The Iron Age 1924-10-16: Vol 114 Iss 16

THE IRON AGE New York, October 16, 1924 ESTABLISHED 1855 VOL. 114, No. 16 Building Diesel Oil Engines for Ford Crankshaft Bearings Planed Instead of Bored—Special Fixture Made for Jointing Bedplates—Crankshafts Turned Direct from Forged Block without Preliminary Removal of Stock BY L. S. LOVE on a semi-production basis presents problems of machining which call for marked ingenuity to produce the accurate results desired and at the same time avoid much costly hand fitting and scraping, frequent set-ups, etc. This is exemplified in the Blake & Knowles plant of the Worthington Pump & Machinery Corporation, East Cambridge, Mass. At this plant are built Diesel oil engines, locomotive feed-water heaters, air pumps and reciprocating pumps. Examples in the present article, illustrative of such practice, are parts of six- \ | ANUFACTURING multiple cylinder oil engines SCUIVPORPEEY PRRETTEDUOPDOCE DS EROOETEEDYORORRRRRNTE RPPEREDE RRR PHORET FonrHORTRN NEY NaC re: rennT Bases Are Planed on Top With a Gang Tool Having Four Bits (At Right) Radius for the Lower Half of the Bearing Box Is Planed with a Special Tool in Holder, Having Rotary Feed Actuated From the Feed Rod In the Planer Rail. The three operations shown are performed in one set-up cylinder engines built for one of the Henry Ford in- terests. Another notable phase of this situation is the diversity of methods possible to accomplish similar results, practice in this plant differing in many respects from that outlined in the June 19 issue of THE IRON Ace, page 1777, which described the building of oil engines in another plant, where the methods were likewise a compromise between high production methods and job shop practice. This diversity of practice is largely governed by the machinery available. Most of the work in the Worthington shop is handled on a piece- work basis. A Double-End Tool Is Used to Plane the Lock for the Top Half of the Bearing Box (in Circle at Left) | | Sa A Rae eR ; ‘ f : a ' 978 These engines have a sub-base on which is mounted the base proper. This latter contains the main bear- ings as well as the oil reservoir for splash and force feed lubrication. Above the base is mounted the frame containing the crosshead guides. The top of the frame s machined to take the cylinder and finally the cylinder head. When the Bases Are in Halves Sometimes the sub-bases are made in halves, de- pending upon the size of the engine, which, after planing on the top and joints, are drilled with the same jig, which is reversed for the two halves, so that ‘hance of error in location of holes may be minimized. The top of the sub-base is next drilled with the same jig which is used for drilling the bottom of the main base or bed plate, although this operation is not per- formed on the bed casting until after the bottom surface and side flanges have been planed, the latter to act as locating guide for the drill jig. The next succeeding operations on the main base are machining bottom, top surface and bearings for shell. Both of these operations are performed in one set-up on a planer. For the surfaces gang toolholders are used, each carrying four cutting tools which are stepped, providing a normal feed for each tool following the one preceding it. The holder itself feeds an aver- age of 5/16 in. per stroke, varying with the hardness of the casting and the amount of metal to he removed to secure the proper height of the bed plate. This method permits a coarse feed with consequent reduc- tion of planing time but, due to the fact that the tool bits are ground rather square to produce a finish cut and the net feed ef.each bit is small, a smooth and true surface is secured inthe usual way with a broad- nose jointing tool. In machining the bearings for shells in bed plate, account must first be taken of the fact that, while the lower half of the box is set entirely in the bed casting, the upper portion of the box is separate, composed of a cap, being held in square locks planed in the bed casting in this set-up. This operation of planing the wu LCA LUAAAARLTAAEALUANELENG LARUGAEAMADAAUONL WO UAAU UAACLLAUAESLAELAADOUEDOLE ELGAEUAER GLAU UAASUAAUBESUNOANLAUOLESOUNDAAAAENE LAALOGENOLAbENG I AENUORDA VADLEOELSESAANOAUOEN cetaussad CNET se ae cone ae) THE IRON . AGE October 16, 1924 lock is performed with a double-end tool set of two pieces, one for roughing, the second for finishing. The finishing tool is so ground that its length exactly equals the width of the box lock. This double end tool is held in a special holder and is set central measuring from the sides of the bed, care being taken to check the radius for the lower box, that it may clean up from this central position. The tool is fed down to the proper depth, machining both sides of the lock at once. Following is the machining of the radial portion of the bearings for shells, which is done in the same planer set-up by use of a special radius planing tool. Taking as a typical case the base for the Ford engines, the bearing has a diameter of 11% in. with the center point 2% in. below the top surface of the base. The guide or lock for the top half of the bearing box is 11% in. between sides. In setting the. radius tool a dial indicator is used as the pointer of a surface gage, the latter being mounted on a 2-in. parallel block and registering to the center pin of the radius attachment, which pin is 1 in. diameter. Half of this, added to the 2-in. block, sets for the 2% in. distance of the center below the surface, when the block is removed, and the indicator used to check to the bottom of the bearing radius. In setting the tool for sweep, a %-in. parallel block is placed at one side of the cap lock. This centralizes the radius with the lock, there being % in. difference in diameter between the lock and the radius. Feed to the radius tool, which is held in a securely clamped rail head, is secured by a worm and wheel arrangement. On the end of the worm shaft is a sprocket actuated by a chain running from a sprocket on the feed rod in the rail. The amount of rotary feed is 1/16 in. per stroke of planer. The company has recently put into operation a special tandem radius planing fixture that carries two tools, one