The Iron Age 1916-10-19: Vol 98 Iss 16

: ; ’ - ee es ow 4 77 Cg, 2h Ape bes Z, “DO , yt mel A . € ” € > 4 LZ - New York, October 19, 1916 HED 1855 wo ? ESTABI VOL. 98 : No. | Production System in a 75-Man Shop New Plant of Waterbury Tool Company and Some Routing Methods Employed in the Making of Hydraulic S BY W. E. Go where one will on any modern vessel of any modern navy and one is not unlikely to find hy- draulic speed gears used for gun elevating, gun training, shell hoists, powder hoists, rammers, aero- plane hoists or similar purposes. This compara- tively new type of apparatus is popular because of its positiveness, quickness and delicacy of control. It was described in THE IRON AGE of May 29, 1913, and is made by, or under license from, the Water- bury Tool Company, Waterbury, Conn. The use of this hydraulic speed gearing; while now confined to naval purposes largely, will undoubtedly spread into many industries because of the positive mechanical means for obtaining any desired speed of rotation from zero to maximum of a secondary drive with extreme simplicity of operation. speed Gears FREELAND Company was started in a portion of the top floor of the factory of the New Britain Machine Com pany, New Britain, Conn. Later it became neces- sary to occupy the whole floor. The business con- tinuing to show a healthy growth, it proved desira- ble to look for larger quarters. A site was bought on East Aurora Street, Waterbury, Conn., and the factory which forms the subject of this article was built. The main building is 120 x 212 ft., with one section of the roof monitor type and another section saw-tooth type. A portion of this building is now occupied as an office pending the erection of an office building adjoining the existing building. At the time that the various illustrations were made all details of the complete installation had not been The speed gear business of the Waterbury Tool finished, as the pressure of business compelled the lt 1 ae se { TU LOU TTT 5 | L629 $8.63 | Le4 Tues Bure! , NT i TTT nt or Ty ay 1 NNT Sh etna Bq tilbins0 nae om fe ee ee The p} iad ‘. os nd a : & board is of the familiar hook-and-tag type, the tags in this case being the daily time cards which are the only tS Oduction or , : ; ? ; ; t aad order sent into the machine shop. The two upper rows of the spindle binders shown at the right are the assembly is er ti ¢ ‘ . : o ‘ me card and the assembly sheet of the bill of materials) and the three lower rows are drawings and data sheets ee ged and segregated by group symbols The numbers on the planning board are the various machine numbers * % 871 “h + ’ o Apel 872 THE IRON AGE October 19, igi¢ + A ; & © = i 2. | Je Assemplin Asseno.net & 53 <p | dente 5 ee S }*= | $COAL | rs a 1 - os g\s8 S — & > * Cast St: res & Bench 50 Hp Mofor: | : vw $ = = OSaw 5 Dri// Presses Boring Mills ¢. ~ Racks S r ¥ S — mee x Pe & Hl Rack Rack _ | 5% GRINDING Hes i INSPECTION AND Se S ESE[ ack \"Srocr econ | CX) £2) Engine Lathes” Nathines © SE JE CIEE ws Hed] x] Bench — Shaper - A O HWE] Vik nck Wet ; —f S Bel is] is} Bere. Key - S HGH i ie Grinder ol ~ BSe <| sal Seater | ¢@ BSB — T00L ROOM urre Fy : a 2 is oo oO oe Ey 3) lothes : S |e.) IS go is by ey By Bel be S ‘) 3 Nn . ‘ ; c 4 < nas" F001 M & a S FOREMAN H ¥ EREEREES) Co] OS a Gg ~ O17 lool Grinders 7 a - etsninias PATTERN AND 5 eee CARPENTER SHOP “ ROOM y GENERAL PL: AN OF THE PLANT ( company to put the plant into operation at the ear- liest possible moment, leaving some features of equipment and the office building to be taken up after the process of production in the new factory had been brought more nearly to normal conditions. The site selected for the factory adjoins the tracks of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, and a nearby trolley line affords good transportation facilities for employees. The workmen enter the plant through a clock room by a door just at the right of the office build- The upper left view shows the drilling machine section ; picture is of the the hydraulic heavy shaft the center grinding room, floor for speed gearing, shown in the arranged to be and the lower right gives an idea of the whole machining department. upper right view, driven by either F THE WATERBURY TOOL COMPANY ing. At the further end of this room doors open into the shop and into a large locker and wash room. Stepping from the locker room door, one is directly under the monitor of the roof, looking down a craneway which extends the entire length of the building. This craneway has a 10-ton crane which, like all those in the plant, is hand operated. This end of the craneway is utilized as a store room for castings and rough materials, and has a stairway leading to the cellar of the proposed office building. On the left of this craneway is another with a vy . ae 4, BE ia: - - , { = ae : P tre eee i lower left view covers the engine and turret lathe section The test ng < 4 The testing rig consist® of motor, as desired. has six testing stands. a 100-hp. motor or a 50-hp. Act 19, 1916 THE IRON AGE which serves the raw stores sectioh, the door and the testing floor. A receiving ¢ door opens into the raw stores section, racks for bar stock, a cutting-off saw and scale. The assembling floor has several | a parts rack, the work of assembling : , machine equipment. The testing floor 7 ting stands, the testing rig consisting of ft arranged to be driven by a 100-hp. otor as desired. The shaft has several _rranged that any desired driving com- r one or several testing stands may be farther end of this part of the shop is par- ‘for a blacksmith shop, a hardening room er room, and is served by a 1-ton crane. — i The } ardening shop has one large Tate-Jones fur- ising fuel oil with an air supply furnished a motor-driven centrifugal fan. There are also ‘urnace for tool treating and cyanide and lead Oil and water tanks for quenching are set in r, and all pipes are in ducts covered with fon plates. A boiler is installed for heating pur- (he radiators are installed below the win- the monitor section and below the lights in w-tooth section, the drains running below r into a receiving pit in the boiler room. An n, extending from the boiler room toward the the property, is divided into