The Iron Age 1915-05-20: Vol 95 Iss 20

sy)iuRSQUDUANDOTDADBONDONDDOUONONUDNUUNONOONODOONDENGDSNNUONu0ON0N0¢0400040800400000040000D0000000000000000000000000000050000E89000N000990001DEHHOLEDUNOTOENODUNVOOONDDONOGOUONNLUNNQUESN0NEN4DE00000000N400AN000E4000800R8000000000 18000000 REUDURLDORNSORNTEOOUOEEUOEAOEONOOECTOONTLAGAOPRTDOREA end OrN Neen EU UEEE EEE SEES —— — LYDUDULUOOEENUADUEUUEUATUOCATUATODU TUES EEE EE TELL " penenensit New York, May 20, Established 1855 Tae TCT 1915 Vol. 95: No. 20 Making Sprocket Chain without Waste Locke Steel Belt Plant Embodies Some Unusual Effects—Fire Risk Eliminated—Use of Special Equipment and Combination Floor The new plant of the Locke Steel Belt Company, Bridgeport, Conn., manufacturer of steel sprocket chain, was designed with two objects in view, the one to provide a wholly modern and strictly fire- proof home for a thriving industry and permit of marquee of the main entrance was accepted Che same painstaking care was throughout the interior. The concrete walls and columns of the main factory room were given a finish which is usually deemed unnecessary. The same results exercised Fig. 1—General View of the Factory Showing the Testing Department with the Presses at the Far End greatly increased floor space; the other—which is quite unusual—to symbolize in a sense, as the officers express it, the company’s success in the development of its product in the 15 years it has been on the market. The determination was to reate a plant that would be really worth while artistically. Various architects were employed and plan after plan was thrown aside before a satis- factory result was obtained. As an instance, half a seore of designs were discarded before the so far as manufacturing and administration are concerned could have been obtained at a much less cost, but the unusual expenditure was not be- grudged, for, as has been stated, an important factor was to make the building significant of the product turned out by the plant. Various designs more or less ornate in character were passed by for the severely simple paneled exterior. The parapet is a duplicate of the cur- tain wall, so that when the time comes for adding a 1105 1106 Fig. 2 Front View of the second story the sill will be ready to receive the sashes. A double row of panes of cloudy factory glass along the tops of the windows affords another architectural touch, a curtain effect, this proportion having been chosen after much deliberation. The dulled glass prevents too great a glare from direct sunlight within the building and also throws the illumination to the more remote areas of the room. All in all, the structure presents a somewhat sharp contrast to most factories. The lines of the build- ing in which is located the heat treating depart- ment follow those of the main structure. The factory is located on Connecticut avenue, which is a link of the New York and Boston post- road, and adds another to a large community of great manufacturing plants, most of which have been built in the last few years. The main build- ing is 270 ft. long and 60 ft. wide, the heat treating building 54 x 84 ft., and the storehouse 30 x 100 ft. The factory floor rests on the ground—which is necessary because of the great load of the heavy presses and of the chain in process and the finished material—with the exception of the space under the office at the front, and a small area at the rear. The basements are lighted by recessed windows. That at the rear extends beneath the loading plat- form, in the floor of which are openings that make 4—One of the Presses Used Chain and the Reels for the Stock Fig. in Manufacturing the THE IRON New Plant AGE May 20, 191 of the Locke Steel Belt Company easy the dumping of coal to the bunkers of the heating plant. Basement space provides for locker and toilet rooms and also storage facilities for the office. The main floor has no partition whatever, excepting that which separates the office from the factory. As already stated, the buildings are fire- proof and the materials and products are, of course. noncombustible. The precaution was taken to have all equipment equally free from danger by fire, and the greatest care is taken that nothing of an in- flammable nature be permitted within the buildings not even an ordinary packing case. No fire hazard exists in neighboring structures. It is considered entirely unnecessary to carry fire insurance. A siding from the main line of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad provides for the delivery of material and the shipping of goods. The grouping of the presses and the storage of the finished chain are clearly shown in the views of the interior and also suggest the routing. The steel is converted into chain and in the process is eoiled on reels which in turn are trundled, without the use of trucks, over a concrete way to the heat treating department, and then back into the main building to the testing department, which is hard by the space devoted to the storage of the finished article prior to its shipment. The heat treating building is divided into two rooms, one for the hardening and the other for the tempering. The hardening furnaces, Fig. 7, are a Fig. 5—Tbe Heat Treating Department Which Is Housed in a Separate Structure Conforming to the Main Building May 20, 1915 THE IRON AGE 1107 new design by the company. As will be noticed, the onstruction is vertical, and the chain is fed in from top to bottom, the rate of feed through the lame being regulated by friction cone pulleys, of which there are three to each furnace. With thi ariable-speed arrangement different sizes of chain r chains of the same size requiring different tem- peratures may be hardened simultaneously, which 3 a common practice. The water tank at the floor end of the furnace is arranged so that it can be removed easily for cleaning or other purposes. The oil tempering tanks in which the coils are treated are in an oven-like inclosure, Fig. 10, from which the fumes are carried through the hood to the revolving ventilator at the apex of the roof. [In this process the residual oil on the chain is con- verted into an enamel surface. In connection with this plant the company’s system of manufacturing is of