The Iron Age 1917-09-20: Vol 100 Iss 12

ew Foundries in New England Some of the Plants That Have Been Erected in the Past Year—Pen and Picture Sketch of How They Have Been Planned and Equipped BY W. E. FREELANI VEN the most optimistic prophet in 1914 could pany manufactures weaving machine1 especially not have foreseen the wave of foundry expan automatic looms, and the foundry output is largely sion that was to take place within three short of the light, thin castings that enter into loom « years. From the doldrums, the manufacture of struction. This makes a special problem of the castings has leaped to an activity unparalleled in rapid distribution of metal from the cupola to the the history of the foundry business. This has re- various floors and one of the most interesting fea sulted in new construction everywhere, and New tures of the foundr s the absencs ranes and England has not been behind in its proportion of the extensive use of a monora stem and trolley new or greatly enlarged foundries or in the number’ buggy ladles for filling hand es at number of new companies that have entered the field. It is designated pouring stations at var not possible to make this review comprehensive; its the monorail. intent is to show some examples of the results that The foundry building is a double monitor have sprung from the demand for foundry products which gives an admirable distribution of light One of the new plants that the visitors to Boston every part of the building The two cup ure for the foundry meetings and exhibition next week situated at one end of the foundr t the end will have an opportunity to see is that of the Stafford the central gangwa) The larger is a 74 in. and Co., Readville, Mass., a suburb of Boston. The com- the smaller is a 42 in., both of Paxson make. The peg Stafford Co. foundry—a view that shows the location of cupolas and the routing system that makes possible the pouring of r r 645 > & (a : Ee 1. Thera Ft Pisin ef “ THEE AY ATi THE IRON AGE September 20. - The double monitor roof of the Stafford foundry practice is to take a heat from the smaller cupola at the end of the forenoon and a heat from the larger cupola at about three o’clock in the afternoon. The day’s melt is about 39 tons. Two motor-driven Green pressure blowers are placed on a mezzanine floor above the cupolas and the charging floor above is served by an elevator. A winch, located outside the building, is used to pull out the bottoms. Most of the molding is done on machines, about 90 of the stripping plate type doing the bulk of the work. Two power squeez- ers, two hand roll-over and a roll-overs, one power few hand also a part of the machine equipment. Two special machines for molding worm gears and dobby frames will attract the at- tention of visitors. In both of these machines, the pattern is pushed up into the sand by the ac- tion of gearing under the bed plate. By this meth- od of rotating the worm- gear pattern into and out =!" the two files are the ca Stafford foundry on squeezers are rds for over which tributed light The monorail that serves the found: passage to the machine shop on account of the character of the work. Two large sandstone grinding wheels are used for snagging some of the longer pieces and also the rolls which form a part of the looms. Two floor stands and 17 bench stands are used for general snagging and certain castings are cleaned upon polishing frames Seven tumbling barrels and two large pickle benches complete the equipment. There are enough large castings to keep a group of chippers constantly employed. A_ consider- able quantity of intricate pasted cores are made and a large number of small round cores are con stantly kept in stock. The demand for malle- able castings has kept the air furnace plants of New England working at top capacity for months. The Arcade Malleable Iron Co., Worcester, Mass., is one of the foundries which has been forced to make extensive additions and improvements in or- der to accept the business booked in the last year. 19,000 patterns of are Kept the records of each of the sand a perfect order The present management mold is obtained and the . took hold of the business output multiplied many times over any other’ in 1907 and has fostered its growth from a small method. A motor-driven reciprocating riddle is used to prepare the sand and a home-made at- tachment serves to operate the riddle in case of failure of the motor or power. The cleaning room is unusual in its equipment output in that year to a capacity output of the plant whose importance in its special field is better shown by the illustrations than by any possible grouping of statistics. The first melt in a new addition—a complete and A portion of the cleaning room of the Stafford Co. where bench stands are employed to snag the light, thin castings used in looms C ber 20, 1917 THE IRON AGE 647 Se 8 8 7 indry of the Arcade Malleable Iron Co. was being put into operation as tl photograph was ! ! tw ised eventually for the heavier malleable castings melting and molding department for heav- interest foundrymen, particularly in these times ngs—was made in the early part of this The air furnace in the older foundry is of 15 The new structure is 75 x 150 ft. The tons capacity; that of the newer foundry, 18 tons foundry is 60 x 400 ft., the annealing capacity. The work is about one-third floor mold x 200 ft., the cleaning and shipping build- ing and two-thirds bench molding. A few power 120 ft. with a second-story section 25 x squeezers are installed [The core room employs devoted to a pattern shop and other pur- about 25 men and the cores are baked in two large A smaller building, until recently occupied coal-fired ovens. The equipment of the annealing ffice, has been remodelled into a pattern department comprises four large furnaces, of which with a fireproof ne of the reproduced the basement. a ms _ photographs gives a good per part of a two- | “iis : llustration. lilding, 52 x 52 been made into a rulit it ne annealing undry office. room end of the air fur gh spur track af- nace for the gradua nusual facility for cooling of castings whose ing raw materials shape does not permit plies into storage nto a concrete building, the ortion of which