Metal industry

“ The true change may now be readily brought about, because the masters of the art of converting ore into iron have become aware that, owing to the scarcity of the fine ores suitable for the Bessemer metal, and of coal suitable for coking in Great Britain, the paramount control of the metal industry is passing to this country ”

“ Too, the metal for valves and fittings and other more or less complicated castings for high steam, air, ammonia, water, etc., must be uniform, of close grain, strong, yet soft enough to machine easily at the extremely high speeds which modern efficient tools and methods demand. The production of the best metal for such work requires the use of properly selected materials, judicious mixing, and clever operation of the cupola furnace, that the molten metal delivered to the foundry for the pouring of the molds may be hot and fluid and of the right composition for the particular work in hand. ”

“ While no one can desire to cast the slightest disparagement on the product of that period, much of which was excellent, astonishingly so considering the period, a moment’s consideration will convince one that modern products not only do not suffer in comparison but in reality are immensely superior. The ancients had little or no knowledge of the reason for the proper qualities of their tools and they made the metal from variable materials in a crude way in such small quantities that little uniformity was possible. ”

“ The metal-working industries also follow a geographical distribution, mainly governed by the incidence of the coal-fields, as well as by that of the chief districts for the production of iron-ore already indicated, such as the Cleveland and Durham and the Furness districts. But the district most Metal-working. intimately connected with every branch of this industry, from engineering and the manufacture of tools, &c., to working in the precious metals, is the “Black Country” and Birmingham district of Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire. ”

“ It is the centre of a very active and varied industry, exporting its produce to all parts of the world. The leading branch is metal-working, which is here carried on in important zinc, brass, and iron foundries, smelting-works of various kinds, puddling and rolling works, and manufactories of needles, pins and other metal goods. ”

“ Railways were stretching their lines into the golden regions of the West; manufacturers of farm implements were calling for steel to be fashioned into tools to reap the rich crops of the wide prairie lands; inventors were each day evolving some new use for the metal. Was it any wonder then that steel became a world necessity and that the blast furnace became a philosopher’s stone that transmuted dull ore into precious gold? ”

“ Among the improved processes invented of late years for the manufacture of steel are those of Heath, Mushet, and Bessemer. The last promises to effect before long an entire revolution in the iron and steel trade. By it the crude metal is converted by one simple process, directly as it comes from the blast-furnace. ”

“ The unrecovered metal may be judiciously proportioned as follows:—A portion of it works itself into the wood-work of the flooring of the shops, lathes, boards, and other parts of workshop appliances; then there is the refiner’s profit—as purchases of the sweep, polishings, and other refuse of precious metal workers. Instances can be recorded in which shrewd business-men have actually taken up the floors of their workshops and recovered a vast quantity of metal which was supposed to be lost for ever ”

“ Power Presses in Metal Working.
From glass let us now turn to metals. It is their tenacity that chiefly gives them value; this tenacity is usually accompanied by a hardness which disposes us to regard nickel, for example, as of a solidity quite unyielding. But the coins in our pockets prove that under the pressure of minting machinery they are as impressible as wax. In molds and dies, each the counterpart of the other, brass, bronze, iron, steel, and tin-plate take desired forms as readily as if paste. Solid though these metals appear they yield under severe stress with a semi-fluid quality. ”

“ The production of this metal by the original cause of all things, and its manufacture, are indispensable for the whole business of mankind. The blacksmith and manufacturer of iron and steel stand at the head of all other mechanics. If the productions of the former were to pass out of existence, that of the latter would inevitably become extinct and the farmer would have to abandon the cultivation of the earth, and the wheels of all the hydraulic works and manufacturing machineries whatever would cease to move. ”

“ The arrangement adopted with these is first to show the ores from each district, next the mode of smelting those ores, the metal procured, and generally the manufacture of the metal. The Iron, of course, assumes the first importance. The Pig Iron is the first state in which the metal is obtained; it is then submitted to the refining and “puddling” processes; then rolled into bars, nails, and plates, or drawn into wire; we then see it converted into steel, by various processes including Bessemer’s, and this leads us to the manufactures of Sheffield. ”

“ Nasmyth, for instance, invented the steam-hammer, without which neither the metallurgist could turn out sound masses of metal of sufficient size for the fabrication of the vast machines now in use for steamships and other purposes, nor the machinist forge them into shape. The crystallization process, and the zinc process for the decolorization of lead, not only enable us to extract at a profit very small proportions of silver and gold, but also produce an admirable quality of lead. ”

“ These changes in color are indicative of the changes that are taking place in the metal, and the appearance of a certain shade of color indicates that the conversion into steel is complete, and that it is time for shutting off the blast of air. Any mistake in this matter—even the variation of thirty seconds' time—means a loss of thousands of dollars in the quality of steel produced. The man whose duty it is to determine this important point, therefore, holds an exceptionally delicate and responsible position, and receives pay accordingly. ”

“ Iron, lead, copper, and zinc mines abound, and are in fact worked, but, from all I could learn, so very badly, that, even did their roads allow of the export of the metals, it is to be questioned whether, without the application of a better system, enough metal could be obtained to do more than supply the home demand. ”

“ The application of machinery to the economical production of certain classes of jewelry, not necessarily imitations, but as much “real gold” work, to use a trade phrase, as the best hand-made, has been on the increase for many years. Nearly every kind of gold chain now made is manufactured by machinery, and nothing like the beauty of design or perfection of workmanship could be obtained by hand at, probably, any cost. The question therefore in relation to chains is not the mode of manufacture, but the quality of the metal. ”

