The Iron Age 1945-11-29: Vol 156 Iss 22

J. H. VAN DEVENTER President and Editorial Director c. S. BAUR Vice-President & General Manager H. E. LEONARD Assistant General Manager B. H. HAYES Advertising Manager ©. L. JOHNSON, Manager Reader Service and Market Research | R. E. BAUR, Production Manager = _ R. E. CLEARY, Technical Research and Editorial This Wieele in The i at | Vol. 156, No. 22 November 29, 1945 Promotion M er Pat Som | How to Avoid a Headache ........... 2... 0... e eens 41 Executive Offices Chestnut and 5Séth Sts. ° ° ° Philadelphia 39, Pa., U.S.A. Editorial and Advertising Offices . . 100 East 42nd St., New York 17, NLY., U.S.A. Technical Articles ° ° ° ONIN 2 oo ot Ue doee cea oe eKeA kin 44 on on a & LEONARD Se Ge, 55 co 048 bcs oade oun) oe 48 10 Eat Kind nines Coat ind aan Ship Failures isn. 3 aaa’ 49 ae Bae |S tinuous With X Ray Micrometer............ 50 1016 @uardion Bldg. 428 Port Bldg. High Tensile NN ME i ie nck ead aks lite 52 Piloduipha oo Preventing Surface Decarburization in Transmission Gears 56 race rect ue ! eC wannth Cushioned High-Cobalt Shaper Tools st 61 Hartford 1, Conn. Sinters Economize Blast Furnace Operation............. 62 7310 Woodward A 0 ee, OG, ben Os NE NE iin otk cdi wade cee cts nea cena 63 et Angeles 28 New Bearing Alloy Cimntites Tie... 2 ey 64 ee ee Magnetic Method for Diamond Hardness Measurements.. 65 end Petite by New Equipment 66 CHILTON COMPANY (Incorporated) OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS C. A. MUSSELMAN, Chairmen JOS. S$. HILDRETH, President GEORGE H. GRIFFITHS Vice-President IRN ice cc ak Sade 0 cf a ARUN San tales She ae 43 EVERIT B. TERHUNE Vice-President ME inci és 6 ov caknndaeediss o45k eee 70 J. H. VAN DEVENTER Vice-President NING 5) elated Oma aN a ohh »'4 Uta 0 ae 6 hag Da 74 C. S. BAUR Vice-President West Coast 78 * 04, seseuniencer Sendeahiine : Bao. hore AAcAginnss ~ omaha! nih aoa JULIAN CHASE Vice-President n Me Av eW ps Oh iwateuveendewes.db sé CASRN SS 82 WILLIAM A. BARBER, Treasurer PU GUNN Sk a. ice wee the doe cee bade. 86 JOHN BLAIR MOFFETT, Secretary PEIN bho UTS. CSO wb os Valen beN ees Ee 90 G. C. BUZBY HARRY Y. DUFFY : THOMAS L KANE CHARLES J HEAL ma <ere ay WILLIAM H. VALLAR, Asst. Treas. ° ° ° ° ° ° Chilton Editorial Board watts ean e &. 6 News and Markets Senies, ANGe ease af Coupes OPA Denies Steel Price Increase............. 0.2.6.5... 95 Steel Price Chronology .... pabeR dete pas 95 Diihetets Te GI. wi cen cbinve dss cuusens 101 Sls Ge eco os ARETE os wenn Machine Tool Developments .....................-+:- Member, Associated Business Papers Nonferrous Market News and Prices ................. Iron and Steel Scrap News and Prices ............... Comparison of Prices by Week and Year ............. Finished and Semifinished Steel Prices ................ Po ES ES ee er es erry Fabricated Steel Products Prices Fale ced ae Sr ke Warehouse Steel and Pig Iron Prices lin «oe eee © Se eae oe ee NE eg no wn noe bps tein vc 5 cadameate Nort Kimarco, South America and U. S. Mineral a ean Pr Coweestons, $8; Foreign, = Beasties Gus Files Pitt. fois c... nurngesee Paes —_—a. ° ° ° ° ° 2 Cable Address, "lronage” N. Y Copyright, 1946, by Chilton Company (Ine.) Index to Advertisers Statement of Position— Until the present tight steel situation is eased, there will be an unbalanced condi- tion in all steel stocks. There are three principal reasons for this: 1. Labor and coal shortages are cur- rently lowering steel production. 2. Every industry is anxious to get on with reconversion and peacetime production. 3. There is a tremendous backlog of maintenance and repair require- ments. Ryerson stocks, largest in the nation, re- flect current conditions. And because of the great load, it is not always possible to supply the desired steel or deliver available steel as quickly as usual. But we are doing everything we can to satisfy every customer’s requirements. When a certain kind or size of steel is not immediately available, every effort is made to suggest satisfactory alternates which buyers may use with confidence. Ryerson’s 103 years of experience in maintaining large and complete stocks and working closely with all industries, makes the recommendations of Ryerson metallurgists and engineers particularly practical and helpful. We thank our customers for their cour- tesy and patience, for the confidence they have placed in our judgment when alter- nates for wanted steels have had to be offered, and for understanding our po- sition. Ryerson will continue to serve you to the best of its ability from its eleven strategically located plants. Stocks will be brought to normal as quickly as pos- sible. This means that Ryerson will be among the first to have more complete stocks of present scarce steels—that Ryer- son will continue to be the largest stock source for steel in the country. cc eee President JOSEPH T. RYERSON & SON, INC. RYERSON STEEL Steel-Service Plants at: Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Buffalo, New York, Boston 40—THE IRON AGE, November 29, 1945 How to Avoid a Headache HE world cannot consume more than it produces; therefore con- sumption is determined by productivity. The ability to consume, which is the ability to have and to use, is therefore measured by what we produce. It follows from this that the material wealth of the world, or of a nation that is a fraction of it, can only be increased by increasing the collective productivity. But collective productivity is simply individual productivity integrated. It is the sum of what all of the Tom’s, Dick’s, Harry’s and Mary’s put into each hour. The big question today is what Tom, Dick, Harry and Mary should get out of it. The trouble is that sometimes you cannot measure individual pro- ductivity and another trouble is that many individuals necessary to an economy are what we call “nonproductive.” Public, professional and personal service occupations, for example, have no calibration in terms of productivity, although their scope and activity are usually almost directly proportional to it. In distribution, which is an essential part of the economy, certain activities, such as selling, are not only productive but measurable, whereas others are not. Investment, by stockholders