The Iron Age 1922-02-16: Vol 109 Iss 7

ESTABLISHED 1855 109, No. 7 Over-all Cost of Heat-Treated Parts Electric Current or Fuel Cost Is But a Portion of Total Cost Percentage of Rejection Important Cost of Subsequent Operations an Item BY C, N the development of the art of steel ] advance has been associated with a change from one type of heat source to another It has passed from the early hand forge, burning wood or charcoal, successively through the coal and furnace, and finally to the electric furnace. It is espe- cially noteworthy that each change in the development been to a fuel or heat source having a higher cost. While these progressive changes have not been univer- + treating the progressive COKE Electric Resistance Furnace, with Panel and adopted, it is believed that they have.been made a sound economic basis, since there have been no ward tendencies. As the higher priced, improved heat source has suc- ‘ully withstood the competition of existing fuels, vident that there are other factors of greater nee in the heat treatment of steel than furnace ng costs, a fact not commonly recognized by the furnace user. Most prominent among these tors are reduced cost of subsequent operations, in the number of rejections, increased life of with more satisfactory service. ermine to what extent these factors will over- ng engineer, Industrial Heating Department, tric Co. IPSEN* come higher furnace oy ting costs, an accurate cost show the influence of operating finished appended table, prepared for this pur- ultimate costs of several familiar together with the cost of heat treat- cost of electricity used as a heat is directed particularly to the last shown the part that electricity analysis is necessary, which will furnace product. The pose, shows actual heat treated ing, as well as the Attention column, in which is costs on he cost of the parts, source. Instrument for Automatic Temperature Control in the ultimate cost. The electric power rate for all items is taken at. 1%c. per kwhr. The various dies, items 1 to 6, were heated in the resistance furnace shown. A similar furnace is used for preheating, and an electrically heated oil bath is used for drawing. These furnaces, and the oil tem- pering bath, are maintained at constant temperature throughout the day, and the cost of the electricity thus is apportioned among the treated over a certain period. If the furnaces could be operated at full capacity constantly, the of the electricity would be far below the values given. This furnace has been run constantly for 25 months at a temperature of 1500 deg. Fahr. For the first nine months of the time it was run 24 hr. per day, 7 plays dies used cost > et SS ea <a a. 4 4 < Tie See ee es del eee a Interior of Electric Carbonizing Furnace 36 In. Wide, 29 In. High and 79 In, Deep. This furnaces requires 60 kw., 3-phase at 220 volts, to maintain a temperature of 1700 Morass ' sueveneennsnenensuaoenonenns days a week. Since that time it has been run from 4 a. m. to 4 p. m., an automatic time clock being used Cost Figures for Hardening and Drawing Cost of Electricity Factory Cost of Electricity in Per Cost of Heat for Heat Cent of Item Part Parts Treating Treating Total Cost 1 Segment com- bination die $1,380 $13.50 $4.16 0.3 2 Segment com- bination die 1,138 12:00 3.70 0.32 3 Round blank- er SG. 50.6 638 5.03 1.50 0.23 4 Segment blank- me @ie..... 9.45 2.92 0.37 MY ee cag 10.53 3.43 0.43 6 Die 8.66 2.67 0.3 7 Gear 13.00 3.70 1.5 S$ Gear 15.00 4.44 ke ) Gear 21.00 6.25 1.8 10 Gear 26.00 7.60 1.9 11 Gear . 30.00 9.06 2.0 12. Die block 1.75 0.65 0.6 13 Gear* 54 Et 0.03 0.6 Totals of all above $7,404 $165.92 $50.11 0.68 *Hardening only, i without drawing j estimated to throw the power on in the morning and off in the «.“ternoon. During the 25 months of operation there has been no interruption of service, and the only expense in- curred has been the replacement of a relay coil on the iets 1o2 a3 pees his , {2s t2 5 xsees BSE! SAREE ES Ww Temperature Record from Electric Resistance Furnace Operating at 1400 Deg. Fahr., Photographed from Tape, Showin When Current Is Shut Off THE IRON AGE February 16, 19: control panel, at a cost of less than one dollar. A metallic resistor heating element is used, of the con- struction shown in the interior view. No deterioratio: in this resistor is apparent after the 25 months’ con- tinuous service. The only attendance necessary is occa sional oiling of the automatic control instrument, and putting in a roll of record paper; the controlling of the temperature, and the throwing on and off of the power, being entirely automatic. Thus the electric cost, as indicated in the table, is the only expense incurred; there is no continuous repair bill. Thus the total cost of electricity in heat treating these dies amounts to 2/3 of 1 per cent of the ulti- mate cost of the dies. Subtracting from this the cost of other kinds of fuel will give the amount that must be offset by the other factors, such as the reduction of rejections, etc. In the case of this die heating furnace, the cost of electricity is practically the same as the cost of oil. Extensive tests were run on sim- ilarly constructed oil and electric furnaces to determine the policy of the General Electric Co. on future tool treating furnace installations. The cost of operating the oil furnace was 23c. per hr. with oil at 13c., and the electric furnace 10c. per hr. With oil at its present level, the costs are about equal. In certain localities this would not be the case, artd we must then look to the other features to justify the use of electric furnaces. In the case of these dies the most prominent of the factors are the reduction of rejections, lower cost of subsequent operations, and g Drop ruary 16, 1922 life of the dies. Unfortunately, accurate data available on these factors, but in the opinion foreman in charge of the work they amount to | per cent, the reduction in rejections alone being per cent, or more than the total cost of elec- an ‘nace, the cost of the electricity having been cal- 1 on the basis of experience with electric ng similar work. Electric furnaces are contem- | for these parts, as a cost analysis indicates that creased cost of electricity will be improvement