The Iron Age 1923-09-13: Vol 112 Iss 11

ESTABLISHED 1855 Pry Ieermar AMT A) ef? xe - G % ¥ ‘Z a 2a ; % 3 : is > La ad é z _ _ e's Sek. > ww « at New York, September 13, 1923 VOL, 112, No. 11 Furniture—An Important New Use for Steel Simmons Company at Kenosha Plant Has Inaugurated Compre- hensive Program for Manufacture of Complete Bed Room Suites from Steel BY GILBERT L. LACHER N new uses for rolled steel are to be found one of the greatest promises for the continued growth of an industry which owes much of its present high state of development to the uninterrupted expansion in the utilization of the metal for an ever increasing diversity of purposes. Uses for steel which are still relatively new, now take a large proportion of the ton- nage rolled in American mills. The all-steel railroad car, the automobile and the fabricated steel skyscraper are all products of the last two or three decades. The use of steel for beds was also developed during that period and in relatively recent years the manufacture of steel office furniture had its inception. Now steps are being taken which forecast the use of steel for manufactur- ing all articles of furniture which are now made from wood. It is not surprising that the first to enter this broad field is the Simmons Co., New York, long a leading Steel Bed Room Furniture in the Finished State 665 "™% 666 Frames are Fabricated by 1 A The workman is shown br factor in the metal bed industry. ting Together Tubing Cut to Proper Length on As late as March are made from No. 20 gage cold-finished patent-leveled THE IRON AGE September 13, 1923 the second and third stories for f manufacturing, the fourth for *% packing, and the fifth and sixth for finishing. Dressers, chiffo- niers and dressing tables will be made in this building and the remaining pieces will con tinue to be produced in the main works pending the erection of further additions which, ac- cording to present plans, will comprise three structures of the same size as the one now beiny built. The materials used for mak- ing the furniture consist largely of two classes of steel, cold- finished sheets and cold-rolled strip steel. The framework of each piece is made from seam- less tubing electrically welded, which is drawn from No. 20 and No. 28 cold rolled strip in widths ranging from 8 in. down to 2 in. Five shapes of tubing are used for most of this work. Irregular shapes used, for ex- ample, for certain designs of legs and mirror posts, are formed from tubing in swaging 1e joints together with an acetylene torch machines. The tops of the fur- niture and the fronts of doors +) “Sea of this year experiments were initiated which have led black sheets. The sides, backs and bottoms are formed tr +} a production basis. This work 1e inauguration of steel furniture manufacture on from No. 24 gage cold-finished black sheets. The pro been done at the’ portions of sheets and strip steel used are in the ratio company’s parent plant at Kenosha, Wis., and so well of 60 to 40. satisfied is the management with the results achieved The amount of steel used for a bedroom suite, ex- that it is now constructing a large new factory build- clusive of the: beds, averages 750 lb. Upon the com ing there which will be devoted entirely to this new pletion of the new plant within the next few months | we branch of its business. Thus far only bedroom furni- production will be raised to 300 suites a day, requiring ture has been made, but it is not unreasonable to assume that the same advantages which led to the manufacture of cham- ber suites will cause steel to be employed also in making other classes of household furniture. The present program, even though limited to bedroom fur- niture, is a comprehensive one, including nine distinct suites, consisting of ten or eleven sep- arate pieces, exclusive of beds. The different articles made com- prise dresser, chiffonier, chiffo- rette, chifforobe, full vanity, semi-vanity, bench, chair, rocker, bedside table and dressing table. In some of the suites the dressing table is omitted. Special pieces include grip stand, writing desk, and a combination wardrobe and desk known as a chiffro- desk. The present production of these articles is 300 pieces a day, but with the completion of the new plant building next winter the output will be in- creased ten-fold. This struc- ture, now under construction, will be 100 x 280 ft. and six stories high. The first floor will he used for the storage of steel, ee L ee ae seteaibehen NIE ictientainatine ed a i The Drawer Frames and the Bottom Frame of the Dresser are Fitted with Corner Pillars, Forming a Framework Which Is Inverted on a Jig and Brazed Togethe! : The workman is shown brazing one of the joints Sa Tin aat AS September 13, 1923 225,000 lb. At this rate the consumption of steel an- nually will be 20,250 tons of sheets and 13,500 tons of strip. This, of course, is only a beginning and does not indicate the great possibilities for the expansion of the industry. Offhand, it might be assumed that steel, while adapted fer the simpler designs of furniture, could not be put on a competitive basis with the hardwoods for types of products in which beauty of finish and grace of lines are embodied. At first glance, this seems a logical assumption and probably explains why the pos- sibilities of steel for this purpose were not developed long before this. Needless to say the Simmons Co. did not make the new venture until it had satisfied itself that intricacies of design and excellence of finish are not insurmountable obstacles to the successful employ- ment of steel for furniture. In developing its metal beds it had made great progress in improving the finish of its product. It was not until this year, however, that it succeeded in pro- ducing what is known as a piano finish and in simulating the grain of hard wood so that it could not be distinguished from the genuine except by the most experienced eye. Of course, the thought occurs that there is often initial prejudice against an imitation merely because it is an imitation, but this consideration is outweighed by what are regarded as more important factors. From the standpoint of finish, for example, steel has a marked advantage over wood. Steel can stand