The Iron Age 1926-06-10: Vol 117 Iss 23

East Engin. Library WIN 12 926 oT. AUNUONNO ERA EAGEOGERORGORORSOROENOOEOROONOOND osenenenn AnH AAANEAAAEAEESEUSAUSRUSRUSAUORANGUOSISAEORUSEUONASEESEEORUAEOEGEGNENUNOEOUEOAEAUOONEOEEQEOUEOUEOEOEOUEDENOUEOEODEONEOUSONEONSOUNONQUNEOOEOQU0Q0000000000000000008000008C0H00KEOQNONEOUDOONONEOOEONEOOOQSNUEEOEOOUEOUEOUEONEOUENOEOOUSOEOOUENEEOUOOUENOSUOSONEONUENEENUSOSEOUENOEONeNUEONEONeONNEAENONN Published Weekly NEW YORK, a JU NE 10, 1926 Single Sas 25 Cents Vol. 117, No. 23 “és fe "Sew © ve = unde a Ju “yp t "Ms a ge “a 879 oe Six Dollars 2 Year in U. S. BOLIS GNUTS | Made with the thought that each is destined to become an integral part of a product of which its makers can be justly proud Sp a RUSSELL, BURDSALL & WARD ® BOLT& NUT COMPANY ® PORT Pee ee 3 Branch Office : \ @& Gillette Maydwell & Hartzell, Inc. General Motors Bidg. DETROIT Sereet 158-168 Eleventh Sereet FRANCISCO THE IRON AGE June 10, 1926 . ENTY-FIVE thousand copies of this little book are mailed every second month to users of steel and steel products. Are YOU get- ting YOUR copy? If not, write for it today! 32 pages of trade notes and articles of general industrial interest—96 pages of steel products, tables, weights and valuable information. The Ryerson Journal and Stock List is the “Key to Immediate Steel’’—it is yours for the asking. JOSEPH T. RYERSON & SON iwc. ESTABLISHED 1642 PLANTS: CHICAGO ST, LOUIS DETROIT NEW YORK MILWAUKEE CINCINNATI BUFFALO REPRESENTATION IN DENVER HOUSTON TULSA NEWARK MINNEAPOLIS SAN FRANCISCO JERSEY CITY New York, June 10, 1926 ESTABLISHED 1855 Counting Hinges by Weight in the Plant of the Ternstedt Mfg. Co. CALES are pushing their way forward to a more S important place in the metal-working industry. Their field of usefulness, for a long time limited to weighing, has been extended until their use in counting small parts is not uncommon, and various other applications are being found for scales of special types. Economies have also been effected by providing scales in conveyor lines, which register the weight of material as it is moving through a plant. Scales, by keeping a check on production, prevent- ing losses and counting pieces for various purposes, including securing a record of the output of piece-rate workers, are taking their place alongside machine tools as labor-saving and cost-cutting equipment in the production lines of manufacturing plants. The growing use of scales in plants has doubtless been brought about by the great improvement in in- dustrial weighing equipment, particularly the develop- ment of automatic dial indicating scales to take the place of the loose weight beam-type scales, which are comparatively slow in operation and subject to errors, because of their dependence on the human element. Weigh Material on Monorail Scale A scale manufacturer that has devoted much at- tention to the development of industrial scales is the Toledo Seale Co., Toledo, Ohio. The principle followed by this company in building small scales used by retail merchants and later applied to industrial scales is automatically balancing weight against weight and in- dicating the result on a dial. A plant in which the wide application of scales for various purposes is well illustrated is that of the Tern- stedt Mfg. Co., Detroit, a unit of the General Motors *Resident editor THE IRON Aap, Cleveland. 1635 NACE VOL. 117, No. 23 Scales Speed Up Mass Production Raw Material Weighed on Monorail —Finished Parts Counted and Sorted on Scales—Electric Conveyor Scale Weighs Material in Transit BY F. L. PRENTISS* Corporation which manufactures automobile body hardware. In this company’s plant several types of Toledo scales are used. The heavier materials, such as strips, sheets and steel bars, are carried from the unloading dock to the raw stock room on an electric hoist, operating on a monorail. In the monorail is a live scale section, and the weight is recorded on the scale head. The scale head is inside of the building and the monorail outside, but in view of the weigher through the glass-inclosed-side of the building. How Counting Scale Is Used An automatic dial-type counting scale is used in issuing stock to the individual machines for checking production, computing the earnings for piece workers, for packing in bags and for invoicing. This is a stand- ard Toledo platform scale that is also equipped for counting. The scale has an extended arm permanently attached to the tare-beam lever bracket from which is suspended a ratio pan. A piece is placed in this pan and is counterbalanced by like parts on the scale platform in ratios of 50 to 1 or 100 to 1. To count the number of parts, an empty container is placed on the scale and the tare poise is moved until the indi- cator returns to zero. The parts are placed in the container and the net weight is noted. Parts are then counted into the ratio pan until the indicator again returns to zero. A totalizing chart on the face of the dial has columns of figures for use in operating the scale. For example, if there are 14 parts in the ratio pan on a 50-to-1 ratio scale, the chart shows in the column opposite 14 the number 714, which is the num- ber of parts on the platform and in the pan when they are counterbalanced. To count out a certain number of parts, say 600, reference to the chart shows the figure 12 opposite 612 in the second column. Twelve THE Scales for Testing the Resistance of Springs Used in the Plant of the Cadillac Motor Car Co. IRON AGE June 10, 1926 The scale at the right tests the compression of clutch springs, the one in the middle tests carbureter springs, and the one at the left, brake springs parts are placed in the ratio pan and the parts are placed in the container until the indicator registers zero, when the holds exactly 600 parts. In addition to counting, this scale performs the usual function of weighing; the net weight of the load on the platform is indicated on the scale dial after the parts are removed from the ratio pan. container Using a Scale to Check Counts of Parts Toledo automatic weighing scale for checking the count of parts is found in the plant of the S. M. Jones Co., Toledo, manufacturer of sucker rods. The slender rods, about 20 ft. long and An