims to to be on the wane. Large mills producing their have demonstrated in practice. own rods try all sorts of expedients based generally Cuppy wire is wire which develops a peculia on the presumption that the fault exists in the form of brittleness, generally in the second or third rod. When the condition subsides, it generally draft, pulling apart with a characteristic cup and leaves the manufacturer extremely thankful but cone fracture. The cups are uniform in appearance somewhat dazed, and wondering just which of h and occur at intervals of a few inches often along desperate remedies got at the root of the trouble the entire length of the bundle. If the cups have There has been a general feeling that the started to develop during the finishing draft, they trouble developed before the rod reached the draw are frequently not noticed until the wire is in the ing bench. It is palpably a case of internal rup hands of the consumer and is subjected to bending. ture during reduction, and an attractive theor, Such wire can sometimes be opened up longitudi- that»which places the blame on either excessive r¢ nally so as to reveal a series of well developed inter- ductions in the mill or uneven heating, that nal cups which are waiting for a sufficiently severe skin heating, after which the rolls would a bending stress to open them out to the surface. One relatively hard center of the billet. This theor or two more drafts would probably reduce the sound encouraged the various mills to engage in thé skin to such a point that the wire would pull apart gentle game of “passing the bu K, in which tne While drawing. The wire in that case is so brittle wire, rod, billet and blooming mill foremen point = . ad ther and all finallv unite as Ui entirely useless. accusing fingers at each other and all finally u The problem presented by this condition has n abusing the steel mill for sending them poor Proved most baffling to in- steel. a Vestigat rs. The condition pee ee One of the largest pro generally breaks out with ' oe a — the swiftness of an epi- a inenesseeennassssnesnseiesasseenenes after many patient re ness £ ' : searches conducted b skips from point to When the S: hing Tool for the Wire-Draw pa arche - ‘ . . Shown Above is Ground Carelessly So TI it . train d metallurgists, has he mill, and fre- for Example, the Dotted Outline, Fractures of the W raine -_ = ; Like That Shown at the Upper Left Occur, or Inter come to the _ conclusion nstruction Cor Cups Like Those n the Section of Wire Develoy a oravatia m the in- v san oo Th Photographs Were Enlarged Somewhat that segrevation ne in Reproductior 599 600 THE IRON AGE Septemb 1914 got, with consequent planes of weakness, is at the As the tool becomes too stubby for co) root of the trouble. This is a perfectly safe deduc- or as the cutting edge is backed up int tion as in the grades of material furnished for the part of the tool, it is rejected in favor common products of the wire mill segregation can and the epidemic of cuppy wire : nearly always be found if carefully looked for. ceases. The problem is a particularly hard one to inves- This theory seems to fit admirabl, tigate on account of the erratic course of the epi ter of the epidemics. There may be . demic through the mills. One rod bundle divided tool, or on the other hand a large set o{ into equal halves may produce one bundle of cuppy tools prepared at one time by the blac} ; wire and one bundle of good wire. Some bundles _ all, or nearly all, reach a faulty condit are sound at one end and cuppy at the other, and the same time. some have lengths of sound wire distributed be In further support of this theor tween stretches so badly cupped that 2-in. lengths discusses the following three forms ot . can be broken off with the fingers. rence: One interesting and unexplained fact is that the 1.—The entire bundle is cuppy from e cups sometimes reverse themselves in direction, and This is due to a faulty tool as already ex; it is occasionally possible to break back the wire 2.—The bundle is cuppy here and ther carefully to the reversing point and secure a piece lengths with good wire between. This an inch or more in length with a cone at each end. bearing approaching so closely the imp: When the wire turns cuppy it is too late to ex- that vibrations will be set up occasional amine the rod, billet, bloom or ingot from which it in portions of the wire already weakened came. The only recourse is to keep careful records gation, which segregation, however, in the rolling mill and steel mill during a run of nounced enough to damage the stock if the di cuppy wire, but these records, unfortunately do not correct. In the following draft vibrations wil! } vield any consistent results. again set up at the same points, resulting event The correspondent of Jern Kontorets Annaler ally in the development of a cuppy structure. remarks upon the fact that while investigators have 3.—The bundle starts well but develops cu spared no pains to probe carefully the quality of the its last half. This is accounted for by the wear steel and to search for evidence of mistreatment, of the bearing to a concave, or sharply conical shan: they have neglected the tool most intimately con- due to soft die metal. Sometimes the backing is cerned with the preparation of wire—the wire deep that in preserving a proper length in the neck drawing die. He maintains that the shape of the the bearing is forced back into the softer meta die is solely responsible for cuppy wire. He claims near the back of the die. This would be especial! that while segregated or improperly heated or rolled true of dies reamed out to the larger sizes near the steel makes undeniably imperfect wire, the use of limit of the capacity of the die. The author als a proper die will prevent formation of the cuppy points out the advisability of smoothing the edge structure; and, on the other hand, the best of steel between the neck and the backing. A sharp edg: will inevitably be made cuppy by an improper die. at this point may result in the formation of a singlk His contention, in brief, is that the internal