the high temperatures necessary for the baking of enamel—something which is impossible with wood. When giving steel furniture a so-called wood finish, the first operation is to put on a priming coat of a solid color. Then workmen of great skill paint on the coarser grain. The next step is to give the piece an- other solid coat of darker hue, following which the finer grain is put on. This is accomplished by drawing brushes intermittently across the surface, the brushes serving to remove the second solid coat and to expose the first in a fine stippled effect. Both of the graining operations are entirely free hand with the consequence that the work entirely lacks the artificial appearance of a printed or stenciled grain. After the priming and graining, the furniture is given one, two, or three coats of varnish, depending on the selling price of the suite. After each coat of var- nish has been applied the furniture is placed on small THE IRON AGE 667 tray cars and run into kilns where it is baked one hour at 300 deg. Fahr. Following the final baking, the fur- niture is given a “pummy” rub and then it is polished. Furniture is also enameled in solid colors, in which case it is baked at 180 to 200 deg. Fahr. for four to five hours, subsequently receiving the same pummy rub- bing and polishing as the wood-finish pieces. The enamels and varnishes baked in kilns are obviously At Left The Top f the Dresser I! Made Separate With Careful At tention to Deader ening The t | eet is l 1 ‘ i work be h bottom side up ! the frame and st feners are braze ind = soldered ints place Underneath the stiffening men b s strip deadening materia rr workme! i hown soldering th stiffener h p } t Below After Being Assem ble« the Framework the D>res eT ] Turned Right Sid more permanent and more impervious to abuse than any finish which can be put on wood. A forgotten cigarette left on a piece of steel furniture will burn itself out without spoiling the finish. No perfume or ordinary cleanser will damage it. In addition to possessing an advantage in finishing possibilities, steel is also far more substantial than 668 Caster spindles will not split the legs of steel furniture. Rough handling will not loosen the mem- bers of any piece, nor cause chipping and marring which require refinishing. Changes in temperature do not affect the easy sliding qualities of drawers. Notwithstanding that the danger of damage has been reduced to a minimum, construction of the furniture is such as to permit the easy removal of tops and sides wood. for replacement from the company’s stocks of spare parts. An important feature of construction should not be overlooked is that the cheapest bedroom suite differs not one iota from the most expensive in strength and durability. The lower price is not, as in the case of wood, an indication of less substantial con- struction; it merely means a less intricate design per- haps, or fewer coats of finish. steel which The fabrication of steel furniture can best be de- scribed by following the various operations in the manufacture of one of the commoner pieces —a dresser. The drawing of the tubing is done on a roy- alty basis and this work at the instance of the patentee is kept secret. From the time the tubing comes from the mill there are 280 separate operations on a dresser before it is ready for painting and enameling. Many of these are done on punch presses, there being fully forty power presses for the furniture department alone, not counting those employed on bed work. The presses, of course, employ a large number of dies to perform the numerous operations required on both the tubing All sheets go through a patent level- ind the sheets. Top the Over the Brazing A Frame Is of the Slipped Drawer Before Top Corners ing process before they receive any other treatment. This is a stretehing process which takes out all waves in the surface of the metal, and is performed on a spe- cial machine built by the Torrington Mfg. Co., Torring- ton, Mass., in which the power for stretching is sup- plied by hydrostatic pressure up to 3000 lb. After the various parts of a dresser have been formed, they are brazed, welded and bolted together. The first fabricating operation is the forming of the drawer frames. This is accomplished by fitting to- gether tubing cut to the proper length, on a jig and then brazing the joints with an acetylene torch, using borax as a flux. The bottom frame is similarly assem- THE IRON AGE September 13, 1923 bled on a jig, following which a bottom sheet is elec- trically welded to the frame members. Then the corner pillars are fitted into the bottom and drawer frames, whereupon the resulting framework is inverted on a jig and brazed together. Only the front corners, Where a dresser undergoes the greatest strain, are lock-jointed, the back corners of the frames being brazed butt up against the pillars. The legs of the dresser, it is to be noted, are integral with the corner pillars and are hol- low at the extremities so that casters may be inserted or removed at will. The taper in the legs is formed by cutting triangular pieces out of two opposite corners of the four corners of the tubing and then pressing the Are . As- from Five Separate Sheet Stampings Front, Back, Bottom and Sides. The workman is shown hanging Dresser Drawers sembled Entirely the lipped sides on to the bot- tom. When he has assembled the drawer he brazes the bot- tom corners edges together and steel welding them. After welding, the tapered surface is ground and polished. Following the assembling of the framework of the dresser, it is turned right side up and the sheets form- ing the sides and back are slid in from the top through grooves in the corner pillars. The top is made sepa- rately with careful attention to deadening so that it will not give forth a metallic sound upon impact with another object. The top sheet, which is stamped out so that it has lips extending at right angles from it on the front and sides, is laid on a flat work bench for the insertion of the frame. The main frame, consisting of four pieces of rectangular tubing laid inside the four September 13, 1923 oe gia Bolts Projecting from the Mirror Posts Are Use to Fasten Mirror to Dresser A brace extending