application of a weighing 30 to 35 lb. each, are difficult to handle. These, when finished, are tied up into small bundles of six rods each, and 15 of these bundles are bunched together into a large bundle, weighing approximately 3000 lb. Chains attached to the end of a handling yoke are placed around the bundle, which is then picked up by an electric hoist that carries it to the warehouse for shipment. Formerly a checker counted the rods as they were piled into the freight cars, and errors in the factory count were frequently found Now the bundles are weighed as they pass over a live- track section in the monorail, and if the weight is 3000 lb., or within a very small tolerance, the count is While This Picture Was Taken in the Plant of the Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., Akron, Ohio, It Suggests a Similar Application in the Metal-Working Industry of a Live Section of a Roller Conveyor Supported on the Platform of an Automatic Scale June 10, 1926 known to be correct. This method of checking is found to be more accurate than the old method, as well as much speedier. Sorting Parts with a Scale One of the illustrations shows a Toledo scale that was especially designed for the accurate and rapid sorting by weight of automobile connecting rods and pistons. It has a double-pendulum counterbalancing and indicating mechanism, and greater leverage on the weighing lever, which is placed in the position of the tare lever on the standard scale. This permits wide graduations on the chart, which is divided into 64 spaces, % in. wide and each representing % oz. A part of average weight, which is selected as a master part, is placed in the weighing pan, and the poises are adjusted to bring the indicator to 32. The poises are then locked to prevent accidental moving. The connecting rods, as they are weighed, are sorted into groups according to the numbers indicated on the dial, the parts in each group weighing the same— within % oz. With this sorting, piston rods for a motor can be taken from one group, assuring that these parts in a motor are of the same weight, within % oz. Special Type of Scale Used by the Cadillac Motor Car Co. for Sorting Connecting Rods According to Weight A special attachment is also provided for sorting the connecting rods into groups, according to the loca- tion of their centers of gravity. With its use, the rods may be sorted both according to weight and for having their centers of gravity at the same point. Use Scale to Test Springs for Resistance Another of the uses of automatic scales is the test- ing of automobile springs for resistance. The spring is placed on the platform of the scale and is pressed down, either by means of a vertical bar operated by a hand wheel, or by a foot lever. The scale shows the number of pounds of pressure required to effect a maximum of spring compression. THE IRON AGE 1637 An electric conveyor scale for weighing in transit and recording the quantity of material counted ‘over a conveyor is being placed on the market by the Stearns Conveyor Co., Cleveland. This scale is mounted over the conveyor frame at a convenient point and supports a freely suspended portion of the con- veyor track, the loaded and return sections of the Scales for Testing Valve Springs in the Plant of the Packard Motor Car Co. The compression is accomplished by foot power conveyor being independently suspended from opposite sides of the steelyard arms of the scale. The weight of the conveyor belt itself is thus completely neutral- ized and the tare is automatically deducted, so’ that only the actual weight of the material conveyed is registered. It is pointed out that this automatic de- duction of the tare is of much importance, because the accuracy of the recording operation is assured whether the flow of material on the conveyor is regular, irregu- ° lar or intermittent. Electric Recording Apparatus for Conveyor Scale The electric recording apparatus operates as fol- lows: A small electric generator is driven from the conveyor foot shaft by means of a chain and sprocket wheel, or some other form of positive drive. The cur- rent is produced at a voltage that is directly propor- tional to the revolutions of the generator and there- fore to the speed of the conveyor belt. In other words, the voltage changes as the belt speed varies. The current is modified by the action of a plunger in a mercury dashpot. The plunger is actuated di- rectly by the movement of the scale beams, and a varia- tion in the level of the plunger and, therefore, of the mercury in the dashpot, causes resistance to be cut in or out of the circuit, varying the current in exact proportion to the load carried. The product of the voltage and current is therefore proportional to the speed of the belt and consequently to the weight con- veyed. This product is registered on an integrating watt-meter calibrated in tons, pounds or other units of measure, instead of being calibrated in kilowatt- hours as with the ordinary recording watt-meter. The weight-recording instruments can be placed at any de- THE IRON AGE June 10, 1926 Scales Operating Through a Live Section of a Monorail Track Are Used for Checking the Number of Sucker Rods in a Bundle at the Plant of the S. M. Jones Co., Toledo, Ohio sired point in the plant regardless of the location of the scale. It is stated that the scale can be used with any type of horizontal or inclined conveyor in which a section of live track can be suspended. When the scale is ad- justed by the setting of weights for belt tension and tare deduction, no further required unless some essential change is made in the equipment adjustment is or in the tension conditions. The construction of the scale may be varied to meet special conditions. For example, when a pivoted bucket conveyor is handling coal and ashes in a power plant, the system will re- quire two scales, because the loaded and return buckets do not pass each other in the conveyor track and there- fore cannot be balanced against each other on a single scale. . An Electrically Operated Conveyor Scale for Weighing Material in Transit Has Been Put on the Market by the Stearns Conveyor Co., Cleveland Steel Merchandising Is Antiquated Competition Between