The Iron Age 1916-04-27: Vol 97 Iss 17

New York, April 27, 1916 BLISHED 1855 VOL. 97: No. 17 New Electrically Driven Tube Mill Piercing Mill of a New Type Installed in Tim- ken Plant at Canton, Ohio—A Gravity Feed Furnace and Other Interesting Equipment ause of its heavy consumption of steel tub- ise in the automobile industry, the Timken Bearing Company, Canton, Ohio, some time decided to add to its works a tube mill to roll ng to supply the needs of its own plant in the ifacture of roller bearings and those of its letroit allied interest, the Timken-Detroit Axle mpany, for making motor car axles. This plant s recently placed in operation, and it is regarded as one of the up-to-date tube mills in the country. The tube mill occupies a modern type of steel mill building inclosed in corrugated metal and L e in plan, the main section being 200 x 100 ft., nich a 60-ft. extension is now being added and g 116 x 56 ft. The raw stock, generally known ercing rounds, is brought into the plant at nd and passes through the various manufac- * processes until the material reaches the op- end of the plant as finished tubing. A 5-ton ng crane spans the main section of the mill ng, and with this practically all the handling terial is done. railroad siding enters one end of the plant, bar stock is placed by means of the crane in e raw-stock storage space here provided. The bar stock used is 3 to 6 in. rounds that come from the steel mills in lengths from 18 to 28 ft. Most of this stock is electric steel, although some open-hearth material is used. The bars are cut up in lengths ranging from 23 to 54 in., depending on the size of the tubing to be made. A Mesta shear, capable of cutting squares up to 6 in., is located near the unloading track. The shear is driven by a 75-hp. motor. It has an approach table 40 ft. long with rolls 20 in. wide and a run-out table 12 ft. long. An adjustable stop is provided on the run- out side of the shear. Tube Piercing Mill, Also Showing in the Foreground the Air Operated Equipment that Controls the Piercing Mandrel The sheared stock is rolled from the run-out table to a cradle from which it is taken in bundies to the charging end of the heating furnaces at this end of the mill. One of the illustrations shows a bundle of stock being placed on the platform at the charging end of the heating furnace, this platform being built of rails which extend several feet into the furnace. The furnace is of the continuous gravity feed type and gas fired. The furnace chamber is 40 ft. long and 12 ft. wide. The heated bars are drawn from the side of the furnace, a good view of which is shown in another illustration. As the bars are 991 és u “ey 992 THE IRON AGE April 27, 1 drawn, those back of them roll forward and addi- tional bars are, of course, put into the furnace at the charging end, so that there is always a continu- ous row of bars reaching from the charging end to the discharging end of the furnace. The steel, it is found, can be brought to the temperature re- quired for piercing in about 30 min., although in practice it usually stays in the furnace somewhat longer. On being drawn from the furnace the blanks at a white heat are deposited on an inclined table, on which they roll to the feed end of the piercing mill. This is a new type designed by Richard E. Brock, superintendent of the tube mill. The blank while being pierced passes between two cross reducing rolls arranged for operation at opposing angles, and the inclination of these rolls and the adjustment of the draft are under almost instant control of the operator, who is thus able to make adjustments to suit operating conditions, and to increase or de- crease the feed by changing the inclination of the rolls. The rolls are mounted in tilting frames, pivotally mounted in a slidable carrier frame across the bed so that the rolls can be moved inward or outward, toward or from the working pass of the Charging End of the Heating Furnace Showing Bar of the Gravity Fur Stock Being Deposited nace, Pier« ing and Rolling Mills blank. In the upper portion of each frame is segmented toothed rack that engages a worm that is direct driven through beveled gears by a smal! motor on the top of the mill housing. By reversing the inclination of the tilting rolls the blank can be subjected to a series of reversed rolling operations for reducing the size between the same set of cross rolls after the piercing operation, making rapid roll- ing possible and eliminating reheating. The rolls are controlled by an operator stationed a short distance back from the front of the mill. This operator also controls the movement of the air- operated piercing mandrel, which travels forward until the die on the end of the mandrel comes in contact with the blank as the latter enters the rolls. As soon as the blank is pierced the mandrel is withdrawn. One of the illustrations shows the piercing mill with the mandrel-operating device in the foreground. From the run-out table at the front of the mill, the pierced blanks are raised by dogs and deposited on the inclined table shown at the right in this illustration. This table is directly at one side of the tube rolling mill, to which the blanks go for the next operation. The piercing mill is direct driven by an 800-hp., with Crane on Charging Platform 27, 1916 rravity Feed Furnace ee-phase, 60-cycle, 2200-volt motor operating at r.p.m. The motor is provided with a liquid regulator in the secondary. The regulator erates when a load comes on, causing the 30-ton wheel on the main shaft to carry the load during piercing operation. This is said to be the first trical installation of this type in connection with be-piercing mill. The drive is through a flexible ipling and cut helical gears that connect the main riving shaft to the spindles of the piercing rolls. After piercing the blanks are rolled on a semi- 1utomatic 21-in. tube rolling mill, which is provided with two sets of adjustable rolls. The tubing passes through one set in one pass and returns through the other set, one set being raised up out of the way air control while the other rolls are being used. rhe tubing is given from one to ten passes through rolls, depending upon the size being rolled. The -rolling mill is driven