in quality. furnace with a rotating annular ring hearth, in one illustration, is used for heating gears, 13 of the table. The cost of electricity for heating gears is based on 80 days’ operation, 9510 gears, 39,107 lb., being heated in that time. The oil used in heating this same gear is approxi- ; 146¢., or about one-fifth the cost for ele ‘tricity. nereased cost of electricity is offset by the reduc f rejections and lower cost of subsequent opera- 7 Y ; ] ~ it « ° aft . . rf ‘ } , ms 7 to 12 inclusive are at present treated in furnaces . . +h + + more nan omset ng Vhile the number of gears rejected due to warping een greatly reduced, definite figures are not but it has been possible to treat the avail- in an years in Annular Electric Furnaces Designed for Main- Temperature of 1650 Deg. Fahr. The hearth wid he door opening 12 x 16 in., tl 1 79 ir Three-phase current at 220 the power requiremé¢ s being 60 kw + have an eccentricity of ap ately half the limits set for oil furnace practice, mits which it is found difficult to meet with oil- The cost of subsequent operations was 1 approximately per amount twice the total cost of electricity for heating. s the higher cost of the improved heat source, case cited, has been justified on the basis of the f the finished product. It is reflected in the ‘f rejections, lower cost of subsequent opera- furnace, so as to 1 gears. Be. gear, or an 1 1 longer life of the product, st cases, many times offset the incr proved heat source. es of the electrically heated furnace of the any one which eased cost 11 esistor type, which make possibile this im in quality, are: »w temperature of heat source. curate and reliable automatic temperatut iiform and unvarying temperaturs i1Stv! A sence of severe oxidizing and corroding ac- on to some fuel-fired furnaces. irge area of the heat source permits it to t a temperature only slightly higher than parts being heated, and renders overheating irt impossible. In the fuel-fired furnace, ex- THE IRON AGE 461 i} cept where a muffle is used, the heat source or flame is several hundred degrees hotter than the work; con- sequently there is always the danger of overheating porti of ns the charge, especially parts having thin a ~ > vie te ee ee ed I a a ee “f Ped — ~ art oe Hee 4 : a _ F = 4 e / / jf / } / ‘ Tr H ; Hie I é sections. This overheatiz results in distortion and excessive scaling. Automatic control of conditions in the result insures constant furnace, and makes possible the dupli- s from day to day. A typical tempera- temperature cation of svnsnneen we Test Data of Heat lt formity of Electrie I nace Maximum Deviation from Rate of rhe Temperatures Average, Change Cent, Per Cent — Average Deg. Tin l ‘ Temp. Above Below Per Hr 11:30 95 } 95 ; 95 25 0 0 0 27 } ) 15 634 2.07 1.31 127 d 0 670 19 f 666 669 669 Lo 0.45 t 11 ) 177 s f 66 780 776 1.0 1.3 i } SoS { 849 R64 R60 0.46 .. = 2 ) S60 S > R62 Re X63 862 0.35 0.23 ) l 0 128 t ) 30 928 930 0.43 0.21 17 : 0 } ) 127 929 0.64 0.43 1-30 ) ) ) 0.31 0.21 “ ture control chart is shown, which indicates a maximum temperature variation of about 5 deg. Fahr., plus or minus, in the air of the furnace. This is the variation of the air temperature, and since the air changes tem- perature much more rapidly than the charge, it will be apparent how accurately the temperature of the charge is maintained. i ae oa fe = Another chagt shows the time-temperature curve of gears treated in a rotary furnace similar to that illus te Te aaa He Sis sr) ar e 5| 1 iY r . . | . | : NA NM 4 N tior f I J W Indications Are kk ‘ D aeemta tn +} ; : enew atta 4. trated. Sensitive thermocouples were attached to a nf test gear, which was placed in the furnace among the ‘ others in regular production. The “gear” thermocouple was embedded in the body of the gear itself, and the 2 “air” couple was located a few inches above the gear. ¢ The curve is copied direct from the chart made by re- y cording instruments. It will observed how accu- rately the temperature of the gear is held at 1400 deg. Fahr. up to the time it reaches the discharge door— also that fairly wide changes of air temperature, caused by throwing the power on and off, caused no appreciable change in the temperature of the gear. This curve also illustrates another point, the uniform pe ag Gael i lili Se = 5 . 462 THE IRON AGE temperature that it is possible to obtain in a furnace of the metallic resistor type. In this furnace the wind- ings are all on one circuit, and yet it is possible to maintain, by a proper distribution of the windings, a uniform temperature up to a point directly in front of the discharg‘ door. This feature of the metallic resistor type of electric furnace is also shown clearly in the second table. The heating of the charge under these conditions insures uni- form heating, reduces distortion and internal stresses to a minimum, and improves the quality of the heat- treated part. In the electric furnace ideal conditions exist, that result in the heat-treated parts atmospheric being practically free from pitting and scaling. This reduces the cost of the subsequent operations, in clean- ing the dies and gears. MAKES COMPARISON Chart Shows Averages of Production of Various Products and of Unfilled Tonnage WASHINGTON, Feb. 14.—The American Ra lway Association in it ulletin on revenue freight loaded for the we ended Jan. 21 presents a chart showing the monthly averages by years from 1913 through 1919 and the monthly totals threugh 1920 and 1921 of pro luction of ste¢ 20 production of pig iron, and the [ ted State Steel Cx rporation unfilled orders, pro- du n of bituminous « u! stocks of bituminous coal vs the relation between the movements The production of steel ingots and of pig iron, it is pointed out, is usually accepted as a barometer of busi ness activity throughout the country It is observed that in the years 1913 to 1919, inclu- Sive, the trend of these two items of production fol- lowed in a fairly close way the unfilled orders of the Steel Corporation and was followed in turn by the pro duction of bituminous coal. The bituminous produc so quite generally followed the trend of produc- tion of ingots and pig iron in the first half of 1920, but rease in bituminous production