rupture cuppy spot if the block, for any reason, is stopped is caused by too rapid reduction in the die. and then started again. The cup would as a ruk Referring to the accompanying illustration of a develop at this spot in a subsequent draft. die section, let us call the conical portion of the die Mills using steel plates instead of chilled « the bearing; the approximately cylindrical portion iron dies have much less trouble with cuppy wire the neck and the relieved portion on the face of the This lines up with our theory in that the holes die the backing. The length of the bearing and _ plates are formed by tool steel punches, and if th neck is varied with the character of the metal to be punches are correctly made the shape of the bearing drawn. Soft metals permit a short bearing and a_ is bound to be right. The bearings may, howeve! short neck; furthermore, they require them, as their be distorted by battering too close to the hole tensile strength is low and a large area of contact “setting up” the plate. in the die means a greater strain than they will We are bound to admit that while the theor stand, as well as excessive power. Hard steel re- advanced by the correspondent seems too simple t quires a long and gradually reduced bearing and a_ have been overlooked so long, and while it, perhaps, long neck to resist wear. Low-carbon steel requires does not seem to cover every observed fact, it does a middle course as to die shape. The author main- fit better than any other the puzzling vagaries ©! tains that a too sharply tapered bearing causes the cuppy-wire epidemics and fully deserves the care! metal to advance through the die in a series of consideration of wire manufacturers. jumps, the reduction being more abrupt than the Y = aa wire will stand without internal rupture. The same Machine Tool Builders’ Fall Meeting action sometimes takes place in tube drawing; re- sulting in such vibration that the tube gives out a Charles E. Hildreth, Worcester, Mass., genera! ma! loud ringing noise and appears covered with ridges ager of the National Machine Tool Builders’ Associa as it comes through the die. In a wire drawing die the shape of the bearing is determined by the smoothing tool, shown in the illustration. This tool is ground by the die fixer to proper shape with reference to the stock to be drawn and is presumably maintained in that shape + } i } A tion, announces that the date of the fall convention 5 been fixed for Thursday and Friday, October 22 ane - at the Hotel Astor, New York City. This disposes rumors that the association might hold no fall meetin+ by frequent regrinding. It is contended that an Labor conditions are the worst since 1905 | a incompetent die fixer, instead of maintaining the chusetts, aceording to the State ees : pee : ; ‘ 9 single dav. rece , 2 > applied for Wwv's correct tool outline, is apt to regrind only the work- In a single day, recently, 3000 people apy News + wu with only 82 positions available. The Bostor Bureau states that the United States Governmen* soon open in Boston the first of 18 proposed labor © ng ul ing end of the tool which in consequence gradually approaches the shape shown by the dotted lines. This fault may be persisted in until the bearing be- tribution offices, whose aim will be to aid in placing comes actually concave in shape, approaching a employed persons on farms, in shops and indu 2S form suitable only for copper and other soft metals. a system of clearing houses. +>} ry 1€ Sstiric ber 10, 1914 THE IRON AGE 601 1250-hp. American Diesel Engine argest Diesel engine that has been built nited States up to the present time has been installed in the central power plant Burro Mountain Copper Company, Tyrone, This engine is one of two 1250-hp. Carels ts that were built by the Nordberg Mfg. Milwaukee, which recently secured the right to build these engines. The plant ted at a hight of 6700 ft., so that the rated the engines will not be secured ordinarily, nal power developed at this elevation being cylinders and the cross-head and guides are fitted to take up the side thrust, which it is pointed out lessens the wear and tear of the cylinder liner ap preciably and also reduces the danger of seizure Anti-friction metal is used to line the cross-head guide, the lining being placed so as to enable wear to be taken up easily. Social Insurance Congress The ninth international congress on socia is to be held, according to present intentions, in Wa ington, D. C., September 27 to October 2, 1915 \ large committee on organization has been established (-hp. Diesel Engines Recently Installed in the Engines Are the Largest of This Type Each of the engines will be connected to S15-kva. General Electric 60-cycle, three-phase, ng-current generator. engines are of the two-cycle type with five linders, the scavenging air cylinder, which ited at the right being driven directly from the rankshaft. In operation as the piston is downward by the combustion of the fuel aching the lowest point of its stroke it un- orts in the eylinder wall through which the ases can enter the exhaust pipe. At the ne the scavenging valves in the head are distribution cams and a current of fresh forced into the cylinder under a slight This air is relied upon to scavenge the and expel the burnt gases, the scavenging osing shortly after the piston reaches its ead point, at which it covers the exhaust soon as the valves are closed, compression nd the upper dead center is reached when ed for fuel is injected. A double-acting ven by a crank on the shaft compresses enging air to a low pressure and delivers manifold connected to the cylinder heads, e fuel and air valves are located. al water cooling is employed for the addition to the water jacketing of the Central Power Flant of a New Mexican Copy I 1 suilt Thus Far in the United States with Hon. Franklin MacVeagh as chairman, and Milk M. Dawson, Russell Sage Foundation building, 30 East Twenty-second street, New York City, secretary gen eral. Among the members of the organization com mittee are John Hays Hammond, George W. Perkir M. W. Alexander, F. A. Delano, John