exceptional interest. This sprocket chain is especially adapted for use n such equipment as woodworking and textile ma- chinery, conveying and elevating machinery, such as is employed in the handling of ore, coal, grain and similar material, and in agricultural machinery, ncluding the great harvesting equipment of our Western States. The chain must be wholly trust- worthy, for a break may mean serious financial oss. Therefore, the company’s product must be made as perfectly as possible from the best of ma- terials and must be subjected to rigid tests, even to the last link, before leaving the factory. Fig. 6—The Specially Designed Workbench Used in the Locke Factory All steel is purchased from the mills by complete heats, which are made to a special analysi With much of it the billets are hand chipped to remove imperfections before rolling into final form Chis product is a heat treated steel averaging 230,000 lb. per tensile strength. With all elements in- cluding phosphorus and sulphur under control by practically all good steel and with the intro duction of alloys no difficulty is experienced in obtaining reliable material. Each coil of each heat is carefully marked with heat number, for future identification, and the invoices contain these numbers and the analysis. The maintains a complete record of its product in rela- sq. In the Locke Company tion to each heat and size of material on a special sheet, containing recording all the necessary information regarding manufacture and Each reel of chain, containing from 200 to t., according to size, is tagged with the num- the machine on which it is the heat number, the the name. This information is entered on the record sheet. Each length of chain made from a complete coil of steel is separated on the reel from adjoining lengths from other coils, and when the chain reaches the testing department links from each end are jected to a breaking test, as a defect in the steel, columns for tests. 1200 f ber of made, ope rator’s date and sub The Hardening Furnaces with Several Sizes of Chain Passing Through the Flame Simultaneously Fig. 7- 1108 THE IRON AGE May 20, 191 oot) At oo whether slight or running through the whole coil, is certain to reveal itself at the ends. The first chain made from any new lot of steel is given a red tag to insure special care in handling and in testing through all operations. When a reel so marked reaches the furnace room very care- ful tests are made to ascertain the best tempera tures for heat treating. Records made and future material from the same heat is handled ac cording to the practice indicated, and the treatment is constantly checked as the material passes through the works. All furnace room temperatures are checked by pyroscopes, pyrometers and thermom- eters, and by physical tests of the treated chain. All chain is subjected to a static load on the testing bench, where it is also compared for length with a master chain. The elastic limit and ultimate strength are considered of vital im- portance, and frequent tests for these are made. As the chain is made in automatic machines, a gauge about 2 ft. are occasional long is applied frequently to — with No Loss of Material insure the maintenance of accurate pitch; als small gauges are used to determine the interior diameter of the hook, the exterior diameter of th: small end bar and other points of the link which insure its coupling qualities. A description of one of the Locke presses which manufacture this chain was given in The Iron Age, May 12, 1904. In the interim the machine and its equipment have been developed in a somewhat revo- lutionary way. An idea of the modern machine may be obtained by a glance at Fig. 4. In the process the metal is converted into a perfect chain with no loss of material. That part of the strip which is punched to form the opening in the center of the link is curled back to constitute the hinge which connects with the link that precedes it. It is interesting that forms such as these are created from a steel high enough in carbon to permit of hardening. The factory combines in its floor wooden blocks with concrete in a fashion which should be sug- Fig. 9 View in the Section of the Factory Devoted to the Storage of Finished Material May 20, 1915 g. 10—The Oil Tempering Tanks Which Are Inclosed to cilitate the Removal of Fumes and to Convert the Oil Into Enamel gestive to manufacturers who contemplate erecting new works. The areas of concrete in the immediate vicinity of machinery and in other places where men are more or less constantly employed were laid with pockets, and these were filled with the blocks. The effects of the non-yielding surface of cement are well understood. Workmen suffer. The wooden block remedy seems an excellent one. Philippine Iron-Ore Deposit An iron-ore deposit in Surigao Province, Philippine Islands, distributed over an area of 62 square miles, and in some places reaching a depth of 100 ft., is re- ported by the bureau of science party sent to survey this field. The findings of H. F. Cameron, the engineer who first announced the existence of this bed, were con- firmed in that the deposit was found to be singularly ike the famous Mayari iron ores near Nipe Bay, Cuba, in its occurrence; that is, a great surface blanket of iron-bearing clay has resulted from the weathering and decomposition of the original rock. In the case of the Surigao ores, the parent rock is made up princi- pally of serpentine. The territory covered by the deposit is almost bar- ren as compared with the tropical country surrounding it, and a considerable portion of the area is so eroded that the underlying parent rock is exposed. It was found on examination that the excessive rainfall of this region had carried away so much of the ore blan- ket that the first estimates of tonnage will have to be reduced. Excellent natural harbor facilities are near these mines and could easily be utilized should the analysis prove that the ore is of high grade. The Surigao Province is on the Pacific side of Mindanao Island, in the extreme southeastern part of the Philip- pine group. The Miller Supply Company, Huntington, W. Va., has secured a contract from the Huntington Develop- ment & Gas Company, which