in the last half of 1920 did not follow any like trend of steel and iron production, but on the contrary was in the face of a declining tendency in that production and in the unfilled orders of the Steel Corporation. This. it is stated, may be mentioned as contributing to the } l c heavy stocks of bituminous coal on hand in January, Again, following April, 1921, and through October, there was a general tendency to increase in the pro duction of bituminous coal, not, however, marked by any contemporaneous increase of consequence in the production of steel ingots and pig iron, and with the orders of the Steel Corporation still declining. Quite naturally, therefore, it is pointed out, the (then) latest figure of bituminous stocks, that fo1 November, 1921, showed an increase that carried the total even beyond that of the previous Jan. 1. A survey prepared by the Department of Commerce shows that the total commer cial stock of bituminous coal on Jan. 1, 1922, was esti- mated at 47,000,000 tons as against 48,000,000 tons on Nov. 1, 1921. Work Stopped at Armor Plate Plant CHARLESTON, W. VA., Feb. 13.—An echo of the dis- armament conference is heard in an order received re- cently by Capt. F. J. Hellweg, commandant, from Sec retary of the Navy Denby, to close the naval ordnance plant here and put employees on leave without pay. The order affects not only men engaged in the opera- tion of the plant, but those doing construction work on the gun plant. Captain Hellweg was instructed to re- tain only enough men for the maintenance and protec- tion of the plant. The plant was engaged in manufac- turing material, some of which would have been used on ships which are to be scrapped under the holiday program. This plant, located at South Charleston, and work on which began April 6, 1917, consists of a steel works February 16, While these are by no means all the va electric furnaces, and do not include all the to which such furnaces lend themselves, they ciently representative to give a good idea can be accomplished by the electric furnac field. The problem of choice of steel treating fu chiefly the problem of determining the effe various furnaces on the overall cost of the heat part. A careful analysis along the lines outlir in many cases reveal that furnace operating of secondary importance. After three yea ence in the use of electric furnaces for steel tr is predicted that, in the majority of cases wher: grade product is required, the, lowest overall e obtained through the use of electric furna } ) and three finishing units; a projectile plant, plant and a gun plant. The projectile plant vw sleted and put in operation in June, 1918. The lant is 90 per cent finished, and the gun plant nt. In recent months about 2000 tons of o1 teel were turned out daily. About 2200 me employed, including nearly 1000 on construct The estimated monthly payroll was $300,000. Testing Materials Meeting Greater prominence to technical papers is to mark the annual] meeting of the American § for Testing Materials to be held at Chalfonte-H Hall, Atlantic City, N. J., in the week of Jw Among the topics which are expected to be given inence are the following: “Effect of Sulphur in R Steel,” “Physical Properties and Tests of Steel C ings,” “Impact Testing of Materials,” “Fatigue of Ma terials,” “Specifications for Coal,” “Thermometry.” The committee on corrosion of iron and steel is dergoing some reorganization. J. H. Gibboney, vi chairman of the committee, is acting chairman in plac of S. S. Voorhees, deceased. Dr. G. K. Burgess, chair man of the sub-committee on preservative met coatings, has resigned, and H. S. Rawdon now rep sents the metallurgical division of the Bureau of Star ards and has been appointed chairman pro tem of sub-committee. In Memory of Henry H. Stambaugh In memory of Henry H. Stambaugh, one of founders of the Brier Hill Steel Co., Youngstown, Oh a large bronze tablet in bas relief has been install the McKinley Memorial Building at Niles, which ho an imposing collection of tablets and busts of industn and financial leaders, as well as statesmen. Un! other tablets which represent a likeness of th they honor, the Stambaugh memorial shows a won figure, in classic robes, invoking a blessing upon a ma! kneeling before it, typifying Labor. The figure of 4 dog in the foreground depicts Mr. Stambaugh’s love ° nature. The replicas were largely gathered thro the instrumentality of Joseph G. Butler, Jr., of Young town, who conceived the idea of the Memoria! and ried it to fruition. \ The Aragain Steel, Lid., has been incorporated a capital stock of $15,000,000 to acquire and take the plan and business of the Carbon & Alloy Ste Ltd., at Niagara Falls, Ont., and to enter int manufacture of iron, steel, metals, alloys, ete. Amons the provisional directors of the new concern are I rat W. Griffiths, Arthur L. Reid, John L. Vanstone of N1aé ara Falls, Ont. The Lima, Ohio, plant of the Ohio Steel Co., reopened on Jan. 16, giving employment 500 workers. The company has booked orders ings for railroad equipment for the Argentine Kepuos and it is expected that the foundry will be kept ™ ning full time for some months. sing Molding Machine in Job Foundry Marked Gain in Efficiency in Making Cylinder and Piston Molds—Speed and Economy Both Served BY PAUL R. RAMP (¢ ided } ‘ i fF NIGURE 6 is the drag half of a steam cylinder’ 10-in. pisto Owing to the si »f the standard flask, ‘ pattern, located on the pattern board. The dows nly one 10-in. and one 8-in, piston could be molded pins can be seen at BBB. The “center” pit lo together in the regular way As it was desired to ff center, to avoid the danger of piacing pattern nfine the } duction to one ize of casting for ea ely on the board. Figure 7 is the cope half of th nold, the plan illustrated worked out very satisfactor- pattern, located on the same pattern board, wit v. The standard flask, while not having great enough pins at BBB. This pattern was used for many ength, did have an excess of depth, which was utilized to produce cylinder castings by hand t the rate 1y molding the pistons on edge, three in a flask, as to eight per day. shown in the sketch, at a 66 2/3 per cent increase in The only work connected with making an