fron the base rail into a socket in the back of the makes the construction ever les of the top sheet, is brazed together and to th : ide of the lips of the sheet at the corners. Then three é irrow strips of deadening material are laid parallel engthwise across the bottom of the top sheet, and three cross braces of tubing are superimposed on the strips. [he next step is the soldering of the braces to the top sheet. Two cups, or “locating pommels” are the rear corners to locate the top accurately when brazed bs inverted on the framework of the dresser. To neu is . * . , 4 + J tralize the acid used before applying the solder to the 4 races, the entire bottom of the top is thoroughly ainted after it has been assembled. To permit of the isy removal of the top from the framework of the resser, bolt fastenings are used. Dresser drawers are assembled entirely from sheet stampings—front, back, bottom and ides. The stampings are provided with lips on edges which fit together, while those edges which remain ex- osed in the assembled drawer are rolled to prevent t! itting of fingers or the tearing of clothing. In assembling a drawer the initial operation is th« fitting together of the five parts. The bottom stamping first placed bottom side up on a flat top frame. On top of this stamping is placed a sheet of deadening material and then the side stampings are hung on. \fter the lipped front and back pieces have been fitted eparate er the sides, the bottom stamping is brazed at the yrners to the other four pieces. The drawer is ther turned right side up and a frame is slipped over it ld the top corners firmly together for brazing 30th the frames used in assembling are made treme care, as it is essential that drawers be assem- led accurately within 1/32 in. to fit the drawer frames After the corners of the drawer have the lips with the dresser. en brazed both at the bottom and at the top, rojecting over the corners are electrically spot welded 'o facilitate this operation indentations are made the lips of the stampings before they reach the drawe1 assembling department. To prevent the deadening heet from bulging out from the bottom of the drawer, a retainer button located in the center of the deadener s spot welded to the drawer. The advantage of steel construction over wood is THE IRON AGE 669 again apparent in the which the mirror posts are fastened to the dresser. Bolts from the mirror posts pass through the base rail and engage nuts in the framework of the dresser. The posts are fastened to the base rail by set screws located in the back of the rail. These screws hold in place a pommel in which the mirror post is anchored. The effect of the pommel is to hold the post securely to the rail without prevent- ing one from turning the post when screwing the fast- ' ening bolt into the framework of the dresser. A brace extending from the middle of the bottom of the base rail is inserted in a the back of the dresser and is then bolted to the framework. This method of fastening is so secure that a dresser may be pulled by a post across a bedroom without loosening post or base rail a particle The mirrors are held ening plates bolted on the back. manner in a socket 1n in their frames by small fast This method of hold- ing the glass is more secure than fastening with fin- ishing nails tacked against cardboard, such as is th« ie practice with wooden frames, and at the same time per mits the quick removal! of the mirror for replacement The advantage of steel construction is even more 7 pronounced for some bedroom pieces of less compact design than a dresse) Dressing tables, for example, : have long spindly legs which, when constructed wood, frequently get out of true or are loosened to the extent of necessitating repairs. In steel construc ; tion the legs are screwed on and extend the entire dis : tance from the floor to the top of the table, being inchored in sockets in the inside of the corners of the te lrawer frames. This insures a maximum of rigidity , ind enables the steel dressing table to stand fully te: times as much weight as a wooden table. In such minor particulars as embossed decora | tions, steel furniture is also superior to its woode1 4 ym petitor Rosettes on wooden furniture are eithe aa irved from wood or die cast from wood pulp. In ae : rg: co The Lips Projecting Over the Corners of the Drawer / Are Electrically Spot Welded + Se aA ’ ™~ 670 THE IRON AGE either case, the rosette is glued to the furniture. Ro- settes used on steel furniture, on the other hand, are die cast from brass and are riveted in place. Throughout all assembling operations prior to enameling, the steel parts used are kept thoroughly coated with oil to prevent rusting. AUGUST STEEL OUTPUT Daily Rate 4294 Tons Less Than in July—Year’s Rate About 42,380,000 Tons Another low record for the year for steel ingot pro- duction, measured by daily rate, was registered in August Despite the fact that this month’s total ex- ceeded July, the daily rate was 4294 tons per day less, or 136,276 tons compared with 140,570 tons, due to the larger number of working days—27 for August against 25 for July. According to statistics gathered by the American [ron and Steel Institute the August production of com panies which made 95.35 per cent of the country’s total was 3,508,347 gross tons. This means a total for the country of 3,679,441 tons or 136,276 tons per day—a decline of 21,500 tons per day since the peak in April. The tables follow in gross tons: Vonth Productio of Nteel Ingots, January, 1922 to December, 1922, Reported by Companies which made 84.15 ‘ t of the Steel Ingot Production in 1922 Approximate Calculated daily monthly produc produc tion all Ml | (pe All ion ali companies 192 ea other companies Gross tons Jar 60.809 %22 1.891.857 12,764 Feb 15,8 616 2,071,772 $6,324 Mar 1.918570 i9 ?814,667 104,247 Api 1.997.465 1.109 > 902.940 116,090 May 214,774 1,474 7 119,215 Jur 143.708 2 G18 120,299 Jul 020,572 2,48 118,112 Aug LSOT 311 > &9 97.380 Se} 1,911,147 50 108,39 on 2,352,207 2,198 131,164 Nov 2,360,903 i 2,449 3,430,309 131.93 Dec 2,241,104 136,214 2,572 3,300,416 132,017 Total 624,404 5,469,213 22,836 34,568,418 111,511 Vonthly Production of Steel Ingots, January, 1923, fo fugqust, 1923 Reported fo 1923 by Companies which made 95.35 pe cent of the Steel Ingot Production in 1922 Approximate Calculated daily monthly produc- produc - tion all Mont} Open All tion all companies 1923 hearth Bessemer other companies Gross tons Jan 2 906,892 728,270 9,467 3,822,369 141,569 Feb ? 