by 300-hp., three-phase, -cycle, 2200-volt motor through a rope drive from , lriving pulley direct connected to the motor, the / double system of two sets of ropes being used for The piercing mill and tube-rolling mill ere built by the William Tod Company, Youngs- wn, Ohio. The mill drive and other electrical arive, THE IRON AGE 993 equipment were furnished by West Electric & Mfg. Company. After rolling the partly made tubing goes to a special heating furnace, where one end is and then hammered down in a mer so that it can be pulled easily the drawing benches tne nghouse heated 1200-lb. steam ham into the dies in The hammer was furnished by the Chambersburg Engineering Company, Cham bersburg, Pa. It is then immersed into an tank, of which there are two for pickling, and after that into a so-called dope tank in which a coating of tallow preparation before gi annealing furnaces and drawing benches acia receives to the There are two single and one double drawing bench, the former driven by 50-hp. motors and the latter by a 75-hp. motor. The metal is soft when it reaches the tube-rolling mill, but the drawing hardens it so that after each drawing operation except the final one it is annealed, pickled and doped. The number of the drawing benches ranges from one to five. There are two annealing furnaces, the dimensions of their chambers being 8 x 30 ft. After the drawing is completed the tubing is straightened, the ends are cut off and it is cut to length. Two straightening machines are passes in The Tube Rolling Mill 994 provided, one of a bulldozer type furnished by the Williams, White & Co., Moline, Ill., and the other a roll straightener furnished by Abramson Engineer- ing Company, Pittsburgh. For cutting off there are a 4-in. and a 6-in. Espen-Lucas cutting off ma- chine, a 24-in. Hendey cutting off machine and a 3-in. Davis machine. In addition there are for this purpose three power hack saws and a 1%-in. cut- ting off machine. At one end of the mill there are two wire draw- ing benches and three wire straightening machines, THE IRON AGE April 27, 191¢ these being used for drawing 5/16 to %-in. wire used in the manufacture of roller bearings. The wire-drawing equipment was furnished by the F. 2. Shuster Company, New Haven. Waste heat from the heating furnace is utilized by means of a 250-hp. Wickes tubular waste-heat boiler, about 75 to 100 hp. being thus developed, This steam is used for operating the steam hammer. for pickling vats and for heating purposes. Elec. tric power is furnished by a local commercial light and power company. Cost and Profit in Shells Approximated Number of Men Required — Saving of Steel Possible in Rough Blanks—Inference Regard- ing the Volumes Needed for Modern Warfare BY ENOS MOORE HEN one sees an acre or so of finished W shells, standing on end and glistening in the early morning sun, awaiting shipment, the product of one night’s work in a single shop, the practical question quickly arises as to what may be done with the total output of the many factories engaged in the production of that one article. At a recent meeting on the subject of prepared- ness, Mr. Powell, an American war correspondent, Show Need of Closer Forging Work Diagram to speaking of the fighting in France, said that it had taken four months to locate some 3000 guns on a battle front of 15 miles, preparatory for the battle of Champagne, and that 600 shells had been placed conveniently about each gun before a shot was fired in the 72-hr. bombardment that followed. Those guns were, no doubt, of varying caliber; but if we take the English 6-in. shell as an average between the French 4.7-in. and their 8.7-in., we can arrive at something like an approximation to the tonnage of steel and copper that was required to prepare for that one battle. This 6-in. shell finishes to 90 lb., without the loading; but the blanks from which it is made run to 135 lb. for the steel, and 4 lb. for the copper bands. This represents a loss of 49 lb., half of which should be saved by neater forgings, as the accompanying sketch will illustrate. There are a great many of these body blanks that are shy of material on the inside, which leads to what is commonly known as “black spots,” but the wear and tear of roughing off that extra inch of steel upon the outside costs time and money, and the steel itself, after allowing for the value of the turnings, comes to something over $1,000 per day for a 1000-shell shop, and half of that should be saved. To revert, however, to the tonnage of material employed in the battle referred to, a simple calcu- lation will show that to make the shells there was something like 3600 tons of copper used, and 121,- 500 net tons of steel, which, according to the news- paper reports of the daily output of the Bethlehem Steel Company, would have occupied them for a period of 2 years. That is, on shells. (Three thou- sand guns at 600 shells each, or 1,800,000 shells in all; at 3000 per day, the total represents 600 days’ production. ) Even this sidelight upon the consumption of material is not satisfying, and when we consider the details involved in the fabrication of the shells we are worse confused over the exactness required upon an article that is to be blown to bits as quickly as opportunity will permit. OPERATIONS FOLLOWED IN ONE SHOP It is conceivable that different shops follow dif- ferent methods in the finishing of shells, but let me specify here the program that is now being followed by one shop of my acquaintance which has a capac- ity for something more than 2000 shells per 24 hr. These people began with a list of 28 operations, and it is doubtful if they would recognize the fol- lowing list of what they are now doing, so many and so frequent have been the changes. and 19. Groove and undercut. Wave for bands. Inspect and chip. Cut base to length, and weigh. Bore for base plates. Thread base. l. Unload forgings store. 20. 2. Distribute 21. 3. Cut to length (the open 22. end) 4. Center, true with bore. 23. >». Rough turn. 24. 6. Inspect for rough di- 25. Machine base plates. ameter. 26. Inspect for size. 7. Bore, counter-bore and 27. Apply base plates. thread. 28. Roll back ends and face. 8. Inspect for black spots, 29. Weigh and cut to length depth, etc. 30. Wash and dry. 9. Grind out imperfections. 