Industries, Rather Than Within Industry, Calls for United Efforts to Hold Established Trade and to Develop New Markets BY CHARLES F. ABBOTT* IFTY years ago, or, indeed, up until the begin- ning of the World War, merchandising consisted primarily in competition among members of the same industry. Attention was concentrated largely upon production. Little or no time was consumed in considering whether the market for the product as a whole was expanding or contracting. Ignorance of the causes of business fluctuations, of the facts of supply and demand, of efficient business methods, re- sulted in intense competition within the industry itself. Today the competitors that manufacturers have most to fear are not those in their own industry. There has arisen a new competition for all lines of business. The real competition is not now between concerns in the same industry, but between different industries meeting similar needs, not for the individual concern’s share of the money spent in the industry, but for a proper share of the national income for the industry as a whole. It has come to be accepted that if there is enough for the industry as a whole there will be enough to go ‘around among its members. To meet the new competition there have been evolved new principles of merchandising. Based upon the in- disputable fact that the public demands those com- modities which it knows and has confidence in, one of the most important of these new principles is that any industry which would keep competitive commodities from encroaching upon its territory, or which would extend the field of its product, must build up in the general public a consciousness of the merits of its product that will create confidence in the service it can render. Steel Industry Relies on Antiquated Methods The steel industry, as you know, may be divided roughly into two main divisions, the hot steel industry which produces the steel from the ore, and the cold steel industry which fabricates the steel for the various uses to which it is put by the ultimate purchaser. Reliance, to a greater or less extent, by both of these divisions of the steel industry upon the merchandising princi- ples of a vanished era, while manufacturers of com- peting products have been alert to take advantage of the merchandising principles of today, is responsible for the unfortunate position in which many branches of the steel industry now find themselves. With no intention of offering destructive criticisms, with the idea only of painting the background for con- structive suggestions, I may say that the hot steel industry is the only large industry existing today in which there is not universal recognition of the fact that the producer should maintain an active interest in his product until it reaches the consumer. The hot steel industry has never taken any interest in its product after it has passed into the hands of the cold steel industry. The hot steel industry has always thought, and still thinks, in terms of tonnage output. Concentration upon the greatest number of tons per man per day has brought about neglect of the market and of all that concerns it. Merchandising Constructive Advertising Never Applied by Hot Steel Industry _ Constructive advertising to build up a public con- Sclousness of steel has never been applied. In alto- gether too many instances the sales methods of the hot steel industry are antiquated, obsolete. Its varying prices, established to meet local or special conditions, _ *Executive director American Institute of Steel Construc- tion, New York. Abstract of address before American Boiler Manufacturers Association at Hot Springs, Va., June 1. 1639 are a throwback to the old customs of trading, long ago consigned to the scrap heap. Its failure to classify its trade, or to recognize those whose responsibility is certified by the capital invested, as compared to those with little or no financial standing, presents a condition that is far from logical. The hot steel industry has never assumed the in- itiative in any effort to extend the use of steel. The development of new uses has been left to the consumer. The railroads themselves are responsible for the use of steel in the construction of freight and passenger cars. The automobile manufacturers assumed the initiative in preparing specifications which they submitted to the mills. How has this concentration upon production, to the exclusion of practically everything else, affected the hot steel industry? An analysis of 27 of the more important iron and steel mills shows earnings of $3.80 in 1924 and $4.51 in 1925 for each $100 of aggregate capitalization. An analysis of 12 other important industries shows aver- age earnings of $12 for each $100 of aggregate capital- ization. The survey of the iron and steel mills further shows that, in spite of the growth in the nation’s ca- pacity for consumption, the ability of the steel mills to produce steel exceeds the ability of the nation to absorb it. Earnings that are so low in proportion to the aggre- gate capitalization are in great part attributable to this excess plant capacity. Excess plant capacity is fre- quently referred to as a condition which retards prog- ress in the hot steel industry. Declining markets nat- urally lead to a condition of excess capacity. If the same importance had been attached to markets as has been devoted to efficient production, there would be no excess capacity in the hot steel industry. Too much of what has been said about the mer- chandising methods of the hot steel industry applies also to the cold steel industry—those of us who fabri- cate the steel; and our division has suffered greatly as a consequence. Progress of Cold Steel Industry in Merchandising But while we of the cold steel industry may be censured for not having taken more immediate advan- tage of the principles of modern merchandising, we are still, in this respect, far in advance of the hot steel industry. You, the fabricators of steel boilers, are awake to the seriousness of the situation. The manufacturers of sheet steel, whose steel roofing a few years ago was being displaced by a competing product at the rate of thousands of tons a year, are checking the invasion of their territory and extending