includes the erection of three buildings, all steel. The main building will be 64x78 ft. 6 in.; an auxiliary building, 26 x 40 ft., and a pump house, 15x 22 ft. The main building will house four horizontal tandem, double-acting, four-cylinder natural gas engines of about 500 hp. each, direct con- nected to double-acting single stage natural gas com- pressors. The auxiliary building will have two three- cylinder, 60-hp. vertical natural gas engines direct con- nected to generators and air compressors. The pump house will contain two 1000-gal. centrifugal pumps, direct motor driven. Construction will be rushed. THE IRON AGE 1109 RECOVERY OF FLUE-DUST IRON The Use of Molten Iron to Burn Out Coke, Limestone and _ Silica Experiments have been conducted for a considerable time by Ralph Baggaley, Pittsburgh, in the treatment of blast furnace flue dust so as to recover its iron con tent. As described below by Mr. Baggaley the process is a simple one, but there has been no actual use of it at a blast furnace: “We claim that the cost of treatment will not ex ceed $1 per ton. The recovery of values is complete and the cost of apparatus need not exceed $100. The process consists in passing molten iron from a ladle or from a mixer in an even stream through a small swirl! basin and thence through a funnel 33 in. long, that ex tends from the bottom of the basin; at the same time an even stream of dry, screened flue dust is fed into the center of the swirl basin, through a pipe that ha a refractory lip. This lip is submerged in the molte iron, so that there is no escape of dust into the ai Two tons of molten iron and 1000 lb. of dust can thu be passed through the basin and funnel per minute. A number of these basins can be used if desired. This produces a continuous, even burning out of the im purities in the dust, and its effect is totally different from pouring molten iron upon a mass of dust in a vessel or pouring a mass of dust upon a body of molten iron. “During the passage all of the coke and limestone and a large proportion of the silica are burned out of the dust and the latter becomes a firm iron product that can be returned to the furnace and remelted and purified with a minimum of coke, much less than that required to smelt sintered or nodulized dust. The prod uct analyzes from 82 to 84 per cent. iron and we esti mate the cost of recovering all of the values in the dust and of remelting as being not over $1 per ton. We are told that the present cost of sintering, under favorable conditions, is 80 cents per ton. To this must be added the cost of smelting, say $1.25 per ton in large fur naces, or more in smaller ones. The investment in ap paratus either to sinter or to nodulize is quite large.” Of a series of tests conducted at the foundry of the Seaman-Sleeth Company, Pittsburgh, the following are selected as representative results: Analysis of molt« before test ; Analysis of molten iro after test 128 0.090 0.44 Analysis of product after test 9 ‘ , 09 0 { ) Test Made August 5, 1914 Tot > 5 Mr arbor lt Analysis of molten iron before test ..... 0.86 0.08 0.36 Analysis of molten iror after test , 0.80 0.078 O Analysis of product after test . ’.2 0.100 06.60 3.1 $4.00 The inventor adds that “in every test the analysis of the iron showed that it had been slightly improved and in each the effect of the chemical reaction was dis tinctly heating.” It is stated that with a funnel 33 in. long, 500 Ib. of flue dust can be treated for a ton of iron. “The iron thus used is then restored in a treated and somewhat purified condition to the regular furnace output. Only enough molten iron would be diverted to treat the current production of flue dust in the propor- tions stated, unless stock piles of dust are also to be treated.” Blue prints of the apparatus are available through Julian Kennedy, Bessemer Building, Pittsburgh, or the inventor, Ralph Baggaley, 1291 Shady avenue, Pittsburgh. The Union Iron Works, San Francisco, closed a contract last week for a large oil steamer for the Union Oil Company. It will have Curtis turbine drive and oil-burning boilers. A Steel Plant in Southern California Oil-Burning Open-Hearth Furnace of 1500 Tons Monthly Capacity Now in Operation in Los Angeles—Ingots Southern California has now an open-hearth steel plant. Besides this fact the plant is inter esting in that crude oil is used as the fuel and bottom pouring of the ingots in groups is practiced. The furnace, so far one of 15 tons capacity com- prising the plant, has been in operation since April 10, and is the property of the Southern California Iron & Steel Company, Los Angeles, which until recently was known as the California Industrial Bottom-Poured in Groups of bolts and nuts as well as reinforcing bars. P: haps 40 per cent. of the output of the mill goes int bolts and nuts. In rounds the range of sizes regu larly made is *% in. to 3 in.; in squares, % in. t 2'5 in., and in flats 4% x ™% in. to2 x Bin. Th company has secured Pacific coast rights for th Havemeyer reinforcing bar and plans to roll angles up to 3 in. and light channels. The manufactur ing equipment includes, besides the rolling mills Southern C Pouring Bottoms of the T the Bottom Oil-burning Open-hearth Steel Furnace of £00-lb. Ingots in Groups of Seven with Is Distributed Through Brick Runners to the Holding the Runner Bricks for the Next Cast for Next Deliver The As the the Ingots ness Company and operated iron rolling mills. It has discontinued operating the busheling furnaces for making iron products, but a noteworthy fact in this connection is that its pack-melting furnaces with slight modifications are being used as ingot-heating and billet-heating furnaces. The plant stands as an example of the change in product which a change in demand forces on the producer. Buyers, on the Pacific coast at least, have been insisting on open- hearth reinforcing bars, for example, as distin- guished from rerolled bars. The works of the company has now a capacity of 1500 tons per month. Besides merchant sizes it turns out heavier bar stock and is a large producer 11 ilifornia Iron & Steel Company, Los Angeles. Furnace The Steel Is Cast in Steel Is Shown Entering the Higher or Middle Ingot Mold and hree Molds Each Side