Iron hook

“ One hook is made of a forked limb. In Europe, not many hooks are found anterior to the Iron age. Among the bronze hooks from the lake-dwellings of Switzerland is one very closely resembling the hooks of our own time. An extraordinary specimen is formed of the upper mandible of an eagle, notched down to the base. Hooks in the British Islands have undergone but little change, except in finish and quality, since the dawn of the Iron period. ”

“ The hook is made from iron. Figure 51 represents the dimensions of stock for the hook. The lug is welded on, and the ends of the bar are rounded ready to be formed. After the stock is cut, it is upset six inches from one end to enlarge it so that the lug can be welded on. The stock from which the lug is made is cut 31⁄2 inches long, upset on end, and split in the vise 1⁄2 inch deep as shown at Figure 52. The split end should be formed as shown. In welding, separate heats are taken, and the lug is jumped onto the bar as shown in Figure 53. ”

“ The proper curvature is next given, and then the hook is case-hardened (see "Case-hardening") ; lastly, the proper temper is given, by heating the hook red-hot, and quenching it in grease.
A traveller should always take a few hooks with him: they should be of the very small and also of the middling-sized sorts; he might have a dozen of each sort whipped on to gut; and at least a couple of casting-lines, with which to use them: also several dozens of tinned iron fish-hooks, of various sizes, such as are used at sea ”

“ These results prove the material to be wrought iron. The proportion of phosphorus present in rather high, but not higher than is found frequently in iron having good physical properties.
Physical Tests.
Test pieces cut from the hook as close as possible to the fracture and in a direction parallel to the axis of the drawbar were tested with the following results:
A machined test piece measuring l1⁄2 in. by 3⁄4 in. by 7 in. cut from the hook in a direction parallel to the axis of the drawbar broke when bent cold through an angle of 80° over a round bar 21⁄2 in. in diameter. ”

“ It is to the machine then and not to the social class that we must look to uncover the chief dependence of the hero. Whether it be a political party, a Jesuit religious order, a military camarilla, the hero must bind it to himself with hoops stronger than steel. If he is to play the man of the hour and pay his debts to the social class that supported him, the machine is a convenient instrument. If he decides to take a course independent from the one he was expected to follow, its iron loyalty is all the more necessary. In either case the machine must become his machine if he is to triumph. ”

“ Turn two large screweyes into the under side of a shelf, as far apart as is necessary, and slip a rod into the eyes. The rod may be kept from slipping out by threading each end and turning on a nut after it is in place. Hooks are made from heavy wire, in the shape of the letter "S," and placed on the rod. A screweye is turned into the end of each chisel handle and used for hanging the tool on an S-hook. As many hooks are provided as there are tools in use. ”

“ In the afternoon I drew a wire nail out of the chest, with which to make a fish-hook. The back of the axe formed a good anvil, and the shank of the hoe, the wooden handle being removed, did fairly well for a hammer. With these tools I fashioned the red-hot nail into hook form, using for tongs a pair of clam shells. I drew the point out sharp, bent the hook, and cut a barb over the edge of the axe. ”

“ The shanks of horse-nails make very good fish hooks. These, when filed down to the proper thickness, must be laid, one by one, in a narrow groove made in a piece of hard wood, and the barb struck up with a chisel or the sloped edge of a knife. One smart, well-directed blow on the instrument usually effects this. The point is now to be filed up sharp, the wire gently heated in the fire, and twisted with pliers—or, in the absence of these, a split stick—into proper hook form, when it is to be subjected to the case-hardening process. ”

“ In hammering metals into plates, or drawing them into wire, there is a considerable change of relative position in the particles, similar to that which we have in fluids, though nothing like as free. In this change of position those particles that do remain in close neighborhood have a remarkable tenacity or attraction, preventing their separation. In welding two pieces of iron, which is done by the blacksmith by hammering them together when red-hot, there must be enough movement among the particles to have those of one piece mingle somewhat with those of the other. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The Flat Iron Anvil.—An old flat iron, the kind with the handle attached, may be found about almost any household. The handle should be broken off as close to the top of the iron as possible. Use a hammer and cold chisel for this and cut the handle ends deeply all around where they join the iron. When they are deeply nicked, several sharp blows from a large hammer should break the handle away.
File away all roughness until the iron will set level with the smooth or ironing face uppermost. Then you have an excellent flat hard surface for straightening out tin or wire. ”

“ Our tackle box should contain an assortment of sizes however. Snelled hooks are better than ringed hooks and those of blued steel better than black enamel. No matter how inexpensive the rest of the equipment is, be sure that your hooks are of good quality. Keep the points sharp. A tiny bit of oil stone, a file, or a piece of emery cloth are all good for this purpose. It takes a sharp point to penetrate the bony jaw of a fish. Always inspect your hook after you have caught it on a rock or snag. ”

“ She was not located again until August 28. By then she had moved a straight-line distance of almost 60 miles (96.5 km) to an area in [Pg 12] Marquette County just south of Squaw Lake, in the Witch Lake area. In doing so, she probably had passed through the area previously explored just north of the Iron County region where the pack had spent so much of its time. These widespread movements are characteristic of lone wolves even in their native range (Mech and Frenzel 1971) .
Fig. 17.—Movements during the Post-release and Directional Movement Phases of Wolves No. 11, 12, and 13
No. ”

“ Plunging it suddenly in cold water is apt to render the metal brittle. In the purchase of all iron fittings for either waggon work or horse equipment, about which we shall have more to say as our work proceeds, insist on seeing it, without paint or varnish, bare from the forge, as you can then see that there are no hollows, cracks, or defects in it. It is wonderful what a number of shortcomings a good thick coat of coal-tar will cover when laid on over the hot metal. Avoid malleable cast iron as you would a broken limb. It cannot be bent without the danger of nipping off short. ”