their field. The fabri- cators of structural steel are laying a firm foundation for the recovery of the market encroached upon during the old days of disorganization. This come-back on the part of two branches of the cold steel industry has been brought about by means of industrial group cooperation which, functioning through trade associations, has made possible the ap- plication of those merchandising principles that have proved their worth so conclusively during the last decade. The American Institute of Steel Construction, the association of the structural steel fabricators, and the Sheet Steel Trade Extension Committee, the association of the sheet steel manufacturers, are not associations based upon the “pay a few dollars a year and forget it” theory, or upon mere attendance at an annual meet- ing. They are trade associations the members of which have shown a willingness to contribute substantial 1640 financial support, and the enthusiasm, hard work and ideas which enable them to function along three main lines of endeavor: 1. Standardization to eliminate waste in production and to promote the most efficient use of the product. 2. Research to develop new uses for the product and new markets. 3. Creation of a public consciousness of the advantage of the product. National Advertising Essential to Educational Program We recognize the value of national advertising as a part of our educational program. It forms one of the principal planks in our platform, to be called into play at the earliest possible date. National advertising must be relied upon to a great extent to arouse a consciousness of the part played by steel in modern civilization, and a like consciousness of its inherent qualities which make it the ideal material for so many purposes. The cold steel industry looks forward eagerly to the time when the hot steel industry will cooperate with it in the execution of a constructive educational cam- paign to arouse such a consciousness of steel and so protect the steel industry as a whole from the encroach- ment of products aggressively marketed by competing industries. It is a logical step fraught with possibili- ties the realization of which would lead directly to THE IRON AGE June 10, 1926 substantial increases in the tonnage output of both divisions of the industry. On the other hand, a failure to perceive in time the advantage of such a step is fraught with possibilities of grave injury to both in- terests. Prestige of Steel Industry at Stake While it is true that the mills which produce the steel may never come in contact with the purchaser, yet if the purchaser, in sufficient numbers, turns to competitive products—as in too many cases he now does—many of the mill furnaces will grow cold, their dividends will shrink, and the industry as a whole will inevitably sink from the position of industrial leader- ship it holds today. A blow at the fabricator of steel boilers, or a blow at the fabricator of structural steel, is a blow at steel itself, and at the industry as a whole, from the mill right down the line. The mill, the fabricator of steel sheets, the fabricator of steel boilers, the fabricator of steel tanks, the fabricator of structural steel—each must view with grave concern the substitution of some competitive article for steel, even though that substitu- tion does not take place in his own branch of the in- dustry. Each such substitution is a blow at the pres- tige of steel. Steel in Difficult Foundation Work Part Played in Caissons for Substructure of New York Evening Post E are accustomed to hear of 1000, 5000 or even 10,000 tons of steel in the skeleton of a large or lofty building. During construction the imposing framework is the most conspicuous feature in sight or in hearing, but few realize the great amount of steel and the vital importance that it has in the substructure, which, when finished, is forever buried out of sight. The more difficult and dangerous the foundation condi- tions, the more likely is it that steel is there an essen- tial element. Sometimes it has given way to other material, but the more important and exacting the work, and in New York especially where requirements *Consulting engineer, 20 Vesey Street, New York Building in New York BY FRANK W. SKINNER* are commonly exceedingly severe, the more likely is it that steel must be used for one or several principal purposes. In most of the tall buildings in lower New York, the foundations are carried to rock through 40 to 60 ft. of quicksand. By means of the pneumatic caisson process, they are sunk on top of what are essentially large diving bells. In these of course men work in com- pressed air excavating the material. As the men under- mine the diving bells, the massive foundation piers are built on top of them and all gradually sink to a solid bearing on the bedrock. When this system was first introduced, 30 or 40 years ago, the caissons were built like ships’ hulls, of : . . . As ‘ - & q Collapsible Air Shatt Roe a . oe Details of Steel S = * ; I One ATEY ‘Brick Wall Pneumatic Cais- ll = Sree adc eve/ Stone SP | hs E* 4a .* Footing lar Fi son and Coffer- si |: IES Wed Cellar Floor dam, Showing F ISS | er How the Units to &| Ise Backfill. xX Support the ~ is IE ee in : S| ISS te : Building Weight S| 7 8} Are Made Up and & “IK How They Are Quicksand Quicksand Preurnatic Caisson Prer “i - =< — [aL >} Cutting Edge Steel CAISSON — spropenes Working Chamber =o,” Hard Vee snccete | Worked Down Through Over- lying Quicksand and Hard Pan to Bed Rock. At right is shown the method of underpinning an adjoining, exist- ant wall, giving it a permanent support June 10, 1926 Sinking 86 Steel Pneumatic Cais- sons With Sec- tional Circular Steel and Rect- angular Wooden Permanent C of- ferdams. Note six air locks in ser- vice and many steel and wooden coferdams as- sembled on other caissons. Con- crete mixers on the right. Cof- ferdam panels stored on plat- forms over side- walks heavy plates and angles riveted and calked, and they were employed for many of the earlier steel frame buildings. As years passed the fashion changed and the cais- sons, sometimes 20 or 30 ft. long, were built of con- crete, but still reinforced with hundreds of tons of steel bars. In many