is into bins for sand, fire brick, 1 fire sand. The rapid cooling in the air A complete pyrometer equipment nstalled for the control of the heat of the annealing furnaces, the watchmen having in dicator instruments and part has bins for two continuous-reading nds of core sand instruments in the man or seacoal. In a if n meta SS ae aan a office Piya yes ager’s office. An air hoist separate building is sultation rooms open from this general office on a monorail is used for ised a machine for dumping the annealing lverizing old firebrick into any size of grain pots. A sand blast barrel and ten tumbling barrels oy ired. The ground firebrick makes a good bot- do the major part of the work of cleaning the cast . for air furnaces, and, combined with new clay, ings. nakes fine ladle linings and repair material. This The company has recently secured a good supply machine paid for itself in the first three months of of water by boring an artesian well, equipped with se and is an unusual item of equipment that will a motor-driven pump. Another new feature is a Pod the bank of four annealing furnaces at the Arcade Malleable Iron Co This grinding machine is used to Photographed as it was ready for sealing grind old fire brick to any desired size 648 modern factory hospital with adequate equipment to take care of all minor injuries. Another interesting Massachusetts foundry is the plant of the Framingham Foundries at South Framingham, Mass. The chief interest in this plant lies in the adaptation of a machine plant to foundry use, involving some difficulties, due to the construc- tion of the buildings, that have been successfully overcome. The No. 1 foundry will have an 84-in. cupola, which at the present time is in the process of erection. The No. 2 foundry has a 76-in. and a 04-in. Paxson cupola. The No. 1 foundry consists of two buildings of the older peak-roof type, one of which will be used for heavy floor work and the other for side-floor work. A 7'5-ton motor- driven crane of 64 ft. span will serve the larger building and two cranes with 30-ft. span and 3-ton chain blocks will serve the side floor buildings. In the No. 2 foundry, which is of typical saw-tooth roof machine shop construc- tion, the service for conveying the metals to various floors is a monorail system with trolley ladles. Some of the machine equipment includes 14 roll-overs, two small plain jolt machines, 15 jolt squeez- ers, one plain squeezer, two jolt squeezers, split-pattern machines, and 14 “Little Wonder” machines. Extensive rammers. The core notable for its fine light and good arrangement. One large oven is constructed with two sets of tracks and trucks so that for both ladle drying and for baking large cores. Six sets of Foundry Equipment Co.’s ovens are used for baking the smaller cores. The coremakers do not have to their supplies are brought to them and cores are taken away by other workmen. A group of men is kept solely upon the work of pasting and inspecting. The department also looks after the delivery of the molders. In the cleaning department is a tilting pickle bench, shown among the illustrations. It is an in- teresting variant from the general type of such construction. Another interesting apparatus in this department is fixture This use is made of air room is it serves leave benches as cores core cores to the grinding shown. THE IRON AGE September 20, 1917 lessens the difficulties that certain awkward piece present to the snagger. The bank of New Hayor sand-blast barrels and a bank of tumbling barre}: are employed to clean the smaller castings. Ty, swing-frame grinders, four floor stands and three sand-blast rooms are in use to take care th cleaning of larger pieces. The welding department and a rather larve ga) vanizing department play a part in the finis} some of the work turned out at this foundry. ing a large air-compressor plant, an extensive is made of air chisels. This foundry will be found notable among the New England jobbing foundries because of the excellence and completeness of jts engineering and chemical control of operations processes and materials. Four views are here given This pickle bench at the Fr ingham Foundries is tilted to the p-eckling acid to flow off direction and the water to file in the opposite director The light and pleasant cor: it the Framingham Fou show? t the left About a corporation, the Mansfiel Foundry took over the old Rider Foundry in Mans field, Mass., and has made ex- tensive additions. The old foundry was 60 x 90 ft. anc a new foundry has been put The old foundry has been divided The new foundr craneway of 29-It year a new ago (0.. up 80 x 120 ft. nto offices and pattern storage. is of the monitor type over a span, which, while awaiting delivery of an electri ? crane, is equipped with a hand-operated crane : a 3-ton chain block. Two large jib cranes, located to be of efficient help in handling the heavy flasks and castings on the main floor, and a monorail ! conveying the hot metal to different parts of th foundry are other items of handiing equipment The cupola in the old foundry is a 5-ton that in the new foundry is a Whiting 8-ton cup The blower and its motor are housed in a separatt room at the side of the cupola and the charging 1 is reached by a ramp on the outside of the bu Construction now projected will replace the ra! an elevator. A new oven has been built in the core ! equipped with a truck to take care of the larger / cores, and a smaller oven is built into the sic september 20, 1917 THE IRON AGE 649 smaller cores. A Millett oven is also in baking small cores and a wing of the new _ extending over the new core oven, is of t width to provide bins for the storage of d. The leakage of heat from the oven helps the sand in good condition. isual equipment of grinding machines, tum irrels and a pickle bed are found in the room. Some foundrymen may wonder at tinued use of pickling on a large scale in the New England foundries, but those who . ’ ed to do away with pickling find that the i ! of the New England customers compels the g ied use of this method of cleaning castings. terns are stored in a bay adjoining the old and the room next to this is used for lay- isting of small pieces in ngham Foundries is done nk