and entrepreneurs, is sometimes highly productive, and sometimes not at all but it cannot be currently measured by results, since these come perhaps years after the risk is incurred. We hear a good deal today about labor’s proper share of increased productivity and indeed labor has a right to its share. But usually a rather small part of labor actually has a hand in making the gains. Most of them are made through the efforts of management which includes the engineering talent. In a well managed and well mechanized plant which I visited a few days ago, an operator was producing three times as many identical parts per hour as he did four years ago. The cause of the increased productivity was entirely outside of the operator, indeed his type of mind was such that so far as he was concerned, without the equipment given him to work with, he would be producing the previous output as long as he worked at the job. To give him credit, at least let us say he was doing his best but that best was made better by management's ability to improve conditions. Of course, one cannot say that such labor should not share in the fruits of increased productivity. It should and does. Increased pro- ductivity, or wealth increments as some call them, must be shared by all. That is why we have now and have had, in our country, a better standard of wages and of living than that of any other country. One thing you cannot do and stay solvent and that is to pass out the fruits of enterprise faster than you pick them. That is a cold hard fact that is not liked or appreciated by many persons today who should know better. A realistic approach to this problem would save us a good many of today’s headaches. | | | | nee: ~ \ me rm etter ln meen dw 42—THE IRON AGE, November 29, 1945 INLAND STEEL we SE ace ne RCA Roa et AS, RB aE. anid eine Saleh an RMR lial Typical Samples of the Thousands Checked to Maintain Quality and Uniformity in Inland Steels Hundreds of Tons of Samples are Tested Yearly Making steel, the basic material of our modern world, is no simple process — nor is it one of small responsibility. For in making steel thousands of require- ments must be satisfied, many involving consideration for human life as well as the reputation of designers, fabricators and builders of equipment. Operations of such consequence call for constant checks and rigid testing — ruling out all euesswork, In the course of a single year hundreds of tons of steel samples undergo chemical, tensile, metallographic, etch and other tests at Inland. Chemical analyses alone run well over a thousand tons. These precautions are taken to furnish a uniformity and quality in steel that will fully measure up to every requirement. For the benefit of steel users, Inland maintains a large specialized staff of engineers and metallurgists who will gladly cooperate with you in the selection and use of steels — without. obligation. Inland Steel Company, 38 S. Dearborn St., Chicago 3, Ill. Sales Offices: Cincinnati, Detroit, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Milwaukee, New York, St. Louis, St. Paul. Principal Products: Bars e Structurals @ Plates e Sheets @ Strip e Tin Plate @ Floor Plate e Piling e Reinforcing Bars e Rails e Track Accessories. ~ poss whic — nil] posi ligt nil? a; Was! 15. owne - by 1 con bet’ me Bri add nea rho nos ~ fin par net pro hea ten » tir cok Cor = the rol ations ut all dergo mical taken every aff of ection - NEWSFRONT (RON ACS Dec. 27, 1945 em OPA denial of a steel price increase came as a shock to the steel industry which asked for an overall $7 a ton rise, particularly because of unofficial assurances of some grant by members of the agency. » Freight rates on steel from the Pittsburgh-Youngstown-Cleveland districts to eastern ports for water shipment to the West Coast will be considered at hearings of the joint conference committee of the railroads at Buffalo in mid- December. The proposed 25 pet reduction under domestic rates would put the interior mills on a more nearly even footing with Birmingham and Sparrows Point nills which enjoy a long head-start in laying down steel on the West Coast cheaply. e» Western steel consumers, with the support of mills which do not operate their own intercoastal steamship lines, may attempt, later, to secure a cut in the tariff on intercoastal water shipments of steel. Westerners contend that, although the tariff is added to eastern bases to form a West Coast price, mills operating steamship lines have much lower out-of-pocket costs. If the tariff were reduced, it is felt that West Coast steel prices would be cut. > Fabrication-in-transit regulations may soon again come in for scrutiny, possibly by the ICC itself, with a view to narrowing the range of products on which substitute bills of lading may be inserted after fabrication. & Projected construction of a new continuous hot strip mill and a cold reduction nill at the Sparrows Point plant of Bethlehem should put the mill in a better position to serve both the eastern market and expanding West Coast markets for light gage flat-rolled products, and might checkmate erection of an East Coast nill by Carnegie-—Illinois. >» A sidelight of Olin Industries' refusal to purchase or lease the Tacoma, Wash., primary aluminum plant is that according to SPB,. production costs were 15.379¢ per 1b compared with 11.354¢ per lb at a more efficient government owned plant. » Accurate and precise thickness gaging over a wide range can be accomplished by use of X-ray electronic devices. X-ray micrometers are readily capable of continuously measuring the thickness of any moving material with an accuracy of better than one pct and without any physical contact with the work. & Early deoxidation of the heat results in consistent high quality steel, British investigations of the basic electric-arc furnace process reveal. Two prime factors in the quality control of high-tensile steel are aluminum additions to control grain size and sulfide distribution and accurate temperature neasurements during steelmaking. For the latter purpose a platinum, platinum- rhodium thermocouple so protected that it may be immersed in the melt has been most satisfactory. & Critical factors in heat treating large transmission