31. Inspect. 10. Drill and tap for screws. 32. Sand blast inside for rust 11. Machine fuse sockets. 33. Varnish, with spray 12. Inspect sockets. 34. Dry in steam oven. 13. Apply fuse sockets. 35. Apply copper bands i4. Grind out sharp edges. 36. Machine gas seals. 15. Finish turn shell, 37. Size tap fuse holes 16. Inspect for eccentricity. 38. Stencil. 17. Replace loose sockets. Final inspection. 18. Repair (re-turn noses Store in bond. mostly). Pack for shipment. I do not offer this as an ideal schedule of opera- tions but as a fair list of what is now being done in a large shop, as a basis for estimating the cost; and perhaps I may be permitted to observe that I know it to be wrong in at least one important respect. To turn the nose of a shell off for eccen- tricity does not remove anything but the appearance of lopsidedness; and the whole expense of repairing for that fault should be done away with. THE LABOR COST Naturally the greatest demand exists for skilled ril 27, 1916 nanics, and much of the evils complained of are -sed to green hands, but in this case it is a t of the process. There is this that can be said the green hands. When they are too much sed they will take it out upon the machines, and rever there is anything that will break under influence of a 2-lb. hammer, it will usually be nd broken. Out of a hundred new machines are being operated by unskilled labor there not be one with a full set of wrenches after the t few months, and almost all of the handles will roken off. Upon the basis of the number of shells that an rage mechanic can turn out in 10 hr., which is vm for the most of the operations above noted, e made out a list of the machine tools required 1000-shell capacity per 24 hr., and apportioning hanics and helpers to those and the special hines, such as washers, tire setters, etc., together with the truck men, I find that I am able to place 308 mechanics and 230 laborers. This is not so many in proportion to what is being done, but I will offset that with a little etter pay, so that allowing $5 per day for the echanics, and $2 per man for the laborers, we nd that for 1000 shells capacity per 24 hr., the abor will amount to $2 per shell. Add to this the cost of the material, under pre- vailing prices, and we get a 6-in. shell at a shop cost of $8, to which the overhead and the profit must still be added. I have known quite a number of large manufacturing establishments where 100 per cent of the shop cost had to be added to cover overhead, and if we add that in this case we shall not be far wrong. From a recent number of THE IRON AGE I have oted that a late quotation on American 6-in. shells is $19.85, and this would leave us very nearly $4 profit per shell, if my calculation is right. As a matter of fact, with the economies that I ive noted, on neater forgings and a change that | do away with repairs, so called, there should a clean $5 profit on every 6-in. shell turned out, the same proportion for the other sizes. [Inverted Projectile Boring Machine (he Dunlap Machinery Sales Company, Dayton, , has brought out a vertical boring machine for ; up to 6 in. in diameter. It differs very ma- terially from the standard type of boring machine that the shell is rotated while the boring tool is tionary, and that the shell is inverted above the ¢ tool. In the inverted position chips drop as they are detached, thus minimizing interfer- e with the cutting tool. (he chuck is of the pneumatic type, and the ndle is cored so that the chuck jaws for any meter of shell up to 6 in. can be inserted. While arrangement necessitates the enlargement of ower end of the spindle, it is also relied upon ve a large bearing surface, which is 16 in. long + in. in diameter. The latter dimension is for nuck for 6-in. shells and is 2 in. less for 5-in. The larger diameter is, of course, at the and the bearing tapers upward, this con- tion being relied upon to give a full seating bearing when in operation. The spindle is ‘mi-steel and the bearing is of hard babbitt ' having means to compensate for wear. The wheel at the front of the machine provides for ontrol of the spindle feed, or if desired, power be used. With the latter six changes, > Irom 0.007 to 0.053 in. per revolution of ndle are available. A quick movement either ery THE IRON AGE Y \ Machine for Boring Shells Up to 6 In. Diameter in Which the Tool Points Upward and is Stationary While the Work Revolves, thus Permitting the Chips to Drop and Clear the Tool up or down, which is controlled by hand or power, is provided to adjust the tool or spindle. A coun- terweight facilitates the movement of the spindle. The platen is of heavy construction, and is car- ried in ways which are cast integral with the base of the machine. In the platen are three tool holes, and a platen centering device is furnished to center each tool with the spindle. After this is done by a heavy tapered pin the platen is locked in place securely by long tapered gib to relieve the centering pin of any strain. The machine is driven by a 6-in. double belt from a lineshaft at a speed of not over 3600 ft. per minute. From the lower countershaft the power is transmitted to the spindle through a second belt and set of gearing. The ratio between the speeds of the lower countershaft and the spindle is 15 to 1. The floor space occupied measures 50 x 84 in., and the weight is 10,000 lb. The equipment fur- nished includes a pump and piping for lubrication purposes and a pneumatic chuck and the necessary piping, together with the wrenches required to make the adjustments. The Defiance Machine Works, Defiance, Ohio, re- ports furnishing the special tools used for the manu- facture of military rifle stocks in the plants of the Remington Arms Company of Delaware, Eddystone, Pa.; the Remington Arms & Ammunition Company, sridgeport, Conn.; the Hopkins & Allen Arms Com- pany, Norwich, Conn., and the Ross Rifle Company, Quebec, Canada. Additional equipment has been fur- nished to the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, New Haven, Conn., and the New England Westing- house Company for its Springfield, Mass., and Meri- den, Conn., plants. Machinery used in the manufac- ture of artillery