In the Pit May Be Seen the Iron Mold Are Stripped the Molds Are Placed on the Base Mold in Readi- Note the Tops of the Ingot Molds proper, numerous bolt and nut making machines. There an extensive galvanizing department, which has both electrodeposition and hot galvaniz- ing apparatus, the former including some of the machinery manufactured by the United States Electrogalvanizing Company, Brooklyn, N. Y. The plant is located near the center of Los Angeles, at Fourth and Mateo streets, and has direct ship- ping connections with the Santa Fé railroad sys- tem, with large storage yards for scrap and pig iron, and easy motor-truck shipping arrangements for city deliveries. The open-hearth furnace has a 7 x 17-ft. hearth and three heats of 15 tons each are regularly taken 10 is May 20, 1915 rom it daily. The checker brickwork is built un- derneath and can be reached on all sides. The vccompanying reproduction of a photograph shows how it rises above the general level of the pouring floor. The charging floor is made of heaving flat ron strips, 6 or 8 in. wide, supported on a struc- tural steel framework which is entirely open under- neath and gives immediate access to the butterfly lamper controlling the inflow of air to the regener- ator chambers and also to the slide damper to the main smoke duct as well as to the mechanism for effecting the reversals. The use of fuel oil means of course an absence of cumbersome fuel gas pipes. At each 15-min. period the oil burner at one end of the furnace is withdrawn, that at the other is inserted and from the charging platform the move- ment of a lever shifts the butterfly damper. The amount of air admitted above the damper is con- trolled as usual by a bell hung in the air pipe open- ng. The furnace chimney is a self-supporting steel tack 100 ft. high and 6 ft. in diameter. The oil warmed by steam coils to maintain suitable vis- cosity and is injected into the furnace by means of compressed air on the injector principle. The burner, which was developed by Evan J. Moses, general superintendent of the works, is noteworthy for its inconspicuous size. The pipe supplies to the burner form also its support, and the combina- tion swings from trunnion connections at the charg- ing-floor level so that when the burner is pushed into the end fuel orifice of the furnace the supply is automatically turned on and likewise when the burner is swung away from the furnace, as at the end of each period, the supply is turned off. CHINESE PIG IRON USED The furnace is hand charged. An inclined nar- row-gauge track from opposite directions leads to the charging floor. The charges are of course cold, comprising assorted scrap, including definite pro- portions of the punchings from the nut shop, and pig iron and the usual fluxes. A large Garrison shear permits the buying of heavy scrap. The pig iron, which is found to run low in sulphur, phos- phorus and silicon, is obtained from Hanyang Iron & Steel Company, China. The use of the oil has not had any effect on the sulphur content of the steel, which is running notably low in both phosphorus and sulphur. An 0.15 per cent. carbon steel was being regularly made at the time of the visit to the plant. The furnace is located in a steel frame building with corrugated metal roof. The building is 62 ft. wide and at present 100 ft. long, but arrangements are made for extending the building, as plans call for the building of another furnace as soon as feasible, this, however, to be of 40 tons capacity. A 60-ft. span electric overhead traveling crane, built by the Llewellyn Iron Works, runs the length of the building, and has a 25-ton main hoist and a 10-ton auxiliary hoist. The crane is used mainly, of course, for stripping the ingots and for handling the hot metal ladle, which is of the bottom-pouring type, of 20 tons capacity and built by the Baker Iron Works, Los Angeles. BOTTOM-POURED INGOT MOLDS The illustration gives an idea of the ingot molds and their grouping. The steel is poured into the center mold of the group of seven with three on each side. The center mold is about 12 in. higher than the others and is intended to act in the nature of a sink head. The fact remains that the ingots in storage do not show cavities or evidences of blow- The pouring funnel or gate is, of course, re- holes. THE IRON AGE Lill moved immediately after pouring. The tops of the molds are closed, it will be noted, except for a 3-in. hole in the center for the gases. For the heavier sizes of bars, which are not carried to the merchant mill, the present scheme is to make smaller ingots by not completely filling the molds so that the bar mills may handle the smaller ingot through successive rollings without shearing. Then the central higher ingot is not always used. The group casting of the ingots is made on an iron mold or base hollowed out sufficiently to take runner bricks. The bricks are plastered in place in this recess, end to end. A conduit runs through each brick, about 2 or 2» in. in diameter, and toward one end of each brick is the riser hole, smaller in diameter than the central channel or conduit of the brick. Through the riser hole the steel enters the ingot mold. The central mold, of course, delivers the molten steel into the runner bricks in opposite directions and into the bottom of each other mold the steel rises from the runner bricks, as stated. Stripping is done by lifting the ingot mold from the ingot by means of a lift of the crane. The bricks are more or broken in the operation, the clinging runners and risers are easily removed and the base mold is pre- pared for another pouring with a new set of bricks. Ingots which stick are ordinarily removed by drop- ping a weight upon a heavy pin set in the hole in the top of the ingot mold. The molds have a taper of about 1 in. in the length and are 7 x 8 x 50 in. in inside dimensions. The ingots are reheated in an oil-burning four- door furnace, formerly used in connection with the rolling of iron. There are oil burners at opposite ends of the furnace and it is operated on the regen- erative principle, except that there are no checkers. This, as with another similar oil-burning furnace, is operated in connection with a waste-heat boiler, which