at the front and one at the rear, in which each tool is adjustable sideways, so that the rough- ing chip is divided equally. The rotary feed used on roughing is from 1/16 in. to % in. on each tool, or Te be That Jointed Beds May Have Bearings in Both- Halves in Absolute Alinement, a Special Setting-up Fixture Is Em- ployed Preparatory to Milling the Joint. A disk with its sur- face square with the axis of a mandrel is used. The mandrel rests in the finished bear- ings and the bed casting is lined up so that the disk surface is parallel with the plane of travel of the milling cutter ee ee ae y \ aah Hr oe Sunn en enenenanane Sovecoonerevccrnueeavenenenneeneeti renee avesennevewsen enna nueuapERENEUeNENDEUETbeDeenDovonntsnneno riers sAIRgOsRENEEDEERANEOeR ERED October 16, 1924 MOOUEDEG Le SbbNkoAD. FUEL saRaNa pe neNORbNS. Eren pear” rennacanensins eonm, wennpena ete WeROLeUeNOneneLanes reve necnsaeNTenesdstitasnnesesensttanscsssnots. svnnanenagn renter snot siancveripoeninnne.. /AUDLTTAIEEDRONERS. boesbenUMAAEDD FREED. sORUOAOI*A HEUDEERCONEEEAERSSERE HONS Sée\c000 He8 (Above) Crank Shafts Have Pins Turned Direct From the Forged Block. No pre- liminary operation is undertaken to remove stock for the web or pin. Tail stock end is carried in a disk which has a number of center sockets for accommodating different throws % in. to % in. total rotary feed for each cutting stroke of the planer table. After the roughing opera- tion, the front roughing tool is removed from the holder and a radius finishing tool is inserted and set to size called for. The distance front to back between the tools is 14 in., or ample to span the longest bear- ing. Side adjustment is provided for alining each tool. The roughing cutting time has been reduced over 40 per cent, as the tool feed is double the advance of a single tool fixture. The stroke of the table need be increased only 14 in. to clear the second tool. A rotary feed of 3/16 in. to in. for each cutting stroke of the planer table is used for finishing. Finally the diameter and depth of the-bearing are checked by placing in the bearing a mandrel of proper diameter. A gage block of proper height is placed on the top surface of the base and a surface gage with dial indicator passed over both the block and top of mandrel. The bearings must check for depth and parallelism within 0.001 in. Bearings are gang milled to length, before insertion of boxes, in a horizontal boring, drilling and milling machine. Getting the Joint Dead Square Where the beds are made in two pieces, as these six-cylinder machines, it is absolutely essential that the joint. be dead square in both directions of finish and in line on the. hole drilling, for the top surface and bearings are finished complete before the bed sections are jointed or bolted together. The joint is finished on a floor type horizontal boring, drilling and milling machine, To set the bed level and square on the ma- chine floor plate, a setting-ip fixture of rather unpsual design is employed. This consists of a mandrel w rests in the finished bearings, having on one end a disk, the face of which is square with the axis of the mandrel. The disk is 6f a diameter which will just clear the floor plate when the mandrel is in place and permit of its being turned. The job is so set that this disk is’ equidistant over its entire surface area from the plane in which the machine column traverses. IRON AGE 979 (Below) An Ad- justable Driving Fixture Is Carried on the Counter- balancd Faceplate This fixture makes for quick setting up 1 eeenene-peateanendutdironnmesmnensetor: meseesensmnennnny erensanervennentn tere erties ventaenen iene When the setting-up fixture is removed and an end- milling,:cutter inserted in the machine spindle, the surface machined by it must of necessity be parallel with the disk of the fixture, consequently the joint will be square with the bearing line. In drilling the holes a jig is used which registers from the bore. Holes/are both drilled and reamed with the jig in place, so that body bound bolts may be used. One side of the jig is up when drilling the fly wheel end half of the bed, the other side of the jig is up when drilling the control end half of the bed. This assures a minimum chance of error in alinement of holes. This method avoids necessity of planing beds after jointing, which, due to the require- ment for accuracy, would call for considerable outlay of timé in setting up and planing. Obtaining Frame Alinement To assure proper alinement of frames on these Diesel engines is of the utmost importance. These frames contain the crosshead guides and form the connecting member between cylinder and main. base carrying the crankshaft. The first operation on frames is to mill pads on the sides to provide a setting-up surface for machining the frame bottom. In setting up for this operation, it is necessary to register from the guides, that there may be sufficient metal there to clean up in the subsequent operation of boring them. After the manhole cover pads on the sides are milled, the frames are set up for planing on the bottom sur- face and the sides of the bottom flange. The next operation is to apply the same drill jig which was used ‘for drilling holes in the top of the main base. This is so clamped that the finished edge of the bottom flange in the frame is used as a locating guide. One- third of the holes are reamed, while the jig is still in place. These are used for body bound studs in as- sembly but are used, also, during the boring operation which follows, for locating dowels. A special two-spindle machine was designed and built by a machine tool builder working in conjunction DRE wn <= PY ey pone Pe eM IE, cing vs Si + RANI Sta TS om si) EEO AEE Tae a, 6, Ai Bl eee en nt eee q ee > hieaetaae ee ee FO eR IRC me he Pan Le tete | ee 980 with engineers of the Worthington company. The vertical bars of this machine, 10 in. diameter and weigh- ing about 3000 Ib. each, are mounted in saddles adjust- able longitudinally on the machine rail. Blueprinted instructions furnished the operator for setting up his work in this machine cover the placing or movement of the auxiliary plates on the machine floor plate. The frames are registered on these plates and