Iron box

“ He had seen his grandfather go often to the iron box, and he suspected that it contained money. One day, when his grandfather was not at home, he tried the cupboard in which the iron box was placed for safety, and found it locked. Seeing a key upon the mantelshelf, and believing it to be the key of the iron box, he ran out of the room with it, and took an impression of it, and from the impression had a false key made. Then, on the very night his grandfather had mentioned, he watched the old man out of the house, and took the iron box from the unlocked cupboard. ”

“ By this means a piece of soft malleable iron is rendered as hard as hardened steel. Some workmen contend that the salt solution is of no particular importance—that just as good results will come of packing in the animal charcoal alone. The iron box, though very convenient when a good deal of case-hardening is to be done, is not an absolute necessity. If the article, surrounded by the animal charcoal, is incased in a ball of stiff and well-worked clay, and then exposed to the proper heat and slacking, the results will be the same as if heated in an iron box. ”

“ Lausch shrugged. “There are craftsmen good enough to copy anything, I suppose, if one knows where to find them. It would probably be an expensive job, however. But I’ll check that with Sintelli too. He’ll know.”
Over the red-checkered tablecloth at Dominick’s that night Ken told his father about the inquiries they had set in motion about the iron box. Mr. Holt looked slightly amused, but just as he was about to comment, at the end of Ken’s recital, he glanced at his watch. ”

“ The objects are placed in a cast iron box, the bottom of which is covered with a layer of powdered charcoal or other form of carbon, then another layer of carbon dust is sprinkled over them, and the box is covered with a close fitting lid. The box is next heated gradually in an oven, to drive off moisture, and the temperature slowly raised until the escape of blue smoke from under the lid ceases. The heat is then increased until the box becomes white hot. ”

“ Plain iron furniture is to be had in a large number of standard sizes, but the smaller sizes are used by many box makers for blanking out portions of steel dies, the larger spaces in the form being filled in with blocks of cherry or black walnut. The iron furniture is comparatively inexpensive, and it will stand hard service for a life-time. ”

“ It is a good plan to try the heat of the iron on a coarse cloth or apron before ironing anything fine: there is then no danger of scorching. For ironing fine things, such as collars, cuffs, muslins, and laces, there is nothing so clean and nice to use as the box-iron; the bottom being bright, and never placed near the fire, it is always perfectly clean ”

“ There are many modifications of these general rules and methods, and it may be necessary in certain cases, such as the ironing of braids stiffened with media other than gelatine or water soluble materials, to employ other methods, but they are generally peculiar to the plait used and of a purely ephemeral nature. In some factories box irons are used, heated by patent fuel, others are warmed by gas and electricity, but the general convenience of the fire-heated pad causes the old fashioned iron to retain an almost universal supremacy. ”

“ One man is filing a curved surface with a curved file, another is hidden almost wholly from view within a great misshapen box of iron: a third is mounted upon a ladder, and is slowly boring through the wall of some monstrous formation, or cutting away excrescences of iron from some massive casting with a cold chisel. ”

“ The box maker saves the pieces of cherry and black walnut, when old dies are broken up, and these pieces of wood are used again in building other dies.
Steel, iron and lead labor-saving furniture is also largely used in the construction of steel dies, and in many instances, series of small dies for drug cartons, etc., are entirely blanked out with labor-saving lead [126] or iron furniture. What is called “improved metal furniture” (lead) in the printing trade is very useful for the box maker. ”

“ As far as initial expense goes cast-iron boxes are probably the most expedient, but although they will withstand the necessary temperatures they are liable to split and crack, and when they get out of shape there is much difficulty in straightening them. ”

“ The attraction of a magnet or iron is the principle on which the “circus” is made to work.
Procure or make from thin wood a box about a foot square, and five or five and a half inches deep. Cut a hole through the central point of the bottom, to allow of the passage of the crank.
Now from a board cut a round disk which shall revolve easily inside the box, and pass through its center an axle which shall be long enough to form a support for the ring-master on the top or stage, and extend down through the top of the soap-box, where it ends in a crank by which the whole machinery is worked. ”