cases these were equipped with perma- nent or temporary steel shafts. Recently in one of the most difficult and important foundation jobs for the 16-story new Evening Post Building on West Street, New York, the contractors went back to the early method and used more than 600 tons of steel caissons and cofferdams for the 86 deep piers provided in the building design. The Evening Post building is located in the old bed of the North River on made ground, overlying quick- sand and obstructed by the deeply buried remains of old heavy foundations, abandoned piers, sunken wrecks, heavy timbers, large stones and other obstacles. Through this the piers, up to 16 ft. in width, had to be carried 50 ft. or more, deep into the stratum of re- fractory hardpan, nearly as hard as the rock itself. Great weights were necessary to sink the caissons, and tremendous stresses were developed that required the strongest construction for their safe resistance. The caissons alone covered a large percentage of the area of the 133 x 176 ft. plot, so that there was not enough room left for all the necessary derricks, machinery and working space, to say nothing of the large amount that would be required for building tim- ber or concrete caissons. The result was the contrac- tors purchased 86 heavy square and cylindrical bot- tomless boxes, as wide as 16 ft. and about 8 ft. high. These were provided with heavily reinforced lower edges, which were riveted up complete and calked air- tight at a remote fabricating plant. Including a large number of cylindrical sections for upper parts, the un- wieldly boxes, weighing up to 10 tons each, were deliv- ered on trucks to the site, where they were unloaded from the street and set accurately in position by a series of derricks equipped with Lidgerwood hoisting engines. Men entering them began the sinking process. The excavation was necessarily expedited at times by Chicago pneumatic tools supplied from a compressor on the site. As the caissons descended the space above their low and heavy roofs was filled with concrete and, after they reached their final bearing in the hardpan, the working chambers themselves and the communicating Shafts were also concreted and the foundations were ready to receive the steel superstructure. The Underpinning & Foundation Co. built the sub- structure, but they also had to put new foundations THE IRON AGE 1641 under the walls of an adjacent building. For this pur- pose they used a number of very heavy steel pipes cut in short sections and driven down under the existing walls by means of hydraulic jacks between the top of the pipe and the foot of the wall. Successive sections of the pipe were added on the top as the lower part was forced down. As the pipe descended the interior was excavated by means of a miniature Hayward orange- peel bucket operated by hand, bringing up earth and gravel and stones, no matter how great the depth. These proved so efficient that they brought up stones as large as could pass through the pipes. Eventually the pipes were filled with concrete and wedged firmly against the bottom of the old wall. Horace Trumbauer and C. S. Landers were architect and consulting engineer, respectively, and the Thomp- son-Starrett Co. the general contractor for this building. To Install 120,000 Lb. Per Hr. Steam Generators The National Enameling & Stamping Co., Inc., Granite City, Ill., has awarded a contract to the Com- bustion Engineering Corporation, New York City, for two 120,000 lb. per hr. steam generators operating at a steam pressure of 160-Ib. per sq. in. and a superheat of 120 deg. Fahr. The contract specifies a guarantee of an over-all efficiency of 87 per cent. It is anticipated that the installation will result in a material decrease in the cost of steam and will reduce the labor cost in the boiler house to less than one-third of the present amount. The boilers will be fired with pulverized fuel. The contract covers the furnishing and erecting of the generators, superheaters, coal pulverizers and the fans. The company has retained Baumes-McDevitt, St. Louis, as construction engineers on the job. Iron and Steel Works Employment in April Iron and steel works showed a slight gain in num- ber of men employed in 213 establishments in April, compared with March, according to figures of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. The num- ber on payroll in April was 290,394, against 288,671 in March. There was a slight decrease in amount of pay- roll, from $9,019,495 in March to $8,934,208 in April. The average pay envelope was about 1.5 per cent lighter in April than in March. At the Left—The Core Bar Is Designed With a Sand Flange to Give the Mold a Sand Bottom In the Center—-The Core Box Is Hinged on a Ramming Base Made to Receive the Sand Flange of the Core Bar At the Right—The Core Box Is Closed and Locked, and the Sand Is Rammed by Means of Air Tools Ill., by the Valley Mold & Iron Corporation, Sharpsville, Pa., is the first plant in the West producing ingot molds for distribution to the general \ FOUNDRY recently completed at South Chicago, trade. Designed for an ultimate capacity of 25,000 net tons of finished ingot molds per month, the foundry has an initial capacity of 15,000 net tons. It is located on property adjacent to the two Federal blast furnaces of the By-Products Coke Corporation, from which hot metal is transported by rail in 45-ton ladles. The distance from the stacks to the ladle-tilting crane run- way is about 1000 ft. The productive capacity of the two Federal furnaces is about 32,000 gross tons of pig iron per month. The foundry building is a steel-frame structure with roof and siding of corrugated galvanized sheets. A monitor extends the full length of a main bay, which measures 60 ft. x 816 ft. Continuous sash in- closes the sides of the monitor at the ends of the building, but over the middle section, below which is located the pouring platform, louvers have been in- stalled. The main bay is served by four 20 and 25-ton overhead electric traveling cranes. A lean-to along the south side of the main bay and near its west end houses a sand track. A 10-ton overhead electric crane unloads sand from standard-gage railroad cars and stores it in the lean-to, which