two sections, al, the other for scrap, oil, ete. end of the main craneway are large doors aded truck may be driven directly under lhe men’s toilet is in a small addition * trom the building at the side of these oO -) doors opposite the coal shed. There is no door opening directly into the shop from the toilet room. A portion of this craneway is occupied by four large boring mills and a large radial drill press so that these machines can be served by the large crane. Other large machine tools are served by I-beam trolley hoists. On the side of the main craneway adjoining the locker room is a large room given over to a tool room, to final inspection and to the storage of fin- ished parts. The inspection, as characteristic of all shops manufacturing government products, is especially close and severe. Not only must all parts pass close inspection, but all assembled gears must pass a rigid test conducted by government in spectors upon the testing equipment of the company J “ . a — eee ae A = = designed casting, of the type shown in the drawing, is used to attach the shafting hangers to the I-beam view also gives a glimpse of the rack arrangement in the tool roon The tool room is equipped with tool grinding ma chines and a tool lathe. All drawings are symbolized. First comes a letter designating the general classification, then a second letter designating the size, then a third for the type, then a number showing the order of this piece in the assembled group, then finally a letter designating this group. Each drawing, and its ac companying tool and operation sheet, is pasted upon a stiff piece of fiberboard and filed vertically by group symbols. All larger tools are similarly sym- bolized and kept on shelves on iron racks, being appropriately marked by groups and subdivisions of groups. Small tools are kept in racks with inclined shelves, the surfaces of the shelves being shellaced and their under surfaces painted white to reflect the light upon the tools on the shelf below. The wth Jee nee = small tools are listed in a visible index form, and are selected from the blueprint of the tool sheet. Tool issues are governed by the daily time cards issued by the planning department, and the rout- ing foreman has a move-man who delivers the tools, the part drawing and the tool set-up drawing to the operator, and collects them after a job is finished The tools are not returned to the tool clerk, but to the tool room foreman, who inspects and puts all tools in good condition before they are replaced upon the shelves. A large portion of the right side the shop is occupied by the equipment of machine tools, an especially large use being made of turret lathes. As the nature of. the product requires close machining with unusually small tolerances, the machine tools in use are of the most modern type, accuracy of output being the chief aim. Nevertheless, due to the employment of only highly skilled workmen at high wages, to good working conditions and environ- ment, and to the management’s policy of encour- of | THE IRON AGE Octobs } changed. This type of partition is ¢ in the illustration of the grinding room. ing room equipment is modern and co; consisting of the latest types of cylind: and vertical spindle surface grinding n a specially developed machine for grind ends of the connecting rods which forn gear assembly. The office building which will be erect two floors. The first floor will have lobby, a large private office and two sm: offices, two lavatories, a storage room, a large space for the accounting depart second floor will have a large private laboratories, a blueprint room, a vault, a and a large space for the engineering « The structural features of the plant a: ing with the best practice. The plant extinguishing sprinkler system fed from a 30.009. gal. tower tank and the sprinkler mains are paint; red to distinguish them. Heating mains are part! KRECD)- has re- Pad —— a aa 7’ mee J 3 Oe -- Nehed) O_| eek CRD de) | Bib —_ a ae , a mmr Eee ee YT oT ae i nelle a) es ry re | CoS oa eta = - EE ED 4 circulating inspector keeps close watch upon all machining operations, and the finished parts are given a final 1 this room The racks in the background are used for storing worked materials and the larger tools aging initiative and imagination, the production ered and painted white, while the service water from these machines is unusually high, being in’ mains are painted black. Electric mains aré many cases considerably in excess of ordinary shop closed in iron pipe, which is painted gray. standards. In fact, this shop furnishes a good ex- larger machine units are driven by indi ample of the possibilities of production, high in both motors, the smaller units being arranged i quality and quantity, existing in the shop of less drives. than 100 hands, when both manager and workman Several interesting and uncommon features ar have not lost the personal touch and both are im- bued with that spirit of ion which smooths out all troubles and brings to the solution of every production problem the experience and knowledge of the men who plan and the men who execute. A portion of this space is used for a blueprint room and another section for pattern storage racks. The rear of this part of the shop is partitioned off as a grinding room and a pattern and carpenter shop. The partitions of this room are of wood from the floor to a height of 4 ft., above this a 3-ft. wire grill, and then wood from the top of the grill to the ceiling. The partitions of the tool room and the locker room are the same, except that there is no wood above the grill. All these partitions are in sections so that the size of any room can easily be co-operat found in the system of controlling production ane routing work in this plant; the more interesting because this is not a huge plant of the type which examples of system are usually drawn, bu factory of about 75 employees. While there | ways the same need for a good routeing systé the smaller shop, it is not so common to find a W able system developed in the smaller plants. Shop production sheets are not employed, bu planning board of the hook-and-tag type is use The size of the shop makes it possible for the super intendent to give personal