wheels and military vehicles used in America, Europe and Asia has been built by this com- pany. The Rise of the British Iron Industry Taking the Initiative Has Been Britain’s Main Leverage—While America and Germany Lead, Some Advantages They Have Not Overcome BY H. H. The German chancellor in a speech before the Reichstag declared that England’s doom was sealed and that “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin” was writ- ten on the wall. Without a doubt he had in mind the great change that has taken place during the last half century in the relative position of Ger- many and Great Britain as steel producers. In 1880 Great Britain produced twice as much steel as Germany, while in 1910 Germany made more than twice as much as Great Britain; in the eighties Great Britain made 33 per cent of all the steel in the world, while to-day it makes only 11 per cent. This comparison, however, is not quite fair, for during our Civil War the United States put a high protective tariff on steel and soon afterward en- tered on an era of railroad expansion. Germany did the same after the Franco-Prussian war, while Russia, Austria, France, Italy, Spain and Canada have all enacted protective tariffs and have built up steel industries to supply their own needs, so that it could hardly be expected that England would make the same percentage of the world’s output to-day that she did half a century ago. But it is also true that Germany has increased her production more than can be accounted for by regarding her own needs only; while the protective tariffs just mentioned count against Germany just as much as against England. We should try to find out the causes of the early predominance of Great Britain, and to do this we must look up a little ancient history. IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY The building of the first blast furnace in 1340 for making pig iron marked an epoch in the his- tory, not only of the iron industry but of the civ- ilized world, and the new metal rapidly came into use, particularly for cannon; but until late in the eighteenth century wrought iron and steel were made made in practically the same way as in the time of the Greeks and Romans. An iron furnace was little more than a hole in the ground, about 2 ft. square and 2 ft. deep, which was supplied with charcoal and with either iron ore or pig iron, the resulting product being a lump of pasty iron which was pulled out and worked into shape under a ham- mer. This dependence on charcoal for fuel put a limit on the size of the plant, because the trees in the immediate vicinity would soon be cut down and then it would be necessary to haul the fuel a long distance. In the last half of the century there was a succession of revolutionary inventions. In 1768 Watt invented his improved steam engine; in 1783 the first grooved rolls were operated, and in 1784 puddling furnaces were started, using coal for fuel. Since a coal mine can supply an indefinite amount of fuel at one point, and since the puddling furnaces and the rolling mill were complementary to each other, it is clear that with the steam engine we have all the elements necessary for a large iron works. THE FUEL QUESTION Iron ore occurs in a hundred places in England, while coal is abundant and of the best quality, and CAMPBELL a century ago the fuel supply was the param issue, owing to the large quantity used per ton iron. At that time no coke was manufactured, and the fuel was either charcoal or raw coal. When charcoal was used about 5 tons was required for every ton of pig iron, while to-day furnaces in Sweden consume a good deal less than 1 ton. With coal it took from 8 to 10 tons to smelt the ore for a ton of pig iron, while to-day the coke needed t do the same work can be made from 11% tons of coal. We are not concerned just at this moment with the causes that have brought about these economies in fuel consumption, but we are interested in the facts. One hundred years ago, counting from the time that the ore and fuel were put into the blast furnace until the final horseshoe, wagon tire, musket or wrought-iron nail was made, we may say that from 15 to 30 tons of fuel was needed for every ton of finished merchantable product, and therefore the natural situation of an iron works was at the coal mine. To-day we see a steel works starting at Duluth, a thousand miles from the fuel, a project which would not have been undertaken a century ago, for it would have been cheaper to carry 2 tons of ore to the coal than to carry 20 tons of fuel to the ore. ENGLAND’S OPPORTUNITY We have seen that great advances in the meth- ods of manufacturing iron were made in England during the last half of the eighteenth century, and there is no doubt that these new methods would soon have spread to the continent if nothing un- usual had happened; but the French Revolution burst forth and for a long time anarchy reigned in Europe, so that factories and iron works could not be started, and for nearly 20 years the conti- nent was buying everything from England, just as to-day the world is buying from the United States. Napoleon tried to interfere with this trade of Great Britain by declaring an embargo, but at that very moment his own soldiers were wearing shoes and clothes and carrying muskets made in England. For many years after the wars were over England had a monopoly of the trade of the world, because there were no factories in Europe and no shops where engines, boilers or machinery could be built, and there were no skilled factory workers. England had a start, and that is everything. Conditions will be quite different a year from now, for Europe is fully equipped with factories sufficient for her needs. The workshops in England are in full operation to-day; in Germany, Russia, Austria and Italy they are running more or less regularly, while in France and Belgium, although operations are interrupted, the factories themselves are uninjured. They will start again just as soon as peace comes and we will not have the monopoly that England enjoyed a hundred years ago. AFTER THE AGE OF WROUGHT IRON THE BESSEMER ERA Railroads came into existence in 1825, and im- mediately there was an enormous increase in the production of iron, the output