gears after shave finishing are the chemical composition of the atmosphere gases surrounding the parts undergoing heat treatment; prevention of air exposure of parts when the netal is sufficiently hot to permit occurrence of carbon depletion and high production with least sacrifice of available heat. One military tank manufacturer solved these by using bell-type furnaces for heating and keeping parts inside the furnace under carburizing atmosphere until temperature is reduced to below 1100° F. ®& Use of a copper cushion between shank and tip of high speed or carbide- tipped tools notably increases tool life. In the case a cushioned tool of 12 pct cobalt steel regrinding was necessary only after 192 sq in had been machined compared to a previous life of 24 sq in. ® There is little likelihood of early imports of pig iron from India while the exchange rate for rupees remains at 30.5¢. Pig iron sells at Calcutta at roughly $30 per gross ton. . be . 7 ae ae 3 — ? - eee = ; . ‘ Le enppapireet : 7 Z Sows prec riteee nl is Rares J tS YS : C iiind ; PAL Stale - ve ane ~"s as Buena oe . eal it Oty tes syne 4 orcs SI =¥ RSI - - , =i hear UELT Tn Nt OLR A ENE POR eos - oe associate came ali en te te a * ° ° ° By RALPH HOWELL Transue & Williams Steel Forging Corp. ° ° ° ARIATIONS in the cost of dies for drop forgings should be thor- oughly investigated by the buy- er of forgings in order to avoid what may prove to be costly experience. Such variations may spring from sev- eral different causes. In a small de- gree they may be due to variations in labor, burden, and material costs, but the cost of labor used in sinking a set of closed impression dies varies only slightly among the different producers of forgings, and the cost of die blocks varies little or not at all. The burden or overhead costs vary in provortion to the type of die sinking equipment utilized, the size of the die making department, the volume of work going through the die making department, and soon. Therefore, such variations as occur are usually the result of care- less estimating based on faulty rec- ords or inefficient cost recording meth- ods which do not reveal the actual cost of a set of dies. Few management and preduction executives outside the commercial drop forging industry comprehend the amount of engineering and highly skilled craftsmanship required to pre- pare and maintain a set of closed- impression forging dies and trimmer dies for the production of a specific part. The cost of these production tools seems to vary greatly, but such variations should always be found in correct proportion to the size, shape, weight, and other characteristics of the part. A set of closed-impression forging dies is made to exacting specifications and represents the judgment of forg- ing engineers, metallurgists, and pro- duction executives regarding the forg- ing techniques to be employed for de- veloping maximum metal quality in the forging. There is nothing about a set of closed-impression forging dies that permits of a standardized or 44—THE IRON AGE, November 29, 1945 ESTIMATING DIE COSTS . . . The great differences which frequently prevail in estimating the costs of forging dies can be due in only a small degree fo vari- ations in labor, burden, and material costs, but may well be the result of faulty records or inefficient recording methods. In this article the author presents the costing methods successfully employed by a large drop forging company. straightforward procedure. It is not unusual to find a considerable varia- tion between the cost of two sets of forging dies for a part of approxi- mately the same weight. The only one competent to explain such a variation is'a forging engineer of broad experi- ence. The procedure related applies to calculating the cost of closed-impres- sion dies for drop, upset or machine, and press forgings, and the trimmer dies for these forgings. This is not a presentation of standard practice for. calculating the cost of closed-impres- sion forging dies, but is merely a dec- scription of one procedure that is fol- lowed in arriving at the cost of these production tools. Information Required After having made a thorough study of a part, for the purpose of properly visualizing the required draft angles and the location of the parting line; or for suggesting any changes in de- sign or tolerances which would be of benefit to either the customer or the vendor, the following information should be at hand: Net Weight: The net weight, as identified by the Industry, is the weight of a forging as it is shipped to the customer, except in instances where the forging vendor also does the machining. This weight is usual- ly computed from a print by breaking down the irregular shapes into simple geometrical sections and totaling the parts. Gross Weight: The gross weight represents the amount of material re- quired to make a specified forging and includes the net weight, the weight of the flash, sprue, tonghold, punchout slugs and the shear or saw loss. The volume of the waste material men- tioned is also broken down into sim- ple geometrical sections and their weights calculated and totaled. Material Size: The size of the ma- terial required, is governed by the largest cross-section of the part. The design of the part may be such that a certain amount of stock may be gathered in a rolling or fullering im- pression while reducing other sections of the stock. In some cases where large sections are coupled adjacent to long slender sections, such as, for ex- ample, automotive brake levers, it is advisable to figure either a size that may be gathered or rough upset as a preliminary operation on an upsetter, or a size that may be drawn sep- arately on other equipment before fab- ricating in the forging dies. Die Design: The design of the die depends chiefly on the stock-forming impressions required properly to forge the part. Most forgings, exclusive of hammer upset parts, require one or more of benders, fullers, drawing tools, rollers, flattening spaces, block- ing and finishing impressions, and cutoffs. In some cases, due to close tolerances or large quantities, it is advisable to incorporate an impres- sion known as a semi-finisher. The answer as to what impressions