emergenc! production ] nar The quality of the new castings ling machine job out of it was putting dowel pi vas superior to those made in the old way tes in the cope and drag halves, and giving them Figure 8 shows the method used to gate these molds of shellac On the machine, 60 castings wer with a gate re. Th ‘ore was placed on the pattern, ind rammed up in the flask, when the drag was being i__ Core PrinF ) made. TI! rate proved very efficient, and produced HH © lY oe | ec Sey ET —S—~C*~E | ‘ ) H S mi ¢ P luced daily by one finishe1 and twe leipers, one of helpers acting as machine operator. The quality of ‘astings produced by the machine was in every way rior to those made by hand, by skilled workmen. such eases, the advantage of the pattern board he loose patterns can be appreciated. As the pat \oard is bolted to the machine, it requires no more ntion than brushing or blowing off after each mold rammed. All patterns being loose, they must be In. Pist ed on the board every time a new mold is made, e the shape of the pattern does not matter. It astings free from sand and slag holes. The idea was juires only a moment to pick it up and drop it over 0 arrange this gate so the metal would enter the molds dowel pins on the board, and proceed directly under the main cores, and thus act as a safe- This plan enabled us to make a decided saving in guard, by providing that, in case any objectionable ‘ost of molding, when it was thought impossible to natter should enter the mold with the metal, it would carried up to the core, and would lodge where it would do no harm. There was a question as to whether or not the upper edge of the piston, that represented the highest point of the mold in the cope, would shrink. To help reduce this danger, the grooves for the piston rings were par- on account of the small number of parts to be ind the very poor condition of the patterns. | » that there are many foundries to-day that could this plan, and secure very gratifying results e plan here described develops many unusual molding and core making. The fact that a d size flask must be used, thus limiting the size pattern to be molded, makes it necessary for iryman to devise ways and means for molding these flasks, that in the past were molded Fig. 9. Drag Mold for Three Pistons with Core larger flasks. | llustration of this development is shown in ‘ y , : a i tially formed in the rough castings: b it was foun 8, which is a cross section of a mold for three oe g P gz ut as found later that this precaution was not necessary, as all of Creek. Mich. the castings came out solid at this point. Figure 9 is 463 OER RS eet, oat us ee migeae a We Wh cnt oil shows pte, ve Tinsel tar etn iba hl i a enh oo. i Pte a . 1h Aa AIM it! coms oe piss es cath be 464 another view of the 10-in. piston mold, with the main core in place. This sketch shows also the locations of the gate core and of the skim gate. One complete core is all that was required to pro- duce three castings. The slab parts of the core, marked DD, represent the division between pistons No. 1 and No. 2, and the division between No. 2 and No. 3. As the slabs also act as supports for the main cores, they make chaplets unnecessary. Only two holes on either D D f 1 S I G Cr Used Making Three it P tons in One Leesreery — — Mold ond St eas SSO PH side of these pistons were formed, in providing the vent passages, instead of the three, necessary when the pistons are molded with the flat surface up. These holes must be drilled, tapped and plugged. The gas escaped from the core through the passages marked EEEE. This job worked very smoothly on the jolt roll-over molding machine, in the standard flasks, and no delay was experienced in changing from other jobs to this one Figure 10 is a cross section of tne gang core used to make the three pistons. This core was made in halves and pasted together. The time required was not more than one-fifth greater than that required to produce a core for a single piston. In this case, as in many others, the very fact that something radically done, to enable the foundryman to } p 1 1 different had to be d ] i ise his equipment, developed a decided Saving. I 1 ‘igure 11 is a cross section of a 12-in. piston mold, mat e on the standard pattern board with a jolt roll- over machine. In this case the piston was molded in the usual manner, instead of being molded on edge. The main objection to making this casting on the ma *hine was the fact that, in order to carry off the vents ] from the main core, it had been the practice to place the main core in the mold and place the cope on t ie lrag, thus securing on the cope an impression that juld be used as a guide, to locate the vent passages through the cope after it was lifted off again. This plan made it necessary to try on every cope, and interfered very materially with progress in mold- ing machine work. To overcome this objection, the part of the core that normally came flush with the joint, and was touched when the cope was tried on, was made longer, so it would extend into the cope. Three extra pin holes were properly located in the standard pattern board, to take care of the core prints when the THE IRON AGE February 16, 1: copes were rammed. These three prints were lo directly in line with the corresponding core print the drag side of the pattern. When either the cope or the drag was ramn small ring core was dropped over the core prin insure against crushes, etc. Figure 11 shows th core in place in both the cope and the drag. Th cial gate core mentioned before was also used, as in the sketch, being placed on the pattern and ran up with the mold, the same as the ring cores. W the drag was made, the pattern, being provided the three standard dowel pin hole plates, was nicely located on the board in its proper place. W the cope was rammed, the three small prints wer cated on the pattern board by the three special d pin holes. This arrangement insured a perfect ma so far as the cope and drag core prints were concer The next important question was to locate the | part of both sides of the core, so they would match prints in the mold. Figure 12 gives two views of — { . © ) i>. © os C | j r » A Piston Core ss ‘G* TO Sectionof | Section of Rough Casting