of pig iron rising 996 ril 27, 1916 m 375,000 tons in 1800 to 4,422,000 tons in 1850. diy any steel was made at that time, for al- ugh the process of making crucible steel had been ented as early as 1740, this was only used for xh-priced cutting tools; the metal in common use - rails, boiler plates, forgings, structural shapes, -seshoes, wire, bolts, nails and a thousand and articles made in the village blacksmith shops s wrought iron. In 1856 Bessemer blew cold air through liquid on, converting it into steel, and it was at once und that the ordinary ores of England were not fitted for the new process because a low content of phosphorus was required and such ore had to be rought from Spain, Algeria and the Island of Elba. [his might have been a blow to the supremacy of Great Britain, because either France, Belgium or Germany could have imported this ore, but England had taken the initiative, just as she had a century efore, when the fundamental inventions of the iron ndustry were developed. British manufacturers were making Bessemer steel in considerable quan- tities before the rest of the world was awake, and they pre-empted in large measure the ore mines of northern Spain, so that Great Britain has been ible to hold her place in the world. There were ther circumstances which contributed to success, and as these conditions are still in force, it will be well to say a word about them. MERCHANT MARINE It is frequently said that our Civil War drove our flag from the ocean. This is not a correct state- ment, for long before 1860 Great Britain had be- gun to build iron steamships, and if our war had not come the sailing ship would have been displaced. Everybody to-day advocates building up our mer- hent marine, but we will always be at a disadvan- compared with England and Germany, for those countries must send abroad for wheat, meat and cotton, and it will be just as well to carry an outbound eargo from Europe as to sail in ballast, so that the return cargo may be called upon to pay the freight on both trips. England also has a great ijvantage in possessing colonies, for it is natural that the people in Canada, Australia and South Africa should prefer goods from their home country. The situation of the United States is just ex- actly the opposite, for we do not import bulky com- modities, with the exception of a little iron ore from Cuba, Sweden and South America. In the long run the outbound cargo must pay the freight, so that in the last analysis Europe can export more cheaply than the United States. FOREIGN EXCHANGE Away back in the time of the American Revolu- n, England began to have difficulties in making Jections in her foreign trade. When such ques- ‘ions arise in this country we appoint a committee ' Congress and pick out men who do not even have 4 bank aecount. Under similar circumstances “rance would appoint a committee of lawyers, while ‘ermany would consult professors of political econ- '; but England did none of these things. he whole matter was put into the hands of Lord ‘ief Justice Mansfield, and he appointed a jury of idon merchants, who formulated the system un- which England to-day carries on the financial isactions of the world. A bill of exchange is most illogical instrument every devised. If a ‘tentot in Africa should write an order command- + Chinaman in Canton to pay $1,000 in gold to “sguimau in Greenland, it would be a perfectly ' bill of exchange as far as form is concerned. THE IRON AGE 97 9 The fact that there was no “value received” would have nothing to do with the case, for these thor- oughly practical business men disregarded this tech nicality, although they put in the words for the sake of looks. Our Congress cannot do things this way. In 1914 a law was passed containing many things which are to be commended, but when provision was made for the establishment of reserve banks in for- eign countries, so many restrictions were imposed that these banks would be of little use if they were started. Fortunately Congress did allow our na- tional banks to establish branches in foreign coun- tries, and this plan is now being carried out and we are certain to profit greatly by this arrangement. FOREIGN INVESTMENTS It is stated that at the beginning of this war, Great Britain had $20,000,000,000 invested in for- eign countries which brought in a revenue of $1,- 000,000,000 every year, more than overcoming a huge unfavorable visible trade balance arising from importations of foodstuffs and of raw materials like wool, cotton, iron ore, lead and copper, which must be brought in from the outside world. The highest authorities differ widely as to the amount invested in the United States, but roughly speaking it may be placed at $5,000,000,000. The British chancellor of the exchequer should know as much about the matter as anyone, but in December, 1915, he said before Parliament that the American securities owned on that date in Great Britain were between $1,500,000,000 and $4,000,000,000, which is allowing a pretty fair margin of error. This, of course, was after England had returned about $1,000,000,000 of our securities during the year 1915. These foreign investments cover the whole field of human activity, and if a thousand years from now some investigator should find a record of the companies listed on the London Stock Exchange, he could reconstruct our world. There are corporations mining zinc in Australia and diamonds in South Africa; washing gold in Siberia and tin in the Straits Settlements; building irrigation canals in Egypt and India; operating railroads in Argentina or the Soudan; running rubber plantations in Brazil and Borneo, and conducting harbor improvements in Singapore. Every one of these companies opens a market for British goods. The American International Corporation has been formed in New York to finance just such en- terprises in foreign lands; but this company can only act as an intermediary. If American manufac- turers are to build an electric light plant in Brazil, our people must buy the securities of the company. If they do this, then the United States can do its share in the work of developing the countries over- sea; but if we are so provincial that we will not buy foreign securities, then after the war