is of the Cahall type of 250-hp. capacity There are five such boilers all told, but three of them will be operated independently of steel-heat ing furnaces and instead will be direct oil burning. The steam, generated at 125-lb. pressure, is by the rolling-mill engines and by pumps and air compressors and electrical machinery, the bolt- making machines, for example, being electrically driven largely by individual motors. An interest ing fact is that the heating furnaces will take care of roughly twice the weight that they did operated as pack-heating furnaces in iron working, partly because 1800 deg. F. suffices in the reheating oper- ation against about 2400 deg. F. in the pack melt- ing, and partly because of the heavier loading or closer filling of the furnace possible with ingots in the one case and billets in the other. escape of direct less used THE ROLLING MILL The old bar-iron mills have been utilized except that a new set of heavier rolls was required for breaking down the ingot. Accordingly 20-in. rolls have been installed, of steel, and these with three older stands make a combination bar and blooming mill, with the stands, which are three-high, ar ranged in line side by side and driven directly from a 500-hp. to 600-hp. Corliss engine. The mill is used for breaking down the ingots to billets, which are reheated for the merchant mill or without reheat- ing for finishing the broken down ingots into bars. A hot bed is now being installed for this depart- ment from Mr. Moses’ design, with mechanical manipulation and traveling table leading to a bar shear. A three-high 14-in. roughing mill takes the reheated billets, this directly driven by a 200-hp. Murray-Corliss engine and there is a 9-in. finishing 1112 mill in five stands belt driven from a 450-hp. Ham- ilton-Corliss engine. W. L. Stewart, president of the Union Oil Com- pany, Los Angeles, is president of the Southern THE IRON AGE May 20, 19 California Iron & Steel Company, and A. C. De man, Jr., is vice-president and general manage: S. K. Rindge, Los Angeles, is treasurer and A. \ Grier is secretary. Choosing and Training the College Engineer A Plan Successfully Conducted by the Cutler- Hammer Mfg. Company in Which the Per- sonal Equation Has Important Consideration For ten years the Cutler-Hammer Mfg. Com- pany, Milwaukee, has recruited the engineering and sales departments of its organization from graduates of engineering colleges, following a plan which attaches importance in the selection of men to considerations not generally given prominence. The exceptionally rapid growth of this company not only made necessary the building up of its or- ganization by the acquisition of a certain propor- tion of new material each year, but also afforded conditions favorable to the rapid development of men of such prior training as the average technical graduate acquires for specific openings in the sales and engineering staffs. Thus the situation made the continued retention of these young engineers in the employ of the com- pany the principal objective of the plan, rather than merely a replacing of employees from year to year in order to maintain an operating force. At the same time the size of the Cutler-Hammer Mfg. Company organization was not such as to permit of absorbing a large number of graduates such as might be procured through a general invitation ex- tended at a number of schools each year, as has been done by some of the larger companies which maintain apprenticeship systems for college grad- uates. The accompanying tabulation presents in abbre- viated form the net results secured since the inau- guration of the plan in 1905. Especially selected Employed for other for Milwaukee en- service or acquired gineering department with other business Number Still with Number Still with Year employed company employed company At end of 1905..... 7 7 8 5 During 1906..... 8 6 to bo > 4 ES aes 5 3 4 Reece ) 1 1 1909 5 3 2 RR was ere a 7 6 5 See Ess nt eke 9 6 + SPR aS seen S 5 6 ” eter’ a.0 wre 10 10 3 3 To June 1, 1914.... 2 2 0 0 J) #= 09 DO Total. .64 ba 66 49 41 The total number employed in 815 years was 107; the number still with the company 74, or 69 per cent. Of those selected for the engineering department at Milwaukee 74 per cent. and for other service 61 per cent. are still with the company. Those emnloyed were from 28 colleges; of this number 23 are still represented. Supplementing the above, it may be said that out of nearly 70 branch offices the district managers, with one ex- ception, are men secured in this manner. HOW NEW SELECTIONS ARE MADE Each year as the spring term of college ap- proaches, the company makes an estimate of the number of new men required in the organization. Some one school is selected and from this institu- tion the entire group is drawn. If the full number cannot be obtained, fewer are taken, the number being sacrificed rather than requirements. A com- mittee, ordinarily three representatives of the com- pany, including the general superintendent, one from the engineering department and one from the sales department, through arrangement with the college authorities, addresses the students, present- ing an outline of the company’s proposition. A general invitation is extended to those men who are interested to make an appointment with this com- mittee at a later time. The committee then camps down in the college town and interviews individ- ually each candidate who presents himself. Consid- eration is given to his general record in school as regards regularity and dependability, to his ath- letic record, to his college activities, to his social affiliations and to his personal tastes, as well as to the general bias given to him by his previous con- nections. Importance is also attached to his scholastic record, although special prominence is not given to this item. Each member of the com- mittee makes his own estimate of each candidate independently of the others, during the examina- tion, and the committee then confers as to the can- didate’s desirability, which, to make the man ac- ceptable, must measure up in an established scale of merits and demerits. Thus the men are selected, rather than solicited. THE HUMAN ELEMENT In choosing the group of