“ It has the immense advantage of disposing the metal so that its fibres encircle the piece, thus applying the strength of the iron in the most effective way. The bars from which the coils are prepared are made from “scrap” iron, such as old nails, horse-shoes, &c. A pile of such fragments, built up on a wooden framework, is placed in a furnace and intensely heated. When withdrawn the scraps have by semi-fusion become coherent, and under the steam hammer are soon welded into a compact mass of wrought iron, roughly shaped as a square prism. ”

“ Improvements in plate-rolling machinery, and in appliances for bending and stamping wrought-iron, have materially assisted in developing the introduction of wrought-iron and steel sleepers. Cast-iron and wrought-iron are, in the abstract, hard and non-elastic as compared with wood; but whereas cast-iron can only be made into fixed, unyielding shapes, wrought-iron and steel can be worked into forms that possess a certain spring-like effect, which not only enables them almost entirely to resist fracture, but also imparts a measure of elasticity to the permanent way. ”

“ Upsetting is not a very difficult operation as long as the metal is kept perfectly straight; otherwise the task42 will prove tedious and the metal may break from the constant bending back and forth. Bending will always take place, but breaking generally can be prevented by having the metal hot when it is straightened. The greatest difficulty in this respect will be experienced when operating on common wrought iron.
Upsetting by hammering is done by holding the metal perpendicularly on the anvil or something solid enough to withstand the blows which will be delivered upon it. ”

“ The various parts of the wheels are produced in quantity either by rolling or by dies under the hammer; these parts are brought together in their relative positions in a mould, heated to a welding heat, and then by a blow of the steam hammer, furnished with dies, are stamped into a complete and all but finished wheel. It is evident that wherever wrought-iron articles of a manageable size have to be produced in considerable quantities, the same process may be adopted, and the saving effected by the substitution of this for the ordinary forging process will doubtless ere long prove incalculable. ”

“ The hand-hammer has always been an important tool, and, in the form of the stone celt, it was perhaps the first invented. When the hammer of iron superseded that of stone, it was found practicable in the hands of a "cunning" workman to execute by its means metal work of great beauty and even delicacy. But since the invention of cast-iron, and the manufacture of wrought-iron in large masses, the art of hammer-working has almost become lost ”

“ There are numerous instruments and contrivances in constant use in the construction of which the toughness of iron combined with the hardness of steel, communicated by the process about to be described, is taken advantage of. Gun furniture, fish-hooks, and handcuffs are examples, the latter most remarkedly so, as, were they composed of ordinary iron, nothing would be more easy than to file or saw them through; if of steel, a blow with a stone, or any other heavy substance, would break them as though made of earthenware. ”

“ Then a huge, round steel magnet, lowered by a man in a derrick house, picked up half a dozen rails; another lever sent the crane down the overhead tracks; and the rails were dropped in order on waiting cars.
“It used,” said Mr. Prescott, “to take a dozen men to load a single rail.
“Giants or not, Billy Bradford?”
“Giants for sure,” replied Billy.
“Fire-eaters!” exclaimed Dr. Crandon. “Let’s go!”
“I’m ready,” said Mr. Prescott. “I’m glad that the work is so much easier for the men, but I must confess that I don’t care to watch red-hot iron shooting, almost flying around.” ”

“ One has no difficulty in realizing that these flakes, which cut in every direction through the metal, make it structurally weak, especially toward a sudden blow.
No. 1d shows a typical section of wrought iron cut lengthwise of the rolled bar. It will be noted that, as in photomicrograph No. 99b, there are no graphite flakes.
In the process of wrought iron manufacture practically all of the carbon of the original pig iron is burned out, leaving little besides the iron itself and some viscous cinder or slag. ”

“ In its hot plastic state iron can be formed and modelled under the hammer to almost any degree of refinement, while its great strength allows it to be beaten out into leaves and ornaments of almost paper-like thinness and delicacy. With repeated hammering, drawing out and annealing, it gains much in strength and toughness, and the addition of a very minute quantity of carbon converts it into steel, less tough, but of the keenest hardness. The large employment of cast iron is comparatively modern, in England at least only dating from the 16th century ”

“ Sunday, October 28.—Notwithstanding it rained heavily this morning, a great number of the natives came off to us at an early hour for the purpose of renewing their barter, to exchange their articles for pieces of iron, a metal which they appear to hold in the highest estimation, and which became the almost exclusive medium of our traffic with them. This metal they wisely prefer, nay, almost worship, for its usefulness; knives, hatchets, and iron-hoop, rank first in their good opinion, scissors and razors holding a secondary place ”

“ The process is the same as the one used for carbon steel, heating to a red heat and covering the piece with slacked lime until cold.
In cutting high speed tool steel, the bar may be nicked with the emery wheel, then broken.
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In working tool steel or iron of any weight the blows of the hammer must be heavy. Light blows stretch the outer part of the metal and not the center. This is liable to fracture it. The blow must be heavy so as to penetrate thru the bar. A trip hammer of ordinary size run by a belt is a very economical tool for the school shop. ”

“ Such an intermittently applied stress is far more destructive to iron than a continuous one, and even if it is only half that of the limit of elasticity, its indefinite repetition eventually causes rupture. In a direct competitive test the presence of 3.25% of nickel increased nearly sixfold the number of rotations which a steel shaft would endure before breaking. ”