Casting Machined e+ nf Dietan Cor vecTion OT Fiston Wore Fig. 12. Notch Methoa Making Two Halves Fig. 13 Piston Cast of Core Register in ing, Left Half Roug Mold Right Half Machine ‘ore, which was made in halves and joined at the ter. The plan used to make the prints register rectly is shown here. The three, notches marked AAA opposite each print part of the core, were provided each half of the box, and acted as the guide wher cores were pasted. With the core made in this manner, and the old pattern provided with three extra prints for the cope, the old piston pattern was verted into a molding machine job. It was not nec¢ sary to try the cope on the drag in order to find proper place to produce the vent passage; the prints the cope did this. This job was run at the rate to 20 per day, with other work, very successfully as to quality and quantity. Figure 13 is a cross section of the casting descr here, showing one-half rough and the other mac! These two piston jobs are instances where somet a little out of the regular plan had to be done to chine mold with the old patterns. But even the « the extra core prints for the cope, the three notch the core box and the three small pin holes in the would not in any way compare with the cost of ris ¢ this job up in the best manner for the best produ on a machine. This kind of molding machine practice is not mended except in such cases as mentioned abov I know that there are numerous places where this can be worked very successfully, though the operat may now consider it impossible, The Erie railroad has awarded a contract Youngstown Equipment Co. for operation of th shops at Brier Hill in Youngstown, Ohio, and th: motive roundhouses at Brier Hill and Kent. This com pany, formed by Youngstown capital, recently took ovet operation of the Erie car shops a: Kent, Ohio. eaves from a Steel Melter’s Note Book—Ill Experiences in Casting Steel Ingots in Cans—How Cracks ) Were Prevented Causes of Hard Spots in Forging Ingots BY HENRY T the first steel works at which I was employed, in New England, steel ingots for forging purposes larger than 12 x 12 in. square were generally cast ans made of wrought iron sheets. This included all tire ingots or “cheeses,” as they were called, for s for locomotive drivers which were short cylinders, well as cylindrical ingots varying from 16 to 28 in. even more in diameter, and weighing from 2000 to 100 lb. each. We had a 10-ton hammer, as large as in the country in those days. It had a 10-ton tup | was double-acting that is, steam was admitted on ff the piston to increase the downward velocity of ram and so the power of the hammer. The anvil ghed but 90 tons, which was far too light for such ammer. The die block was broken and patched. This nmer was employed in breaking down tire ingots well as in making all the largest forgings, but we i smaller hammers for the lighter ones. The largest rings made were of 10 tons weight finished, which ed for the largest size of ingots that we could make, ing a whole extra large heat of 28,000 lb. from our ton open-hearth furnace. Preparing the “Cheese’’ Containers For each cheese a can was made of a single sheet iron of Nu. 22 gage rolled into a cylinder with the nt riveted with five or six rivets about 3/16 in. in meter. The edges at both ends were bent inward so to give a rounded edge to the cheese of about % in. is. The bent edges also helped to preserve the ie cylindrical shape of the can in handling and set ng for casting. These tire ingots were bottom cast rroups of four on one bottom plate provided with a ntral runner from which the steel was distributed the molds through runner bricks in the usual manner. an was placed over each runner opening and around vas set a cylinder of boiler iron % in thick, about 4 arger in diameter and 3 or 4 in. taller than the can. space between the can and surrounding cylinder filled with dry sand level with the top of the can. each can was placed a heavy cast iron disc having sing conical central hub containing a riser cavity it 10 in. high, which served also as an air vent. se discs were clamped down to resist the upward sure of the steel against them. We knew little of pipes and nothing at all of segre- yn at that time but the method of subsequent manu- ture practiced—the punching out of a cake of metal the center—removed some of the unsound central around the pipe which each ingot must have had, e remainder, lying in use against the wheel cen- here it was not subjected to wear, did no particu- irm. The best metal was on the outside where it anted to take the wear on the tread of the wheel. er cast on had a thickness of 2 in. tapering to ich was not large enough to feed the solidifying is it settled. It was broken off by a blow with » and thrown into the scrap for remelting. Flexibility in Ingot Weights rreat advantage of this method was that ingots weight could be made as desired, which was im- ecause one ingot made one tire. They weighed ‘10 to 1200 lb. each. The size of the can was suit, while everything else about the casting tus was unchanged. In those days iron was than steel, so the can in being wasted in heat- forging replaced so much steel without adding ‘ost. The fusion point of the iron can being than that of steel, the can would remain solid fter being filled with molten steel which welded HIBBARD to it nearly all over. At that time, at one other plant located in the West, cast iron cylindrical molds were used for casting single tire ingots. Several sizes of different diameters were kept on hand with top plates to suit. The exact weights were obtained by adjusting the height of the cast iron top plate, which was of a size to fit loosely inside the mold. For general forging purposes long cylindrical ingots were made, the cans in which they were cast being made of sheet iron of No. 16 gage. Such ingots under 18 in. in diameter had no visible structural defects and were smooth and satisfactory, though of course it is now clear that they had concealed pipes. In the larger sizes, with diameters of from 24 to 28 in. and lengths of from 10 to 12 ft., the cans wrinkled longitudinally but irregularly in casting and the ingots were likely to develop cracks under and along some of the wrinkles in the