Great Britain will resume business at the old stand. SUMMARY We have seen that Great Britain gained its place in the world partly through having supplies of ore and coal and partly through the inventive genius of her people, who more than a century ago in- augurated fundamental improvements in the iron industry, while the Napoleonic wars gave a monop- oly of the trade of the world for long years, this commanding position being held until recently. The invention of the Bessemer process might have been a disadvantage to England if her people had not possessed initiative and enterprise; but our Civil War and the Franco-Prussian conflict dis- turbed the internal development of her most for- 998 midable rivals and aided her just at this critical time. Her merchant marine, an admirable system of foreign exchange and large oversea investments, both in her colonies and in other countries, all con- tributed to her predominance. We must now consider the situation as it exists to-day, and find out what supplies of raw material are available and whether labor conditions are favorable, before we know whether Great Britain is to maintain her place in the world. This will require another article. TWO NEW RIFLE MACHINES Two-Spindle Machine for Drilling Barrels and One for Cutting Rifling Grooves A deep-hole drilling machine designed for the rapid production of rifle barrels and a rifling ma- chine have recently been brought out by the Inter- national Engineering Company, Society for Savings Building, Cleveland, Ohio. The drilling machine is equipped with two spindles which work independ- ently of each other and have a drilling capacity of 114 in. per minute each, giving the machine a ¢a- pacity of three rifle barrels per hour. In drilling the work rotates, the barrel forging being held in a friction clutch in the headstock spindle. The feed to the carriage in which the drill is held is through gears and a splined shaft. The drill is of the stand- ard type used for gun-barrel work, with an oil hole through the center and a groove in the side through which the chips are carried out by the cutting com- pound. As the drill is long and thin it is supported in a rest. One end of the work is held inside of the chip box shown between the headstock and drill support. As the drill enters the work the oil and the chips pass down through the bottom of the chip box into an oil pan beneath. The spindle drive is through a pulley and clutch back of the spindle. A trip mechanism is provided so that when the drilling operation is completed the carriage is stopped by the automatic shifting of the clutch, thus enabling the operator to handle more THE IRON AGE April 27, 1916 i a Barrel Rifling Machine in Which the Bar Is Moved Along the Bed by a Lead Screw and the Work Is Indexed Cam and Dog Arrangement After Each Stroke of the C Bar than one machine. The starting and stopping mech- anism is easily accessible to the operator, so that the machine can be started and stopped quickly. Instead of having a telescopic tube the lubricant is supplied through a universal-jointed tube connected to the carriage as shown. The machine is not equipped with a pump, the oil supply coming from a separate pumping system under 500 to 1000 lb. pressure. The machine is strongly and compactly built, being 12714 in. in length and 28 in. in width. The rifling machine is designed for simplicity in operation and for accuracy and high speed in rifling. The rifling bar is mounted on the spindle of the carriage, which is moved along the bed of the machine by a lead screw located in the lower Deep Hol A Two-Spindle Drilling Machine Capable of Producing Three Rifle Barrels per Hour .pril 27, 1916 rt of the bed, the drive being through two pulleys, . for forward movement and the other for re- rse, With an idler pulley between. The lead screw gears actuates a splined shaft above the lead rew that meshes with other gears which produce reciprocating motion of the tool spindle, giving tool the proper spiral movement and forming rooves in the barrel. When the cut is finished the rriage strikes an automatic belt shifter, which .uses the reverse movement. Four and sometimes x grooves are cut in a rifle barrel, and in cutting ese grooves it is necessary to index the work ter each stroke of the cutter bar. This is effected means of a cam and dog. An interlocking clamp on the work spindle makes t possible to remove the barrel for examination and replace it in the identical position from which it as removed so that the tool will be in proper egister therewith. Adjustable thread studs are provided for taking up wear on the ends of feed rew and spline shaft. The tool feed is arranged » that either a hook or scraper cutter can be used n either the push pin or screw feed. A handle for operating the machine manually is cated centrally to the barrel spindle, making it possible for the operator to readily observe the tool hen entering and leaving the barrel at both ends. fhe shifting handle is conveniently located on the le of the machine, and with this the operator can stantly stop or reverse the movement of the tool irriage. The lubricating system is similar to that provided for the rifle drilling machine. A drip pan is provided which extends the full length of the machine. The machine occupies a floor space of 32 n. x 10 ft., and weighs approximately 2300 lb. When driven at normal speed it is said it will rifle one barrel in from 10 to 15 min. Automatically Tapping Two Nuts at the Same Time An automatic tapping machine designed par- ticularly for tapping nuts for automobile spark plugs, but which can be used for tapping any small hexagon or square nuts up to 10-24 in size, has been brought out by the Poese Machinery & Mfg. Company, Cleveland, Ohio. This machine is similar > the company’s tapping and countersinking ma- hine described in THE IRON AGE, Sept. 2, 1915, except that it is equipped with a multiple head, nopper feed and special fixtures for holding the nuts while they are being tapped, so that it auto- matically feeds, grips and taps two nuts at a time. ‘he nuts are fed into two slides connecting the opper with the tapping fixture, as shown in the Justration, by a disk in the bottom of the hopper plate driven from the spindle. The