attention to the sorting of jobs for precedence. No time cards are issue? until the work is available. These time cards af of two colors and vary slightly for different pu poses. A manila time card is issued for each opel ferry Se Act 19, 1916 THE IRON AGE 875 ma go PRE MAERIAL OPRATION NAME AND NO- i ere ee PUR. ORDER HO. | aes ——————- | que® o ¢ | mon | Gav | = | i z | | errr the final one; a blue card is used for the eration. The first time card for each opera- wn in one of the illustrations, has attached ellow tickler sheet upon which the instruc- are written, the manila card being written at me time by manifolding. The tickler is re- ved when the card is issued and is put into a tickler file. It will be seen from the illustration that the card bears all the necessary details except the hining instruction and forms a production or- This is the only order issued, except the trav- er, which is described later in this article. If the operation is not completed upon the day of issue, ther time card of the same form, but without the tickler sheet and with the word “Continuation”’ printed upon the left end, is issued for the follow- ng day. Thus a continuation time card is issued until the operation is finished. If it becomes necessary to take an operator off sometime in the day, but he resumes work the job on he same day, a rd type of time ird, also illus- rated, is issued, is attached the original S51-1R- 0080 Porm to use FOR cHine MO 1. c- no. no. OF pects no. é pimisHe? . [ NO. | CONDEMNES PART NO: ' symBot ee ae r eepeaidnecarciensessaieensstlistenmenae ese THIS CARD TO BE USED ONLY |! is | || WHEN WORK ON CARD TO WHICH ©’ || rris ATTACHED HAS BEEN! Say | RESUMED BEFORE SUCH CARD IS 10B \ FINISHED : ) UNFINSHED nd Cor INSPECTOR ext MACHINE a e Work and Ent STOPPED BEGAN TOTAL TIME RATE amT NEAT MACHINE time card and turned in with These time cards are turned over each day to the cost clerk. For the final operation upon a piece the same form of time card—with tickler slip for the first day and “continuation” card for following days but blue in color—is used The machining instructions for each operation are put upon a tool set-up drawing, which is de livered to the operator with the tools for the job The planning department fills out a routing card for standard operations on each piece so that a clerk can fill out all time cards by referring to thé proper card in the operation card file. In the nomenclature of this shop, all raw mate rials are termed “stores”; all machined parts re turned to storekeeper are called “worked mate rials.” When the time card for a first operation is issued, a traveler in the form of a tag is sent to the storekeeper as an order for the necessary stock. When issued for other than bar stock—that is, when there is nothing to be returned to stores—the manila tag trav eler goes through the shop with the parts. If the requisition is for ( UNFINISHED bar stock, the ma nila tag and also . The \ = TURNED INTO THE OFFICE. a Sineene the sues tore pera- worked nateri be » Vaxe whit over, | ered ither ied r r wor lr nd Blaclh in- pica te on l red me ( ig i ler or p ’ ' ‘ = » , the a , mere ween OaTE RECO @Y - . STORE «EtrEe tor kes the yel nd bot! nd 1 A he Rie ao home ie hea T cl es We 876 THE IRON AGE October a blue tag of the same form are issued. The manila tag goes through with the parts and the blue tag is returned with the unused stock to the store- keeper, serving as a means of identification. In the stores department, small slips are filled out when stores or worked material are issued or returned. Issue slips are on blue paper; credit slips on white. All slips referring to stores, both issue and credit, are printed with black ink; all slips referring to worked materials with red ink. All these slips are sent to the cost clerk. Upon receipt of an order, the office fills out a shop order, which is turned over to the production department. This shop order gives general infor- mation concerning the product desired. The super- intendent sends this order to the chief draftsman, who makes out a “bill of material.” All corre- spondence affecting designs and manufacture from designs goes through the hands of the chief drafts- man. The bill of material form is filled out in quadruplicate. The first sheet (white) is a cost ledger sheet; the second (buff) is a production office reference sheet; the third (pink) is a store- room sheet; the fourth (blue) goes to the assembly foreman. In filling out these forms, the materials are arranged in groups which show the general method of attack in the assembling operations. The blue (assembly) sheet of the bill of materials serves as an order on the storekeeper for the issue of the necessary stores or worked materials, and when the assembly is completed is sent to the cost clerk. A blue time card with the time end off serves as } in assembly order. The planning department specifies all purchases vwiantity and material A nrehas "201111 i- as to quantity and material. A purchase requisi . } : Isana4 ‘ rh “Y nN tion is made out in duplicate, a white copy going to the purchasing department and a yellow copy A Canadian Steel Manufacturer’s Views Col. Thomas Cantley, president Nova Scotia Stes & Coal Company, New Glasgow, Nova §S that +he ic . ON} + , ‘ < mp \ A A D I w » . ‘ ontemp! g erg I ( Cantiey esti! ed ne s { ada ur ( rent é ur vr n “ I ce T r «sé and over the recor Wher he war ends ‘ ‘ home ms W Ss ¥ ve 1 rate, as did é s pl ng tl I meet whate' iema ~ eve t¢ ( . nave en ] yr oTté¢ TY y S + altogether to the hon ke od plants in a position to do export business He has, however, great exp tions « e Car un mar ACL For a yea YT e prey Ss ne wal here was very great economy in the p hasing of stes stec voods ? lroads r D c toe 7 . they have not be é re vi ssent into a departmental file. The purchas ment issues the purchase order in tripli: sheet serving as the original order, a going to the purchasing department’s pink sheet going to the storekeeper’s fil; When parts are condemned by an condemnation slip is made in duplicat: and blue paper. These yellow slips ar each day to the superintendent who, on ing morning, examines each condemned decides whether it shall be passed or scr scrapped the yellow