D. Hibbard, Juliu Kruttschnitt and Ferd C. Schwedtmar The congres is primarily an official body composed of delegates from the various governments of the world, and the announce ment has gone forth without reference to any adverse influence the European war may have. The subjects to be considered, according to plans which have been ter tatively formulated, are the following: Workmen’ accident insurance and compensation; sickness insu? ince, including maternity insurance; old age and ir validity insurance or pensions; unemployment it ance; widows’ and orphans’ insurance and exi uwgencies performing social insurance functior The topics to be taken up at the annua! meeting of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Decen ber 1 to 4, New York City, will include engineering metals, particularly steels of construction and for tools, cast irons and alloys of copper, tin and aluminum. The entire day of December 3 will be devoted to the subject of engineering in connection with the administration of a city, the session to be opened by the mayor of New York. The sub-committees on railroads, machine shop practice and textiles are arranging for sessions Warehouse for Handling Heavy Materia] Features of Building Recently Erected by the Bourne-F uller Company, Cleveland—Storage Capacity Increased by Having High Structure A new iron and steel warehouse designed for the handling and storage of heavy material has re- cently been erected by the Bourne-Fuller Company, Cleveland, Ohio. The stock that will be carried in this building includes small structural sections, universal plates and long heavy bars. The build- ing is designed for the convenient and economical handling of stock and has a number of original and interesting features. The warehouse is a steel structure 330 ft. long and 120 ft. wide, divided into two bays by a row of columns. One bay is 68 ft. wide and the other 48 ft. wide. The building is 35 ft. high to the crane runway and 45 ft. high to the bottom chord of the roof trusses. There are two ft. high to the peak and the other 55 ft. high to the peak. The structural columns at the sides of the building and the row of columns dividing the two bays are 36-in. I beams spaced 30 ft. on centers in the lower section and 16-in. | in the upper section above the crane runway. The building was designed so that additional sections can be added on each side to cover ground space now used as storage yards. Between the 36-in. columns are 15- in. intermediate columns that extend to the roof truss, being bolted at the top to a longitudinal truss. The channels to which the fastened are bolted to these intermediate columns. When an additional section is added to either side of the building the sheathing, channels and mediate columns can be easily removed. The building is covered with corrugated asbes- tos sheathing made by the Asbestos Protected Metal Company, Beaver Falls, Pa. A liberal gutter roof sections, one 58 beams sneatning 1s inter- is provided extending up the slope of th. sections in the valley a distance of 12 ft. ter is made of corrugated cement tile cov: W ‘th a cinder concrete fill forming a saddle on the top of which water proofing is placed. Extending o, each roof slope from the peak down each side a dis- tance of 12 ft. and running almost the length of th The pe rtion of building is a wire-glass skylight. the roof not covered by the gutter and sky! ght S e covered with corrugated asbestos similar to that on the side walls. lighting is provided in addition to the skylights On each side about 25 ft. from the floor is a ro of continuous windows in Fenestra steel sash a! there are three courses of windows across each @! The artificial lighting is of special Ample window surface for interior interes ( A Artificial illumination is provided by fourteen /0¥- watt lamps of the nitrogen filled type, the mos which are located in the center of the bays and beneath the roof trusses. distributed and intense light, and shadows thr out the building are practically eliminated. Each bay is spanned by a Toledo Bridge & Crane Company 10-ton electric traveling crane © the heavy mill type, the span of one crane runwe being 45 ft. and that of the other being Each crane is provided with two trolleys, ea ley as well as the bridge being of 10 tons « [he double trolleys were provided so that dling long structural shapes or other long 1 two hitches may be made to the load, thus « t ing danger of the material whirling around while The hight of the building nro'\ it is being moved. crane runway is greater than is ordinaril) 60? t of 1 inst These provide an even) } na september 10, 1914 uses, in order that a greater amount of may be stored in a given amount of space would be the case. This permits ¢ of structural material on the floor to a 22 Tt. al is brought into the building on a rail- ne that extends along the rear or south he entire warehouse plant includes, ar- the order named, the old warehouse and office adjoining the street on the west erwise S ~ W ¢ i ‘ ru t Arrangement of W h are stored bars, sheets and various fin- tock; a yard 320 x 120 ft. for the storage of tructural sections and sheared plates; the varehouse and a yard east of the new building or the storage and twisting of bars used for con re-inforcing purposes. Along the railroad siding that extends also at the rear of the old ware and storage yards is a brick unloading piat- rm built about the hight of a car floor. The north end of the new warehouse fronts on an east and west street and material for local de- liveries is loaded on motor trucks at this end of the building. Material for out-of-town shipment is re- 1 on cars at the loading dock on the south end. [he arrangement is such that practically all the of stock is along the length of the build- ng from north to south, but if material is to be ndied from one bay to the other it is moved on ks running on an industrial track that extends across the building and into the yards on each side. Machinery for cutting material to lengths is ed at the north end of the warehouse. This Wheeling Mold & Foundry shear for universal plates, two