two outlets rom the hopper are so formed that the nuts enter e slides properly sorted. At the bottom of the slides the nuts are auto- tically pushed under the taps by a slide over the ‘able operated by a cam that is actuated from the pindle. This slide grips the nuts, a compensator ne side taking care of the difference in sizes uts to be tapped. As two nuts are pushed under taps, those just tapped are shoved forward and ropped to a pan beneath the machine. After the nuts are tapped the grip is released by an vard motion of the cam, the slide being drawn by springs. he taps are fed to the work by lead screws nuts of the proper pitch at the top of the fine. After the holes are tapped the machine rses automatically and the operations are re- } THE IRON AGE A Two-Spindle Automatic Machine Capable of Feeding, Grip- ping and Tapping Two Hexagon or Square Nuts Simultane- ously peated. While the illustration shows the machine with a double-pulley drive providing two speeds it is also being built with a single-pulley drive. This machine is tooled up for tapping spark plug nuts, but it can be equipped with other fixtures for other tapping work. The machine is 33 in. high and has a clearance of 4% in. from the tapping spindle to the column. The driving pulleys are 6 in. in diameter. The machine is of simple construction and is designed for very rapid and economical production where large quantities of small nuts are to be tapped. It is stated that its capacity is 2000 nuts per hour, and that one boy can take care of five machines. About all the attention that is required is to.keep the hopper supplied with nuts. British High Speed Steel Scrap All British high-speed steel scrap, short ends, etc., are to be taken back by makers of high-speed steel ac- cording to arrangements made by the Ministry of Mu- nitions. The prices fixed are: 5d. (10c.) per lb. for turnings and 6d. (12c.) per lb. for bar ends, delivered at steel works, and all is to be sent back so far as possible to the maker who supplied the original. When this is not possible the scrap is to be returned in pro- portion to the quantity of steel originally received. It is to be packed in suitable barrels or cases and must be free from all foreign substances, especially other kinds of steel. Turnings are stipulated to be returned as soon as a reasonable amount has accumulated and before they have rusted solid, scrap in that condition being practically worthless. Disposition of high-speed steel scrap through any but authorized channels is illegal. The Chambersburg Engineering Company, Cham- bersburg, Pa., has posted notices of an increase of wages of 10 per cent, effective May 1. Apprentices are excluded, but will be cared for by the bonus sys- tem, each apprentice receiving a bonus of $60 a year, or $240 for the full time for receiving a trade certifi- cate. & they Pa Ss salt ter <., 4 Organizing for Industrial Preparedness Big Part for Engineers—Little but Important Place of the Government—Specifications and Standardization and Men and Management portion of the engineer in organizing the resources of the country for war was forcibly shown in the discussion of the paper, “Organizing for Industrial Preparedness,” presented by Spencer Miller* before the New Orleans meeting of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, April 12-14. The discussion covered, among other topics, the subjects of machine tools, jigs, gages and other minor equipment, standardi- zation, transportation, men, management and organi- zation, specifications and a host of other items of greater or less importance. Judging by the attention given to the various subjects, those of the greatest moment were: The organization of the skilled work- men and engineers of the country, so that their serv- ices will be available at an instant’s notice to supply munitions; the standardizing of the machine tools of the country; the supply of an adequate quantity of jee a stupendous amount of work would be the small tools, jigs, gages and fixtures for arms and ammunition manufacture, and the establishment of standards of efficiency in the civilian adjuncts to the army and navy. Machine Tools That the normal supply of machine tools in the country would be totally inadequate for the needs of war was shown by L. P. Alford, of the American Machinist. The excess of the exports of machine tools in 1915 over the exports of other years is a small measure of the demands that war would make on the machine shops. The highest yearly total of machine tool exports for any one year prior to the war was about $16,000,000, while in 1915 they amounted to $42,000,000, notwithstanding that the normal annual demand of nearly $3,000,000 for Germany was absent. The machine building industry is the backbone of all offensive or defensive warfare of the present day. The normal surplus of $15,000,000 worth of tools shipped abroad in peace times would be kept at home in the event of war, but these tools would have to be sup- plemented by purchases abroad, provided we were not involved in a European war. The experience of the countries now at war furnishes a guide as to the methods to be pursued by the United States. From this experience Mr. Alford establishes the following principles for standardizing and procuring tools in organizing for industrial preparedness. 1. Organize at once in skeleton form ar mittee to control standardization, design and preparation of machine tools for the production of Americar industrial com- munitions *This paper was published substantially in full IRON AGE, March 23, 1916 in THE SOyNNL ANNA EENENT To prepare the drawings for the 17 sizes of shells now used by the army, together with the drawings for the gages, jigs, tools and fixtures, 50 engi- neers and draftsmen would be needed for 50 weeks. For a daily production of 200,000 rounds of ammunition of this character, it would be necessary to = equip 100 factories, each employing = 2000 men. To make the gages, tools and fixtures would require 800 well- trained men for 5 years in well organ- ized factories —Frank O. Wells. ill nwt a ny TOVEWUAEUOONY HAAN 2. Through Society oi Tool joint action of this committee, the Ams Mechanical Engineers and the National Ma suilders’ Association, standardize the details of machine tools and design whatever additional special m tools may be necessary for the rapid and economical pr: tion of American munitions. Immediately on the outbreak of war, prohibit machine tools from the United Stat: 1. Immediately on the outbreak of war prohibit portation of any portation of any machine tools into the United States « It would take at least 1000 tool makers one year to furnish jigs, fixtures and small tools for the output of 1000 rifles per day. There are 2500 to 3000 first- class gage makers in the country.