condemnation sli; the cost clerk. If passed the reason tl noted on the yellow slip, and both yellow slips are placed in the inspection department's { This method obviates any dispute as t bility in case a faulty part is discover: completed product. The company has built for rental to its er nine one-family frame houses on the } 10-acre shop site most distant from th: machine shop. A 40-ft. street has bee the houses built on both sides of it. Ths five dissimilar types so that the group have the appearance of factory houses. y+ of five and six rooms, on lots 50 x 120 ft., a city water, bathrooms, warm-air heating electric light and arrangements for sewage by means of septic tanks. The compan built, for rental to foremen, on lots 60 within fifteen minutes’ walk of the shop, houses with modern improvements. The officials of the Waterbury Tool Company a Horace G. Hoadley, president and treasurer; R¢ nold Janney, vice-president and chief engineer Chas. P. Haight, secretary and assistant treasurer John J. Crain, sales engineer, and William S. W kinson, superintendent. to the upkeep of their roads and equipme! ormal crop in the West, a state of affairs vealed that will starile Canada. Ordinary ear on Canada’s roads has not been taken hence when financing is possible under re conditions than at present there will be a ( 1 in Canada for steel. He is furthe dent that Canadian producers will be able t ’ the trade abroad that was in past yea Germany. He pointed out that elsewhere t! ida there had taken place the same forced plant and equipment of railroads. This is pa true of South America, where there are very mileages that will have to be almost re- The Northern Pacific Railroad has rect pleted the construction of 250 box cars at shops and will proceed to build 500 more shops, a large number of which will be built The work is the result of the company’s meet car-shortage conditions by the constru equipment. ' . . St. Louis—Its Place in the Steel Industry - We J The American Iron and Steel Institute to Visit the World’s Largest Producing Dis- trict for Basic Open-Hearth Steel Castings s, the meeting place of the American Louis dates back t i814, when D. Stewart made Steel Institute on Oct. 27 and 28, is the nails and brads and bar iror elling the Dars distributing center and the clearing l4c. per pound, and to 1817, when Lewis Newell, ie great southwestern section of the blacksmith, forged edge tools for the furriers wl states. The fourth city in population, a made St. Louis the most important trading cente1 is tributary to it—a territory given in the countr n that ne t remains to-day ire and cattle-raising rather than to man- Later Newell als ast hu oxes for wagons, al section of the country consuming subsequently he and Samuel Gaty operated a foun manufactured articles but producing dry, which under various managements continued rerly. Great railroad systems gridironthe the making of castings until 1860. In 1837 Hudso1 hing away to the Gulf, the west coast E. Bridge and Samuel! S. Rayburn began the manu rth, and their dependence upon their facture of plows at St. Louis, subsequently brancl River terminal for equipment and sup ng out into stoves and hollow ware. Philip Kins st complete. With fifty-one railroads land, the connectio whose name with the King iri, of which 28 important lines land & Ferguson Mfg. Compa runs into recent St lis, and with 80,000 miles of railroad, years, organized the Phoenix Foundry & Machine the country’s total, in the States con Shop for the purpose of building stoves and making Missouri which create the traffic passing’ tin plate This was in 1844 In 1869 he orgar ‘itv, it is not surprising, with particu ed the Kingsland Iron Works at Carondelet, bu iron and steel, that St. Louis is out ng two blast furnaces whicl ter became the pro} nly two cities in the volume of its yearl rtv of the Vu n Steel Wor Present day namé railroad materials. Upon the needs of again appear in the organization in 1849 is has been founded the most conspicu stove manufacturing er! f Bu & Wr St. Louis to prominence in iron and The first bar of ir wrought from pig met ire—her basic open-hearth castings Missouri was made on Cedar Cres \ On how different a foundation has beer County, in May, 1825, and the first ms in 18 St. Louis’s latter-day activities in iron and These operations were short andoned be that planned by the pioneers of the lower yf the difficulty of transporting ray iterials, pa lley! ticularly fuel. A seco1 furnace, built by one ) ( n 1828 in Crawtord ‘ t ua ! Y PROMINENCE IN IRON ORE ' ‘ ‘ long perio rhe ear : days of Missouri as a producer of naces was great hand re ecause of the nstitute a chapter in Western industrial accessibility of suitable fue The history of the » distorted perspective of the writers of Carondelet furnace. con ple ted in 1864. is an nd their extravagant predictions are not tration. It was operated for three months o1 when it is recalled that even as late Louis County coal, but produced I ssU the greatest sources of our raw material profitable 1ron Following an llieness Z some of the now conspicuously large iron 1866. the furnace was again leased and r ; el centers were unknown or undeveloped. Il diana coke. In 1868 Illin« al was substituted st. Ls 118, published in that period, with a considerable degre j s The ear tes: “St. Louis could not occupy its pres- production of Illi: approximate ng position and maintain its lofty att 500.000 tons wit} rlue f $64700.000. a 1 trade center if it were seated equivalent to $1.12 ton at the mine. while M a great fresh water pond like iri produced in 1914 4.000.000 tor f coal v Later he says: “St. Louis is regarded 4 value of $6,200,000. or $1.73 a ton at the that iron region where they hav« SN a ae aa ; run 100 furnaces for 1000 years oe ee ee Mountain, Pilot Knob, Shepard Moun- ine pre ns Mountain and thousands of other Mountain was known long t the forges of the future, St. Lou itilized, but in 154 re me the grandest iron workshoy nir rest ~ i 118 New y | ‘ rest to note (6 vears ter that w ] lent ts | | n M I nR n Missouri very nearly as large | vas org { nal verage during the period of rosiest were built. In O r, 1546, the first s 290 tons in 1915—the iron and steel