of New Haven bar- in absence of dust. due llent suction system ial grinding apparatus difficulties inherent in ng if pieces of iwk- it patterns for work next e done. The shipping facilities are ery good and supplies of all can be unloaded directly the cars into a series of storage buildings. An- ner detached building is ised as a shipping department for the entire plant. A new foundry that has come into the field in Hartford, Conn., in the past year, is that of the brick-Booth Co. This plant is new throughout nas been very successful in the production of finer grades of machine castings and similar e melting cupola is a 54-in. Whiting with the harging floor in the usual position, served by an rr. An industrial track with convenient turn- es serves all parts of the plant. Over the main ling floor is a 5-ton Whiting crane equipped with a 5-ton Ingersoll-Rand air hoist. \n air compressor plant permits the use of air ers on the molding floor and air chisels in the ng room. A gyratory riddle is used for pre- aring sand and some of the molds are made on iree-power roll-over machines. \ large truck oven in the core room is fired from 4n outdoor pit. A small oven built into the side of this and a Blodgett oven are used for the smaller work. An interesting feature of this core room shown on page 651 is a home-made crane. The truck wheels of this crane have a *4-in. oval bearing sur- face which eliminates much of the friction between truck and track when moving the crane. The lift- ing apparatus is a l-ton air hoist. A monorail ex- tends through the cleaning room and far enough outside the building to permit easy loading of cast ings upon motor trucks. The cleaning room has a complete and adequate equipment of sand blast, pickle bed, floor stands and auxiliary tools and apparatus. A few months ago the Connecticut Electric Stee Co., Hartford, Conn., began business with a 2-ton Heroult furnace in a plant having 1 ) 2,000 sq. It. of , } or space This building is somewhat unusual for the New England clin ite as lit built if a steel skeleton covered with corrugated steel sheets That the business has been a success is demonstrated by the fact that further additions which will give 20,000 sq. ft. additional floor space are un- der way. A 7 ton 30-ft span Browning crane serves the old foundry, and a 10-ton crane will be installed in the new building. A compressor equipment of considerable size permits the use of a 3'2-ton air hoist and a liberal number of air rammers and air chisels. Chain hoists are in common use. The core room has a truck oven and a Millett oven for small work, and a large oven is to be built for baking dry-sand molds. The cleaning-room equipment has been carefully selected to take care of the special requirements of a foundry of this type and includes swing-frame grinders, floor stands, tumbling barrels and a Pang born sand-blast room. Two home-made oil-fired annealing furnaces that have been in use for some months have been so successful that four more of the same type are to be a part of the expansion which is under way Fuel-oil torches are used for skin drying and ladle drying. Among the improvements included in the present new construction are a sheet-steel building, 40 x 100 ft., for pattern storage, and the remodeling of a cottage on the property into an office building. meee f aw ¢ oF 2g’ 650 About 1820, Annes Allen Lincoln established in Norton, Mass., the Norton Furnace Co. This is believed by many to have been the first foundry established in New England. In 1853, his son, A. A. Lincoln, Jr., assumed the management and con- tinued to operate it until the plant was destroyed by fire in 1873. He removed the business to Wollaston, Quincy, Mass., where it was incorporated as the Wollaston Foundry Co. Mr. Lincoln continued to be the active manager until his death in 1910, a period of 59 years. Aug. 25, 1916, the plant was again almost totally destroyed by fire. At that time the record melt was 12 tons a day. The plant was at once rebuilt and at the present time is being ex- tended so that the main foundry building will be 300 ft. long. On the anniversary of the fire, Aug. 25, 1917, a new high melt record of 21 tons was reached. Recently the company has installed a 10-ton elec- tric crane, a duplex air compressor, air vibrators THE IRON AGE September 2) 19)7 for all molding: benches, air rammers, a tong core and sand mixer, and has enlarged ij wer plant. Two jolt machines and 10 power are in use, most of these being new equ New core ovens have been built so that ; plant has two large and two small ovens. An over is being built for dry sand work. A tramway i used for conveying hot metal and a second crane is to be installed. The present cupola is a 54 j; and it is expected to install another cupola short} The company is now doing considerable Government work, particularly for destroyers, submarines and incidental work for the Navy Department. Two of the most notable among the new plants in New England have been described in detail] jp previous issues of THE IRON AGE—the Parsons Foundry, Bridgeport, Conn., now a part of the Bil. ton Machine Tool Co., in the issue of Jan. 4, 1917. and that of the Universal Winding Co., Cranston. R. I., in the issue of June 7, 1917. New England Foundry Activity in the War Period Summary of What Some of the 600 Foun- dries Seattered Over New England Have Been Doing and Expansion Now Going On OME conception of the growth of the foundry in- dustry in New England during the war period can be gained from the following brief notes of what some of the more important plants have been doing in that time. Naturally Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts have led in this growth, not only be- cause the foundry plants are more numerous, but also because the munitions business and its attendant activi- ties have largely centered in these three States. In Connecticut, Wilcox, Crittenden & Co., Middle- town, Conn., operating brass, malleable and gray iron departments, have increased the capacity of their iron foundry by about 30 per cent with corresponding addi- tional equipment of machines and other tools. The company is now building a brass foundry, 40 x 90 ft., which will increase their output of brass