Joseph T. Ryerson r cutting beams, one with a capacity up to nd the other with a capacity of 24 in., and and Punch & Shear angle shear for sizes «6x %4, in. These and other machines are ndividual motors. Power is supplied wer house partitioned off in one corner at of the building. This is eauipped with General Electric and one 100-kw. West tor generator set for produc ine direct rete non HOUSE aqdet nandiing +» ie@S a ternating current being supplied from a ircuit for driving the generator 100-kw. transformers the alternating current from 2300 to 220 e of the machines being driven by rrent. al for the old warehouse is handled by a wn Hoist monorail crane, having a run- ling from the railroad side the length There is also in the center aisle inway the length of this building a 5-ton rane for loading trucks. Each outside erved by a 5-ton Browning locomotive sets. also two for step- alter- lding. rs for reinforcing purposes are twisted d Engineering & Foundry twisting ma- THE IRON 603 AGE chine having a capacity three 114-in., six 1 or 7-in. or smaller. house mill tor twisting at one fi +<-17) Hare 1-1n. ar a Westing and seven This machine is driven by motor. Adjoining the new warehouse is a garage for five motor trucks ranging from 1's to 6 tons capacity used in making local de liveries. The new warehouse was designed he § uel Austin & Son Company, Cleveland BIRMINGHAM MEETING Programme for the Iron and Steel Institute, October 29 Secretary James T. McCleary has sent out the fol lowing tentative programme for the seventh general meeting of the American Iron and Steel Instit ite, to be held at the Hotel Thursday, Oct he? 249 Address br Tutwiler, Birmingham, A ~~ | \ } ; H Sou | ‘ ‘ ts S 3 | Dis li & | Birt I H J es | 5 I I ( Hi ( t R I ( ( H. Hassir Birt TI Use « Ss f \ Cutler 1 1 I I & R Cor I é } Als H , rl I tr iM ~ Hulst I I } 2 ‘ S ‘ tst I > s I Bertr ( I tende N VV \ - Vi l ( la au HI } t } \ S} Q Life i I Blas } I I I ' I ny, Port H so I I \ H inte le? - Ww s ( | f o, N y New Process Gear Business Still Growing The New Process Gear Corporation, Syracuse, N Y., reports that it working overtime to keep up with a volume of business larger than any heretofore handled. Although the plant was doubled in capacity less than two years ago, and was at that time claimed to be the largest in the world devoted exclusive gear making, an additional building now erected, and the case-hardening and heat-treati partments are Additional « again having their capacity doubled quipment already ordered for livery includes 10 Fellows gear shapers, 15 Gl bevel gear generators, 3 Bullard vertical turret lathe 3 Heald grinders, 1 Landis grinder, 2 National-Acn automatics and numerous special machine t t signs worked out by engineers of the company} The total production of the plant in spur, spiral and bevel metal gears and New Process noiseless gea! pinions will after January 1, 1915, be exce 1,000,000 per year A large part of tl output ready contracted for Gates before the Associated A paper read by H. D. Foundry Foremen of New York, entitled “The Sand Blast From the User’s Standpoint,” has been printed for distribution by the Mott Sand Blast Department, De La Vergne Machine Company, New York Economics of the Two-Story Foundry Ground Space, and Cost Losses Labor of Efficiency, Molding Foundry Equipment Considered—A Strong Case for the Type BY G. K. Two-story foundries possibly three seem to be with us to stay. Two, or different forms have been built. The two-story type is a natural development of the necessities attending the use of molding ma- chinery. It has for some time been well under- stood that the molding machine requires much auxiliary apparatus for the development of its full capacity and efficiency. The large capacity of molding machines nat- urally necessitates a large amount of floor space, which means handling large volumes of specially sand. material, Conveyors naturally suggest them- selves for this work and these necessitate trenches in the floor into which sand can fall or be shovelled after shaking out, a conveyor at the bottom taking the sand to any desired point. It was soon discov- ered that to give these conveyors the necessary at- tention and care, the trenches must be increased in size, until finally the designer, in providing for a number of molding machines, found himself prac- tically incurring the cost of a cellar without getting one, so that a cellar under the foundry floor be- came inevitably the next step. This step, however, was in a false direction, since naturally a cellar is dark and somewhat expensive to construct and in- cidental to its construction floor space became avail- able which could be put to good use, so that the suggested cellar became a ground story with the molding floor raised up above it and the two-story foundry was then complete as far as general plan is concerned. THE DIFFERENT A number of foundries have been built and as previously stated, several types exist. Of these, but one seems likely to endure, that is, the one in which the shaken-out sand falls through the molding floor to conveyors situated under the ceiling of the first story. In this case the floor space on the first story is used for cooling, clean- ing and storage of castings with sometimes, core- making and simple finishing operations on some or all of the castings, gravity being used to a great extent in handling castings from the molding to the first-story floor. There are more of this type in existence than all of the other types put together. It was also the first of the several tvpes to come into existence, the others being variations of it TWO-STORY TYPES two-story The other types include those in which prac- tically no conveying machinery of any sort is used beyond an elevator for sand at each molding statien the ground floor being entirely given over to cooling, tempering and handling sand. Much labor is nec- essary to condition the sand properly and deliver it to the elevators by which it is returned to the mold- ing machines. It is contended that this labor is no more costly than the investment, power and main- tenance