— K. A. Juthe. under license and control of the | above committee mentioned section Order all machines abroad through this committes its representatives in the capitals of Europe, and these men with the responsibility of securing the desired deliveries and quality. 6. Order no machine tools abroad except to standardiz American designs, either for the complete machine or the essential details as the committee may determine The machine tools that were shipped abroad fo munition work divide naturally into three classes: | Simple plain machines that were standard befor the war with certain manufacturers or have bee! designed and built under the stress of the foreig: demand. 2. Regular machine tools of a more highly organized grade, particularly automatic machines, that were the standard product of some manufacturers be fore the war. 3%. Special tools developed for some opera tion or series of operations in the manufacture of some detail of munitions. These group into: a, lathes for the turning of the outside of shells; 6, lathes fo boring shells; c, lathes for waving, grooving and undercutting shells. The greatest volume of exports was comprised in the first class, and in both this and the third class simple lathes predominated. The original paper by Mr. Miller showed the neces sity of standardizing machine tools. Concerning this Mr. Alford offered the following principles, which were presented by him several years ago in a paper before the National Machine Tool Builders’ Association, as 4 basis for the standardization: 1. Standardize corresponding designations and capacities and establish a method of power rating. 2. Standardize devices for holding cutting tools 3. Standardize devices for holding work and fixtures 4. Standardize operating movements, in the setting up o! chines, with reference to the permanent shop equipment 6. Accept the geometric progression as a fundamental requisite in the design of feeds and speeds. 5. Standardize parts concerned Jigs, Gages and Fixtures Closely allied to the machine tool equipment neces sary in war time is the supply of gages, jigs and fix- tures that are required for the production of munitions in large quantities. The importance of these was no at first realized by those manufacturers who received the earlier contracts at the beginning of the war, but the discussion of this point gave ample evidence that the engineers, at least, are now fully alive to what the necessities will be in the event of war. 1000 JIGS AND GAGES FOR RIFLES [he magnitude of the task of equipping plants to ily the needs of the United States in small arms was shown in the discussion of Fred. E. Rogers, r of Machinery, who said in part: re are about 800 principal machine operations involved ng the parts of the simplest military arm, including d stock and hand guard. Many of these operations special machinery and practically all the parts must jigs or fixtures during the machining operations e consider the fact that to provide for an army of men, from 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 rifles are required, of the task of equipping an army of a million with guns alone becomes apparent. What the condition ountry would be in a sudden emergency, we can only Mr. Rogers also presented as a part of his discus- the order of operations on the receiver of a The Government should be the general contractor and let only sub-contracts. The small shop will not be afraid of the work, because it will be simple, both financially and mechanically.— H. V. Haight. Nt JUMUOAEL ANTENA Wl all Spanish Mauser rifle. In the list were 55 separate operations, involving the use of 22 distinct types of machines. Commenting on this list, Mr. Rogers said further: Several hundred jigs are required for each unit of a plant producing 200 rifles daily, and the same applies to the gages \ll these data [of operations] must be prepared by experts, but considerable experiment is always required before factory results can be obtained That such elaborate pay is known from the fact that a rifle complete with bayonet and scabbard can be produced with about man-hours of labor. What it means to furnish these gages can be com- prehended from the facts contributed by K. A. Juthe, hief engineer of Wheelock, Lovejoy & Co., Cambridge, Mass., who said: will take at least 200 first class gage makers six months sh the first working set, inspector’s set and the set necessary for guns in quantity, and when 1000 rifles per day are figured on it would mean that the ng sets must be increased from 1 to 10 and the or sets from 1 to 5, keeping the master set simply for é It has been conclusively shown that out of a total ctically 2500 to 3000 first class gage makers in the , the supply was wholly inadequate to tackle several t propositions at the same time. regard to tool making: It would take at least 1000 tool one year to furnish jigs, fixtures and small tools for it of 1000 rifles per day. Therefore, in case of any- ppening that would make necessary an order from ernment for practically 5,000,000 rifles, we would roposition which would tax our tool plants to the GAGES FOR SHELLS ge as the above figures are, they represent only ill part of the problem of gages, etc. Besides there would be required aeroplanes, range finders, guns and carriages, shells and many other items, of which the necessary equipment of gages, jigs, vould have to be provided. Frank O. Wells, presi- Wells Brothers Company, Greenfield, Mass., and es E. Stuart gave some figures as to the work ary to prepare for the manufacture of shells on a asis. They estimated conservatively that at least gineers and draftsmen would be needed for fifty to prepare the drawings for the seventeen