castings con- siderably. The Birmingham Iron Foundry, Derby, Conn., com- pleted last July a foundry building, 100 x 208 ft., ex- clusive of core ovens. The new building cuts through the middle of the old foundry by which construction the ends of the old building form two large wings to the main new foundry. In addition there is a large cleaning room and a separate department for light castings. The total floor space devoted to foundry pur- poses, exclusive of pattern storage buildings, is 50,000 sq. ft. The new foundry is of heavy construction, wholly of steel and glass, and the main crane is of 25 tons capacity and of 62-ft. span. Each side of the main bay is equipped with traveling jib cranes which supplement the main crane above. The side bay, 40 ft. wide, has a 5-ton crane and the opposite side is a long flask runway served by a 7%4-ton crane for carry- ing heavy flasks. Three cupolas are installed and the daily melt is from 40 to 50 tons. New equipment of sand blasts has been installed, air tools of all kinds, and large sand bins with concrete floors have been built. Another new feature is a series of concrete roll pits for casting chilled rolls. The company’s own machine department’s consumption of castings is about 6000 tons per annum, the remainder of the output going into a large jobbing business in heavy machine castings. The Eastern Malleable Iron Co., which operates three plants in New England—the Naugatuck Malle- able Iron Works, Naugatuck, Conn., Bridgeport Malle- able Iron Works, Bridgeport, Conn., and Vulcan Iron Works, New Britain, Conn.—has done little expansion in the way of new construction recently, but has added considerable new equipment wherever it would increase the output or improve the quality of the product. Within the past year it has installed a complete research and analytical department to control and standardize the chemical and physical properties of its malleable prod- ucts. The Pequonnock Foundry, Bridgeport, Conn., in the latter part of 1915 added a 75-ft. extension to its main foundry building and in the early part of 1916 installed an additional cupola having a capacity of 9 tons per hour. A number of molding machines and other auxiliary equipment have been installed so that the output in the last two years has been increased 5) per cent. The company has also recently added to its real estate holdings to provide for further additions. The Manufacturers Iron Foundry, Bridgeport, Conn., has built an addition to its foundry, 50 x 100 ft. in size, and has added to its equipment eight squeezers, two roll-over machines and two traveling cranes. An addi- tion, 40 x 112 ft., has been made to the core room and two core ovens, one, 15 x 25 ft., and another, 15 x 20 ft., have been built. The core room equipment in- cludes three motor-driven riddles and a crane for handling large cores. In March, 1916, the Bullard Machine Tool Co, Bridgeport, Conn., purchased the small foundry in Fair- field, previously operated by Joseph H. Taylor. A ne¥ foundry, 102 x 142 ft., is nearing completion, also an- other building, 60 x 320 ft., which will be used for 4 pattern shop, pattern storage and office. The old build- ing, 68 x 135 ft., will be used as a cleaning room and for casting storage. The plant will be devoted solely to making castings for Bullard vertical turret lathes and Bullard Mult-au-matics. The new foundry W! probably be in operation by Oct. 1. The D & W Fuse Co., Providence, R. I., has more than doubled the floor area of its foundry and has 10- stalled in the past year two melting furnaces, one for iron and one for brass. At the present time, a further enlargement which will increase the present floor area about two and one-half times with equivalent melting capacity is under consideration. The Rhode Island Malleable Iron Works, Hillsgrove, R. L, has added approximately 52,000 sq. ft. to core and pattern departments. The annealing capacity has been increased 60 per cent and the melting capacity about 30 per cent. The Fairmount Foundry, Woonsocket, R. L., is 4 ™ cent addition to the list of Rhode Island foundries, pov" ing its first heat Feb. 12 of this year. - f rv. mber 20, 1917 enry Perkins Co., Bridgewater, Mass., has i Byram cupola, with an electric elevator t charging floor, and two jolt-squeeze molding S The company has also remodeled its brass Lundin Steel Casting Co., Neponset, Mass., has structural additions, but has made a number litions to and improvements in its equipment. motors have replaced gas engines for power he grinding equipment and sand blast facilities een considerably added to; also the compressed ities have been extended and increased through e plant. Gardner General Foundry Co., Gardner, Mass., made additions to its main plant, increasing it by one-third in size, and has also purchased the foundry plant formerly operated by the Simplex Time Recorder Co. Both foundries are working at full ca- ty, principally upon machine tool castings, and the er of employees has grown from 90 to 160. The Millbury Steel Foundry Co., Millbury, Mass., is nterest attaches to the h Booth Four ing a 2-ton Heroult furnace which will be the electric steel equipment in the central part of New and. The company is also making extensive addi- which will enable it to double the size of its work- foree. The extension to the foundry will be 50 x and another addition will be a pattern storage ling, 30 x 120 ft. These additions will be of frame truction, as it is the intent of the company to build in entirely new fireproof plant with all the modern es of construction and equipment special to a steel The present number of employees is 60. e General Electric Co. at Lynn, Mass., has eled its open hearth plant to accommodate a \lliance charging machine now being installed to te in a 39 by 192 ft. bay. This machine will three 20-ton acid furnaces, two of which are ting continuously. A covered storage building for materials, 50 x 192 ft., was added to the open- furnace bay and provided with a 10-ton over- traveling crane. Incoming material is unloaded ans of an electric magnet and in turn loaded into ng boxes, which are carried on all steel roller ng cars. its Everett foundry the General Electric Co. has eled the main foundry