in- pig iron from the Iron Mou St. Louis is now almost wholly dependent naces was ae é indr yaty, Met re shipped in from Iowa and the Lake Glasby at St. Louis, and it was stated at trict, or upon pig iron produced in that ‘t I t Ur . . The ntrast between the ther sixteen to twel 3 pu , , ES 25,000 tons of Missouri ore mined in the the suppl) fr ore is t Concerni! | 1850 to 1870 and the 55.526.490 tons Iron Mountain, it was written in 1870, “The ore ie United States in 1915 makes the Mis so excellent that much of it, and also that fr ‘ian’s claims fairly grotesque. Pilot Knob, is now used by the manufacturer the Ohio River for mixing wit! res found there AST AND WROUGHT IRON PRODUCTS and is especially esteemed for making na Q ture of forged and cast iron at St. ultaneously with the development of Iron Mount 877 p aie 2} q a" the or of Pilot Knob were being exploited | Lewis V. Bogy, incorporated as the Madison Iron Mining Company. In 1870 this company had one furnace in operation and was building second which would provide an aggregate capacity of 20 an eight-fire tons per day. The company also had forge and was making about 25 tons of blooms per week direct from the ore. Some bar iron was also made. During the period from 1850 to 1870, the man ufacture of pig iron increased very slowly in Mis souril. It is estimated that a total of of iron was made, compared with about 40,000 tons prior to 1850. In the same time about 925,000 tons of ore had been mined, the excess of about 300,000 310,000 tons tons being shipped by boat to Ohio River furnaces, largely from Pilot Knob. A amount was used for fettling or “fix” in puddling furnaces. Ore was also sent to Indiana and Tennessee and at least one shipment to Scotland is recorded. considerable MISSOURI BLAST FURNACES OF THE SEVENTIES In 1874 the following blast furnaces were being operated in Missouri, using charcoal as fuel: Pilot Knob, a ial capac Iron Mountain, annual capacit Irondale, annual capacity Maramec, annual capacit & O00 tor Scotia innual cay cit TT tons Moselle, annual cay t ‘ 0 tons The furnaces using bituminous coal and coke were: Vulcan, annu 5 i a ee ee eee ee ee tor Missouri, annual cap t O00 te South St. Louis, annual capacit 000 tons Carondelet, annual capacity . 1) tons tolling mills in operation at the same date in- cluded the Vulcan Steel Works with an annual ca- pacity of 40,000 tons and Laclede with a capacity of 10,000 tons. LATER FURNACE AND ROLLING MILL COMPANIES In 1881 the present day names began to appear. There were in operation at that time ten bituminous ai ar eee Pies sd be ST. LOUIS coal and coke furnaces with an annual 224,000 tons and four charcoal furnaces pacity of 57,500 tons. The Missouri Furnace ( pany, operating the Missouri, South St. L Meier furnaces, was the forerunner of the Si Blast Furnace Company, whose propert organized last year, taken over and placed eration by the Mississippi Valley Iron | The St. Louis Ore & Steel Works was operat Carondelet furnace and the Midland, Scotia. Knob and Sligo charcoal furnaces were making Res semer iron. There were six rolling mills and st works in the early eighties, including the Vu mill, which in 1876 was changed over from ir steel and which during 1882 consumed 100,000 tons of pig iron and produced 90,000 tons of steel rails; the Granite Iron Rolling Mills, built in 1879 and now a part of the National Enameling & Stamping Company’s works; the Laclede Rolling Mills; the Helmbacher Forge & Rolling Mills, now a part of the American Car & Foundry Company’s Granite City works; the St. Louis Steam Forge & Iror Works, abandoned in 1908, and the St. Louis Bolt & Iron Works, still existent. In 1880 St. Louis had as much capital invested in the manufacture of iro. and steel products as Philadelphia, 33 per cent mor than Chicago and twice as much at Cleveland Since the early eighteen-eighties, when the iror and steel industries of St. Louis were largely d pendent upon and encouraged by production of loca raw materials, the mining of Missouri ores and the production of pig iron have gradually declined as more favored producing centers have on desirable ahead and the wealth and more characteristics of other raw material deposits have shown the comparative limitations of the ore and coal resources of Missouri. Roll ing mill capacity, based on the reworking of scrap, has remained about the same, being absorbed into the larger organizations which aré to-day contributing largely to the production of 5! Louis. One prominent exception is the Tudor works of the Republic Iron & Steel Company, which was NOTABLE TERMINAL RA m" 11. ee el We a n 1914 after 35 years operation as EMINENCE IN BASIC STEEL CASTINGS open-hearth steel as has already been pointed first place, had its founda conditions and has not been directly a nt of the earlier iron and steel industr) The following table is an impressive the tonnage of basic steel castings an- ifacture of basic which, Louis claims st; e duced in the district, which includes St proper, Granite City, East St. Louis and St. The figures represent finished castings steel melted : rons per Mont Foundries, Granite City 6,500 Steel Foundrie Kast St. Louis 1,500 Steel Company, Granite City 5,000 i , St. Charles 1,500 ( ting Company, St. Loui 100 Foundry, St. Louis 37 . “writ i y ~ i 915 the country’s production of basic cast was 333,103 tons, less than 100,000 tons greater that of the St. Louis district. In September year at its Granite City plant, the Ameri- eel Foundries made 6800 tons of castings, est individual plant output ever attained in nth by a basic open-hearth foundry. In addi- » the steel made at St. Louis for castings, the clede Steel Company, at its Alton works, pro- 75,000 tons of ingots annually. It is note- that this great steel castings industry has entire growth almost within two decades. The Granite City plant of the American Steel Foun- ‘les was built in 1894; the Scullin Steel Company’s the Scullin-Gallagher Iron & began in 1899, and the Common- wealth Steel Company’s in 1902. The rolling mill industry of to-day at St. Louis is a di- C+ perations as ompany 4 \tog ( ST. LOUIS rect descendant of the earliest efforts, particu larly as represented tne American Car & Foundry Compan Helmbacher