charges of sand conveying machinery. | am sure that this is not the case, while the space occupied for a given tonnage is doubled and the casting loss increased, as the sand can never be as well conditioned by hand as by means of properly *Papel read hbhefors the An Foundrvmen’'s Associ- ation, Chicago, September % +Hooper-Falkenau Engineering Company, New Yorl HOOPER? designed machinery. Comparatively few of this type are in operation, and in this form cannot erdure as it is wastef and labor when compared with the first design originated, I believe, in a mistak: the disadvantages of conveying machinery, The third type is a combination of th: re ing two in that not only is the lower practically entirely for the storage and con ing of sand, but much conveying machinery j, dition to the elevators is used for this purpose, th: whole forming a decidedly costly and y method of conducting these functions. So fa know, but one plant of this type has been b its construction cost was undoubtedly great operating cost must be greater than either other two. I shall be very much surprised are built like it in the future. THE COST OF FLOOR SPACE A slight advantage in mold handling is claims for these two latter designs. Since two-sto: buildings cost in round numbers three times much to build as one-story buildings of same ground and type of construction, their floor space costs 50 per cent. more than that of a one-stor building. This entails, of course, an additiona overhead charge which would largely offset any ad vantage gained through slight increase in labor efficiency. Several two-story foundries of the first typ have been built on the upper stories of the manu facturing plants which use their castings. Suc! a location makes no essential change in the con- struction or general arrangement and it does not follow that the same advantages handling which exist in the two-story foundry ar obtained by superimposing a number of finishing operations with the foundry above them. The more that operations are superimposed the more complicated are the considerations of space, construction, handling and storage and I can state from direct information as to the comparativs handling costs of a two-story foundry located the ground and one placed on top of the finishing plant, both operating on the same product, that there is no gain in this respect in the superimpos ing of the foundry upon the rest of the plant. is noticeable that a prominent concern now usine several superimposed foundries is building its nev est one on the ground, although of the two-st type. All of the two-story foundries in existenc« operated on the continuous system which 1s, course, another logical consequence of the use molding machinery with its attendant devices. An molding operations are conducted by a number different methods. Sometimes the gang syste” used, short floors being utilized for placing ; molds which are then poured either by a pourite gang or by the mold maker. In the latter cas 68 iron is brought to the molder by a ladle gang, @ 2 which a shaking out gang takes charge of the " “A and separates sand, castings, equipment, etc. “ other method of operation is continuously b) necessarily ry) ¢ ns 04 1914 foal r 10, onveyor, no “floors” being used in this etimes the two above methods are united ding where the production will permit. de designs for all of the methods men- rPUT PER UNIT OF FLOOR SPACE review of my records of the operation rv foundries indicates that the floor for molding, and shaking what less than one-third of that required ‘ in the one-story, , ired casting ne class ot Work foundries, 1912, is floor space required paper on continuous Buffalo convention of that the written the con- made for peration, is less than one-half that re- single heat operation. That has proved nservative statement since later experi- tudy show the saving, as stated above, ter than this. ary considerably with varying classes of evidenced by carefully compiled shed by The Foundry, which show that in practice a space of from 400 to per used in one-story for differing classes of work. I have had hand in which the relative area figured exactly one-third of the floor another where the change from a one- lding operating two heats per day to a two- int, operated continuously of course, made tion of 36 per cent. in the floor space used, practically contirms the one-third or 33 1/3 nt. figure, as compared with operation at one er day. The castings in the d 70 per cent. of the melt. the cooling and cleaning operations e up in time and space with the molding, and shaking out, the best type of two- uundry, exclusive of the raw material yard, be built on about one-third of the ground ipied by a one-story, one-heat plant. great reduction of area is, of course, not vailable since in one-story, one-heat oper- ng goes on at night thus consuming no space during the operations of the day, leaning operations are usually spread entire working day and thus do not bal- relatively with the molding, casting and t. These features tend to the und space to something higher than the noted percentage, but on the other hand, nple finishing operations on part or all tings, and some times core-making, can in the two-story plant thus making a loor space elsewhere in the plant which redited to the two-story design. s safe to say, therefore, that two-story ants can be constructed for such work tself properly to handling in this way, on .q. ft. of ground area per ton of cast- exclusive of storage of sand, metal Will pe 850 er ton, day, is present above Cases t should increase GENERAL CONSTRUCTION dings for the two-story foundry should lv of briek and steel construction with ‘and floors. The wearing surface of referably should be of repressed shale th of the building, if pouring and shak- handled by separate gangs, will vary 90 ft., depending upon the size of the providing a molding “floor” of suitable THE IRON 6HO5 AGE either side of a length on is used for central bay, which latt shaking out and as a general passag for ladles, patterns, This will bring the molding machines or benches at the cores, etc arranwgerne