men each year from but one school, the theory is that a very strong bond has already been established among these men which will continue to hold them together when in the employ of the company; will be likely to cause them to room together and to do the same kind of things, to the end that they will be frequently in each other’s company and as a result will carry with them, outside of working hours, discussions of the work they are doing; that they will hold their in- terest in the things they are learning and the prob- lems they are meeting to a much greater extent than if their interests were at once diverted to other affairs. In choosing the men the committee also avoids taking those whose homes are in Milwaukee. The company believes that despite a man’s having been away to school for a period of years, on his return he naturally drops back into the environment in which he has grown up, and in consequence it finds itself seriously handicapped in influencing the di- rection in which the young man’s connections are to be built up. Those in charge of the plan believe that great importance attaches to a correlating of the beginner’s work inside of the shop with the development of his character and associations out- side. An instance is cited of one man from an May 20, 1915 Eastern college, of international fame as an ath- ete, who went to work for the company under this plan within the past few years. He was of excel- lent material in every way, except that his egotism, founded upon athletic prestige, soon brought him into disfavor among the other employees at the plant. An investigation was made of the way in which the young man’s time was spent outside of the works and it was discovered that his athletic ability and his natural inclinations had led him nto a very active association with the Y. M. C. A. ind the high schools, where he gave a great deal \f time to the training of the boys. Among these boys he was naturally very much of a hero, a situa- tion which simply added to his vanity. He was alled in and some of these things were pointed out to him and he was advised, almost to the point of being instructed, to give up this work and seek the ‘company of older people where he would be required to stand upon his merits in other lines than the one in which he was pre-eminent. As a result, in very short time this simple expedient brought out a very noticeable change and out of natural abil- ity and worth has now come substantial progress. THE MONEY SIDE tecords kept by the company indicate that the ost of taking m each one of these men and bring- ing him to the point where he is of real value and prepared to create results approaches $2000. The plan is therefore not an inexpensive one, but as compared with the cost of hiring more mature men who have acquired what would be of similar value to the company through other forms of experience, still represents a decided saving. Candidates are first placed in the shops of the ompany and given, as rapidly as possible, a prac- tical and working insight into the various products manufactured. During this entire period the com- pany finds that the student seldom pays his way in work turned out. There is no specific length of time for this service and it depends somewhat upon circumstances, upon the need of a man in some de- partment for which a young engineer is requisi- tioned, upon the appearance of some outstanding fitness for a particular kind of work, and various other circumstances. The plan is not conducted according to a hard and fast rule, but is based upon handling each man as close observation may sug- gest. The groups taken in each year are sufficiently small to insure individual attention to each man and also his falling completely under the influence of the company’s ways of doing business. The op- portunity which the plan affords for inculcating in the men who are to be the future representa- tives of the company, the methods and policies of the Cutler-Hammer Mfg. Company, unhampered by other experience, is considered one of its most val- uable features. The Allis-Chalmers Mfg. Company, Milwaukee, Wis., which is now building a line of light farm machinery, small rock crushers, etc., has developed a new type of caterpillar tractor truck employing a substantially standard motor-truck chassis. The load capacity is 5 tons and the drawbar pull varies from 2370 to 9000 lb. The front wheels are of the ribbed steel type and the rear wheels are supplanted by double caterpillars with sectional steel treads. The truck is designed for the service of road builders, lumbermen and others who have to do heavy hauling over poor roads or no roads. The average number of men now employed per week 1 the Baldwin Locomotive Works is 5045, against 3970 n October and 7950 in April of last year. THE IRON AGE 1113 Slabbing Machine with One-Pulley Drive The Newton Machine Tool Works, Inc., Twenty- third and Vine streets, Philadelphia, Pa., has brought out a vertical slabbing machine arranged for driving from a single pulley. In this machine gear boxes provide the various changes of feeds and speeds. This machine, which is of the single spindle type, will accommodate work 34 in. wide which does not exceed the maximum opening under A Newly Designed Vertical Slabbing Machine Arra ’ the spindle of 36 in. If desired, two, three or four spindle machines can be supplied. The vertical spindle, which is 3% in. eter in the driving sleeve, is driven by a bronze worm wheel and hardened steel worm fitted with roller thrust bearings running in oil. The end of the spindle is tapered to conform to the Morse No. 6 standard and has a broad face key in the end for driving the cutters. Reversing cross feed on the rail, giving 12 changes and reversing fast power traverse are provided. The spindle is driven at nine different rates, ranging from 16'% to 99 r.p.m., the various speeds being obtained through a gear box with inclosed gears running in oil. A hand controlled rack and pinion provides for the adjust- ment of the spindle sleeve. The spline shaft bush- ings are provided with auxiliary bushings rotating with the shafts. These are relied upon to prevent the escape of oil and preserve the fixed bushing from excessive wear due to