and the Na tional Enameling & Stamping Company’s Granite ty plant. In addition to these organizations, active rolling mill operators in the St. Louis d trict include the Laclede Steel Company, the St Louis Screw Company and the Hirsch Rolling M Compan he rOLOW!]I) ta ed é ¢ nowilng tne p nt Capacitit a pi mMiucts ¢ eaci S \i i ie ‘ VW ( Hel ( | BR r | ede S ip ‘ } t i | \ W s 19 Q Screw ( I Merc! H Rolling M ( | t PIG-IRON CONSUMPTION For the major part of St. Louis’s iron and steel industry, pig iron is the purchased raw material Following the discontinuance of operations by the St. Louis Blast Furnace Company in 1912, all of the pig iron consumed at St. Louis has been shipped in except for the small production of the Sligo Fur nace Company, the output of which is taken by th American Car & Foundry Company, until a few months ago when the Mississippi Valley Iron Com pany, having remodeled the St. Louis Blast Furnace Company’s plant, blew in on basic iron, with a dail; capacity of about 250 tons. The following is the ap | proximate yearly pig-iron consumption at St. Louis: + : a f ? eae - — ~ NS SERENE Tiptree me tener oon he ee < oe * 880 Scullin Steel Company American Steel Foundries.. Commonwealth Steel Company. ; National Enameling & Stamping Company Laclede Steel Company 60,000 tons basi« 60,000 tons basic 10,000 tons basi 50,000 tons basic 20,000 tons basic Total 230,000 tons basic In addition there are bought each year about 75,000 tons of foundry iron, 40,000 tons of carwheel iron, 15,000 tons of malleable Bessemer (of which the largest user is the Missouri Malleable Iron Works, having an annual capacity of 25,000 tons of castings), and 10,000 tons of low phosphorus iron for the converter steel foundries, making an aggre- gate of 375,000 tons of pig iron per year. With so good a market at hand, the rehabilita- THE IRON AGE October ), 1916 ing the completion of these improvements, the ¢ nace at St. Louis is working on Mesaba an Gogebj ores which with an all-rail freight of $2.97 ¢,, ry ) Minnesota and $2.51 from Wisconsin contribute ¢ an ore cost at the furnace of approximat per ton, an outside figure. By the completion of by-product ovens of the Laclede Gas Light ¢, pany, an ample supply of furnace coke of grade is obtainable at prices ranging from $3.79 per ton to $4.70 per ton. Adding to the minimum and maximum costs of ore and coke the remaining fairly stationary operating charges, gives an ap- proximate minimum cost of $10.50 and a maximuy of $17.50, from which it is apparent that dd! cs. - iinan ‘lal tion of the blast furnace at St. Louis is not sur- suecess largely hangs upon the dependability of the prising and the Waukon ore sup- basis upon which - aniiliiaaiiaiia nainiceindomaanmieliglal ply. Confidence in this resumption / | | the adequacy of was considered , & ® | this deposit is profitable has | \ ——— | evidenced by the been completely \ \ 2 &€ gathering, even outlined in a re- % @ NW\ Deane now, of estimates > 1S | “PF ' = ‘ port made under Nh © preliminary to the authority of nercvants * \ . | the building of the Business cITyY \ \ another furnace. Men’s League of \ \ For the growth x : F . St. Louis and 7 » | of the lesser units published March Forest S17 LOUIS \ in the metal! 16, 1915. Be 1} | working fabric of During the ten rae Lf 3? St. Louis — the year period from O TATION ry orc 2 foundries, _ma- 1905 to 1915 the a? chine shops and price of Southern = " S | other manufac- iron delivered at | oe a @ | turing establish- St. Louis ranged ; | ments—the mag- from a minimum ( | nitude of the of $12.90 to a Le | city’s general maximum, apart A ag business gives from the excep- f 7 ff good promise. In . . . : J Zok . tional prices of : Af PAs 1914 the total of 1906-7, of $18.40. Es | materials re- Northern basic, ceived and for- foundry and mal- IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRIES IN ST. LOUIS DISTRICT warded at St. leable iron prices Louis was 52,- have ranged from \met Steel Fx Busch-Sulzer Brothers Diesel En 937,116 tons and > National Enamel Star g gine Company > $14 up to $20, raiaidie Lh, elas Cakeee Mabe Geis the value of man again excepting Commonwealth Steel Compa: St. Louis Car Company ufactured _ prod- 1906-7. For the : Ame! in Car & Fou ! or 16. St. Louis Malleable Casting Com ucts $359,797,000. operations of a p pany In 1915 hardware — > Helmbacher Forge & Re M 1S. St. Louis Screw Company oe : y > mace : x6 ‘ $50,- single furnace aaa 19. ennai: Wren Gian Cee sales totaled $ ", whose entire out- 6. Granite City St Works 10. Wagner Electric Mfg. Company 900,000; — stoves, put could easily 7. Laclede Steel Compa 21. Evans & Howard Firebrick Com- ranges and fur- be absorbed in 8. American Ste pany naces, $6,750,000; the local demand ee ee ee a ioe re * ee ee eee . — - Railway Stee spr Compa pany ¥ : 2 for No rther n 11. Missour Malleabl I Work Curtis & Co. Mfg. Company $12,100,000; ve- basic, the _ St. Amer Car & Four Con hicles, imple- Louis market ments and auto thus affords an attractive profit on the basis of pig-iron production costs in other districts. WAUKON IRON ORE THE BASIS For ore the new company looks to its Waukon, Iowa, deposits, from which ore, beneficiated by a process described in THE IRON AGE of Nov. 12, 1914, and averaging 55 per cent iron, can be delivered on cars at the mine for 75c. per ton. A rail freight of $1.50 from mine to furnace brings the ore cost to $2.25 per ton. It is expected that barge shipment will be made in time and the freight materially reduced. Estimates have placed the quantity of usable ore in the Waukon deposit as high as 10,- 000,000 tons. The concentrating plant is now in process of enlargement that will give it capacity equal to the yearly demands of the furnace. Pend- mobiles, $20,009,- 000; railroad and street cars manufactured, $18, 000,000; tin, enameled and galvanized ware, $15, 000,000; steel castings and all foundry and machine shop products, $16,000,000; electrical industries, $18,000,000. With 3200 factories St. Louis is iD deed a city of varied industry. The Refractories Manufacturers’ Association of United States, at its convention in Washington, Sep' 15, adopted trade acceptances instead of open book ac: counts. It is stated that