windows. Should a mold conveyer be used, th building can be narrowed. The length of building bay along the wall should be about 16 ft gives plenty of room for floors for molds, whict must be handled by a light rane or an overhea monorail traveler, and permits as well the d of snap floors, it being possible to put tw bay of the above width The molding preferably be free from lumns, al er! paratus such as conveyors, cranes, monora riers, et being supported on the roof truss¢ Columns are no objection on the fir floor ! spacing should, however, be as great as suital accommodation for the apparatus used there w permit. This spacing, however, will be large determined by the width of bay adopted r tl molding and casting floor A roof of considerable pitch with large monitor is predicated, to insure ventilation and light \ live load of 275 lb. per square foot is sufficient the molding and casting floor, save in the 1} bay where special supporting arrangement be provided. Window area is made a maximum with maximum opening for ventilatio Su building costs in the vicinity of New York abr $2.60 per sq. ft. of floor are: The benefits gained by two-sto1 rounar struction are those of continuous operatior without handling machinery two-story constructio1 would be unnecessary} and with handling machiner continuous operation by some method nredicated in order that the increased overhead charges ma be diminished to the greatest extent I will quote therefore from my paper on cor tinuous operation previously noted: The average increase ’ efficienc due to the introduction of continuous methods, is abou one-third. As a result of the study of foundries or iv dor e that the foundries, work which can advantageously continuous methods, it has conducted hand nee! found efficiency of wel yperated though varying considerably, averages about 50 per cent. with a possible maximum of 55 per cent. This means that the men do about half of the useful work which it heoretica possible for them to do. In the cor veyor foundry, the erage efficien about 65 per cent. with a possible maximum of about v per cent There is thus possible an average increas¢ labor efficiency of about one-third, with a possible maximum increase of about one-ha There ire few if any, continuous systems operating at higher than 70 per cent., and this represents about the best plant ef ficiency in my opinion, of which the foundry capable today. Perhaps the permanent mold when i: ucce ful general operation will increase this somewhat. Th« above figures are, however, large enough to be inter esting to the foundryman. To be able to get out | present production by the use of about three-fourt} of his men or to increase his production about on: third with his present force, is with lateral ad vantages, an attractive propositior Another point of saving is in the investment in individual equipment, this diminishes in direct a cordance with the reduction in number of The foundry diminished being reduced in'some instances to one-half the percent age of that shown by operation in which the molder pours his own molds. One-third less ever, a more representative figure. Briefly the various advantages of the two-stor foundry, are, therefore, less ground space, higher labor efficiency, decreased foundry loss and reduc- f per 4 loss is also tives. loss 1s, he v tion in total cost of molding equipment Fig. 2—The 12-In. Train of Rolls Pid ca od i i s i —_— sd / Si Peas! HE a The Plant of the Franklin Steel Works The New Mills for Rolling Rails Into Concrete Reinforcing and Other Bars—Transmission Towers, Brake Beams and U-Bars Also Made A new steel plant largely for rolling reinforced concrete bars but also turning out other bar stock, and among other things steel poles and transmis- sion towers, has been put into operation at Frank- lin, Pa. It is the property of the Franklin Steel Works, dating from the establishment in 1902 and 1903 at Franklin of a mill for rolling bars from rails, from the web and flange of the rails, as well as the head. On May 5 of last year the mills, to which new machinery had been added in 1905 espe- cially for producing bars for concrete reinforce- ment, were entirely destroyed by fire. As the ven- ture had been a success there was no question as to the advisability of rebuilding. There was, how- ever, a disposition on the part of the management to investigate other sites, with the idea of building the plant elsewhere if a location more favorable than Franklin could be secured. Several months were spent in investigation, but after all the advan- tages and disadvantages were taken into considera- tion it was believed that Franklin was quite as favorable a location for the mill as could be selected. To this was added a further inducement in the form of additional land offered by the Franklin Board of Trade to provide for future extensions of the plant, and it was decided to rebuild on the old location. Construction work was started in November, 1913. The original mills were designed and erected by S. Diescher & Sons, consulting engineers, Pitts- Fig. 1—The 18-In. Slitting Rolls and Delivery Table burgh, and to them was intrusted the building the new plant. Before the final layout was adopted time was spent examining new and _ improve machinery and investigating new methods and idea which had come into use since the original plant was built. Since the addition of its bar mills j 1905 the Franklin Steel Works has specialized , steel for concrete reinforcement, and this will by the chief part of the output of the new plant, but the company will also continue to make angles, channels and miscellaneous shapes used by makers of agricultural implements and metal furniture. Work on the new mills was started in July, 1913 and they are now in full operation. Cars containing the raw material, rails, billets, etc., are placed under a yard crane runway 485 ft. long by 75 ft. wide, equipped with the latest design Pawling & Harnisch- feger 10-ton crane (Fig. 5). With this equipment the rails are unloaded, sorted for size and quality all unsuitable rails being rejected, and when read for charging are placed