“ Maybe you can suggest something else she’d rather have.”
“She’ll love it,” Pop said decisively. “She loves old things—antiques. And this sure looks old.”
“I think it’s old enough,” Richard Holt said. “Several hundred years, I’d guess. It was probably made originally to be used as a sort of home safe-deposit box.” His finger pressed one of the curlicues on the front of the box and the lid sprang open.
“Hey!” Sandy exclaimed admiringly. “A secret catch!”
“May I try it?” Bert asked. “Beautiful workmanship,” he muttered, as his fingers explored the front. ”

“ Again, notice that the edges of the iron which lie against the door and the sham bushes are ground bright. Here is labor wasted, for as soon as the lock is fixed these polished portions are hidden for ever. Next, take the box staple. As is usual, it is fearfully and wonderfully made up of sheet iron, square iron, and brass; the outcome of which is that the showy brass striking piece comes unriveted, the door comes unfastened, and the tenant's temper comes unhinged. Why, in the name of common sense, could they not substitute a neat malleable casting? ”

“ The press stands on supports, but is attached to them only by an axle, and it can be readily changed from the horizontal to the vertical position. The lid of the box is raised and the forme with the flong upon it placed on the centre of the iron surface. After being covered with a blanket, the lid is screwed down upon the whole, and, the gas being lighted, the forme and mould are heated for a few minutes, after which the lid is raised, the steam evaporates, and the flong, which has now become the matrix, is thoroughly dry. ”

“ A.--The space between the external and internal fire boxes forms a water space, which must be stayed every 4-1/2 or 5 inches by means of copper or iron stay bolts, screwed through the outer fire box into the metal of the inner fire box, and securely riveted within it: iron stay bolts are as durable as copper, and their superior tenacity gives them an advantage. Sometimes tubes are employed as stays. ”

“ To the box is attached a strong piece of iron, kept pressed upon it by a spring at one extremity; so that as the top of the box rises, the motion is made sensible at the point held by the spring, and when the top descends the spring draws the piece of iron into close contact with it. ”

“ They can be found in numerous antique shops.”
“Very interesting. Ve-ry interesting,” Sandy said in a curious choked voice.
“Sintelli was quite surprised at your third question,” Lausch went on. “He doesn’t know why you thought such a box as this might have been stolen from a museum or anywhere else. They’re not valuable or rare enough to merit inclusion in a collection—or to merit the risk of stealing, for that matter.”
“Ken will have to refer to his crystal ball for an explanation of that,” Sandy murmured. ”

“ All boxes should lock with brass locks. Shun padlocks. A master-key should open all your boxes, even should you have a thousand. Each box should have a pierced metal label slung with wire upon each iron handle. Painted numbers quickly wear out. ”

“ C is a box of lacquered or galvanized iron, without either top or bottom. It moves on two pivots, one of winch is shown on its exposed side. In its present position, its upper end opens into the hopper, and its lower end is dosed by the stationary board over which it stands. When the handle is pulled up, the lever, which is connected with the box, jerks it rapidly up, so that its back side closes the opening of the reservoir, and its bottom opens to the front. In its movement it discharges its contents of earth forward under the seat. ”

“ The mode of upsetting, widening, and shaping the ends of the bars is by placing the ends, after the bars have been rolled into proper shape and size, and the ends heated, into a die-box of the regular form, and then firmly locking them in place, and with great power pressing them up endwise with a movable head-die until the hot iron fills the die-box. ”

“ Strong cast-iron boxes are bolted upon the centres of the stones, which by means of screw clamps seize firmly the horizontal iron shafts that traverse and drive them, by passing into a slit-groove in the vertical turning shaft. This groove is lined with strong plates of steel, which wear rapidly by the friction, and need to be frequently renewed. ”