dowelled in place, using the holes which were reamed in the drill jig. Immediately under the machine rail are placed templates or index plates with locating pin holes ac- curately bored out in the tool room. To these the bar saddles are pinned, so that their location in proper position is assured, these templates being in fixed relation to the auxiliary or jig plates on the machine floor plate, to which the frames are dowelled. In cases where two cylinder frames are to be ma- chined, a pair of frame castings is set up and machined at once. In cases of three cylinder frames, one cast- ing is set up and two of the three guides and cylinder seats are machined. When ready to machine the third bore, a single cylinder frame is set up and bored by the other bar at the same time that the third cross- head guide and cylinder seat are being done. In this way both bars are kept busy simultaneously. On the frames so bored are mounted cylinders which have their bores ground on an imported cylinder grind- ing machine with maximum capacity of 20 in. diameter by 48 in. long. Cylinders when set up in this grind- ing machine are placed in a cradle without use of straps. Holding the cylinder flange against the front plate of the cradle assures that the bore may be ground square with the flange face. An exhauster with hose, entered at the rear end of the cylinder, removes dust. Pistons are ground in the more common type of plain grinder; after the skirt has been bored. In this last operation on the skirt, after rough boring by use of a boring tool in the carriage of the lathe,’ a sizing operation is performed with a double-edge cutter held loosely, so that it may float in the bar. This sizing cutter bar is held in the lathe tailstock. Cylinder heads are first turned and faced in a bor- ing mill. The turning portion of this set-up is merely to turn pads to which water connections from the (Above) Cylinder Are Drilled for Water Connec- Heads tions Through a Jig Pinned Through Stud Holes THE IRON October 16, 1924 AGE cylinder jacket are to be attached to convey cooling water to the head jacket. Cylinder head bolt holes are drilled under a multiple spindie drill. The jig used in this drilling operation has ears in which are drill guide bushings for drilling, reaming and tapping for oil connections, as well as drilling for the water connections. The jig in this operation under a radial drill is pinned by two dowels through holes already drilled under the multiple spindle drill. The water connections are designed with a radius on the flanges to fit the radial pads, instead of being flat, as machining the pads on the cylinder head and cylinder with a radius, while the head or eylinder is set up for turning, is simpler than would be an extra set-up to mill flats on them. It was formerly the custom to produce these radial flanges on water con- nections in a horizontal boring mill or on a milling machine, whichever happened to be available. A fixture has been designed. and two sizes built, for different sizes of water connections, holding 10 and 13 respect- ively. These connections when set up in the fixture have the flanges inside on a radius equal to that of the pads on the cylinder jacket and evlinder head. The radius is bored in a vertical tvrret lathe on the entire number of connections in 1% hr. as against an equal time for only two connections hv the old method. Machining Flywheels Two time-saving tools have been developed for use in machining flywheels. The wheels are set on a bor- ing mill table and clamped by the spokes while the rim is being turned. A straddle tool has been de- veloped with two bits set to turn simultaneously the two edges of the flange and produce the desired width. The depression in the wheel rim back of the edge is then secured by dropping the straddle tool first to turn the depression on the top. Then the tool is raised to turn the depression on the bottom side of the wheel rim. Turning the periphery is done at the same time, with a turning tool in the other ram of the mill. After the rim is completed, blocks are placed under it and the clamps released from the spokes to relieve the hub of all strain. The wheel is strapped in place Water Connections Are Set Up In a Fixture on a Vertical Turret Lathe and Faced to a Radius to Secure Better Fit On the Cylinder and Head (Below) va HoATOCULoNT eNO oGupEDeuernooHDeD EO peNbenDeaaDEnD ayo vuoEooaneenee*Huavenrunpensuevert@nnernasstoenHpeDNSENDONN® October 16, 1924 981 THE IRON AGE muneneenyyransee annsevenane -onernenss OUI tr td) YPC TTR er Mame CeNNR NRE be ne SERED ETE OEE CRNA RN eR ee ERCER CNN (Below) A Cradle Jig for Holding Pump Bodies While Drill- ing Has Effected a Saving of 80 to 90 Per Cent In This Operation ORE ee teen aa ‘% (Above) A Watchmaker's : rT Drill Running at 10,000 a: Rpm. Is Employed to |= Drill Holes in Spray ti Nozzles for the Fuel Sup- : Rt ply, Which Is Injected > ae Through These Nozzles 135 Against the Compression in the Cylinder ome 4 on the rim and the hole in the hub bored to a taper. will first be used, followed by an end mill to square , A special taper reamer, held in a universal joint which out the ends of the keyways. i i permits it to float, is then inserted to finish the bore. t ‘: i The, reamer has twelve blades, eight of which are Connecting Rod Boxes and Crossheads oak simply guides, 0.002 in. under the diameter of the After being drilled and reamed for bolts, connect- 5. four cutting blades to prevent gouging, as only 0.002 ing rod boxes, which are split type, are mounted on an i in. can be removed per revolution. In some shops, to angle fixture in a vertical turret lathe. The shims at get a good true-running flywheel, it is put on an arbor are in place in this operation so that they also are = i and turned and faced on centers. The flywheels, fin- accurately machined to fit the crank pin, thereby pre- . i ished complete on the vertical boring mill, check within venting undue oil loss from the bearing, When the mat 0.002 in. bolts in the angle plate are drawn home the box is » ae : , , subjected to the same strains it will encounter when . Crankshafts, Pins and Web Cheeks bolted to the end of the connecting rod, thus avoiding | p Ordinarily in machining