contact with the spline or the key seats. The table has 12 feed changes ranging from 0.355 to 13 in. per min. These are independent of the spindle speeds, and there is a rapid power traverse at the rate of 30 ft. per min. in both directions for the table. in diam Walter F. Keenan & Bro. have established a place of business at 17 New Chambers street, New York, as dealers and jobbers in pipe and other engineers’ and steamfitters’ supplies, steam and hot water accessories and factory and office building supplies. Walter F. Keenan of this firm has been connected with the John Simmons Company for the past 24 years, and is there- fore thoroughly familiar with all branches of the sup- ply business. Corrodibility of Cast Iron and Steel’ How the Nature of the Medium Relatively Affects the Two Metals— Results Un- changed by Modern Methods of Manufacture BY J. Comparatively little work has been done within the last decade on the relative corrodibilities of cast iron, wrought iron, and steel. The earlier researches are now of considerably less practical value than formerly, in view of the great changes that have taken place in the methods of manufacture, accom- panied, of necessity, by changes in the physical and chemical properties of the metals. The most recent researches are those of Arndt and of Wélbling, who have independently compared the corrodibilities of cast irons and mild steels, both on exposure to moist air and during prolonged immersion in wet sand. The rate of corrosion was determined by measuring the volumes of oxygen absorbed. In wet sand the steel was observed to be more resistant to corrosion than cast iron, the the moist air. reverse being in case DETAILS OF THE CORROSION TESTS It was only to be expected, in view of the com plex nature of cast iron, that the relative corrodi bilities of that metal and steel would vary very con siderably with the nature of the corroding medium, and the present research was undertaken in order to throw light on this point. To this end a typical gray cast iron and a mild open-hearth steel were chosen, the metals being cut into square bars meas uring 4.5 x 1 x 1 cm., and weighing approximatel) 30 g. After removing the surface skin on the emery wheel, the following tests were made: Tap-water Tests.—The weighed samples resting o1 plates of paraffin wax were laid in beakers containing 300 cu. em. of tap water, and placed in a dark cup board. After three months the metals were removed, scraped clean, dried in a steam oven and weighed, the loss in weight being taken as a mezsure of corrosion. Salt-water Tests—These were carried out in a manner exactly similar to the tap-water tests, save that the corroding medium was a 3 per of sodium chloride. Alternate Wet and Dry Tests—These were carried out in a large metal bath, the metals lying upon a paraffin sheet, and alternately covered with water and allowed to drain, as described in a previous paper. Alternate Wet and Dry and Hot and Cold Tests. These tests consisted in subjecting the samples to wet and dry, as in the previous case, but during the daytime the bath was heated to about 80 deg. C., and allowed to cool at night. The corrosion relatively very rapid. The metals were laid on plates of glass, paraffin being inadmissible on account of its low melt- ing-point. Alternate Hot and Cold Tests.—These consisted in completely submerging the metals on glass plates in a trough of water, heating to boiling during the daytime, and allowing to cool at night. Acid Tests.—These tests resembled tap-water tests, save that the corroding medium was dilute sulphuric acid, which was frequently renewed with the two lowest concentrations. The concentrations of the _ acid employed were as follows: 0.05, 0.5, 5, 10, and 20 per cent, respectively. (350 cu. cm. of acid were used in the last three experiments.) Prior to drying in the steam oven the metals were rinsed in dilute caustic potash solution. This, by neutralizing any traces of cent. solution was *From a paper presented at the annual Iron and Steel Institute in London meeting of th and 14 May 13 NEWTON FRIEND AND C. W. 1114 MARSHALL free acid remaining in the pores of the metal, prevented further corrosion during drying. Analyses of Metals Used Steel, Cast ire per cent per cent Graphite .... ewe ‘ 2.40 Combined carbon 0.21 0.61 Silicon 0.013 1.72 Manganese 0.49 0.7 Sulphur 0.026 0.08 PRO, ns ch Nie RCA Ska eee 0.053 1.06 The results obtained are given in the table. Table Showing the Results of the Corrodibility Tests STEFI Cast Iron Dura nu orrodir tion Loss in Corro- Loss in ( medium r weight Mean sion weight, Mean rrammes factor grammes factor 0.1912 , 0. 2210 " Tap wate 0. 1860 | ). 1886 100 0 2206 0.2208 t 0.18358 . 0.1950 — : y 1 ‘ lap wa 0.1972 0.1905 100 0 2010 0.1980 j alt wat 0. 1958 0.1987 100 0. 1866 0.1856 a4 } per cent 0 1976 : 0.1846 so : Salt water 0. 2006 —_ 0.184 i aap dail } mo 0.2950; 9 2128 100 0 1972 0.1908 0 Alternate 0.4032 eon 0.2914 . > mo - 0. SOS. 0 = 2809 wet and dry {| ~™ 0.3138 » Kt 0.2884; 9° 0 2174 0.2560 Alternate 0). 2782 . : 0.2316 oun ‘ wet and dry MO. | 9 9459 | 9-048 LOU 0 2750 ( 98-2998 1 0. 276 0.2586 Alternate hot _ 0.2178 ‘ - » : 1 wk ( » » & cold water aw 0.2106 0.214 100 0.2174 ). 2174 te iat hot aana 0.2800 0.29545 100 {0.1798 0.1801 a oS , 0.2290 2049 Av 0. 1804 SU A and ar 0.05 per cent 0.4418 - 0.4790 ° , 6 w , 0.4371 00 > 0.4853 ilphuric acid ? 0.4524 ‘ : 0.4916 | a858 0.5 per cent : 4 3260 . 5.0516 6 wk a 2 00 . * 1343 19 sulphuric acid +. 3364 ¢.o) §.2170; °°" 4 5 per cent . 0.0800 nine 0.3114 _ > : hr om 0.0797 Ml ; 0.317 9 sulphuric acid 0.0794 1 \0.008;° Ss 5 per cent 1 0.4518 0 26099 ( 2 0436 ane £9 » hr < Z ) . UNF os sulphuric acid{ *” * 0.2866 10 1.9286 1.066 - 10 per cent 0.1466 0.5168 ones Te t 33 : 35: sulphuric acid ir. 19.1399} 9-1433 100) 9) sop} 0.5005 = 300 10 per cent 1a} 0. 9608 . 2.068) _ ih ). 9306 ( a Ub 2s * (sulphuric acids *° "" | 0.9004 { 9-99 100 | 5 1058; 2-986 t 20 per cent 0.2722 oe 0.7082 ” oRn Sh ). 