forging operation. The wrinkles were formed by the expansion of the can itself when heated by the molten steel, as it could not enlarge, its circumference being firmly imbedded in the incompressible sand and therefore forced to buckle, so that the wrinkles resulted. Why a crack should develop under and along a wrinkle was not understood, but the fact of their presence was indisputable. Preventing Wrinkles and Cracks The can-maker was an ingenious man and he one day conceived the idea of making a can with a longi- tudinal slip joint to take up the expansion of the can and so prevent the formation of wrinkles. The first ingot cast in such a can had fewer and shallower wrinkles than any previously made and showed that the cure had been found, as in ingots without wrinkles there were no cracks. A number of kinds of slip joints were tried and one finally adopted as standard. In that joint the usual rivets of the longitudinal joint were re- placed by short stove bolts which could be tightened as much as was desired to hold the parts by friction and yet allow them to slip past one another when expansion took place. These bolts were spaced about 8 in. apart. In one edge of the joint horizontal slotted holes were cut in the sheet, which allowed a motion of 1% in. The other edge was punched to receive the stove bolts, reg- istering of course with the slots. Then on this other edge from end to end of the can a cover strip or plate of the same sheet iron was riveted on to keep the sand out of the opening between the edges 1% in. wide as well as the slots, the slotted edge lying between the two. This cover strip was hammered into a shallow Z cross-section to allow space between it and the can for the slotted edge to slide. That strip was about 5 in. wide and was of course punched for the stove bolts to pass through. All this was expensive but nevertheless it paid because of the time it saved at the hammer where in former practice each crack had to be cut out after having been isolated on a raised lump by ham- mering down the metal around it. Some smaller cracks were only removed by rough-turning the forging. The cans were later fitted with an expansion joint at the top end made on the same principle to take up the longi- tudinal or vertical expansion of the can. Ingots so cast were beautifully smooth and gave full satisfaction in the forge as far as cracks were concerned. Method for Forging Ingots As in the case of the tire ingots a forging can was placed within a strong cylinder and the space between the two was filled with dry sand. For the larger sizes old boiler shells which came in the scrap were used for outer casings. For smaller sizes we had a lot of heavy 465 ' hk a om A a fle aw gn cg EAE Sx ae aes Se ee eee i ee a fen “4 466 THE IRON wrought iron rings which had been reinforcing rings around the breeches of Parrott rifled guns in the Civil War. Small forging ingots were bottom cast and large ones, weighing 10 tons or more, were partly filled from the bottom and the remainder from the top. If wholly top-poured the can would be in danger of being cut or washed away somewhere, as the force of the stream of steel falling 20 ft. in extreme cases was very great. In fact, we lost one 12-ton ingot in that way, the can being cut through and the sand mixing with the steel. The method of first bottom-pouring and then top-pour- ing in sequence is still followed in teeming large ingots. To handle the ingots we had a jib hydraulic crane rated at 15 tons capacity, but the accumulator did not give enough pressure to lift a 28,000-lb. ingot. To lift such a weight the accumulator was shut off and the pump made to discharge directly into the crane line, which gave the pressure required. Hauling such an ingot to the forge shop was quite a feat, requiring a team of eight heavy draft horses. On the snow in the winter time a heavy sled, built for the purpose, was used, but when the ground was bare of snow the ingot was carried on a heavy truck. No railroad track could be used, though there were tracks in the yard. The great advantage of this method of casting in cans lies in its adaptability for making any weight or shape of ingot desired by the use of a can of the proper size. Otherwise an assortment of large cast iron molds would have been needed. Little Knowledge of Pipe Prevention Many large forgings for those days were made from ingots cast as described. Though they were readily made, they were not always satisfactory in use because of inadequate knowledge, at that plant at least, of piping and means for dealing with it, segregation, an- nealing and heat treatment and particularly because of faulty design on the part of the customers. A riser was cast on the upper end of each of the larger ingots to afford means of clamping on the porter bar and handles for manipulating the ingot during forging, giving the ingot the shape of a bottle. This riser was much too small to feed properly the settling steel and every one of the ingots must have had a large pipe cavity and unsound region at the top under the riser. I remember one short ingot about 3 ft. in diameter for a gun jacket for the Government. The machinist who bored it (there were no hollow forgings in those days) told me that a lot of the steel had fallen out in pieces from the center, which in my ignorance of pipe and gas holes I found hard to believe. I was chemist of the works at the time and naturally thought that I knew much more than I did. He spoke truly, however, for the ingot must have had a large pipe with surrounding un- sound metal which in forging must have been broken up. The silicon was not high enough to cause a perfect pipe to be formed. Our forging steel was usually of a grade which would stand, neither rising nor settling much. When we put in as much as 0.15 per cent of silicon, as we did for some special work, we called the product silicon We never did anything to obliterate or lessen pipe. However, at that time we made most of the large stee] forgings for this country and perhaps knew as much about making them as any plant this side of the ocean, though in Europe, I believe, from what I have since learned, they knew much more than we did. Still, one might say the whole art of making