building, 500 x 120 ft. in Side walls of brick and metal sash have replaced zed iron, making the building more comfortable men. An extension to the main foundry build- THE IRON AGE 651 ng, 500 x YU Tt nas recent ‘ 1aae Che hearth department has received 10-ton overhead traveling crane, which will serve Brosius g nachine New equipment in process of installation includes ir type core ovens, fo exhaust system sandblasts 16 x 24 ft. pit annealing furnace and sand conveyor A new mill type pattern storage building, 200 x 116 ft in plan, has just been completed and in this will be located the general stock room, and the first aid emergency room. The molding machines installed in clude an electric jolt ram machine 72 x 72 in., 7 capable of lifting a mold weighing 40,000 The Gray Foundry, Poultney, Vt., on Jan. 1, 1917, took over the foundry business of the Ruggles Machin« Co. In 1915 the floor space devoted to melting was 2700 sq. ft., the number of employees, 10, and the melt was about 1% tons four days a week. At the present time the melt is about 6 tons per day and about 40 mer are on the pay-roll; 7000 sq. ft. are used for melting and molding and 1200 sq. ft. for shipping and snagging made rane wil l I s the I of tl Philbr . if { 4 ~ The actual new construction has added about 2000 sq ft. of floor space. The Vermont Snath Co., Springfield, Vt., added ma terially to its plant in 1914 and is now engaged in making another extension, 140 x 200 ft. This latest addition will be ready for business about the first of j next year and will give a total capacity of about 50 “ tons per day. Charles E. Davis, Rutland, Vt., in the fall of 1915 was employing about 6 men in his gray iron foundry & and was melting from 2 to 3 tons of iron per day. The number of employees has grown to 100 and the daily melt to an average of 16 tons Two years ago the only machine equipment was 2 Adams squeezers. The present machine equipment is 11 Adams squeezers 2 Modern molders and 3 roll-over O. V. Hooker & Son, St. Johnsbury, Vt., has oper » ated a foundry in a small way for some time in the manufacture of its own machinery products and in a general repair business, but since Sept. 1, 1916, has er tered largely into the regular jobbing business and since that time the output of the foundry has been increased about 300 per cent. To meet the increasing demand the foundry is now being enlarged and new equipment is being installed. The Laconia Car Co., Laconia, N. H., enlarged its Electric Oven Used for Baking Cores ie ra LECTRICITY for heating a core oven is being H successfully used in the first oven of this type that was recently installed in the aluminum and brass foundry of the Willys-Overland Co., To- ledo, Ohio. One electrically heated oven has been in use months, and the second oven of a similar type, for larger cores, was started recently, but it several erection of a is not completed at this writing. The two ovens are located side by side under the roof of one of the core rooms in which ovens of the standard type are used. One of the electric ovens is 20 ft. above this core-room floor and the other is 5 ft. higher. The ovens are of the continuous-conveyor type, and each has a vertical leg of the same section, 20 ft. long, at the front of the oven, extending to the floor, in which doors are provided for loading and unloading the cores. The oven in use is 45 ft. long, and the new one is 60 ft. long. They are 10 ft. 8 in. in height and 5 ft. 6 in. wide, being built in two sections, with a 2-in. asbestos partition between the upper and lower sections. The steel, and the first oven has asbestos walls 2 in. in thickness on the four sides. The second is covered on the four sides with Nonpareil lating brick. The ovens are supported by steel trusses on which is laid a floor or platform of steel plates. Other steel trusses carry the conveyor ma- chinery in the ovens, so that the supports of the ovens and their conveyors are entirely independ ent. . Cores baked in the continuous electric ovens are made on a second-floor core room, at one end of which, at a convenient height above the floor for loading, are the oven doors. Beneath the core room is a sand storage room, from which core sand is carried up in a bucket elevator. A roller chain conveyor, 100 ft. long and 24 in. wide, extends the length of the second-story core room through the center, terminating near the entrance to the oven. This is shown in one of the illustrations. The core room makers’ benches are located on both sides of the conveyor, and when they finish their cores they put them on plates or trays which are placed on the conveyor and thence are carried to the oven. The trays are flat sections of cast iron, 14 in. wide and 30 in. long, and having numerous circular perfo- rations to allow the free circulation of the hot oven atmosphere. Usually, two or three cores are placed on one tray, the number depending on the size: The framework is of oven insu- 652 ) REA in Plant of Male -Overland Co. Cores Baked While ST f Through Oven on Continuous Ce ce cores remain on the trays until removal from ths oven. The movement of the core-room conveyor, whic! is not in continuous operation, is controlled by a push-button by an operator who stands at the end of the conveyor. This operator lifts the tray of cores from the conveyor and places it on a short section of a roller platform built on a slight ir cline, over which he pushes it into the oven con veyor, the tray fitting into an angle-iron shelf in a carriage or rack in this conveyor. The carriages, which are pivoted to the conveyor on 5-ft. 6-in. cen- ters, have double rows of shelves, each carriage hav- ing eight shelves on each side. The conveyor is 126 ft. 6 in. long, and has 23 carriages. The second conveyor, for large cores, has four car riages on 5-ft. centers, but only four shelves on each side. One of these carriages, about to be installed in the new oven, is shown standing on the floor in the illustration of the loading end of the oven. The travel of the cores, after being placed on the conveyor at the loading door, is upward t the top half of the oven, from the front to the back of the oven, back through the lower section, and down a vertical section of the