rht re- nd ut he n- oir 1a- he he at 1s ee Transue & Williams Steel Forging Corporation Job No. DIE PRICE RECORD Type Part No. Part Name No. Imp. Customer should be incorporated in a die, is governed by the size of the material required to shape the stock as close in design to the blocking or finishing impression as possible, in order to produce the proper grain structure and eliminate the presence of checks, laps and seams. In cases where de- sign and quantities warrant, it may be economical practice to design dies for finishing two, three, or four forg- ings at a time. In instances of this category, rollers, fullers, or benders, whichever the requirements may be, are designed accordingly. Following the decision as to the de- sign of the forging die, come the sub- sequent operations, such as hot trim- ming, hot punching, cold trimming, cold punching, coining, straightening, or gaging. Some of these operations may be combined, such as hot trim and punch, etc. Estimated Die Life: The estimated die life per working is the expected number of forgings that can be pro- duced before it becomes necessary to recut, and should be determined by records of similar parts and designs, with the proper consideration given to the tolerances and materials. Dies are normally considered as worn out when 1—Cost estimating sheet and standard record card. it becomes impossible to make forg- ings within the tolerances specified. Having arrived at the estimated net and gross weights, the size of the material, the method of fabrication, and the die life, an estimator should now be in a position to set up a com- plete cost on the dies and tools. Die Estimate Form: A die estimate form, fig. 1, consists of a printed form that allows ample space to enter separately a breakdown of the cost of the material, labor, burden and die replacement. A breakdown of the es- timated hours for the various opera- tions will result in a more accurately estimated cost, and will also be very useful in the final analysis. Material: When preparing an esti- mate to represent the entire cost of all material required in the process of making the dies and tools for a speci- fied part, the usual practice is first to concentrate on the blocks as to size and type. The block size is governed by the size stock and the amount of space needed to allow for the incor- poration of the various forming and finishing impressions, together with the space that is considered practical for a striking surface. The material required for the tools pertaining to the subsequent opera- tions, such as trimming, punching, straightening, pressing, ete., may be arrived at by mensuration, and as a general rule, selected from stock. The description and costs of these mate- rials should be recorded separately THE IRON AGE, November 29, 1945—45 US OE ittecnctnsnen i eapteectieleiiaae Sew CR Cos eee > epee na SIE ETE BA SY REL eT ET “ mip NT eek eee : : mery Si = i Bie peat at ee rae. re = Try nee i lr ll 2G: a blanc mom pees oy or a aay eae eae Sdas le ey een ani . F 1G. 2—Daily job card, detailed cost record card, and mainte- nance card used for recording the effective life and maintenance cost of a die. Total Act. Hrs. %, Est D. W. Earn. @——__________D.. W.. Allow. 46—THE IRON AGE, November 29, 1945 on the estimate sheet as to operation, size, type, and weight. Machining And Benching: The vari- ous processes involved in the manu- facture of a set of forging dies in- clude such operations as planning shanks, locks, and impressions, drill- ing, slotting, rough and finish milling, lathe work, laying out and benching. The estimated time to be set up for these operations or work classifica- tions may be arrived at by comparing each operation separately with time study records of past performances on similar operations and parts. These hours should be set up separately on the estimate sheet, and the operation fully described for the purpose of identification and future reference. The computed estimated labor and burden costs applying to these operations should then be set up in separate col- umns, opposite their respective de- scriptions. Having set up the entire estimated costs of all materials, various labor and burden items, the separate costs of the dies and the tools required for the subsequent operations may be to- taled. The sum of these totals results in the grand total cost of the complete set of dies and tools. Die Replacement: The term “Die Replacement” or “Die Amortization” is identified as an amount of money incorporated in the estimated unit cost of a forging, for the purpose of building up a fund throughout the LEFT p's. 3 — Blocking dies used in the manufacture of a truck steering knuckle forging weighing 50 Ib. RIGHT 1G. 4—An odd- shaped forging for an aircraft en- gine mount housing is completed in this one set of dies. course of production to defray the cost of reworking or replacing worn out dies. Therefore, if the estimated die cost and die life are comparatively true, there should be enough money accumulated while producing forgings from the original working to offset the cost of reworking or replacing. The replacement figure is arrived at by considering the total cost of one reworking, times the number of re- works possible, plus the total cost of the original set of dies and tools. This sum should be prorated over the total number of forgings estimated as pos- sible to produce throughout the entire usefulness of the die blocks. Die Casting Records In order to build up a complete and accurate cost pertaining to a set of dies and tools, it is essential to have several cards designed for the pur- pose of convoying the proper fabricat- ing information and costing records in detail, to the various departments from start to finish. Standard Record Card: The stand- ard record card, fig. 1, should provide for recording rate and standard hours applying to the various operations for either or both the top and bottom dies or the tools for the subsequent operations. On receipt of an order this card should be made up in dupli- cate for each piece of equipment re- quired; one copy to be retained by the time study dept., and the other for the timekeeper and the die dept. Piece Work Job Ticket: This ticket, fig. 