large crankshafts it is the practice to slot the forged throw block or burn out the rough outline for the webs and crankpin. In the Worthington plant this practice is not followed, the rough forging being placed in the lathe and the pins turned from the solid block. This method has been found more economical than slotting or burning, as it is faster than the former and less costly than the latter, costing less than the gas needed for burning. In fact, a shaft with 5 in. throw, and 4 in. diameter pin 4% in. long, is turned floor to floor in 2 hrs. Mill- ing has been tried in an experimental way, but the cramping in assembly and service. Naturally, with the bore of the connecting rod box in proper relation with its plain surface through this method of chucking, it will be also in line with the crosshead pin bore in the other end of the rod, if the latter bore is in proper relation to the flat end of the rod which bolts to the box. To assure this accuracy the crosshead pin bore is first ground to limit gage register- ing square with the box end. It then has a bushing with easy press fit forced into it. To check alinement and squareness, the rod is set on blocks. on a surface plate and surface gage indicator idea has been abandoned for the present. To make readings taken from a crosshead pin gage passed this economical, 1% or 2 in. would have to be removed’ through the eye of the rod. These come within 0.001 at a pass. The need for a machine and 30 to 40-hp._ in., using a checking arbor 12 in. long, and the final motor is not sufficiently urgent and the saving over fitting is by hand scraping. This same method is used the lathe under present production would not warrant the installation. In turning crank pins an adjustable counter balance is used on the faceplate of the lathe, so that different sizes of shafts may be handled without time-consuming adjustments. Off-center throw blocks, used in the tail stock, have several centering positions in one block. These permit machining of different throws without un- due assortment of such blocks being needed. They are limited, however, to the same diameters. Crankshaft counterbalance weights are gang milled to gage in a planer type milling machine. For a slab miller in which crank web cheeks are slabbed, the company is now building a speeder at- tachment which will be used for milling keyways in the shafts at proper speed, while the shaft is set up for the slabbing operation. A plain milling cutter to check pin bores in the cross heads: Machining these crossheads presents some interest- ing features. The casting is first faced, counterbored, drilled and tapped on the piston rod end, holes to which the rod flange is bolted. are used to register the casting in the boring fixture for subsequent operations. The fixture has an angle plate base to which is attached a pivoting work holder against which the finished side of the crosshead is drawn. Setting-up gage blocks are used to get tools for proper height of shoe pad. The first operation is to face one side and bore for taper crosshead pin, after which the job is swung through 180 deg. to face the opposite side for the pin nut seat. The crosshead is then swung through 90 deg. and the surface faced and turned to receive the babbitted crosshead shoe; then again through 180 deg. for the other shoe pad. nes page | | . i eee = lh Henrie * oles pee oe ~ * ‘ A haieunai ee ers EI a 5 APE Ne, a ana tae eigen $0 “a bs : a on ay Fit # “ ; , . M4 ee 2 eg = oF oud wt 982 THE IRON AGE enseeenee , . pucsveneneschtNE*TRESABOOROEDERDRDDOAERORELAEDS oth 1IROEDCIETCRTOOUADEDEEDFEREEDERDEDIEDEEDIDTETEDNY 4 Straddle Tool for Turning Flywheel Rims the Desired Width Also Turns the Depression Im- mediately Behind the Edge of the Rim. A taper reamer on a_ uni- versal joint per- mits floating. The reamer has eight guide blades and four cutting blades, thereby preventing gouging During each operation the swivel plate is pinned through a hardened bushing to the main or angle plate of the fixture, so that each operation is positively in correct relation to the other sides. Machining the Pump Parts Pump groups for multi-cylinder engines are carried in a single forged steel block, and the plungers work Connecting Rod. Boxes Are Bored While Held Through the Rod Bolt Holes. them as will bs In this way the same strain is on present when they are bolted to the rods in assembled engines Shims are in place in the boring operation in bushings requiring no packing and practically with- out leakage, although the oil pressure is approximately 1000 lb. The bushing of bronze, about 6 in. long, is broached with a 1 in. hole, The plunger is ground and lapped into the bushing without abrasive. eeuAnLoeTaMBROAanan panenannenny October 16, 1924 AreeveeneeapenepenneoeueeQeDOOEDADOEDED CONDELARESUADEGUEDENDEDEDUADENENGAAESUEDOEEEEUDURUUEDEIEONLOBOGEEUEDIRIEDONDELIEUAUURDCEOEDERENUOONEDDEURUOOERUAETEOUENEOASUEDNCeDHEOEOENTT NON NOMy {LUGE DEREEDONOEDEDEEEODELEEDOUDODUNEORDEEDIONLONAEDONSODONDUREDIUOSEDOADEOUANEDNDSUDOODDAGADDUNERODGEDON ONODOAETEDEEDOONERDONEDELAOOOE SERDOREDONENOTERRDSRAAENOCEND: After milling on the four sides the pump bodies, which are made from forged steel to insure against porosity, are drilled and tapped complete under a radial drill. The method is to mount the forging in a cradle jig which permits indexing to four positions for holes in each side. Pins inserted in the flange of the fixture hold it in each position. The fixture is mounted on the drill table. Drill guide bushings are held in place by swivel hook clamps. These pump bodies are made in different lengths for one, two, three, four and six-cylinder units. This method has saved 80 to 90 per cent from the previous method, which was the use of a milling machine in the tool room. At the cylinder end of the fuel feed tube where it enters the injection chamber is a sprayer. The direct opening from the sprayer into the pre-combustion chamber—the nozzle—is a small disk with holes in a circle, drilled at an angle, with one hole in the center. The nozzles vary in size for different engines, although the nozzle body remains the same. The holes, eleven in all, vary in the different nozzles from 0.018 to 0.026 in. in diameter. It is rather