613.564 669,903 10,797 3.454.918 143.955 Marct 046,309 799,525 12,841 4,046,854 149,883 April 2,974,579 172,485 13,933 3,944,412 157,776 May 3,136,558 847,418 16,719 4,195,800 155,400 June >.821,.Ze0: 737,845 15.483 748.890 144,188 Tuls 2658,449* 680,884 11,496 14,241* 140,570° Aug 2 797,962 701,059 9,326 3,679,441 136,276 & Mo 29 O55 9 IBIT289 100.06 50,406,925 146,187 *} Plant Operations in Alabama 3IRMINGHAM, ALA., Sept. 10.—Repairs are being rushed on the blooming mill of the big Ensley steel plant of the Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Co. The Gulf States Steel Corporation has plenty of basic iron to supply four open-hearth furnaces while the blast furnace is being repaired. The Ingalls Iron Works and other steel fabricating plants here are busy on structural steel work. The Louisville & Nashville Railroad announces placing an order for 50,000 tons of steel rails, delivery during first half of 1924 in equal monthly installments with the Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Co., Birming- ham. Intimation is given that further orders may be placed by the road. Two blast furnaces are under repairs in this State, the Gulf States Steel Co.’s stack at Gadsden, and the Shelby Iron Co.’s charcoal iron producer at Shelby. What of the cost and weight of steel furniture as compared with the wooden product? Costs are suffi- ciently low to permit the Simmons Co. to sell at lower prices than those quoted on high-grade hardwood fur- niture. The weight of steel furniture is only 12 per cent greater than that of hardwood. The Sloss-Sheffield Steel & Iron Co. will not start up the two furnaces blown out last month until the d mand improves and a considerable part of its iron ir the yards has been removed. Machine Tool Exhibition at Yale University The machine tool meeting and exhibition to be held at Yale University, New Haven, Sept. 18 to 20, will provide the following papers: Tuesday, Sept. 18, 8 p. m., “Yale and the Machine Tool Industry,” by Prof Charles H. Warren, dean of the Sheffield Scientifi School; “Broader Aspects of Machine-Tool Applica tion,” by H. L. Seward, professor of mechanical engi- neering, Sheffield Scientific School. Sept. 19, 8 p. m., “The Origins of Machine-Tool Building,” by J. W. Roe, professor of industrial engineering, New York Uni versity, and president of the Society of Industrial En gineers; “An Industrial Birthplace of Pioneer Machin: Builders,” by Guy Hubbard, engineer, National Acme Co., Windsor, Vt. Sept. 20, 8 p. m., “Operating Demonstra- tion of New Machine Tools,” by E. P. Bullard, Jr., president Bullard Machine Tool Co., Bridgeport, Conn., who will introduce the Contin-U-Matie chucking and turning machine, It will be recalled that the meeting will be held unde: the joint auspices of the New Haven section of th: American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the New Haven Chamber of Commerce and the mechanical engi- neering department of Yale University. The commit- tee in charge is as follows: A. C. Jewett, chairman, A. F. Breitenstein, E. B. Crawford, Starr H. Barnum, N. E. Horn, C. E. Hulse, H. L. Seward, J. S. String, E. O. Waters, George E. Wood, S. W. Dudley and J. D. Marsh. Coal Operators Oppose Assignment of Cars for Mine Purposes WASHINGTON, Sept. 11.—Bituminous coal operators through a special committee on transportation last week filed a brief with the United States Coal Commis- sion in which it was declared that the only effective remedy for the transportation problem, as it applies to the soft coal industry, “is the prevention of nation-wid« strikes in the mine and rail industries.” It was de clared that shortages of the greatest duration and vio lence, in coal and transportation, have proceeded from strikes of national combinations of mine and rail work ers. While it was stated that increased transportatio! would mitigate these shortages, it would not prevent them. Request was made by the operators that ther be no assignment of cars for railroad fuel and that during periods of car shortage no open top cars be ful nished wagon mines. It was urged that railroads r¢ ceiving loaded coal cars from connections during periods of coal car shortage return an empty car fo! each loaded car received. The operators also suggested, as a means of protecting the supply of open cars, that every railroad engaged in coal traffic furnish its sharé of open top cars and keep the coal moving over its lines The National Association of Farm Equipment Manufacturers will hold its thirtieth annual convention at Cleveland, at the Hotel Statler, Oct. 24 to 26 inclu- sive. Among subjects which will be discussed are the simplification of agricultural machinery and machinery parts, transportation as it affects the implement indus- try, domestic and foreign trade, and modifications o! the Federal Reserve Act in the light of recently enacted rural credits legislation. September 13, 1923 September 13, 1923 THE IRON AGE 67) LARGE FLANGING PRESS tween the top and moving platens. The inner nuts One-Piece Platens and Unique Valve Arrangement Are Features of 1200-Ton Unit What is believed to be the largest press employed in flanging locomotive heads and saddles has been built recently by the Birdsboro Steel Foundry & Machine for the Altoona shops of the Works, Birdsboro, Pa., Pennsylvania Railroad, which has found it tives. give greater evaporation than used heretofore necessary to increase the tractive power of its heaviest locomo- Boilers to generate higher steam pressures and have supporting the upper platen are in halves, the outer nuts being split on one side to permit the use of a wedge for slackening them while they are being raised or lowered in changing the clearances. Six different pressures may be exerted. The press has three main cylinders and plungers, each 26 in. in diameter, with a lift of over 6 ft. By admitting 1500 Ib. accumulator pressure to the center cylinder, 400 tons pressure will be exerted on