this organization includes about 85 per cent of the firebrick makers of the count’! The Port Moody Steel Works, Ltd., Port Mood} B. C., is now making merchant bars, and proposes to 1 stall larger mills after the two open-hearth furnac now under construction are in operation. Modern Methods of Cleaning Castings’ The Development in Apparatus — How Careful Arrangement of Plant Has Made the Cleaning Room Highly Efficient BY H. COLE ESTEP the most universally used cleaning-room ap- nliance. In many foundries, particularly ron shops handling miscellaneous work, tum- nills and sand-blast machines are operated side. In fact, this may be considered the .rrangement for a jobbing foundry. A typical ation of this character, in a prominent Mil- tukee gray iron foundry, is illustrated in Fig. 1. rhe installation includes two motor-driven tumblers » automatic sand-blast barrels. The smaller ng mill is 36 x 48 in. and the larger one 42 x The sand-blast barrels are of a standard pe, each one being capable of cleaning approxi- mately 500 Ib. of castings in from 15 to 20 min. SIDE from the sand-blast, the tumbling mill A apparatus takes care of the work for a foundry with a molding floor area of <4, sq. ft. The shop has an average output of astings per day; some of them, however, ich a size that ordinary cleaning-room are not applicable. leaning room shown in Fig. 1 connects with the molding floor and is served by a raveling crane with a span of 38 ft. For ence in chipping work, the room is provided merous compressed air outlets. Incidentally e stated that few data are available cover- iantity of work which cleaning-room appa- ild be expected to turn out. One authority t two men should be able to keep six 56-in. going steadily. ‘ing mills were designed originally for small castings. Gradually, however, the ror i paper presented at the Cleveland meeting Foundrvmen’s Association, Sept. 13 8 two tumbling barrels and two sand-blast bar size of the mills has been increased, until to-day equipment is available for handling castings weigh- ing several hundred pounds. A battery of large tumblers for handling heavy gray iron castings is shown in Fig. 2. This equipment is installed in the shop of a manufacturer of kerosene-driven farm tractors. The mill in Fig. 2, on which the man is standing, is 60 in. diameter and 72 in. long. The square tumbler immediately at the left is only slightly smaller. If heavy work is to be handled satisfactorily in large tumbling mills it is necessary to provide suitable cranes and hoists for handling the castings. The foundry in which the mills shown in Fig. 2 are installed has a molding floor area of approxi- 7 —_. Te eo ae | ; | ls in this cleaning room handle 35 tors of castings per day mately 36,000 sq. ft. This shop was designed for an output of 100 tons per day. The castings var) from large crank cases weighing 1800 lb. each to small engine parts averaging over a thousand to the ton. The cleaning room is equipped with eight tumbling mills similar to those illustrated in Fig. 2. They are gear-driven by a 10-hp. motor. This department also is equipped with four grinders driven from a line shaft by a 30-hp. motor. A 40-hp. motor operates the fan in the dust collector system Each tumbling mill is connected to the dust-exhaust fan by direct piping. The dust is discharged into bins situated outside the shop. These bins are provided with hopper bottoms equipped with suita- ble valves and chutes so the dust may be drawn off into cars and conveniently carried away. For handling medium size gray iron castings in large quantities open-ended continuous tumbling mills have been installed in a number of foundries. A large mill of this type, 36 ft. long and 28 in « we meneame eee WN a CONGR agers Eg, Se 0 en eset 882 THE IRON AGE diameter, is in operation in an Indiana implement foundry. The outlet of the barrel is provided with a door which can be adjusted at any angle to regu- late the discharge of the castings. The castings are charged at one end of the barrel and discharged from the other, the desired incline being secured by two jacks which elevate the entire machine. The exhaust hood is placed near the front end where the castings receive the first cleaning as it has been found that the largest amount of dust accumulates at this end. The barrel is of steel plate construc- tion 1 in. thick and six staggered ribs are riveted to the inside throughout its entire length to pre- large castings The mill shown here is 60 in vent the castings from sliding. The mill is belt driven and in addition to the spur gears on barrels, two welded tires are provided which rest roller bearings. + y POWER REQUIRED FOR TUMBLING MILLS In connection with the power required for oper ating tumbling mills, some data prepared by Lock- wood, Green & Co., Boston, are interesting. The investigation was conducted to determine the feasi- bility of replacing three separate power plants with one central plant in a large manufacturing works. The tumbling barrels were arranged two on a shaft, The handle » foundry covers of the mills are Net 19, 1916 the barrels being 36 and 40 in. diameter. only one barrel was loaded, although about nt of the time both were operated. It was hat the average power demand was 4.3 hp., hile the maximum with both barrels loaded was - The shafting with the barrels running light | 2.75 hp.; with the smallest barrel filled and - one empty, the total was 4.15 hp., while e larger barrel filled and the smaller one 145 hp. was required. It was decided that -quirrel-cage induction motor would be ample \ ng these two barrels. rhere is a decided tendency at present toward of individual motor drives for cleaning- apparatus. This is in sharp contrast to previ- is practice, for as late as 1907 line shafts and belts were used in an overwhelming majority of instal- The superintendent of a shop turning out ex- ceptionally heavy castings, such as large engine eds, heavy flywheels, etc., is forced to adopt clean- - methods that are radically different from those mployed in foundries making light castings ex- lusively. It usually will be found that the sand- last room offers the best solution of the problem this case. In some instances, however, the cast- es are too large