odd in a shop handling such large work to find a Watclithdeér’s drill mounted on a bench and running at-10,00Q,2.p.m. On the table of this drill is a graduated fixture, which is adjusted by a set screw to give the proper angle for the holes. A line on the nozzle is moved successively to the differ- ent graduations on the fixture, so that the holes may be properly spaced. Feed is by thumb pressure on a lever pivoted on top of the spindle. Loan to Peru for Sanitation and Road Work A loan to the Republic of Peru amounting to $7,- 000,000 has been arranged by the Foundation Co., 120 Liberty Street, New York. The purpose of the loan is to continue sanitation and road building enterprises covered by contracts previously drawn. The present loan is part of the financing of a $25,000,000 contract between Peru and the Foundation Co., covering road and street construction and the installation of modern water works and sanitary systems in 32 of the principal cities of Peru. Modern highways now being planned for the most populous parts of the country, together with contemplated railroad construction, will solve pressing problems of transportation and will open up rich areas now inaccessible. The next meeting of the Texas Division of the Southern Metal Trades Association will be held Friday, Nov. 7, at College Station, Texas, upon invitation of Prof. E. J. Fermier, professor of mechanical engineer- ing of the Agricultural and Mechanical College. The meeting will be held in one of the college buildings. Cooperative Advertising Planned National Machine Tool Builders’ Association Sees Need for Educational Publicity—Members Find Machinery Expositions Too Numerous adopted tentative plans for an educational ad- vertising campaign at its twenty-third annual convention at the Hotel Aspinwail, Lenox, Mass. A modest beginning will probably be made in 1925, fol- lowing out suggestions made by a committee of sales managers, and upon the results of this initiatory cam- paign will depend no doubt the further activities of the association in cooperative effort toward education of machine-tool users. Another subject which greatly interested the mem- bers is the growing number of mechanical expositions at which machine-tool builders are asked to exhibit. A resolution was adopted expressing the opinion that ma- chine-tool manufacturers should confine themselves to exhibiting at not more than two expositions a year, one in the West and one in the East. These two subjects were injected into the proceed- ings by reports of sales managers’ committees which have been studying them for some months. The ad- vertising committee, consisting of H. S. Robinson, Cin- cinnati Shaper Co., Cincinnati; E. P. Blanchard, Bul- lard Machine Tool Co., Bridgeport, Conn.; Louis Hast- ings, Heald Machine Co., Worcester, Mass., and Frederick Heitkamp, Cincinnati Milling Machine Co., Cincinnati, apparently was not disposed to recom- mend the raising of a special advertising fund, but sug- gested that space in leading trade and technical pub- lications going to machine-tool users be donated by members of the association. As a beginning, 15 mem- bers had pledged to give at least one page in 1925, and it is the desire of the association that a sufficient num- ber of pages be donated so that educational copy which the association shall prepare will appear in each issue of such publications as may be selected. [sto National Machine Tool Builders’ Association 7 Purposes of Campaign Citing the excellent results obtained by such co- operative advertising campaigns as the “Save the Sur- face” campaign of paint manufacturers, that of the Davenport Bed Makers of America and the American Malleable Castings Association, the committee declared that the purposes of a campaign by the National Ma- chine Tool Builders’ Association should be: 1. To get the buyer to consider the purchase of a machine tool as an investment—a profit maker. 2. To get the user to anticipate his machine-tool re- quirements and not to wait until the last minute, thus Sarernnanes zen venensanees ee mnnnnee init ve ROOENPREBOERY LHRE Sy torneo neRGET Cunt Ter apolis. 0. B. ILES ‘CREERDESUSSEDESUEEDOTEEDSHEDES=-“TRORETENESESAOEENEDED! Ss SDEDSEN IS HSUTIIPNRIEDY VO8/HLtiba NP YOR. (01 v05/9 00) cunENRELL LOUREREDEEERRFO WERE PRE FAFTRS TIRES New Officers of Machine Tool helping to smooth out the production curves and elim)- nate some of the valleys. 8. To educate the user to buy production, not pounds. 4. To educate the user on the cost and waste of re- taining obsolete tools. 5. To fight the used tool evil by educating the user upon the advantages of purchasing new tools. 6. To educate the user on the value to him of the inventive skill and ingenuity embodied in machine tools 7. To increase the self-respect of the machine-too industry. 8. To bring the policies, principles and ethica standards of machine-tool builders to the attention of machine-tool buyers in order to establish the verity and legitimacy of all bids and contract rulings, thus to eliminate quibbling on such matters with a conse- quent reduction of time and effort required in closing sales. Questions being considered by the advertising com- mittee in advance of its proposed campaign include these: The relative value of various positions in pub- lications; the value of two-color advertising. How can trade paper copy be improved? What are the best methods of reaching buyers, especially the executives who approve of the investment of fixed capital? what is the relative value of different mediums for reaching different classes of industries using machine tools? what kind of illustrations are most effective? how far can advertising go in bringing the buyer up to the sales point? Too Many Expositions The report of the sales managers’ committee on machinery exhibitions stirred up a lengthy discussion, in which most of the speakers agreed with the con- clusion of the committee that machine-tool builders are participating in more of such expositions than is justi- fiable from the standpoint of results. In adopting a resolution that machine-tool builders should confine themselves to two exhibits a year, the association took the stand that such action could net be binding upon individual