is parallel to the ramming platform. A stool foundry, 70 ft. x 140 ft., has been built adjacent to the south wall of the main *Western editor THe Iron Acar, Chicago. First Ingot Mok Careful Centering of Cor in Flask and Core it Wall Thicknes BY bay. This room is served by an overhead electric traveling crane. A wing, 70 ft. x 96 ft., has been added to the north- west corner of the main building, and this will be used as a machine shop and equipment storage room. It is served by a 25-ton overhead electric crane. This de- partment also houses two motor-driven air compres- sors, furnished by the Bury Compressor Co., Erie, Pa. The office and sanitary equipment buildings are built of brick and are detached from the foundry structure. The foundry building is not equipped for heating during the winter months, since it is antici- pated that heat radiating from the hot metal and dry- ing ovens will be ample to keep the room at a tempera- ture satisfactory for working conditions. Sand Is Handled Mechanically New sand is stored by means of a bucket suspended from an overhead crane. It is taken from storage, when required, by the crane bucket and unloaded into a hopper located above a screen and sand mixer, sup- plied by the Stephens-Adamson Mfg. Co., Aurora, IIl. Used sand, which is stored near the mixer, is also loaded into the hopper by the crane bucket. After passing through the mixer the sand drops into a concrete pit, where it is picked up by the crane bucket and unloaded into a muller, furnished by the National Engineering Co., Chicago. It is then passed by chute to another concrete pit and is removed by the crane bucket for distribution to the storage hoppers at the ramming platform. The platform is in the main bay 1642 ys Ig Foundry in West Cor e | nes ROGH A. Bar in Core Box, Pattern Mold Insure Uniform in Ingot Mold FISKE* and is elevated above the foundry floor to approx- imately the height of an ingot mold flask. Core Bar Is Accurately Centered In making the ingot mold core a cast iron bar is fitted into a ramming base. The base makes a metal- to-metal contact at the lower end of the core bar. This arrangement puts the core bar on a true center with and perpendicular to the base. The core box is cast iron, made in two halves which are hinged along one edge, with the lower hinge pin fitted into a hole drilled into the ramming base. Rollers or casters, mounted on the base, facilitate the closing of the core box by manual labor. The core box is closed and locked and the sand is rammed by means of air tools operated by workmen on the platform. The core box is then re- moved, and the core is taken from its place at the platform and spotted near the drying ovens, where it is finished with blacking. The four drying ovens have a capacity of 32 cores. They are of brick construction and are built above the foundry floor level. The roofs are made of sheet metal and are of the telescoping type. Each core is dried for about 4 hr. at a temperature of 600 deg. Fahr. by means of oil burners of the low-pressure, air-atomizing type. Air for the burners is supplied by a General Electric Co. motor-driven, single-stage centrifugal blower. Fuel oil is forced to the burners by two belt-driven, single-acting, triple-plunger pumps. Each flask, which is made of cast iron and is split longitudinally, carries a stripping plate, which sup- 1643 At the Left—The Pattern Is Made of Cast Iron. The flask carries a stripping plate to support the sand and to give accurate set- ting on the ramming base In the Center—The Core Is Spotted in a Casting Base, and the Mold Is Then Low- ered Over It, Being Accurately Centered by Means of Pins At the Right—Ingot Molds Are Poured From a 12-Ton Bottom-Pour Ladle. The gate is along the side of the flask, so that metal enters the mold at the bottom seoreenoneneduennesseaeiie ports the sand and gives a metal-to-metal joint when the mold is placed on the casting base. It has been found that this practice prevents the forming of a fin between the mold and the base. Dowels Insure Proper Centering of Flask and Pattern After the two halves of the flask are locked to- gether, the flask is placed on a ramming base. Dowels in the base insure the proper centering of the flask with the pattern. After the mold has been rammed and stripped from the pattern, it is blackened and removed to drying burners. There are 20 of these oil burners, each being surrounded by a small combustion chamber constructed of brick. The area of each com- bustion chamber is such that a mold can be placed on the top of the brick walls. The mold thus becomes a stack or chimney for the small oil-fired furnace. After 2% to 3 hr. of drying at a temperature of 600 deg. Fahr. the mold is ready to be taken to the pouring platform. Dried cores and molds are placed on a transfer table operating on a track between the ovens and the pouring platform, which is elevated above the foundry floor to about the height of a mold. Fifteen molds can be placed on each side of the pouring platform. On each side of this platform and a few inches above the floor are two rails so spaced that they will support iron casting plates. The center of each plate is recessed and forms a pocket into which the base of the core fits, with about 1/32 in. clearance at the sides. Thus the core cannot be off center more than that amount, Molds, Af- ter Being Rammed, Are Placed Over Small Oil- Fired Combus- tion Chambers. The molds are virtually chim- neys for the burners during the drying period and it must stand perpendicular to the casting base, which also supports the mold. Holes drilled in the base are matched by means of guide pins with holes in the bottom flange of the flask, so that as the mold is lowered into position over the core, it must come to rest with its center coinciding with that of the core. By following this method of assembling core and mold, an ingot mold of uniform wall thickness is insured. A pour box is then placed over the gate, which extends down the side of the flask and is rammed with the mold. Thus it is seen that the metal flows down the gate and enters the mold at the bottom. The foundry ladles are of the bottom-pour type and each has a capacity of 12 tons. The ladles are filled by