2, provides a detailed description of the operation to be performed, and for the recording of the daily elapsed time that a workman was assigned to any specific operation; also for the department supervisor’s daily ap- proval, the total hours applied, and the percentage of efficiency. It also provides for the totals of daily piece work earnings, and for the final ap- proval of the department supervisor. It is headed daily for each separate operation, and the hours recorded and computed by the timekeeper of the die dept. Besides serving as a _ rec- ord of the total number of hours for a particular operation, it also supplies the information for the tabulation of the daily payroll. When a job is com- pleted and ready for the hammer, bonus slips are figured from these tickets and issued to the men who worked on the various operations re- quired to complete the job. Die Cost Record Card: This card, fig. 2, shows the date of an engineer- ing dept. order, the customer, the job number, the date job has been completed, the name of the part and part number, together with spaces for the block size and grade of both top and bottom, numbers for storage loca- tion, and the die letters and numbers identifying the operation and work- ings. The posting of these headings is done when the job is received and started through the die dept. It provides for recording informa- tion on the work done, by planer, lathe, impression mill, rough mill, THE IRON AGE, November 29, 1945—47 } i . i 7 a bench, layout, and templates. The recording includes date, the work- man’s clock number, the operation number, and the hours. The elapsed time to be charged to these various operations is posted daily from the Piece Work Job Ticket. Of special significance is a column on this card headed “Time Study,” which provides spaces for the breakdown of the standard hours and various opera- tions, which are posted separately from the Standard Record Card that is issued at the start of the job by the time study dept. As the work is completed on any specific die or tool, the actual hours that have been posted daily from the Piece Work Job Ticket are totaled and transferred to a space on this card which provides spaces for the totals of the different classifications of work required to complete the job. When the dies and tools are fin- ished, all operational costs including material, labor, bonuses, and burden, are figured and itemized in an unused space on the card. This total results in the complete cost of the particular piece of equipment made. One of these cards is made up for the dies and one for each of the subsequent operations. Upon their completion, they are routed through the offices of ,the die dept. superintendent, and the works manager, for the approval; after which they are turned over to the cost dept. for the purpose of check- ing with the payroll, and are later returned to the time study dept. for analysis, filing, and future reference. OR checking parts in relation to a fixed base line, a standard indica- tor attached to a vernier height gage is commonly used. In many cases, however, particularly where small bores and shoulders are involved, it is extremely difficult to reach the sur- faces in question without the aid of special devices. The accompanying illustration shows a simple, inexpensive attach- ment which has been found extremely ‘useful in toolroom and _ inspection work. It consists of a steel block slot- ted to receive the height gage beam, and carrying a clamping screw for se- curing it to the beam. A gib is pro- vided to avoid marring the beam with the end of the screw. Below the slot, a hole is bored to receive the shank of a standard indicator which is clamped by a small headless setscrew. A slot extending from the bottom of the block into this hole provides the neces- 48—THE IRON AGE, November 29, 1945 Besides furnishing the management with a complete detailed cost of the dies and tools, this record is used to compare the allotted time study hours with the actual hours, either as a to- tal, or by separate operations. The actual time may also be used very advantageously when estimating sim- ilar jobs, and will gradually result in a very close relationship between the estimated and actual hours, as more records of this type are accumulated and used. Die Maintenance and Replacement Records The die maintenance and replace- ment record card, fig. 2, provides for identification of the customer, part name, part number, job number, size and grade of blocks, type of die, esti- mated maintenance and die life per working. It also provides for the date, material costs, total labor and over- head in hours and amount, total cost, credits in forgings made and die usage, balance and remarks. Due to the importance of this rec- ord, an example of a hypothetical case is presented to show its use. Assume we have a job with an estimated die life of 4500 pieces, and a die main- tenance of $1 each. Actual material cost is $1500 with 1500 hr labor and burden amounting to $3000, which re- sults in a total die cost of $4500. This total has been billed to the customer upon completion of the dies, leaving nothing for a balance to apply toward the cost of the next working until forgings have been made. The finish- Handy Gaging Tool sity spring. One end of the hole is counterbored to receive the end of a piece of 5/16-in. steel tubing, approxi- mately 6% in. long This tube is also locked in place by a set screw. The other end of the tube is fitted with a No. 734 Brown & Sharpe universal attachment. A piece of 1/16-in. drill rod runs through the center of the tube and forms the connection between the in- dicator and the attachment. Located ing impression having been stamped 1-1 for identification, assume that the dies have been set up and a run of 1500 forgings made. At $1 each, as a maintenance, $1500 has accumulated as a balance for replacement cost. During the following months the dies are again set up and declared worn out after making 3000 forgings. Tak- ing into consideration the 1500 forg- ings made on the original run and the $1500 balance, there is a total of 4500 pieces, and a balance of $4500 for re- placement. Assume that the first reworking, which is identified as 1-2 