2677 { ¥- sve | 03 26: ilphuric acid br 0.2632 | 9-* 100 | 0.7124 0.716 CONSIDERATION OF THE RESULTS In considering these results it is important to bear in mind that, strictly speaking, they apply only to the particular metals tested, and that their ap- plication to the behavior of cast iron and steel gen- erally depends upon whether or not these samples are truly representative. The authors believe they are, because the results agree, in so far as com- parison is possible, with the data published by Arndt and Wélbling. They are also in general har- mony with the data given by Thwaite in 1880 and by Griiner in 1883, which seems to suggest that the relative corrodibilities of cast iron and steel bear much the same relation to one another at the present time as in earlier years, despite the altera- tion in methods of manufacture. The following observations suggest themselves as particularly important: 1915 lay 20, In the alternate wet and dry tests, whether car- d out at room temperature or alternately heated and led, the cast iron usually had the decided advantage. In experiment No. 6 the flow of water was unavoid- y stopped for a week or two, with the result that the t, caked on to the metals, was very difficult to remove, {| appears to have exerted a marked protecting fluence against further corrosion. Experiments Nos. ind 8, however, proceeded uniformly throughout their iration. The alternate wet and dry tests probably produce, as nearly as can be done in a laboratory, corrosive forces involved in exposure of iron to action of the outside air in practice. These experi- ents thus appear to indicate that in ordinary cases exposure cast iron articles would last longer than eel ones—and this is usually found to be the case in actice. 2. Complete immersion of the metals in water does give quite the same results as the alternate wet iry tests, there being now little to choose between cast iron and steel. (Experiments Nos. 1, 2, and If there is any advantage it appears to wards the steel. lean The cast iron appears to have a slight advantage er the steel in salt water. 1. In acid solutions the cast iron was very badly ttacked, the steel proving in comparison highly sistant. The variation of the results witn time and neentration of acid is noteworthy, constituting a emarkable testimony not merely to the uselessness, it to the actually misleading nature of acid accelera- tests, when used as a rapid means of determining the general corrodibility of iron and steel. CONCLUSION From these results it is abundantly evident that no simple answer can be given to the oft-repeated juestion, “Which is the more corrodible, cast iron rr steel?” unless full details are given as to the ature of the corroding media. In ordinary air gray cast iron would appear to e more resistant to corrosion than steel. When ompletely submerged in water there is very little to choose between the two metals. In regard to resistance to sulphuric acid attack, the steel has the lecided advantage. Rolling Mills for Cold Metal Some points relating to the design of the pinions r rolls used for rolling cold metal were recently iven in London Engineering, and from the article ve been taken the following notes: The pitch diameter of the gears for cold rolling nills is settled, within small limits, to the same liameter as that of the rolls, to preserve as far as the alignment between the rolls and As the distance between working centers f the rolls is always greater than their diameters, there is no objection to the pitch diameter of the pinions being slightly greater. Table I gives the ery general practice for the proportions of cast- teel double helical roll pinions for a series of sizes mills in common use. It will be noted that the pinions are shrouded the pitch line. The length of the necks B as riven is to suit the older forms of housing; the ength of bearing is much greater for the improved pe of housing and may be as given in Table II. [he diameter of the necks is equal to, or slightly ess than, that of the corresponding roll-necks. rom considerations of strength they might, of irse, be much smaller, especially when the rolls re of cast iron; moreover, the pinion bearings do t have to withstand the severe stresses resulting rom the pressure on the rolls. possible pinions. THE IRON AGE 1115 For the smaller rolls and mills used for the finer classes of work, the adoption of machine-cut pinions is becoming very general, and there can be no doubt that their use has everything to recommend it; vibration and noise are reduced to a minimum, and —— okame C—ar Bp Be OC - | j | { Le * ES) a if . h ~ -_— —~+ + ~ ~ I ~ ~ [ —) ee Pr x —— land x . < F ~ Tal i D H l Pinio . Th a 7. (9 7 Sx 8 8 1 § 41 ” ux ‘ ‘ i )° i > - ‘ 4 ‘ 2 io x 10 ) 14 24 . . ; 12x12 , ) % ii, L6 x 16 ' l \ ‘ xX is * 4 Tabi Il WV j t} j t | if > netel Length of ize f rolls > il 5x | Q ‘ 10x 10 . Ii2x12 ( 16x 16 i’ IS x 18 11 14 there is a considerable saving of power. Where the rolls are large, however, the additional cost becomes a serious matter, and for these the use of machine-cut gears is still rare; but if the first cost can be faced, the writer is of the opinion that the extra expense is soon repaid. Unfortunately, machine-cut double helical pin ions are still comparatively costly; and while, as it has been pointed out, this is the best form of tooth for a rolling mill, it is here the straight-cut stepped teeth have their advantage; they are cheap to pro duce, and have been for some time in general use, proving perfectly satisfactory for the highest grade work. Such pinions are, no doubt, best cut from a solid forging, but they may be made more cheaply by keying two separate pinions on a spindle, arranging for the necessary pitch difference by the position of the keyways. Applications of Metal Spraying Process At the meeting of the American Society of Mechan ical Engineers held May 11 at the Engineering Societie Building, New York City, John Calder presented a paper on the applications of the Schoop process of metal spraying, which was described in The Iron Age, August 20, 1914. After briefly reviewing the methods formerly employed for securing a non-corrodible pro tective covering for metals, Mr. Calder described the development of this process. Particular attention was paid to its use in engineering work, special emphasi being laid on the point that the process could not be employed where the material coated was afterward subjected to tension or bent at a sh