placing them in pits below the floor level and alongside of the track on which the furnace ladle cars are run into the foundry. The tipping crane, located over the foundry ladle car track, is essentially the trolley of an ordinary overhead electric crane. The metal used in casting in- got molds at this foundry is a low-phosphorus malleable TO CURB UNEMPLOYMENT Propose Plan of Gathering Monthly Statistics to Forestall Periods of Enforced Idleness PLAN to forestall periods of extensive unemploy- ment, such as often follow waves of unusual pros- perity, is presented in a report of a study by a com- mittee of the American Statistical Association, of which Mary Van Kleeck, director of the Russell Sage Founda- tion’s Department of Industrial Studies, is chairman. “The purpose of the plan,” the report states, “is to unemployment by providing facts needed to understand and control fluctuations in the production of goods and obstructions to their sale.” The report declares that the distress suffered by large groups of workers periodically thrown out of employment in times of business depression can largely be avoided by accurate advance information on the trend of employment. The plan now presented calls for the collection of employment statistics monthly by State labor bureaus, with the United States Department of Labor the co- ordinating center. In addition, the plan urges the extension of the regular collection of employment statistics by Federal bureaus having a direct relation to certain industries, such as the Geological Survey for mines and quarries, the Interstate Commerce Commis- sion for railroads, and the Department of Agriculture lessen THE IRON AGE June 10, 1926 pig iron. from 3 tons to 9 tons each. Each ingot mold is allowed to stand for 3 to 5 hr. before it is stripped from the flask and core bar. It is then placed in the hot pile and remains there for Ingot molds cast in the foundry range in size 60 to 80 hr. No effort is made to remove any of the sand until the ingot mold is taken from the hot pile. When the ingot mold is cold it is transported to the cleaning department, where air tools are employed to remove the sand. The ingot mold is then taken to a finishing rack, where it is chipped, ground and inspected. The men upon whom rests the major part of the responsibility for the operation of the ingot mold foundry are William Roberts, general superintendent of the Sharpsville and South Chicago foundries, and E. L. Raysor, superintendent of the new plant at South Chicago. George L. Morrow, district sales manager, handles orders and shipments, and Thomas J. Bern- hardt, assistant purchasing agent, local purchases. for farms, and the reporting of all these data to the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics for prompt publica- tion of national indices of employment. Answers to two main questions are sought in the proposed monthly surveys: the total number of em- ployees on each payroll, and the total amount of wages paid in the monthly payroll period. The industries from which it is proposed to collect the data are manufac- turing, mining and quarrying, communication, building construction, wholesale trade, retail trade, logging and lumber work, and agriculture. The business failures and suffering among wage- earners in 1921 resulted in directing attention to the possibility of preventing unemployment by lessening the fluctuations in business known as the business cycle, the committee points out. The chief factor in the control of business has been found in the control of credit by the Federal Reserve System. More Leather Belting Exported Exports of leather belting in the ten months ended April 30 are reported by the Department of Commerce at 1,154,589 lb., valued at $1,727,933. Both figures show an increase of more than 11 per cent over the 1,039,156 lb., valued at $1,536,139, during the corre- sponding period of last year. China was the most im- portant market, followed in order by British India, Canada, Cuba and Mexico. Europe’s Machine Tool Buying* Substantial Movement Expected Within at Least Two Years and American Automatic Ma- chines Will Be in Demand ITHIN 18 months to two years it is likely that a substantial market for American machine tools will be opened up in Europe. This predie- tion is based upon the fact that European industrial leaders, particularly those in England, realize that they must revolutionize their production methods by install- ing machinery of the latest type if they wish to com- pete with the United States in the world markets. Two English commissions recently visited this coun- try to study our industries. After an extensive tour they returned home with the recommendation that their fellow countrymen emulate the example set by Ameri- cans and attain quantity output and low production costs by replacing hand labor with machinery and by utilizing the type of tools which will yield the greatest possible results in the shortest possible time. Demand Will Be for Automatic Tools Consequently the demand will be for automatic machine tools. The English as well as the people of other countries in Europe are too impoverished at pres- ent to begin this industrial transition on a large scale. Possibly the effect of the recent general strike will postpone the day when the industrial leaders will have the means to supplant their old equipment and their hand labor with automatic tools. But when the time does come, and it should be within the next two years, American machine tool builders again will have a Eu- ropean market for their automatic tools and special purpose machines. Those American machine tool manufacturers who have direct representatives in Europe will be in a par- ticularly advantageous position to secure the business when it is placed. They now are building good will and are educating the prospective buyers to the merits of their tools. The American builders who wait until the actual orders are ready to be placed are not likely to share to any marked extent in the business. It must be remembered that the cry throughout England is “buy English goods,” and the only way in which it is possible to sell American tools is to have something to offer which no one else can furnish or to have a product