die, required 1400 hr amounting to $2800. This being applied against the balance of $4500, leaves a balance of $1700 to apply toward the cost of the next reworking. This record may continue for the life of the job and will be found in- valuable for the purpose of conveying to the management all die cost fig- ures, from a standpoint of materials, labor and burden, along with the fact that it also serves to develop a truer die maintenance figure. The purpose of this article has been to reveal to new users of forgings, as well as to those who are continuing the use of forgings, a common proce- dure for calculating the cost of such production tools as closed-impression forging dies and trimmer dies. It is important to know the procedure by which accurate costs on dies are ob- tained, if troublesome experiences re- lating to the production of forgings are to be avoided, in the center of the tube and about % in, from each end, are three brass bushings to act as bearings for the rod. These are pressed into place and are bored 0.004 to 0.006 in. larger than the diameter of the rod. To re- duce the bearing area, the bores are deeply countersunk to leave almost a knife edge. Easily made in any toolroom, this gadget simplifies many difficult gaging problems. TELE ind quic han proc tests sea. cien ing wel fail invé Gus mi nped t the n of h, as lated cost. dies worn Tak- ‘org- 1 the 4500 r re- first | 1-2 g to | the e of ' the the | in- ying ials, fact ruer out ‘ass and ger re- are ta his ing URING the first years of this 1) war, the country had to build many ships and build them quickly. The risks that go hand in hand with an extremely high rate of production was unavoidable, for the tests of workmanship is service at sea. Two years ago there was insuffi- cient information available concern- ing the extent to which defective welding might be responsible for ship failure. As the result of subsequent investigations by the Navy, Coast Guard, American Bureau of Shipping, Maritime Commission, and National Bureau of Standards, it has been pos- sible to trace many failures as caused by certain improper practices in workmanship. Defective welds, al- though not conceded the sole cause of ship failures, have been considered major contributing factors in many cases.’ *Tue Iron Ace, issues of Jan. 6, 1944, p. 114 and Jan. 4, 1945, p. 83. A defect in a weld acts as a notch and, if located in a strong member, may cause the vessel to fracture. Such a notch in a weld can contribute to the start of a failure which may pene- trate the steel plates of a vessel. In cases of ship failures where it has been possible to examine the fracture, investigators have been able to trace it back to its source by means of the herringbone pattern or chevrons which form on the edge of a fractured plate. The apexes of the herringbone always point towards the origin of the fracture. Included in the table is a list of faulty practices which have been con- sidered the bases of defects found on ships in service. Incorrect joint de- sign, one of the most important causes of the defective welding, is not inen- tioned in the table because it is the responsibility of the designer of the vessel and not the welder. Each de- fect, as listed, is not necessarily at- tributable to all the malpractices listed as the cause of that particular defect. In some cases, only one of the causes listed led to the specific defect, and in other cases one or more or all Welded Ship Failures Traced > ie — . “ ee . al Af portion of a broken ship resulting from a welding frac- ture. By noting the apexes of the herringbone pattern, ship inspectors located the failure (arrow) to be in a butt weld in the main deck. of the causes set forth were regarded as responsible for a particular defect. Welders who have brought to the attention of the welding supervisor the condition of the joint which might (1) Fitup—improper fitup result- ing in too wide or too nar- be characterized by misalinement of parts, too large root opening, or cracked tacks have done much to elim- inate causes of ship failures in service. THE IRON AGE, November 29, 1945—49 Continuous Gaging With HILE remarkable progress has been made heretofore in the industrial application of X rays, for the most part these ad- vances have been confined to the searching out of flaws and to the study of crystalline structures by means of recordings on photographic films or by visual fluoroscopic inspec- tion. In some isolated cases the combin- ation of X ray and electronic circuits have been put to work in the factory. For example in 1939 the first fully automatic X ray electronic inspection and sorting apparatus was success- fully installed and operated in a plant at Oneida, N. Y.2 This device satis- factorily examined and sorted 10,000 items per 16-hr day for 2 years until improvement in manufacturing pro- cesses rendered its use no longer nec- essary. While such instances are rare, the success and practicability of the applications showed that X ray elec- tronic devices had at last graduated from the laboratory stage and were ready to go to work on the produc- tion line. Advent of the war caught the X ray electronic field in mid- development and more urgently re- quired tools took precedent, thereby retarding its consummation. But now industry in general, and the metal industry in particular, will undoubt- edly avail itself of the really re- markable industrial advances made possible through use of these new applications. *R. C. Woods and L. P. Kenna, Elec- tronics, 14 (4), 29 (1941). X ray electronic devices are like microscopes in that, while they may be a standard piece of equipment, they are by no means to be thought of as applicable to only one particu- lar type of work or product. They will become universal in their scope and will become many different things to many different industries. For in- stance, in one of its forms, the X ray electronic device is a most accurate and precise thickness gage over a wide range. It is readily capable of 50—THE IRON AGE, November 29, 1945 X Ray Micrometer . «+ The thickness of sheet in motion can be gaged with high sensi- tivity by a device which combines X rays and electronic elements It can be applied to measure the wall thickness