conveyor to the lower floor, where the baked cores are taken out. Here a short section of roller platform is provided for handling the trays and cores, similar to that at the loading end. The conveyor carriages pass on and up to the loading end of the oven, again t be filled. After the cores are taken from the con- veyor trays the latter are placed on a 12-in. belt conveyor with steps bolted to it for carrying the trays to the second-floor core room. The conveyor travels at a speed of approximately 9 in. per minute, and is driven by a 5-hp. motor It takes 2 hr. 5 min. for the cores to pass from the loading end to the discharge end of the oven, the conveyor making the complete circuit in 2 hr. 40 min. The time required in the new oven will be slightly longer, owing to its greater strength. Large cores have been baked in the first oven pending the completion of the larger oven, these being 4! lowed to make two circuits through the oven in- stead of one circuit. The capacity of the ove! for small cores is approximately sixteen trays 0°! cores every 7 min. It has proved of sufficient ca pacity to bake all the cores made by its sixteer core makers, although on the average it will handle tember 20, 1917 uutput of twelve men. With the completion » new oven all the cores made for the foundry baked in the two electric ovens. e heating units are distributed all through vens, in both the lower and upper sections. ores are dried off in the upper half of the and are baked in the lower half, where the erature is higher, and cooled off somewhat passing through the vertical section on their to the discharge door on the lower floor. A stack 20 ft. high, controlled by a damper, is ed above the front of each oven to carry away gases, which travel in a direction opposite movement of the conveyor. The conveyors teel frame supports for the ovens were sup- | by the Link-Belt Co., and the ovens were by the Young Brothers Co. There are 21 heating units in the oven, of Gen Electric make, with a rating of about 8.2 kw Nine are controlled by a _ hand-operated h, and the remaining twelve are on a circuit trolled automatically by a Brown pyrometer. heat is thrown on the oven by the watchman at a. m., and this allows about two hours for the to get up temperature before the core makers to work. n the table are given the results of a test of the made recently by a representative of the er company supplying current for the plant. Supplementing the figures showing the results he test, the following statement was made: The results of this test are indicative of con- ious operation since the oven was up to operating perature when the test was begun. ‘The heat required for the operation is that to tall la me = ; asta ¥ s 4 7) ( Ea placed on cast iron plates are to the oven on a roller plat- d the plates are pushed upon a the conveyor carriage. One of irriages is shown standing on loor at the left After passing gh the upper half of the oven ck through the lower, the cores irried by the conveyor through rtical section of the oven to the wer floor where they are removed THE IRON AGE 653 bring the cores up to temperature, to drive off the moisture, to bring the plates up to temperature, to heat the ventilating air and to supply the losses through the walls and through metal. There is also a loss of heat by the larger cores while passing through the vertical leg of the oven, as they are returning to go through the horizontal leg the second time. Since the large core: have to be sent through the oven twice, the production is cut dow: AV - ! ’ Cor i " Electr we KW ry Vi } H g He g sa Tot it ft H it, 34 a _ nad on |] H heort I B H ‘ \W “The heat required for absorption the iron temperature of operation. Results show that there is a loss of 24 kw. per hour with the present 2 in With 4 in. of insulation this loss would be only one half as great. “The heat required for absorption of the ir plates is 41,640 B.t.u. per hour, or 122 kw. hr. If these plates were made of aluminum, the same size, the heat required for absorption would be 26,500 B.t.u. per hour, or 7.77 kw. hr.’ ert ere meet EE mere Kffect of Embargo is Clearly Shown Exports of Iron and Steel Products in July Decline Sharply, Being Most Marked in Machine Tools—Increased Imports of Scrap and Billets WASHINGTON, Sept. 18.—The embargo instituted by the Exports Council, effective July 15, tne July, according to the cut heavily into the month of statistics of the Bureau Commerce. As compared with previous high records, the decline was heaviest in exportations of iron and steel fo1 official of Foreign and Domestic machine tools, tonnage iron and steel and machinery in the order named. The fact that the decrease in ship- ments of tonnage commodities was substantially greater than that in total exports by values is significant of the price trend. The decline in exports of machine tools, being in line with the uniform tendency of the past A 2 i All re Brew I sh revist t oO crete mIxX¢é ) grins Cr n separate ko Va I I I Loct r t Lil S ; e eI Kerr é St n € Z \ t Y | i B I Bo ibe All I I \I g ( \ Metal-working 1 I } = d gr p ! \T 4 neg e7 \ 1 tir r, is les table than the shrinkag« other ma- } ry, which fell off one-third ‘as compared with the precedin month. A feature of the Jul: Statistics Is ' or ant) i1¢ pig 1 16 7 Gross Gross Gross Gross L' lor 7 s Tons } Fer ( f A t) pig ‘ ‘ ) 2.97 4 ser 7 { if Bar St ry 7 ‘ nd Q 1 GR S hille } it g ( A other st t ,f 7 4 j S ¢ rail t { { 9 dt rte | t 94 } i terne ] tes ) ’ 49 188 GEE ) ot »* { ; x the separate enumeration of a number of export items which recently have assumed considerable importance 65 and the subdivision of the classes, including part engines and machine tools, with a view to furnis more detailed information to the trade. Exports of iron and steel by values during . gained 10 per cent over the corresponding mont! 1916, but lost no less than 35 per cent as compa with the high record of June of this year. Ton iron and steel recorded a marked decline, losing 30 cent as compared with July, 1916, and falling 46 | cent short of the record figures for September, 191) Exports of machinery, which gained notably in closing months of the last fiscal year, declined 4 Machinery ; Se mn Me ( ; 1916 