on an electrically actuated skidway, along which they are moved into positior to be charged into the furnace. Through this fu: nace, which is of the continuous type, the rails pass gradually, getting a long, slow soaking heat. When brought to the proper rolling temperature they ar carried from the furnace on a power driven delivery table to the slitting rolls, Fig. 1. This train of rolls consists of pinions and a three-high stand of 18-in. 606 September 10, 1914 THE IRON AGE 607 stet ls, and its purpose is to separate the rail of the hot beds are the shears, straighteners, nt ad, web and flange and form these parts benders, etc. The shears, six in number, Fig. 5, table billets for the 12-in. mill. |2-in. train comprises five stands of 12-in. rolls, three-high, and one stand of 12-in. rolls, two- hig ig. 2. The arrangement of this mill is such that number of different shapes and sizes may e finished at the same time as each stand of rolls own hot bed and runout. The runouts are suitable for taking care of either plain or twisted shapes and each bed is equipped with a spe- signed high-speed automatic twisting ma- apable of handling all sizes of bars that the an produce. On both sides of this 12-in. cropping shears, to remove any bad ends Fig. 4 may develop in the process of rolling. A 0x 40-in. piston valve engine, designed by the Foundry & Machine Company, Fort Wayne, drives the 18-in. mill direct and the 12-in. means of rope drive. A feature of the en- s the fact that it is controlled by the Nord- rg governor. \s a precaution to prevent too rapid cooling of iring the rolling, both sides of these mills lipped with underground conduits. The hot re constructed of sectional steel gratings, g in length from 75 to 140 ft. At the end Fig. 3—The Hot Beds are equipped with steel gauges designed to insure accuracy in cutting and to permit the shearing of a number of different lengths at a time. In the same building with the combination ot 18 and 12-in. mills, is a 9-in. mill, Fig. 3, built by the Lewis Foundry & Machine Company, Pitts- burgh. This mill is driven entirely separate from the others by a 20 x 36-in. Hamilton Corliss engine, built by the Hooven, Owens, Rentschler Company, Hamilton, Ohio. and squares This mill produces small rounds ‘. in. and under, small angles and mis- cellaneous shapes. The finished products are rolled from billets produced on the 18-in mill, or pro 9-In. Mill id > oi wi PLL aes ind Shears cured in the open market. The furnace for this mill is 20 x 26 ft., coal fired, and the billets pass from the furnace to the mill by hand. Frequently in designing a mill, tion is given to the mills proper and other machin- ery at the expense of the finishing end. With this in view, the layout of the Franklin Steel Works provides a large finishing and shipping depa-tment, where room is provided for rapid handling of the material as it comes from the mills. Two 10-ton Pawling & Harnischfeger electric cranes serve this department and afford facilities for loading and the great atten 608 THE IRON AGE September |(), 19), a te ithe Shop general handling of steel. Shipping tracks are other shapes, used in brake beam manufa for transmission towers and the compa: facilities are provided for handling both the empt ented Tripartite pole. The building in wt } and loaded cars by means of an electrical! located in the ends of the shipping department and mill is located is 75 x 250 ft. in size and was erected by the Fort Pitt Bridge Works, Pitts ‘quip- burgh. The pole and transmission tower ment noted is a steel structure of heavy design handled in a steel building 75 x 160 ft. and the de- 15 x 620 ft., and in connection with this main partment is equipped with punches, shears building are auxiliary buildings, including an en other fabricating machinery, and the whol gine rpom and store house 45 x 100 ft., a black- served by a 5-ton electric crane built by the Clev smith shop 25 x 45 ft. and a roll shop 35 x 65 ft. land Crane & Engineering Company. For roll turning there are four lathes, three driven While the Franklin Steel Works has for a by motor and line shaft, and the fourth by motor’ her of vears rolled sections used in the manufa direct, Fig. 6. A special feature is the pits located ture of brake in the roll lathe foundations, so designed that the beams, this work having been done at the plant turnings pass into pockets outside the foundations, the Chicago Railway Equipment Company, Chicag so that these turnings may be removed without which is the parent company. With the starting disturbing the operator. of the new plant, however, provision has been mad to do this assembling at Franklin, and for th for the different engines. These are located in th work a brake beam shop, 150 x 260 ft. of brick and steel building 45 x 100 ft., designed and erected car puller located beneath the floor. The building which houses the mills and beams, it has never assembled t! Six boilers developing 1600 hp. furnish steam steel, has been erected and equipped. The plant by the Pittsburgh Bridge & Iron Company. located on the Erie railroad with switching ar rangements to the Lake Shore and the Penns vania. With the completion of the new mills and The electrical equipment consists of two 150-hy gas engines, each driving a 75-kw. Northern gen erator, and in addition to this, a compound tandem buildings, the Franklin Steel Works has an annu Buckeye engine directly connected to a 200-kw capacity of 75,000 tons. Edward E. Hughes Westinghouse generator. All the new buildings, general manager of the company, C. F. Mackey, as with exception of the power house, were erected by sistant manager, and H. M. Hughes, manage the MecClintic Marshall Company, Pittsburgh the pole department. The steel water tank and tower were furnished by the Des Moines Bridge & Iron Works, Pittsburgh In addition to the new mills and equipment de An open-shop number of the San Francisco Bullet scribed, the Franklin Steel Works operates an _ ;egarded as a union labor sheet, was issued August 18-in. mill, Fig. 7, in which is utilized the whole under the direction for the day of the Merchants’ : rail for rolling U-bar, angles, deck sections and Manufacturers’ Association of San Francisco. ni er 10, 1914 se ake Ore Shipments for August nount of iron ore brought down the lakes Lake Superior region in August totaled < of gross tons as compared with 7,684,285 tons in 13. This is a decrease of 1,814,808 tons. ving table gives the August and season ship- ports and the corresponding figures for 1913, tons: August August 0 Se To Sept 141 191 i14 14 164.255 6 69 8.430 ' S61 0o44 ‘ >On] +59 179 f f SX6.418 . 