the work. If pressure is admitted to the other two 26-in. cylinders simultane be exerted and by applying pres- 1200 obtained. may be exerted by using ously, 800 tons will sure to the Three additional three cylinders tons are pressures had to be designed. Larger and heavier plates and the four jack rams in conjunction with either of the fewer riveted joints have been found necessary to with- three pressure combinations noted. These rams are stand the increased loading and assure a high measure 9 in. in diameter, and are used also for raising and of safety. In building the press, two views of which are shown herewith, the design of the heavier parts and the prob motions of the moving platen while run and to perform light flanging. work from the dies an auxiliary controlling the ning idly up to the For stripping the work, lems involved in their transportation presented diffi- cylinder mounted on the center of the moving platen F< I ing Head Sac s ‘ we ; he Alt 1 Shoy f the I S\ i i Railroad e Bird : bor Ste Found : & Machine Work suilt Fou <i Column p Ma i chine of 00 Tor vs Capacity Ba re column n : diameter and 30 . n ler I 7 platens l x IS\ ft size, giv ing a flanging ft culties. The incorporation of single-piece machined open-hearth steel platens, made largely by new machine tool equipment, is a feature especially emphasized by the makers. The machine is the moving-up four-column type and has a capacity of 1200 tons, using an accumulator 1500 lb. per sq. in. The illustrations show the press on the erecting floor before shipment. When installed the machine will be placed in a founda- tion pit 18 x 25 x 18 ft., so that the floor level is slightly below the face of the middle platen, which is the mov- ing member. The operating levers in the foreground 3 indicate where the operator will stand. There are four columns, each of which is 13 in. in diameter and 30 ft. in length. The clearance between the columns is 15 ft. one way and 11 ft. 11 in. the other. The platens are 15 ft. x 18 ft. 3 in., which is ample to permit flanging of the largest steel plates, a flanging bed of 15 x 15 ft. being available. The top and mov- ing platens are provided with machined T-slots as shown, to permit of bolting of dies. The columns have long threads on the upper ends, thereby providing an adjustment of 12 ft. maximum to 5 ft. minimum be- possible pressure of and moving with it, is used. Hydraulic pressure is transmitted to this cylinder through a set of swivel joints. Controlling valves are of the balanced meta! seated type, and are of a size to reduce friction and obtain quick up and down speeds. The speed of lift ing and lowering the moving platen up and off the work is 25 ft. per min. Power saving devices include an arrangement for the prefilling of the three main cylinders with water taken from an auxiliary tank, not shown, located ap proximately 20 ft. above the floor, while accumulator pressure is applied to the jack rams only. It is claimed that in this way the platen is lifted through the full stroke by using approximately 80 gal. of 1500-lb. pres sure water, whereas if accumulator water were used on the three main cylinders, 500 gal. would be used. A unique valve arrangement, requiring precise ma- chine work, is incorporated. All the valves are hand operated, and have a minimum of packings. They have forged bored from the solid, and bronze spindles and seats. One three-way valve is used for raising, checking and lowering the stripper ram, and another three-way valve is for controlling the stripper steel bodies oy 672 THE IRON AGE ram and jack cylinders. A special valve is provided for filling, cutting off access to the tank, applying pressure, releasing pressure and exhausting the center main cylinder. A fourth valve, of large dimensions, is used for filling the two outside 26-in. cylinders, cut- ting off communication between these cylinders and the tank, applying the 1500 lb. pressure, releasing pressure and exhausting the two outside cylinders. The piping between the valves and the cylinders is either of open- hearth steel castings or double extra strength pipe. September 13, 1923 The press weighs more than 300 tons. It is of cast steel throughout except for the plungers, which are of chilled iron, ground and polished, and the tension bolts, which are of forged steel. The latter were forged from ingots, made in the Birdsboro company’s stee! foundry. The magnitude of the castings may be judged from the manner of shipping the three large platens, which were loaded on special 12-wheel well cars. With the required blocking and suspension devices, the shipping limits were within 2 in. Features of a French Automobile Plant Andre Citroen Installs Tube and Billet Mills—Rapid Handling of Cars by Paint Drying System turer of automobiles in Europe, has what un- doubtedly is in many respects the most complete automobile factory in the world in that he has been forced to make a larger number of his accessories than is necessary in this country. Thus he has established departments that few automobile concerns in this or any other country have had to include in their equipment. For instance, in order to obtain tubes drawn from the proper stock and of the proper diameter he put in a complete tube mill. One of the accompanying illustra- tions shows a piercing press which is used in piercing the billets for drawing the tubes. This is one of the hydraulic presses he used during the war for making shells. The plant also has a tube press which performs a second operation on the tubes, after which they pass the regular draw benches and are drawn to the re- quired diameter and thickness. The Citroen factory also had difficulty in obtaining certain forms of bar stock and hence had to install a small rolling mill and purchase billets to make the special composition bars required for certain parts of its automobiles. A view is given of one of the rolling units in this mill. The department is in reality a small jobbing rolling mill turning out stock of the exact specifications required by the engineers. This half tone also illustrates the constant tendency of the French to beautify their building by pleasing lines, the end of the building facing the street being ornamented with