good larg Pieces in stock cut off the bottoms of large forgings made from ingots which were too large for the purpose were per- fectly clean and sound, with no seams or other defects, and excited the admiration and curiosity of a visiting friend employed in one of the great plants of the coun try where “tonnage” steel was made. To his inquiry as to how we did it, I could only mention the great pressure under which it was cast due to the head of metal above it, casually adding that of course the steel was properly made. steel. forgings has been learned since then. Cracks in Ingots Cast in Iron Molds When large cylindrical ingots were made in cast iron molds they were very liable to be cracked lengthwise, AGE February 16, 19: particularly near the bottom. This was due t ferrostatic pressure which forced the first skin of to freeze as solidification began, out against the hea and consequently expanding mold. The frozen ski) course, Was cooling and contracting at the same Now, freezing steel passes through a mushy stag which it has but slight coherence, and at that stag. freezing skin was liable to be torn apart in places, tears forming cracks. Clean, well-made steels crack less than impure, dirty, underdone steels but steel is liable to be cracked when cast in a la cylindrical cast iron mold. A cylinder does not of increase of volume without stretching its cir ference. Because of this tendency to crack, other cr sections of ingots were adopted in after years vary from polygons to coarsely corrugated contours. °1 polygons now usually made have slightly concaved sid and rounded corners. Any of these newer shapes lowed the frozen skin of the still fluid ingot to fol! and adapt itself to the mold without being torn apa or cracked. Ingots cast in cans are not liable to hay cracks due to pressure, as the mold does not expand tends rather to contract, due to the expansion of sand as it is heated. There is another great advantage beyond that preventing cracks, from having an ingot polygonal, or eight-sided. A cylindrical ingot, unless hammer: or forged with grooved dies, which prevent undu lateral spreading of the metal, is likely to be torn apa within, along or near the central axis, which defect is sometimes called a pipe, though it is of quite different origin from the pipe caused in casting by the settling of the freezing metal. The two kinds of pipe, when greatly drawn out by forging or rolling, may be much alike and justify the designation by the same name. The central tearing may be done to a perfectly sound ingot. The danger of it is greatly lessened if the ingot is polygonal, as the flat surfaces enable the metal to be worked more uniformly and to the center. A round ingot should be forged first into a polygonal shape, four, six or eight-sided for this reason, but it is advantageous to start with the ingot polygonal. Hard Spots in Forgings Another trouble that we had with our large forgings was that occasionally in turning them in the lathe hard spots in the metal were encountered which sometimes would break or crush the cutting edge of the turning tool. The machinist would stop his machine and cut them out with a cold or cape chisel, losing, of course, considerable time. The cause and cure of these hard spots we never learned, at least while I was there. Sometimes there were a few in a scattered group and in other cases dozens in a larger group, extending per- haps 2 or 38 ft. along the forging. They occurred in steel which had been thoroughly melted and in which no pieces of unmelted charge could have remained. Others who have found hard spots to be higher in carbon and manganese than the remainder of the metal have ascribed them to unmelted spiegel, which of course is extremely hard, but ours were certainly not due to that cause. One thing I noticed was that in forging which had been worked by the hammer less than usual, say to one-half of the diameter or one-quarter of area of cross-section, many of the hard spots adjoil and formed a part of the wall of gas holes not w! closed by the hot-working given the piece. This i! cated that they were formed by a sort of local segreg tion, as were the gas holes. Since then further know! edge of the structure of ingot steel leads one to supp that there may be local segregation between the pine tree crystals or dendrites which form in slowly freezing steel. In those days we knew little about casting t perature, simply aiming to have the steel hot en to east cleanly into the molds. The _ steel-maki methods used (pig and scrap bath with hot bl added) automatically regulated the degree of heat, that no precautions were taken to prevent the charg temperature rising too high. Since working by 0! methods where the charge temperature required | carefully controlled, I have imagined that those har spots were perhaps in steel cast too hot, which in 4 can surrounded by sand cooled so slowly that there was ruary 16, 1922 segregation of nonferrous elements between ystals. This explanation does not account, how- for the occurrence of hard spots in groups, and er the whole ingot, or even over the whole horizon | when they did occur. a cast iron ingot mold usually weighs as much ingot it will hold or more, a steel plant making forging ingots has necessarily a large invest- in its assortments of molds, which require great for their storage. Casting in cans obviates most expenditure and space required. recent years the method has been reinvented, iron being used in forming the risers on large some of them many times greater than the we made at the old New England plant. When id for the riser or hot top of such an ingot is THE IRON AGE 467 loam, sand or other refractory, the sudden heating by the inflowing steel will cause its inner sur- face material to expand, which may make it crack and spall off in places, the loose pieces falling into the liquid formed of The method of casting ingots in cans was patented by W. Dougherty, of Philadelphia, in 1873 (Patent No. 139778), the single claim of his patent reading: “The method of casting steel in wrought iron or other metal- steel below. This the sheet iron casing prevents. ¢ lic cases when the latter is of such thickness as to admit of the heat of the melted steel completely