superior to that which the English are making themselves. Here the superiority of Amer- ican machine tools is an outstanding factor. Euro- peans readily admit that the tools made in the United States are the best in the world. European Dealer Supplies Machine Accessories The large machine tool dealers in England, France and Germany have competent engineering staffs and are equipped to manufacture the tools and fixtures which are accessories to large machine tools. Whereas the American builder makes the machine, the small tools and fixtures which accompany it, and also sup- plies the engineering skill, the dealer in Europe buys only the machine tool itself from the American builder and operates his own engineering and accessory de- partments at a profit. In England the largest and most successful dealer establishments are managed by Americans, who went to that country originally as the representatives of American firms and stayed there to go into business for themselves. Stocks of War Period Machines Still Remain While there still are abundant stocks of machine tools remaining from the war period, they have been *An interview with O. B. Iles, president International Machine Tool Co., who has just returned from Europe. 1645 reduced greatly. Probably in another two years they will no longer be an important factor. Furthermore, they are rapidly becoming obsolete and will in no way be a competitor of the American automatic machines when European industrialists again can afford to pur- chase equipment. German machine tools are being sold at between 10 and 20 per cent below those produced in the United States. The English are asking slightly more than the Germans for their tools, but are slightly below the American price standard. However, now that Germany is on a sound financial basis, manufacturing costs have risen sharply, and builders in that country will not be able to undersell the Americans so readily. Fear of German Competition General In copying machines of American make the Ger- mans have been only partly successful. They either leave out some vital part or produce some parts which are distinctly inferior to those on the American tools. It is little wonder, therefore, that they have been un- able to secure a good price for these tools and have been forced to sell them in certain instances at as low as one-half of the figure asked for the American original. Fear of German competition is apparent in many parts of Europe. The Germans are adhering to an aggressive sales policy, are carrying their message to many countries, and are exhibiting their products far and wide. For example, in Egypt the Germans were showing their tools, agricultural implements and other commodities at an Egyptian exposition which had only two American exhibitors. Particularly outstanding has been the success of a firm in Stuttgart, Germany, in marketing an automatic screw machine which has been displacing many old machines in England, France, Italy and Germany. The Question of Extended Credit Much has been said about the extension of credit by the Germans to the Soviet government. Some state- ments declare that 6, 12 and 18 months have been given the Russians in which to pay for their goods. Investi- gation will reveal that such is not the case. The so- called “trade acceptances” taken by the German manu- facturers are discounted by the German banks and then are discounted by Soviet banks in Russia, so that the Russians really are financing their own purchases in Germany. When Belgium and Germany were passing through the period of financial stabilization, several Belgian and German machine tool dealers took advantage of the opportunity to buy as much machinery as possible at extremely low prices. Consequently, these dealers to- day have little ready money, but have their warehouses full of valuable machinery and should make handsome profits on their investments. Automobile makers in Italy, France and England have taken Ford as their model and are endeavoring to readjust their plant operations to permit produc- tion on a large scale. Therefore, they will be buying considerable automatic machinery in the next few years. While the Germans and the English are factors in the European machine tool market, the French are not formidable competitors -of American builders. Prac- tically all of the machines made in France are sold in that country. 1646 WHEEL-QUARTERING MACHINE 90-In. Unit for Boring Simultaneously Crankpin Holes in Locomotive Driving Wheels The Niles-Bement-Pond Co., 111 Broadway, New York, is bringing out the 90-in. wheel quartering ma- chine here shown, which is arranged for boring simul- taneously crankpin holes in locomotive driving wheels. By the use of a special attachment, crankpins mounted in the wheel sets can also be turned. The design pro- vides for wheel sets having right-hand lead only, which is stressed as permitting the machine to be built with greater rigidity. The machine is provided with a right- and left-hand headstock. These heads are mounted and slide on large 90-deg. V-ways on the bed, the center-to-center dis- tance of ways being 48 in. The heads are adjustable laterally along bed by power and each is held to it by ee THE IRON AGE June 10, 1926 The wheel set is supported from each journal by two compensating V-blocks, which are free to slide on a large elevating member, the lower end of which is threaded for the purpose of raising or lowering the V-blocks to take care of the variation in size of jour- nals. The supporting bracket also carries an outboard bearing for the boring bar, scales being provided to facilitate setting the outboard bearing to correspond with the setting of the spindle saddle. The support brackets are adjusted laterally on bed, in or out in relation to each other, by left- and right-hand screws operating through a large handwheel. A wing is pro- vided on each bracket to which the wheels are clamped in position for quartering. To bring the wheels into proper location for quartering, an adjustable link is provided for each head. One end of the link is affixed to a C-clamp applied to tire or rim of the wheel center, the other end being fastened to eye bolt in bed. Each boring spindle is independently driven by its own motor