three arched windows. ; NDRE CITROEN, who is the largest manufac- Advisers from Industry for Carnegie Institute An advisory board of Pittsburgh business and scientific men has been organized to cooperate with the work of the department of mining and metallurgy of the Carnegie Institute of Technology. C. W. Heppen- stall, president Heppenstall Forge & Knife Co., has been elected chairman of the board which includes the presidents, managers and executives of 22 large indus- trial firms in the Pittsburgh district. The membership of the board includes, in addition to Mr. Heppenstall: F. B. Bell, president Edgewater Steel Co., Oakmont, Pa.; Earl Blough, technical direc- tor Aluminum Co. of America; V. B. Brown, general superintendent Allegheny Steel Co.; E. L. DeMare, manager Union Electric Steel Co.; A. N. Diehl, gen- eral superintendent Duquesne Steel Works, Carnegie, Pa.; George H. Faunce, president Pennsylvania Smelt- ing Co.; A. C. Fieldner, United States Bureau of Mines; W. C. Fownes, Jr., Standard Seamless Tube Co.; J. O. Handy, Pittsburgh Testing Laboratory; F. B. Huf- nagel, president Pittsburgh Crucible Steel Co.; Roy A. Hunt, vice-president Aluminum Co. of America; T. D. Lynch, Westinghouse Electric & Mfg. Co.; D. A. Lyons, chief metallurgist and supervisor of experimental sta- The plant also has a complete electrical department in which are made the magnetos, the starters and all of the electrical equipment necessary for the car. The French market still calls for individuality in cars, so that a plain japanned finished car cannot be sold to every Frenchman. In order to take care cf the drying of the paint in specially painted bodies which have to be given a con- siderable number of coats, with the necessary rubbing down after each coat, it has been necessary to in- stall a paint drying system and a view of this is pre- sented. The paint drying ovens are arranged in bat- teries with four in a line and two high, and the cars are put into the ovens by the use of power-driven transfer cars which bring in the automobile opposite the oven in which it is to go. It is then put on an ele- vator and can be run directly across this and into the lower tier of ovens or lifted and run into the upper tier of the ovens. fl In the illustration (on the next page) the elevator in the foreground is delivering a car into the lower tier of ovens, while the elevators in the background are de- livering into the upper tier of ovens. Similar elevators are. arranged at the other end of the ovens for taking the cars out and passing them through to the rubbing departments. The equipment as installed makes it pos- sible to handle the cars very rapidly, and by the proper control of the humidity in the ovens a rapid drying of the paint is assured, and at the same time the paint is so manipulated as to give a long life surface. tions, United States Bureau of Mines; C. F. W. Rys, chief metallurgical engineer Carnegie Steel Co.; F. N. Speller, chief metallurgical engineer National Tube Co.; S. G. Stafford, vice-president Vulcan Crucible Steel Co., Aliquippa, Pa.; B. N. Zimmer, manager American Zine & Chemical Co.; F. I. Gaston, Jones & Laughlin Steel Co; Sidney A. Grayson, general man- ager Jessop Steel Co., Washington, Pa.; O. J. H. Hart- suff, general superintendent Edgar Thomson works, Carnegie Steel Co., Braddock, Pa.; W. E. Moore, presi- dent Pittsburgh Electric Furnace Corporation; and the following officials of Carnegie Institute of Tech- nology: Dr. Thomas S. Baker, president; W. E. Mott, director College of Engineering; Fred Crabtree, head of the department of mining and metallurgical engi- neering; F. F. McIntosh, associate professor of metal- lurgy. Cast Iron Pipe Produced in June and July According to figures collected by the Department of Commerce, the June production of cast iron pipe was 81,208 tons, while the shipments amounted to 88,- 318 tons. Orders for pipe to be shipped from stock September 15, 1925 THE IRON AGE 673 ‘ s : >= . > Above: Rolling Mill at the Citroen Auto- obile Plant in Paris. This mill produces of special composition required for : the Citroen car . Press at the Left Was Built in War Time for Shell Forgings, But Is Now Used : for Piercing Billets to Prepare Them for the Tube Mill Below Handling ypliances for Auto mobile Bodies The pain rying oven ire arranged in batteries of four and double decked so there are eight oven ‘ ! 1 batter and in front of the there al elevators and transfer shown which handle pidly as they go in and o drying ovens > ” A s iggregated 17,905 tons; orders for pipe to be made on In both cases the great bulk (in number of pieces) ‘ rder reached 199,271 tons, while orders for pipe not consisted of 6-in. and 4-in. pipe, in that order, with ; specified as to sizes reached 4366 tons. 8-in. in third position; 12-in. and 10-in. pipe came next ; Similar figures for July production included 79,528 These five sizes covered nearly 95 per cent of the num- as ns of pipe produced and 77,828 tons shipped. Orders ber of pieces involved. The largest size listed was 72 i inder the classifications above aggregated respectively in., of which seven pieces were called for in June and ‘ 16,839 tons, 183,130 tons and 4215 tons. three in July. ie <i a <e, 674 THE IRON AGE MAKING OPEN-HEARTH BOTTOM 4 Machine Which Economizes in Time and Materials Without the labor-saving devices developed in the past two decades there could have been no such prog- ress in the elimination of the 12-hr. day in the steel industry as already has been made. Not enough workers could have been found in so short a time to man a third shift in the continuous processes, had hand labor been employed in the old way. The charg- ing machine for open-hearth furnaces, the skip hoist, pig-casting machine and bin system at blast furnaces have been fairly revolutionary. Among more recent developments in this category is the syndolagger, a mechanical device for making and repairing slag lines and bottoms of open-hearth furnaces. The machine is operated by means of compressed air and a small electric motor. It conveys refractory At Rig Syndo- igZ il Ac n R ball ng Sila Lit \ ro. a Wa I é doc neé d ! t igt I S ! f ZZ I LLlOW Sé \ he 4 ng I rl where a i t s ‘ n two doors ‘ pened