weld- ing the case to it ig above set forth. substantially as and for the purpose The patent was not well drawn and did not cover the case very well, as the welding of the can to the 1 + ingot was never complete 1918 to 1922 Course of Metal Workers’ Wages Pay Envelopes of Iron and Steel Workers, Car Repair Shops and Automobile Plant Operatives ) RING the past three years there have been numer- I sus changes in rates of wages of men employed in working plants. Figures of the United States iu of Labor Statistics show that in October, 1918, average semi-monthly wage in iron and steel plants iged $71.67 per man. This figure dropped grad- ‘ / Loft \ \7 ‘ ’ Ve \ , WAGES. ¥ 3 aw rvs s \ Tt t 4 4 \ a ‘ vs P , J XN ‘ } { j i of ¥ y 1! Qu 110 ~~ > pi Wages in Steel Mills, Automobile Factori« Building and Repairing Shops intil in July, 1919, it was $60.35. After this a or less steady increase brought the figure for er, 1920, to $80.24. Since that date the decline een well sustained, reaching low points in July September, 1921, with a slight recovery to $42.56 vember. e course of these changes in average wage, by month, is shown on the chart. ar figures for men engaged in the building and + of railroad cars show a trend quite different that of iron and steel workers. This is due to that many of these men, being employed di- y the railroads, have come within the wage nd other regulations put forward by the Govern- i hence have not félt to the same extent either f supply and demand or the contraction of f the past year. tober, 1918, these men were receiving an aver- $66.56 per half month, which figure dropped until in August, 1919, it was $51.08. After re was a well sustained rise so that, during months of 1920, the figure was between $62 There was a sudden rise from the $62.43 of $72.85 in August, due, of course, to the heavy rease allowed by the Railroad Labor Board at The figure held between $70 and $75 per half month through January, 1921, after which date it has fallen, due partly to the cutting out of some of the so called national agreements, until in November it stood at $60.26. This figure is 42 per cent higher than the pay of the iron and steel workers. Changes in the pay of automobile workers have followed to some extent the corresponding figures for iron and steel men, reaching a maximum in the same month and responding more closely to the law of supply and demand than in the case of the car builders. Automobile workers are paid by the week, but the figures, translated into semi-monthly totals by multiply- ing by 2 1/6, are as follows: In October, 1918, the amount was $61.45) hich is substantially lower than either the iron and’ stee! worker or the car builder was receiving. With mifior fluctuations this figure was maintained until the summer of 1919, being $63.85 during August. A higher range of pay then set in, fluctuating with con- ditions, but being consistently more than $65 per half month, until finally it reached $79.51 in October, 1920. With the collapse of the automobile market at that time, wages fell heavily, going as low as $51.78 in February, 1921. They have since gone up again, reaching $72.62 in May, but have again fallen to $60.45 in November. This is also 42 per cent higher than the steel worker’s November wage. In all the foregoing it is to be remembered that the unit figures are the quotients of total payrolls divided by the number of men employed. They, therefore, take into account overtime employment in some periods and short time employment in others, being thus not direct indications of wage rates at different times. The proceedings of a conference of the National Association of Office Managers held in October has been printed for distribution at $1 per copy. Among other describes at length the methods of nereasing office production through standardization, and there is a detailed analysis of the office manager’s job. A copy of the pamphlet, which has 56 pages, may be obtained by applying to the secretary of the asso- ciation, F. L. Rowland, Gilbert & Barker Mfg. Co., Springfield, Mass. +h | LL] hings the booklet Business is picking up in Bridgeport Conn. The Challenge Cultery Co. is to double its working force, the Union Metallic Cartridge Co. is to go on a five day per week schedule, the Bridgeport Metal Goods Co. on a five and one-half days schedule, and other in- dustries other than the machine tool report better business. The Bridgeport Metal Goods Co. received more business in January than it did during the first six months of 1921 tie A nid ; x a Se y RRO boone a or od : . . . . ‘ . * , . ‘ey ’ : : . a ee ee oe Baan’ Os Ai AER Ne - a et ae nublag ‘ a Welding Rods for Oxy-Acetylene Weldin Their Selection and Composition as a Factor in Successful Results on Steel—Welding Cast Iron—Copper and Brass Welding NTIL very recent years little scientific welding been done and, although much has of late been accomplished toward improvement in welding rods and the welding art, there remains resear¢ h ha great opportunity for advancement, especially in the direction of the desgin of rods best suited to variou requirements. ‘TL. has been my privilege to conduct in collaboration with my associates and to clos¢ ly observe a consider able number of tests in connection with certain inves- tigations of standard commercial welding rods, as well as of experimental rods of various compositions, and this paper is based on information thus obtained. Fig. 1—A Macrograph Shows Filled in Weld Metal and Its Junction wit the Original Stee Pl Humphrey's cupric oride etching reagent was used, and the weld metal was ide ¢ Ke treatment Great strides have been made in perfecting the ap paratus used in this industry and in improving the quality of the gases and the facilities for their eco- nomical distribution. These higher quality welding materials enable the operator to obtain correct mix- tures of the gases and to maintain a close control of the flame. This feature is important, because variations in the intensity of the flame or the use of incorrect gas mixtures lowers the quality of the weld. It is only recently that the importance of the cor rect selection of the welding rod has received any con siderable share of the recognition tha