of long metal tubing at any point, and in the case of coated metals, the thickness of the coating and that of the backing plate can be measured indepen- dently. By ROBERT C. WOODS and FREDERIC FUA Standard Electronic Research Corp., New York measuring the thickness of any ma- terial—metal or otherwise—with an accuracy of better than one pct and do it continuously on moving materi- als without any physical contact with the work whatever. In practice, this means that a plant rolling thin metal foil of, say, 0.0008 in. thickness can keep its product to that thickness with a variation of not more than 0.000003 in. Foil is here used only as an example to illustrate the ex- treme sensitivity of such a device. Fortunately, the precision of an X ray electronic gage is not limited by absolute values but measures per- centage variations regardless of thick- ness. Thus, the above illustration of 1 pet accuracy might just as easily have been expressed in terms of brass strip, sheet steel, boiler plate, plastics or cardboard. The same can be said of bars and rods, except in these it is also pos- sible to detect flaws and tiny imper- fections. With a micrometer, it is a simple matter to measure the wall thickness of seamless tubing at the ends. But it is possible by nondes- tructive X ray test to tell what the wall thickness might be in the middle of a tube 40 ft in length. Applications to be discussed hereafter are, among other, the detection of defects in leaded bearings, the distribution of lead, silver, etc. in metallic suspen- sions, the continuous measurement of conductor wire concentricity in insu- lated cable, the measurement of the thickness of metallic coatings.’ *For comparison of methods see article “Measuring Wall Thickness by Gamma Rays,” Tue Iron Acs, issue of Aug. 30, 1945, p. 36 N. The following is a brief descrip- tion of a recently developed X ray electronic device. It utilizes the prin- ciple of differential absorption of a divided X ray beam to measure the thickness of a sample against the known thickness of a standard. In fig. 1, (1) is a source of X rays from which two parts of the single beam are chosen for use in an electronic system. In one direction of the beam a chamber (2), is placed so as to pass a current when struck by the rays. Opposite to it an identical chamber (3) is located. These de- tector chambers are electron multi- plier cells modified to respond only to X rays. They are electrically con- nected at (4) so that the current out- put from one opposes the output of the other; that is, they are bucked. From (4), the circuit passes into a conventional amplifier, A, and thence to meter, M. When chambers (2) and (3) are in the same X ray beam, they both receive the same amount of X rays, and their current outputs are mag at ( cane will will om4 oo 4 th ca is nn ae-n \si- nts ng he ju- identical. These two currents of equal magnitude are opposed to each other at (4), and one will quite naturally cancel the other. Therefore, no current will reach the amplifier hence, none will leave the amplifier to energize 1G. |—Electric balance system as a plied in the X ray thickness gage. absorption of X rays by sheet (6) is bal- anced by the absorption occurring in the standard (5) of known thickness; (2) and (3) are X ray detecting cells. Difference of absorptions registers on the meter within an accuracy of one pet. the meter, and M will give no indi- cation except that the entire system is in a state of complete balance. Balance Circuit Principle It is important to note at this point that the balanced circuit is the crux of the stability and reliability of the device. What happens, now, if some- thing goes wrong; if the X ray volt- age changes, for example? Since the intensity of X rays falling on each chamber is always the same, if it changes for one, then it must change similarly for the other, the two chamber outputs will again buck each other and cancel out. Result, still 0. This state of affairs holds good throughout the whole system. In short, whatever accident befalls one side of the circuit also happens to the other and balance is maintained. In between the X ray source and chamber (2), a sample, (5), of some standard material is placed; e. g. a piece of steel sheet of known thick- ness. Between the same X ray source and chamber (3) is placed another steel sheet, (6), of unknown thickness. If sheet (6) is exactly the same thick- ness as (5), then the same intensity of X rays passes through sample (6) as passes through (5), and chambers (2) and (3) are as before identically energized, then currents of the same magnitude meet and oppose each other at (4), nothing enters the amplifier, and meter M again regis- ters nothing, indicating that the two steel sheets are of identical thick- ness. But if (6) is slightly thicker than (5), less X rays reach chamber (3) than reach (2), the currents arriv- ing at (4) are unequal, then this difference passes into A where it is amplified and handed on to the meter, the needle of which swings to plus, meaning that (6) is thicker than the BELOW ° IG. 2—Typical X ray thick- ness gage measuring head, showing upper detector cham- ber and thickness indicating meter temporarily set on box containing X ray tube, balance chamber and standard sam- ple. In practice the meter is usually on the mill. Power con- trols and electronic § circuit components are in a box, not shown. standard, (5). Or if (6) is thinner than (5), the same process takes place in reverse and M then swings to minus. The sample (6), if desired, can be moved rapidly during the measurement — as strip material moves when issuing from the mill— but the balance system will not be upset by this motion as long as the thickness of the sheet being measured does not deviate from that of the standard. Sample (6) can move or whip up and down over relatively wide limits in the space between X ray source and chamber without dis- turbing the accuracy of such an in- strument. Fig. 2 shows a gage head and meter designed for use on a strip steel mill. The meter is shown rest- ing on the gage head for demonstra- tion purposes, but when installed it will be mounted on the mill. The small super-structure is the gaging chamber, while the oblong black