“ As with the development of species, so it is with that of machinery: rude and more general forms first, finer and more specialized forms afterwards. There is every reason to hope, for this factory is a proof of the advance that has been made. It would seem that the capability of metal is practically infinite. ”

“ There is every reason to believe that the world still needs steel in immense quantities for the myriad uses in which the metal is employed, not only for future expansion but for replacement which should have occurred during the war years. ”

“ Metallurgy is another great industry; a large quantity of ore, imported from Elba, Spain, and Algeria, is smelted in the blast furnaces of St. Louis in the suburbs. The Mediterranean ironworks and yards, together with other private companies, have large workshops for the construction or repair of marine steam-engines, and for every branch of iron shipbuilding, employing several thousand workmen. Marseilles is a great centre for the extraction of silver from 120 lead ore; 16,000 tons of lead and 25 tons of fine silver are separated annually. ”

“ It is by virtue of presses, enormous in power, that to-day shapes are bestowed on metals in successful rivalry with the ancient art of the founder himself. Indeed the art of conferring form by pouring a liquid into molds is at this hour largely exercised in work where heat plays no part whatever,—as in the tasks of the builder in concrete, the labors of the electrician as he employs a bath to separate a metal from its ore, or to plate a surface with silver or gold.
Diagram of rolls to reduce steel in thickness.
Use Creates Beauty. ”

“ An Iron Company which should be sure of the demand of 5,000 tons of metal annually, could make it much cheaper than with a precarious market for 1,000 tons this year, and perhaps 100 next. Does any practical man need evidence in support of so plain a proposition?—Tribune. ”

“ In the making of cheap steam and gas engines, as well as in machine work generally, rapid progress will be made when the possibilities of producing hard and smooth wearing surfaces without the need for cutting and filing rough-cast metal have been fully investigated. Many parts of machinery will be electro-deposited—like the small articles already mentioned—in aluminium or hard copper at the metallurgical works where ore is being treated for the recovery of metal, or even at the mines themselves. ”

“ Economy of Material
As a step preliminary to designing, and in order that the enrichment may be conventionalized or adapted to conform to the requirements of tools, processes, and materials, it is now imperative to become familiar with a number of common forms of surface enrichment in metal. There are eight processes frequently encountered in the decoration of silver and gold: piercing, etching, chasing or repousséing, enameling, inlaying, stone setting, building, carving. To these may be added planishing, frosting or matting, and oxidizing as methods employed to enrich the entire surface. ”

“ It is one of the glories of this century that metal-working tools and machinery have been invented that take the metal from its inception, mould and adapt it to man’s will in every situation with an infinite saving of time and labour, and with a perfection and uniformity of operation entirely impossible by hand. ”

“ By the application of the processes about to be described, the finishing touches in their relation to articles or wares of silver manufacture are effected. These processes, as adopted by the trade, are various, almost every firm having a specially prepared mixture and mode of employing it. We shall refer only to those which, from their practical utility, are likely to be of service to those workmen who have to do with this particular metal. The branch of the art of which we are now treating comes only into operation when every other process of workmanship has been completed ”

“ Containing, as it does, a larger percentage of iron than any other source from which the metal is commercially extracted, its employment as an ore results in great economy of fuel, as well as a reduction in the proportionate costs of transport. When ores of iron require [Pg 190] to be brought from oversea places, it is obvious that those which will concentrate to the purest product possible, and which are in other respects specially applicable to the production of grades of steel of exceptional tensile strength, will have the preference. ”

“ It needs other than manual power to subdue the metals to the present wants of man, and until those modern motor powers, such as steam, compressed air, gas and electricity, and modern hydraulic machinery, were developed, automatic machine tools to any extent were not invented. So, too, the tools that are designed to operate on hard metal should themselves be of the best metal, and until modern inventors rediscovered the art of making cast steel such tools were not obtainable. ”

“ Persons unacquainted with minerals would be unable to discover the slightest affinity between the rough ironstone as brought up from the mine, and the iron or steel of commerce. To unpractised eyes they would seem to possess no properties in common, and it is only after subjecting the stone to severe processes of manufacture that usable metal can be obtained from it. The effectual reduction of the ore requires an intense heat, maintained by artificial methods, such as furnaces and blowing apparatus. ”

“ The frequent and prolonged periods of depression had forced upon steel makers the conviction that some way of combining to prevent their recurrence was desirable, even necessary, if the United States was to keep and increase its lead in the manufacture of the metal most needed by the age. ”

“ For thinner and lighter forms it is usually more convenient to treat the ingot or crude product of the furnace as mere raw material for a long series of workings under the hammer, or its patent mechanical equivalents, the rolling and pressing mills of modern mechanics. The choice is further influenced by the toughness generally characteristic of wrought metal, whereas the alloys which yield the cleanest castings are by no means universally the best in other respects. ”

“ Then there was another process, by which ores were roasted, and mixed with salt, and placed in barrels having certain machinery, for separation and amalgamation. So perfect was this system that a very minute portion of metal was left in the ore. The heat, dews, wet, and the magnetic state of the atmosphere, all played a part towards the extraction of the metal from the ore. They might say this process was very rough, but if it saved the gold, what mattered it? ”