I full ultar susly Below The Machine and Crew The air and power connections be noted material, %-in. and under in size, from a steel tank through a 2%-in. hose and nozzle into the furnace and is sufficiently flexible to repair slag lines along the back wall, port ends and front wall, the latter being reached by use of a curved nozzle. It also may be used for repairing puddle holes in the bottom of the furnace. The Basic Products Co., Pittsburgh, holds the patents on the machine, which has been in opera- tion in the plant of the Trumbull Steel Co., Warren, Ohio, for more than a year. The illustration shows one of the two machines which have been in use at that plant. The tank has a capacity of 13,000 lb. of refractory material, which can be discharged at the rate of 500 lb. to 1500 Ib. per minute. When the machine is put to use it is conveyed from the filling bins and placed in front of the furnace by the overhead crane serving the charg- ing floor of the furnace department. The floor is provided with the necessary air and power connections and the setting up of the machine preparatory to use is a matter of a few minutes. Repairing slag lines and bottoms of furnaces is one of the most arduous tasks of open-hearth workmen. In the average plant, having furnaces capable of pro- September 13, 1923 ducing from 75 to 125 tons a heat, from six to eight men are engaged in repairing furnace walls and bot- toms after the tapping of each heat. If more than an hour elapses between the tapping and charging pe- riods, the excess is referred to as “lost time.” Such lost time generally is computed to be worth $1 a minute. Men who have the interest of their company at heart, or who realize that their bonus is based upon the steel] produced, do not loaf, therefore, while furnaces are being prepared for an additional heat. At the Trumbull Steel Co. plant, the aVerage time between tapping and charging has been cut down from the arbitrary period of one hour to that of 30 minutes since the syndolagger was introduced. Frequently the elapsed time is less than 15 minutes. In a plant in the Pittsburgh district having furnaces of like ca- pacity to those at Warren, Ohio, it takes seven men slightly over 30 minutes to make the necessary refrac- tory repairs after each heat. They shovel in about 13,000 lb. of refractory material, including 4000 lb. of burned and 9000 lb. of raw dolomite. The sam work at the Trumbull Steel Co. plant, under corresponding furnace conditions, is completed in less than 10 minutes with the machine. Where the making of bottoms is a manual operation, it is usually necessary to raise two of the furnace doors simultaneously; with the machine only one door is opened and that just enough to permit the insertion of the nozzle and to enable the operator to see what he is doing. This permits a considerable conserva tion of heat and protects furnace walls and roof from sudden change in temperature. In most plants where lining repairs are made by hand the furnace is allowed to empty before the work begins; with the use of the machine, the front wall slag line is rebuilt while the steel is going into the ladle. With the use of the machine, none of the crew engaged in bottom making is exposed to direct heat for more than five minutes, while the shoveling method usually keeps the men in front of the furnace almost constantly for at least 30 minutes. The saving of man power is readily apparent. The consumption of refractories at the Trumbull plant has been reduced appreciably by the use of the machine. A study of reports showing the con- sumption of lining materials at numerous open-hearth steel plants indicates that the Trumbull company is using less than half as much refractory material as some other plants of similar type employing burned and raw dolomite. At one Central Western steel works having 75-ton furnaces, where raw stone is used almost altogether, more than 100 lb. of raw stone per ton of steel is shoveled into the furnace after each heat, and in addition some synthetic material. While the initial cost of raw stone is low, two tons of (Concluded on page 721) ~~. Steel Foundries and Cooperative Research Results Achieved Among Five Electric Plants in Opera- tions, Costs and Merchandising—New Uses for Thin Castings BY W. J. -N the United States it is estimated that industries are spending $70,000,000 every year for research, and that the expenditure results in a saving of $500,- 000,000 annually to the country. This saving is enor- mous when compared with the amount expended for carrying on industrial research investigations. Research investigations are not limited to a single ompany or corporation in an industry. Competitors with limited resources have begun to realize that great benefits can be derived by pooling their knowledge and experience for the purpose of conducting cooperative research work. Not so long ago, it was unheard of for competitors in an industry to get together and ex- change opinions and results of their experience. Divul- gence of these assumed trade secrets to competitors was thought to be a gift of some of the assets of those companies. Fortunately, such old-fashioned ideas have been cast aside, and it is probably safe to assume that the most progressive and broad-minded industrial- ists and business men are always willing to exchange ideas with one another even though they be competitors. Some of the direct results to be obtained by research and cooperation in industry may be said to be the following: 1. Decreased costs of production and elimination of waste. 2. Improvement of present processes and products and lopment of new processes and products Standardization of manufacturing operations, qualify products and methods of analysis and control 1. Development of new uses for known products Development ef efficient merchandising methods It does not require a very vivid imagination to realize that some or all of the above results should be the outcome of well directed cooperative research in- vestigations in an industry. [The author gives here an account of the formation and operation of the Electric Steel Founders’ Research Group, familiar to most readers of THE IRON AGE. ] Technical Cooperation and Research Inspection Standards.