6 $827,802 3 ) 381,865 -9 11,282 j ) $71,821 600 87,534 ) ayy "39,344 « 320.86 } ‘ 148,364 Li 373,479 3,¢ é 211,946 ‘ ) 224.07 S45 1208 697,812 420 109 Z * t az a481,538 1481,538 Q ¢ { 1867,050 ; ‘ a26,683 971 914,68 481,683 170,908 268.084 14.6 ‘ } ) X i( ) 11.929 t oU ’ 297,081 ) 6 1 ( 795.8 H1¢ l + ht } O77 ‘ hh , 195 G8 4 Q t ' ; Hes : 6 ‘ 1 027 20° cent as compared with July, 1916, and fell 35 per below the high water mark reached in June of this year. Shipments of machine tools, which have beer steadily declining since the munition factories of the \llies practically completed their equipment, were 40 per cent less than in July, 1916, and 52 per cent below the maximum recorded in May, 1916. Record Not Surpassed The record for the seven months ended July 31 re mains unbeaten in spite of the general declines through- out the closing month. Total exports by values for the seven months rose 62 per cent over 1916, which in turn surpassed any previous record by more than 150 per cent. Tonnage iron and steel gained 20 per cent over the record total for 1916, machinery showed an crease of 27 per cent over 1916, which exceeded by nearly 100 per cent any previous corresponding peri and machine tools surpassed by 5 per cent the record of 1916, which exceeded by 100 per cent that of an) prior seven months. ber 20, 1917 e of all shipments of iron and steel products . 1917, was $77,782,294, as compared with 162 for the same month of 1916 and $119,141,- June of this year which is now the record total seven months of 1917, the total was $713,426,- mpared with $442,640,120 for the correspond- od of 1916 and $174,971,176 in 1915. Exports of in July were valued at $18,208,429 as against 52 for the same month a year ago. For thi nths, the total was $156,354,172 as compared :123,406,983 for the same period of 1916. The ous record, that of 1915, was $67,957,315. ts of metal-working machinery aggregated 9 in July as against $7,814,691 in the same of 1916. For the seven months of 1917, the ex- totaled $49,304,898 as compared with $47,182,401 corresponding period of 1916. Details of the of machinery in July, 1916 and 1917, and for vo seven-months’ periods are given in the accom ng table. ports of iron and steel for which quantities aré¢ aggregated 349,649 gross tons in July, 1917, as | with 496,624 tons in the same month of 1916. cluding t nd fittings nd fitting nd « t hou i gb . nd p plate ] exports of these commodities is still hel , 1916, with a total of 643,763 gross tor even months ended July, 1917, these shiy rregated 3.742.885 gross tons as agal ns for the same period of 1916. The a ng table shows the exports for July and f months ended July, 1917, as compared with mports of iron and steel in July recorded ar 100 per cent, due almost wholly to increased f scrap and steel billets. The total imports 1917, were 28,859 gross tons as compared with ons in the same month of 1916. For the sever of 1917, the imports aggregated 233,085 gross igainst 145,309 tons for 1916. The imports of ymmodities for July and for the seven months as compared with 1916 are shown in the ac- ying table. sh Restrictions on Chrome Ore and Benzol British Minister of Munitions forbids purchase very of chrome ore except under permit from rector of Materials. He has also ordered that Oct. 1 no person shall supply, accept or attempt n delivery of crude benzol, crude naphtha or ls containing recoverable quantities of benzol ol except under license. Crude benzol and crude a mean such as are obtained by distillation of tar or extracted from coal gas. Light oils mean oils obtained by the distillation of coal tar. THE IRON AGE 655 Two New High-Speed Tool Steels i L wt pate na eel i t h y Speed steeis (one Ss vs dium type of steel patented (U.S. 1,233,118) by Jame H. Parker, Reading, Pa., and B. H Le ‘ y. op n P and assigned ne ( » of Reading It is « racterized pe f iit is fT ‘ \ ) i \ i 1 The iror nd cob prop r 1 witl the eutectic relatior ind ( ! I at Xl! r Service wit! I Spt i i effi eT! is possibl. Che othe. new j vy 18 covered ' : pate! ; il S 1,233,862) granted to Radclyffe Furness of Jenkintown Pa., and assigned to the Midvale Steel According to the patent, if a certain amount of both cobalt and noste ided in ordinar } peed sle¢ ning é hr } j i 1 g 1 t ’ » ¢ ; i ‘* 1,15 } } 44 f ] 1 14 ‘ { ¢ | } ) 69 ‘ ‘ . > f ¥ ea ‘ ‘ i r Vl r r ’ { y ' \ ( The amount in ha not be said to replace the regular high peed too elements to any extent. It presence, however in almost insignificant proportior said to im} the efficiency of the tools British Iron-Ore Production The iron-ore output of the United Kingdom in 1916 was Officially 13,700,039 gross tons, of which 6,300,000 is estimated as coming from quarries. The corresponding figures for 1915 were 14,235,012 tons, with 6,358,907 tons from quarries. For 1914 the total was 14,867,582 tons, with 5,883,090 tons from quarries and for 1913 it was 15,997,323 tons, with 6,405,851 tons from quarries Many plants which have hitherto been engaged in the manufacture of 8 and 9.2 in. shells for the British Government in Canada will be converted imto plants or producing 6 in. shells c ; Sultable al es Structure of Iron Cast in Metal Molds A Comparison With That of Iron Cast in Sand Molds—Relative Size of Microconstitu- ents — Chemical Composition of the Two BY EDWIN F. CONE T is evident that there must be a decided differ- between the microstructure of cast iron cast in sand molds and that of the same iron cast in a metal mold, especially a rapidly revolving one. It has been commercially demonstrated that it is possible to make cast-iron pipe in rapidly re- volving molds, the metal being deposited by cen- trifugal action. The pipe so made are of consid- erably thinner section than the sand cast, but are equally strong or stronger. An investigation of the structure and composition of pipe made by the two processes is the object of this brief study. The usual method of making sand-cast pipe is familiar. The metal cools very slowly, affording opportunity for it to crystallize in large form. In metal molds the conditions are different, depending on the time the hot metal remains in contact with the mold. In pouring hot metal into a rapidly re- volving metal mold and