even to be sand-blasted. In this se, it is advisable to use the best possible mold ; and to clean the castings, where necessary, the old-fashioned scratch brush. \n unusually interesting method of cleaning | removing the cores from large castings by hy- raulic power has been developed by James A. Murphy, Hamilton, Ohio. The castings are re- oved to the yard, where they are treated with a stream of water from a fire hose. Suitable ites and flumes are provided for carrying off the lus water. This method has been found to be efficacious. The disintegrating power of a stream of water is well understood, and the s come out of their bath thoroughly cleaned eed from sand. -ERATING WITHOUT CENTRAL CLEANING ROOM In recent years, a new type of foundry has been ped in which the central cleaning room is en- eliminated. These shops are operated on the neiple, each molding and cleaning unit be- plete in itself. Such arrangements are par- satisfactory for handling large quantities paratively light gray-iron castings such as iltural implement and automobile parts. A f this kind located in Illinois is designed for oduction of 100 tons per day. The foundry ling proper is two stories in height, 60 ft. wide 40 ft. long. The cleaning apparatus is located the lower floor. The castings are transferred e molding floor to the cleaning units through These chutes are cast iron inclined down- tan angle of 25 deg. to the foundry floor and at an angle of 30 deg. The castings are sited on a landing table with a grating bottom lows all loose sand to be collected and returned sand heap instead of going into the tumbling | wasted. Below and in front of the landing located a motor-driven steel plate tumbling n. diameter and 60 in. long, located on a This mill is direct-connected to a 5-hp. “ion motor. The platform is fitted with self- ng buckets and steel barrels that discharge receiving basin at the front end. Directly nt of the platform is a single-end, roller- ‘ng, motor-driven grinder of special design. ‘he chutes or inclines are designed and used as at cooling reservoirs and have sufficient capac- THE IRON AGE KX ity to accommodate a five-hour maximum production of the molding floors. They also are placed at such an angle as to allow the castings to slide easily, but to avoid breakage due to impact. This unit handles the output of four machine molding floors. The castings are milled in steel plate tumblers 40 in. diameter and 60 in. long, driven by 742-hp. induc- tion motors. Each unit of four heavy-work molding floors is equipped with two mills of this type. The exhaust from the tumbling mills is handled by the small unit system. Each unit is designed to take care of the exhaust from five casting-cleaning sections, or 20 molding floors. It consists of a sec tion of piping connected to the tumbling barrels and to a No. 3 Sirocco blower which discharges into a dust reservoir located 80 ft. from the foundry building. The blower is direct connected to a 5-hp. induction motor and handles all the dust- laden air directly through the wheel. The dust receiver is a large sheet-metal box, with an over- hanging hood and two discharge spouts leading from the bottom. Connection also is made by the same system to the grinding wheels located at the tumbling barrel installations. The cleaning depart Fig. 4 Th or filling and emptying By using three barrels, the cl n be made a continuou proce s tumbling barrel can be lifted from the rolle ment is kept remarkably clean, the air being changed every seven minutes. Stove foundries have solved their cleaning-room problems largely through the use of tumbling mills supplemented by sand-blast appliances. A portion of the cleaning apparatus in a large eastern stove plant is shown in Fig. 3. The cleaning equipment in this plant includes one 48 x 48 x 64-in. and two 412 x 42 x 64-in. square tumblers, together with two 36 x 59-in., four 24 x 35-in., two 20 x 42-in. and four 34 x 54-in. round barrels. These machines all are provided with guards to protect the workmen from exposure to the gears. For handling the covers, differential chain hoists are used. The cleaning room also is provided with three belt driven emery wheel stands. For operating the tumbling barrels, one 15-hp., one 7'4-hp. and two 10-hp. motors are provided. The good castings, as shown by the gangway count, are delivered to the cleaning room in buckets suspended from the I-beam trolley shown in the rear of Fig. 3. This shop melts about 30 tons of iron per day. An interesting special tumbling barrel for clean- ing moderate sized steel castings is shown in Fig. 4 This barrel is mounted on friction drive rollers operated by a 25-hp. motor. After the castings have been cleaned, the barrel is lifted from the rollers and carried to a convenient point for dump- ing. In the meantime, another barrel has been (Continued on page 913) “eo z * ; 2 ‘| e i i cx ea i The Bates Steel Mule Driven from the Rear by the Plowman The Development of the Farm Tractor A Profitable Field for the Manufac- turer of Machinery—Its Future Sta- bility—Question of Engine and Fuel BY STERLING HE steady progress of mechanical invention = reaches from time to time new fields of great promise. In each of these the efforts of many men are expended. Out of the combined results one or more settled types of machines are produced, which become sources of great profit to those manu- facturers whose foresight has prompted them to take the risks of an early start in the untried field. The practical development of the automobile commenced only about fifteen years ago, with the production of crude machines of various types. All of the early designs disappeared and the second thoughts of their inventors merged in the stand- ardized motor car of five years ago, to be gradually improved and refined in the years The motor truck followed the pleasure car, but its de- signers had the advantage of escaping the early vears of pioneering in an unknown region, and were since. *°4 State Street N ¢ Yor H. BUNNELL* able to produce an effective machine by direct methods. In this way the “horseless age,” the favorite catchword of a few years ago, has been nearly reached in road traffic; but an enormous number of horses are still in use on the f