—One of the first steps taken by the Electric Steel Founders’ Research Group was to establish inspection standards which are uniform for all the five companies. These standards are much more rigid than those included in any commercial specifica- tions at the present time. Upon the adoption of these inspection standards, each company in the group in- ‘reased its inspection personnel or installed an inspec- tion department in order that there would be strict /bservance of the inspection standards. The inspection department at each plant is indirectly under the super- vision of the research director of the group, and the latter scrutinizes carefully the inspection methods dur- ng his periodic visits to the plants in order to ascertain if the quality of the castings is being maintained. The ultimate object aimed at by this procedure is the elimi- nation of extra finishing and cleaning and delays in as- sembling castings at plants of customers, by shipping to them castings that are clean and true to pattern. Sand for Cores —Research investigations on molding sand and core sand mixtures at Sivyer Steel Casting Co., Milwaukee, Wis., and at Fort Pitt Steel Casting Co., McKeesport, Pa., have furnished valuable data for practical use in the production of small steel cast- ings having thin sections. The sand used in a steel foundry making castings of intricate design and having *Abstract of a paper read before the Industrial Cost Association in Pittsburgh at its June meeting The author is industrial engineer of the Electric Steel Founders’ Re- search Group. 675 CORBETT* thin sections of metal must have the most exacting re- fractory qualities if clean castings are to be produced. It is necessary that the surface of the sand molds be able to withstand the tendency to fuse to the castings caused by the exceedingly high temperature of steel from the electric furnace. The sand must also have certain physical properties to prevent the formation of blow-holes in the castings. Definite information has been obtained from the experiments on molding and core sand mixtures, concerning the character of the raw sand, the method of mixing the sand in the foundry, the amount of moisture allowed, the ingredients to be used for giving bond to the sand mixture so that it can be molded, and the daily analysis and control of the sand mixtures in the shop. Heat Treatment.—Extensive experiments performed under ordinary shop conditions at Michigan Steel Cast ing Co., Detroit, Mich., on the heat treatment of steel castings have conclusively determined the best prac- tice to follow. The heat treatment of steel castings is a very important subject and consumers are beginning to recognize this. Proper heat treatment methods must be used in a steel foundry if the product is to have the best physical properties. The experiments on this sub- ject have furnished such essential data as the tempera- ture for annealing, the soaking time, and the method of cooling from the maximum temperature. Slag and Aluminum.—The prevention of the pres- ence of slag in steel castings is of great importance Investigations made at Lebanon Steel Foundry, Leb- anon, Pa., on slag in castings, have enabled the foun dries in the group to adopt methods which reduce to a minimum the evil of oeclided slag in steel castings. Research investigations on the use of aluminum in making steel castings, have resulted in the conclusion that there is a definite maximum amount of aluminum per ton of steel that may be used without having del- eterious effects on the ductility of the steel. The in- vestigations of the group have proved that aluminum has no effect on the physical properties of steel cast- ings if a certain amount per ton of steel is not ex- ceeded. The use of an amount in excess of this maxi- mum has a very pronounced bad effect on the physical properties of steel. Cooperation in Cost Accounting In the survey of about 30,000 manufacturing estab- lishments in the United States by the Federal Trade Commission, it was found that only 10 per cent had an adequate knowledge of costs. This was an astonishing situation and has been corrected to some extent by the activities of various bodies. The Federal Trade Com- mission, United States Chamber of Commerce, manu- facturers’ associations, cost associations, the Interstate Commerce Commission, and the establishment of the Federal Income Tax, have all been influential in causing business men to adopt methods of accounting which provide useful cost data for the formulation of polic‘es. It is not uncommon for some companies to have an elaborate monthly cost summary, and make no use of the data in it for determining the cost of specific ar- ticles which they produce. It is merely an average cost for all articles produced during the month, and it gives no indication whatever of the cost of an individual product when a number of different articles are made For example, in a steel foundry, the total average cost for a month might be $300 per ton of good castings produced, and included in this average there would (Concluded on page 731) » PAY FOR TEN HOURS RAISED Adjustment Similar to That of Men Reduced to Eight Hours Announced Judge Elbert H. Gary, chairman United States Steel Corporation, and Eugene G. Grace, president Bethlehem Steel Corporation, on Sept. 7 issued statements in regard to the progress being made in overcoming the problems which have arisen in the steel industry as a result of elimination of the 12-hr. day. Judge Gary said that “existing conditions will not permit a general increase of wage rates” but he points out that the men whose hours of work have been reduced from 12 to 10 hours a day will receive an increase in wages equal to 10 per cent of the hourly rate. Those men whose hours were reduced from 12 to 8 received an increase of 25 per cent. Judge Gary’s statement said: “At the time the directors of the American Iron and Steel Institute publicly stated that total elimination of the 12-hr. day would be immediately commenced it was said that employees connected with continuous process would be reduced from 12 to 8 hours and that their wage rates would be so adjusted as to afford earnings equivalent to a 25 per cent increase in hourly and base rates; also