removing the casting as has solid, ence soon as it become the crystal for- mation is. pro- ceeding under entirely differ- ent conditions. The crystals are not given the time to develop slowly. The question of the xxtent to which the carbon as- sumes the com- bined form is also important. One of the principal con- stituents of cast iron which affect its structure and strength is ca; bon. This exists largely in the graphitic state in such pipe. If the graphite is coarse or inclined to be lamellar or platy, the strength of the iron is not great as when the graphite is in a more fi: divided condition. This is one of the points made by J. E. Johnson, Jr., in his claim for the supe- riority of cast iron or pig iron containing oxygen, the graphite in such iron being in a fine state. Theoretically the carbon in slowly cooled ir should be found in larger globules or flakes than in iron that cools more quickly. Iron cast in a per- manent mold, whether it revolves or not, should con- tain smaller crystals of carbon or graphite as well as of other constituents. When the iron so cooled is removed into the air, the cooling and formation of the crystals is accelerated. This is demonstrated by a microscopic examination. It has been possible for the writer to obtain samples of 4-in. cast-iron pipe made by both processes. The sand - cast pipe had an average thickness of about 1% in. and the centrifugally cast-iron pipe a thickness of 3/16 in. The latter was practically of uniform wall section through- out. A micro- scopical exami- nation of the sand-cast pipe is shown by Figs. Photomicrographs of cast-iron pipe cast in sand, all reduced about one third from an original diameter of 90. Fig <upper left) is from the inside wall as polished It shows graphite in fine clusters. Fig. 2 (upper right) is from the cen- ter of the cross-section of the wall of the pipe and shows the graphite as coarser and inclined to be platy. Figs. 3, 4 and 5 (lower row, left to right) are the same metal etched. Figs. 3 and 5, the inside and outside wall face, show white dentrites which are ferrite (silico-ferrite), the ground mass being pearlite with some carbide eutect The center of the metal, Fig. 4, is similar but much coarser, graphite plates being more distinct 656 tember 20, 1917 THE IRON AGE similar to Figs. 3. 4 and 5, and are from etched specimens Fig by a mixture of fine graphite and ferrite The network of pea es Fig. 7, the center of the metal, shows a grain of ferrite and g gether with cementite-phosphide eutecti 8. Figs. 1 and 2 reveal the inside and center inside respectively. Ytomicrographs of cast-iron pipe cast in revolving metal mold of 250. Figs. 6, 7 and 8, left to right, represent the inside, ce There is again but little differ cross section, the outside surface being the ence between the outside and inside, but the micro same as the inside. They are unetched. Fig. 1 structure of the center, shows a grain of shows graphite in clusters which are very fine. Fig. ferrite and graphite surrounded by pearlite in which 2, the center of the metal, shows a coarser graphite the graphite exists as plates, together with cement ich is in- ned to be The same netal etched is shown by Figs. 1 and 5, in- e, center and itside respec- tively. Fig. 4, e center, is lar to the thers, but much irser. The ne metal un- er a higher agnification is own by Figs. 7 and 8, out- side, center and Photomicrographs of cast-iron pipe cast in a rapidly revolving metal mold and removed immediately rd from an orig.nal diameter of 90. Fig. 9 (upper left) is from th: , _Of the cross-section of the wall, both as polished. The graphite ) but a little coarser at the center. The absence of plates is noticeable Figs. 11, 12 and 13 (lower row, left to right) are the same metal etched respond w.th Figs. 3, 4 and 5, for the sand-cast metal. They reveal rix of pearlite, fine graphite and ferrite. A flaw is noticeable in Fig ite - phosphide eutectic. Photomicro graphs. of the machine - cast metal are seen in Figs. 9 to 15 They represent the hot metal quickly thrown against the sur face of a rapid ly revolving wa ter-cooled metal mold and re moved into the air as soon as congealed or within a few seconds of its ill reduced about P ¥ ght) j fron the (same on the at inside, center and outside ad fr silico-ferrite ' a skis “ero + ee contact with the mold. Figs. 9 and 10 show the metal unetched, Fig. 9 represent- ing the inside wall of a cross section of pipe 3,16 in. thick, and Fig. 10 the center of the same section and wall. In _ these the graphitic carbon is in a very fine condi- tion of crystal- lization on both THE IRON September 20, | AGE the chill rey no essential ference fr that cast in metal mold quickly rem: Examinatio1 the metal to the chill veals the p1 ence of mu more pearlite a distinctly la ellar nature shown by Fig. 18. An investiga- tion of the con position of the the outside and three samples inside walls, but Photomicrographs of cast-iron pipe cast in a revolving metal mold, all re- revealed the for- . duced about one-third from an original diameter of 250 Figs. 14 and 15 a little coarser (left to right) represent the metal near the re nee and the center sec- tunate coincl- ‘ . . tion respectively and are from etched specimens. The structure is similar to > < _ at the center, and cast (Files. 6.7 and &) but there is much less peariite dence that they Fig. 10. The contrast between these structures and those of the sand-cast metal, Figs. 1 and 2, is striking. Taking photomicrographs of the same meta etched, we have Figs. 11, 12 and 13, corresponding to Figs. 3, 4 and 5, the sand-cast metal. In the former, Figs. 11, 12 and 13, the graphite and fer rite are both in fine grains, also a marked contrast to the metal in the sand-cast condition. At a higher magnification the pipe, cast in a metal mold, Figs. 14 and 15, reveal a structure similar to the sand cast, but there is considerably less pearlite present. This is to be expected under the manufacture. 3y allowing the metal in a rapidly revolving cooled mold to remain a few seconds longer, it is possible to develop a slight chill on the surface. In so doing a little more metal is used and the thickness of the pipe slightly increased. It be- comes 14 in.