members and consequently its action really amounts only to a recommendation. In a questionnaire which had been sent out previous to the convention, those answering as to the exhibit most favored gave first place to the bi-annual exhibit of the railroad sup- ply manufacturers at Atlantic City, N. J. Others favored were the exhibits of the American Foundry- PR ee Builders’ Association ee President—O. B. Iles, International Machine Tool Co., Indian- First Vice-President—Frank MacLeod, Abrasive Machine Tool Co., East Providence, R. I. Second Vice-President—J. G. Benedict, Landis Machine Co., Inc., Waynesboro, Pa. Treasurer—H. M. Lucas, Lucas Machine Tool Co., Cleveland. General Manager—Ernest F. Du Brul, Cineinnati. Members of Board of Directore—H. L. Flather, Flather Co., Nashua, N. H.; James E. Gleason, Gleason Works, Roches- ter, N. Y.; Wilson P. Hunt, Moline Tool Co., Moline, 11. (Ree ee SR RL TN: eh La TS 983 SO GIE ES ale OS iE, alt RRTRRG, 2 eaten Pi 3 ‘ aa a ee eT Byes oe eng Bir bee sia ER et eR ay pri rare a> |p Ge eemeneNt Teens tien sine Le ha alg a NE ily a Ma IST Tg a te ee len 984 men’s Association, the American Society of Mechanical ~ Engineers at New Haven, Conn., and the American Society for Steel Treating. One criticism of some of these exhibits is that they frequently are held in cities which are not in the cen- ter of greatest machine-tool purchasing power. De- troit is now one of the most important of buying cen- ters, and many of the members at the convention expressed favorable reaction to the committee’s sugges- tion that the National Machine Tool Builders’ As- sociation hold an annual exhibit at Detroit in con- junction with the meeting of the Society of Automotive Engineers. Discussions regarding such an _ exhibit have been going on for some months between the socie- ty and the machine tool builders, and it had been expected that the S. A. E. might officially sponsor such an exhibit and conduct it. However, a representative of the society who attended the convention stated that the society had definitely decided not to hold such an exposition, but he extended a cordial invitation to the machine tool builders to do so, providing the latter would assume full responsibility. The position of the S. A. E. is based on the desire of its members to avoid any commercial projects such as an exposition, but the automotive engineers would be glad of the oppor- tunity, it was stated, to see new or improved machines in operation in an exhibit held at the same time as the meeting of the Society of Automotive Engineers. The association’s committee on expositions was empowered to continue its investigations with a view to determin- ing the desirability of the association putting on an annual machine-tool exhibition at Detroit. Address of the President The annual address of the president, Ralph E. Flan- ders of the Jones & Lamson Machine Co., Springfield, Vt., was in part as follows: “Last May, in Buffalo, it was my painful duty to predict that the course of business would be hazardous for some months to come. Putting this conviction into words and pronouncing those words in your presence was not a pleasant task, but it was a necessary one. The knowledge on which the prediction was based was not the exclusive property of your president. It was indeed common to all of us. But it was exceedingly important for the good of individual firms and of the industry as a whole that the unfavorable situation should be stated and faced. Only when this is done can we be sure of the determination needed to shorten sail, and bring our craft around into the wind. “So much for the past. Let us now undertake the more pleasant work of considering the future. All signs point to a change in the weather. While there are some regions still in distress, the agriculture of the country as a whole is in a most favorable position. Most of the staple crops are of fair size, and the prices for them are unexpectedly high. Farm mortgages are being paid off, country banks are getting onto their feet, and the farmer should eventually come into the market for the many comforts and _ near-necessities which have been denied him so long. The prosperity of the farmer is a matter of concern to all of us, not only because he is a brother-man, but also because he is the cornerstone of the nation’s prosperity. The tides of commerce rise and fall with his buying power. “To the favorable aspect of agriculture we may add that of the financial situation. Money was never more plentiful or to be had on lower terms. A prospective increase in the demand of consumer goods, and an actual ease in financing equipment for meeting the de- mand, cannot fail to have a salutary effect on our own future. “Only the political aspect seems doubtful. Business has quite generally classified the presidential aspirants as Choice No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3, and it seems agreed that the election of Choice No. 2 would not be a really calamitous circumstance. May I be permitted to go further, and to express the opinion that the globe will continue to revolve about its axis, and that the stately procession of the equinoxes will still march on its way, even though the moving van should deliver the personal effects of Choice No. 3 at the White House door next March. Let us calmly and steadily do our duty as ie THE IRON October 16, 1924 AGE citizens, but let us neither place an undue importance on political aid, nor be unduly concerned by political disturbance. Industry will find some way of continuing to function, provided that it ties itself in with the needs of the social structure. “Our hopes for some improvement in business are, then, well founded. We may look for a steady, but perhaps delayed and probably slow, improvement from now on. We must permit no exaggerated hopes for the coming months. We know that the period of rapid expansion in American industry is gone, and with it the reckless optimism which bought equipment with a lavish hand. Our business for the future will come a little harder, and in smaller quantities, even in the best of times; but come it will, on some scale. “May I now change the subject and refer to what we commonly call the ‘ethics’ of our business. Our