box contains the X ray tube, balance chamber, and standard insert. The power controls and electronic circuit components are enclosed in a box which may be situated in any con- venient place. Fig. 3 is a sketch of a setup for measurement of tubing wall thick- nesses. In this case the arrangement differs slightly from that of fig. 1, but the principle remains the same. Reference (1) is the X ray source, the beam of which is split by lead diaphragm (2). The beams emerge pencil-like from the two circular holes (3) and (4). Detector chamber (8) receives the X rays which have passed through the standard sample (6), while chamber (7) is energized by the rays traversing the unknown wall thickness of tube (5). Outputs of the two chambers are then opposed at (9), the difference amplified by A, and recorded by meter M. Tube (5) may be rotated and moved lengthwise over chamber (7) as desired, BELOW iG. 3 — Principle of X ray gage os applied to measure- ment of tubing wall thicknesses. ray beam is divided lead at (3 and (4). The ab- sorption of the rays of tu (5) is bal- anced the ab- sorption in the standard sample 6 THE IRON AGE, November 29, 1945—5! IG. I—Nonmetallic inclusions in cast Nos. BI626 (above) and B1628 (below) at 500X. - ENERALLY speaking, there GG are two ways of operating basic electric-arec furnaces working on the two slag process. One method is to melt the charge and boil out the carbon to the required figure and remove the oxidizing slag before any deoxidizing additions are made. The other is to start the killing reac- tions by adding some form of deoxi- dizer (generally ferromanganese or silicomanganese) before the oxidizing slag is removed. Both processes have been used extensively in this investi- gation, and several variants of the second were tried. While excellent steel can be made by either process, it 52—THE IRON AGE, November 29, 1945 has been found that steel of the highest quality is more likely to be obtained consistently when deoxi- dation is commenced early in the heat than when left until after the oxidizing slag has been removed or the second slag added. As far as possible all operating conditions have been standardized, com- mencing with the makeup of the charge, through melting and refining to teeming. Whatever meth- od is used the correct place to deoxidize basic electric steel for castings is in the furnace, and no amount of subsequent dos- ing will fully make up for deficiencies there; con- versely, if the job is done properly in the first place the steel does not need dosing afterwards. The addition of aluminum to the metal as it leaves the ladle is not permitted; the practice still has its uses, but so far as basic electric steel for castings goes it is an anachronism. The advantages of a controlled inherent grain size have long since been recognized in connection with wrought steel be- cause of the vast amount of work which has been done following the initial investigation of McQuaid and Ehn on abnormality,’ and for most purposes a fine inherent grain size is preferred. The importance of inherent grain size in steel for castings has not received anything like the same attention. A knowledge of the McQuaid-Ehn grain size may be of value as an indi- cation of the probable behavior of the steel under a given set of conditions, but it is important to know the effect of variations in steelmaking practice on the structure of the steel in the condition in which it will be used. Quality Control of High- Usually, the smallest grain size and the most uniform distribution of pearlite and ferrite grains are de- sired. The grain size depends chiefly on the temperature of treatment, rate of cooling, and austenite coarsening characteristics of the steel. The even distribution of pearlite and ferrite is directly related to the homogeneity of the steel, the segregation which takes place during the solidification of the steel usually leads to uneven distribu- tion of the ferrite and pearlite after annealing, the slower the cooling after annealing the more pronounced the separation into pearlite-rich and fer- rite-rich zones, For some purposes a large addition of aluminum has been advocated as a primary deoxidizer; these experiments compared such an addition with ladle additions and with heats to which no aluminum was added. The conditions were, no aluminum addition; additions of 1 lb and of 3 lb per ton added to the metal stream in the ladle, and the ad- dition of 6 lb per ton added under the oxidizing slag immediately before slagging. The McQuaid-Ehn grain sizes, determined under standard con- ditions, are shown in table I. When the structures of the an- nealed steels were examined under the microscope it was easy to draw a dis- tinction between steel to which, on the one hand, none, or only a little, alu- minum had been added, and, on the other, steel to which relatively large aluminum additions had been made; but it was not possible to distinguish between heats to which 3 lb per ton of aluminum had been added in the ladle or 6 lb per ton added in the fur- nace; sometimes the one and some- times the other gave the finer struc- ture. There was no doubt about the influence of 1 lb per ton and 3 lb per ton added to the ladle; the latter gave the smaller individual grains of pearlite and ferrite, although there was not much to choose between the two in the matter of general arrange- ment and size of the cellular forma- tion of ferrite kernels and pearlite Te netv the flue cal witl wor tha nun any of | nur Ib } but Ib | dis lad wa va gr ne wl as sti 1- and 1 of de- iefly rate ning even ite is ty of takes F the ribu- after after the fer- ‘ition asa lents ladle h no tions tions o the e ad- r the efore rrain con- an- r the dis- 1 the alu- the arge ade; ‘uish ton the fur- ome- ruc- . the | per pave of here the nge- rlite Tensile Steel Castings .. . network in instances where this was the type of structure present. Concurrently with this work the in- fluence of these additions on mechani- cal properties was determined, and without going into the results of this work in detail, the conclusions were that the use of 6 Ib per ton of alumi- num as a primary deoxidizer, without any subsequent additions, caused the steel to be slightly tough