109 7 ‘ } ) } $1 \ TT ; t i’ : ; 6 76¢ 7 + 869.47 684.2 | S 13.7h5¢ ith percentage to September 1 was 19.51 against 24.65 last year while the Great dock at Superior shipped 33.57 per cent. of gainst 25.22 to September 1, 1915. \ 1 ional Association of Waste Material Dealers the publication of a bulletin. The initial is- August 31, consists of four pages, 8% x 11 es a great variety of interesting information organization, its officers, dates of meeetings, sociation has opened regular headquarters nmer street, room 317, Boston, Mass., in the secretary, Charles M. Haskins. The next eeeting will be held September 15, at 2 p. m tel Astor, New York, but the Metal Division the previous day at 2 p. m. at the same place. ~ ‘yer & Lord Tie Company, Railway Exchange Chicago, has secured a second order from onwealth Steel Company for its creosoted K flooring. This last order is for 2200 sq. iginal order being for 1000 sq. yd. THE IRON AGE 609 A Special Two-Ram Straightening Press For use in bending and straightening the cast- ings in frog and switch work, R. D. Wood & Co 100 Chestnut street, Philadelphia, have furnished ee okie several two-ram presses to companies this line of work, the press illustrated being the one in the shop of the Edgar Allen American Mar ganese Steel Company, Chicago Heights, II! Che table is 10 ft. sure exerted by engaged in rnre i wide and 12 ft. long and the tne The table has holes to take the horizontal ram and the usual method of is to support the work on two block pieces on the table while the vertical ram is doing its work A soon as the casting has been stra the two rams is same, 300 tons thrust from the peration igntened ! The horizontal plane, pins are placed in the table the horizontal ram bends the casting to the proper angle in the other direction. The rams are ar ranged so that they are brought to the work through the entire idle stroke with water fron the overhead tank, so that no pressure is taken from the pump except for the actual work. rh arrangement, it is emphasized, is economical fron the standpoint of used for the triplex type and is either belt or motor driven capacity of the the work it this does The floor space occupied by press measure about 10 x 22 ft. while the over-all h power consumption The pump final straightening pressure is of the pump 15s, of course, small! as all of the have to be done at any does is and j speed actual straigntening not great The ght is 200 i The anit lal and Vehicle Association will be Hotel, Chicago, October 21 to 23 conventior of the National Implement held at the 610 A BUSINESS CRISIS—HOW MET A Result of Faulty Methods—A Wise Book- keeper’s Advice BY W. D. FORBES C. F. Allen, president of the A. & W. Company, and F. F. Wood, its treasurer, walked down the steps of the First National Bank. Stepping into Mr. Allen’s car, which he drove himself, they rode to the office of the company. They entered the pri- vate office back of the main room, hung up their hats and coats and turned to each other with very sober faces. For a few moments nothing was said. Mr. Wood then broke the silence by saying, ““We had better have this out at once.” Mr. Allen nodded and walked into the outer office. THE CONFERENCE IN THE PRIVATE OFFICE Asking one of the office force to get the factory superintendent, Mr. Besson, and the principal trav- eling man, Mr. Young, the president stepped over to a tall old man working at a high bookkeeper’s desk and said: “Mr. Davis, please bring the ledger and your exhibit sheets into the private office.” The old man looked sharply at the president, bowed slightly, turned to the safe and in a few moments had followed him into the private office, taking a seat at the end of the table in the chair which he usually occupied when a stockholders’ meeting was held and his services were required. The superin- tendent, Mr. Besson, and the salesman, Mr. Young, shortly appeared. Mr. Young was generally jovial in his manner and when he took his place at the table he swung his right leg over the arm of the chair, which was a habit of his, and said, “From the way you two gentlemen look I should think I had been called in to a coroner’s inquest.” Mr. Allen answered dryly, “Perhaps you have.” Mr. Young took his leg off the arm of the chair, puffed slowly at a cigar, one of which he was always smoking, and looked sober. Mr. Allen continued, “Wood and I went up to the First National Bank today to renew our note.” “Wouldn’t they renew it?” broke in Mr. Besson. “Yes,” slowly answered Mr. Allen, “but only with Wood’s and my indorsement.” Mr. Besson whistled and then said, “That means that the bank thinks the A. & W. Company is not good for the amount of the note.” Both Mr. Allen and Mr. Wood nodded. “Well, Mr. Davis, you have the books of the company in your hand, what do you think of the action of the bank?” “I think,” said Mr. Davis, “that from the bank’s point of view it is right; from a commercial point of view, it is wrong.” “Well,” continued Mr. Besson, “I do not know just what you mean. Elucidate, won’t you?” “I wish to ask,” said Mr. Davis, “if you want me to explain the figures I have here and tell you what I really think they mean, honestly and outspokenly, or would you rather consider the exhibit of the business and the books by yourselves?” Mr. Wood answered, “No. I, for one, wish to have your opin- ion without reserve, as I consider we are in a seri- ous position.” THE BOOKKEEPER BEGINS TO LAY BARE THE TROUBLE “Very well, then,” said Mr. Davis, “you must bear with me, as I must go back in your business life in order to make myself clear from my