“ Intricate rule bending is made more easy by heating the soft steel rule in a gas flame before bending. When working with heated rule the die-maker wears canvas gloves to protect his hands. To harden soft rule, after bending, heat again and dip the heated rule in fish oil.
MAKING STEEL DIES FOR “CUT-OUTS”
Some box-makers, in addition to manufacturing set-up and folding boxes, also make advertising “cut-outs,” cardboard fans, wall-pockets, fancy calendars, photograph mounts, and “set-in” forms for holiday boxes for holding neckties, suspenders, garters, collar buttons, etc. ”

“ At last, hidden away beneath a pile of old boxes, I discerned a large black old-fashioned travelling trunk, with long iron hinges. Pulling away some of the rubbish piled about it, I felt the iron clamps, and it occurred to me if I could only detach one of them they were heavy enough to use as a hammer to break off the socket of the lock. ”

“ Jars soon came into vogue, and there are quite ancient specimens, especially the old japanned boxes, ornamented with figures in gilt.
There is, of course, a vast difference between the storage jar and the smaller box carried about by the smoker much in the same way as the pouch is now used. Many still prefer metal to other materials, and it is no uncommon thing to see brass and steel boxes in use in industrial districts. Few, however, excepting modern replicas of the antique, are decorated in the way the old Dutch tobacco boxes of brass were in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. ”

“ Unlike the modern Bessemer, open-hearth, and other steel products which are reworked, i.e., rolled, forged, etc., cast iron is a comparatively old alloy dating back over several centuries. It cannot be rolled, forged, or otherwise reshaped, so its final form must be given to it at once by pouring or “casting” the molten metal into a mold. Its castings serve exceedingly well in the hundreds of places for which they are adapted. They are comparatively cheap, can be readily duplicated in small or large quantities, and those from the softer grades of cast iron may be machined easily. ”

“ It is so highly 75refined that it can hardly be called steel at all but is often called “open-hearth iron” or “ingot iron.” It is probably the purest iron on the market in commercial quantities to-day. While in the chemical laboratory iron of considerably greater purity can be made, for a commercial product this is remarkably pure, seldom containing more than 1⁄4 per cent of elements other than the metal, iron. ”

“ On the application of heat in furnaces, constructed for the purpose, the charcoal unites with the oxygen of the oxide, reducing it to the metallic state, and escapes in the form of carbonic acid; and the lime, if the ore be argillaceous, unites with the clay, forming a kind of glass, which floats on the melted metal. When the iron is suffered to run into moulds, prepared for its reception, it usually takes the name of pig iron.
Manufacturers distinguish cast iron by its colour and other qualities. The white cast iron is hard and brittle, and can neither be filed, bored, nor bent. ”

“ While I write, iron is doubtless flowing from blast furnaces in England, Wales, and Scotland; while I write, ingots of white-hot Bessemer steel are being dealt with under the steam-hammer or in the rolling-mills; while I write, horse-shoes are being forged, and, at each moment, in one way or another, pieces of iron of every temperature could be found, from those which are as cold as the iron apparatus used by Sir James Dewar in his experiments in the liquefaction of air, up to the glittering melted steel which is poured from the tilted converter. ”

“ Crandon.
“Now,” said Mr. Prescott, “we’ll start for some more giants. Coming, Farnsworth?”
“Sorry, not to-day. Call again!”
“The steel mill comes next on my program,” said Mr. Prescott, when they went out. “I want you to see a Bessemer converter, an open hearth, and some crucibles, because that practically covers the different methods of making iron and steel.
“Here is the Bessemer converter. You see it is an iron cylinder made of wrought iron plates, and it tapers off at the top in a conical end. See. It is swinging down to be filled almost as easily as you can turn your hand over. ”

“ Crandon, “from fishing ore with tongs.”
“We’ve moved along a great way since that time,” said John Bradford, “and most of our progress has been due to iron.”
“Giants don’t do all the work even now,” said Mr. Prescott. “They make short work of iron mountains and surface deposits, but most of them are too large to work underground; though we mustn’t forget that Giant Electricity works down there with the men.
“Giant Gravity helps too, for, when they work below the deposit, he caves the ore down. ”