committees on this subject have given it deep study, and have approached it from different sides. We first attempted to define and forbid a multitude of specific abuses. More lately we have been favorably impressed with the excellence of the general statements formu- lated by the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, and I believe we will have a report from our committee based upon those statements. I wish to approach the matter from still another direction, not as a suggestion for formal action by the committee or association, but as food for thought on our part as in- dividual manufacturers. “A reading of the principles suggested by the Chamber of Commerce and, far more, a review of its referenda and other activities for several years past, give a clue to the deeper aspirations of American busi- ness. If to that is added the recollection of conversa- tions and correspondence with many individuals, it be- comes possible to put in words, however crudely, the destination on which our eyes are fixed and toward which we are moving. The following statements are an attempt to define these ideas. “(1) It is our duty and our pride to manufacture and distribute only things of use and beauty, service- able to the truest needs of our fellow men. These serviceable products we will produce and distribute with the greatest efficiency of which we are capable, avoiding all waste of human labor or God-given material. For our profit we will look to the serviceability of the product and the efficiency of its manufacture, rather than to sharp practices and exorbitant dealings of any kind. Our manufacturing organizations will be the ob- ject of personal solicitude. We will endeavor to so operate the business and distribute the profits that the individuals composing it shall have the due reward of their loyalty, skill and effort. We will particularly endeavor to keep wide open the door of opportunity in the organization. For the safety of the business, of the industry and of the country, it is essential that nowhere shall abil- ity and character go unrecognized and un- rewarded We will organize and control the business so that it shall have its proportional effect in smoothing out the violent fluctuations of the business cycle; and in particular, we will do all that is possible to protect our own employees from the hardships incident thereto. In our personal habits we will avoid extrava- gance and display, not only as personally un- worthy, but as socially dangerous. We will find our personal satisfactions in rational and fitting ways, and particularly in the successful manage- ment of a socially useful business. By precept and by example we will train the com- ing generation to these views of our duties and privileges, with the hope that they may make continued progress toward a state where all who play the game of life may be rewarded with its highest satisfactions. “Such aims as these may be held modestly and without pious cant. They involve no real self denial or sacrifice on the part of the business man. They are simply a recognition of the durable satisfactions of life “(2) “(3) “(4) “(5) (6) aa) (8) October 16, 1924 as distinguished from the shallow and transient ones. “Particularly are these aims essential to our polit- ical stability. If the deepest current of American in- dustry sets in this direction, we will not fear what government may do to us. So long as there is injus- tice, abuse of privilege and cynical self-seeking in American business, so long will the politicians have it in their power to bring disaster to the business struc- ture and distress to all the unfortunates, great and small, whose bread depends upon it. If, on the other hand, we manfully mold and control that structure, it will dominate political activities by virtue of its effec- tiveness and service. Then and only then will the pro- fessional politicians play the minor part to which na- ture assigned him, and government become the servant instead of the master of our lives.” Report of General Manager DuBrul Ernest F. DuBrul, general manager, covered fully the current activities of the association, dwelling on its aims and purposes in seeking to improve conditions in the machine-tool industry both for its members and customers. His report first covered the business situ- ation regarding which he said: “At our White Sulphur convention in 1923, we stated that our statistics indicated that we had prob- ably passed the crest of orders for that cycle. At our October meeting last year, we stated that we were then in a normal downward swing. This swing con- tinued downward until June of this year, which marked the bottom. Since June there has been some slight improvement each month, and we now consider that we have entered on a normal upward swing that ought to progress at an increasing rate for,some months to come. “Indexes of other business have shown that we are entering on a new cycle, and one that should produce as much or possibly more business in 1925 than was had in 1923. The second-hand market is much cleaner of good tools than it was this time in 1922. Foreign conditions are much better, railroads are handling more freight, money is more plentiful, and the reces- sion of general business this year was much less than in 1921. So, all things considered, it would not seem imprudent to plan for business on a basis say of the average demand for the last quarter of 1922, and per- haps a little better. The greater part of this demand will be replacement demand, and will go to those lines of tools that are most up to date in design, of course. What the Association Has Done “Four years ago, in October, 1920, the annual con- vention of this association voted to increase the activi- ties of the association and authorized the necessary expenditures to that end. Enough time has now elapsed to take a perspective view of what had been done, and to consider whether the increased expenditure has been justified. Neither semi-annual nor annual reports can give much perspective. It will be valuable in consider- ing policies, to have a broader survey of the work you have been supporting. “In the years before, the association had done its members much good, but it had never caused them to study any of the deeper fundamental forces by which their business craft was tossed about, to their frequent distress. They were dimly perceived, of course, but they were far from clear to the industry itself. The effects of these forces had never been brought to the attention of the industry’s customers in any way. Lack of understanding by your customers has built up an amount of sales resistance that will take some more years of education to break down. Lack of understand- ing by the industry itself has created other conditions that will take some more years to eradicate. Neither your customers nor you yourself realized the extent of idleness that cut down your profits to a level that left a low rate of return in exchange for supplying the world with the master tools of industry. Nobody has analyzed those facts, and no one has been crying them from the house tops, so that both the industry and its customers could hear and heed. Essentially that THE IRON AGE 985 was, and still is, the work in which you joined when you enlarged the association activities. “Previous to 1920 you knew that your own business fluctuated violently in its demand, but you did not know how violent that fluctuation was for the industry as a whole. You were dimly conscious that all your selling efforts were futile to prevent sudden recessions. Bitter experience proved that it was impossible to stim- ulate orders by making prices that were disastrous to you. Your sales volume would go low because your cus- tomers did not order many units, and you would push the sales volume still lower by cut-throat competition, based on ignorance of true costs. “You did not know that when you tried a policy that succeeds in some lines where there is an elastic demand, it was bound to fail in your business where demand is inelastic to a greater extent than almost anywhere else. You were bucking into an economic law that you could not change. You tried to buck through sand bars instead of waiting for the tide to carry you over them. Ifyou had not victualled your ship so that you could wait for the tide, you just starved or went on pretty short rations. “You did not know how your demand is affected by the changing conditions of the business tides. You had given little thought to them, and of course you could not say that one time or another was best to stock or liquidate. To play safe, you generally overstocked at the wrong time, and liquidated at a loss. “It was necessary to chart those tides and to study them as other industries had done, so that you could avoid these mistakes of policy that had cost you so much of your hard-earned rewards in every cycle. Some of you had studied such facts after a fashion, but this study was casual as well as individual. The facts of the industry had never been collectively considered. Mis- takes of the unwise affected the wise, because those mistakes made bad competitive conditions. None of you escaped injury because unsound practice by one spreads the rot of demoralization to others. You don’t and can’t live unto yourself alone. Experience proves that it is better to teach the unwise how to avoid the rocks than it is to have him getting in your road as a water-logged wreck.” The Used Tool Problem Various committee reports were presented, includ- ing those of the committees on advertising and ex- positions, already referred to. The committee on stand- ardization of catalog sizes recommended the adoption of standard sizes, but will make further reports to the association on its investigations. The committee on second-hand tools, which has been attempting to im- provise a_ classification of used equipment somewhat along the lines generally adopted by automobile manu- facturers, was unable to present definite recommenda- tions. Its investigation apparently convinced the com- mittee members that a classification according to the age of the machines, as is done with automobiles, is im- practical for the reason that a machine carefully used for eight or nine years may actually be worth as a marketable proposition more money than a machine only one year old which has been subjected to extraor- dinarily hard usage. No action was taken on the com- mittee, report. The committee on obsolescence of drawings, jigs and patterns recommended that the association members adopt a plan whereby repair parts would be supplied promptly from stock within five years of the original purchase of a machine tool; that parts be supplied on order after the five-year period had elapsed and that the seller assume no obligation to supply repair parts after a machine had seen service for ten years. There was a disposition to decline to furnish repair parts to second-hand dealers after a machine had undergone a certain period of service, The committee will continue its work and report again at the next meeting. A prog- ress report on standardization of tee slots was sub- mitted and the association was informed that a ques- tionnaire will go out shortly inviting suggestions as to the standards to be adopted. L. F. Adams, representing the Electric Power Club, discouraged the efforts of the association toward stand- ardization of electric motor dimensions by saying that Pr IRBR wert mE aH SS AR I PORTE gS CER EY RR MRE IMG I Mine 06 2 on © nt CAE AMS Sa mah Mabe core AS LM ee, RI ead IN Cee Ans ta on NE OF Bp: irs, sei a Risse tidied Ir eens < cS eeaeteriemerae Pee pas ‘soem é Se ee e =e ie Se > Petite, ENR TINE SCOR SOONER EIS BAIT RRS ARTO <A IRR REY A 986 such a change would cost the machiné-tool using indus- tries of the United States at least $50,000,000; that it would increase the cost of electric motors from $100,- 000,000, their present annual selling value, to $110,000,- 000 and that furthermore it was doubtful whether all manufacturers of electric motors would agree to adopt such standards. Mr. Adams said that the General Elec- tric Co. had built experimentally several motors con- forming to the sizes and dimensions suggested by the machine-tool builders, and he explained the technical difficulties involved in meeting the wishes of machine- tool manufacturers. Several addresses were delivered on subjects of per- tinent interest to members. That of Frank C. Page, manager of the r