m

a^axmll Intncraitg SItbrarg

BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE

SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND

THE GIFT OF

HENRY W. SAGE
1891

Date Due

-M^
IPR 22

tm:p3Si
195^^

4ii^a-2.ris60

!Wk

yM

lb

^1 m^i

Cornell University
Library

The
tine

original of

tiiis

book

is in

Cornell University Library.

There are no known copyright

restrictions in

the United States on the use of the

text.

http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924004632695

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

MALLEABLE
CAST IRON
BY
S.

JONES PARSONS,
M.l.MAR.E.

SECOND EDITION, REVISED

NEW YORK
D.

VAN NOSTRAND
TWENTY-FIVE PARK PLACE

IQI9

CO.

c,

41=

5 ^^T

Printed in Great Britain,

>.;'

<i,v,-...

dsv.}

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

The

subject of this

work

one that has hitherto been

is

neglected in our technical literature, and the following pages

have been written in response

reliable

numerous enquiries

to

information concerning the

and the process

material

characteristics

of production

as

of

for

the

carried out in

this country.

Under the

novi de plume of "P.

Giron

I.

" I

have already

contributed various articles on the subject to the Mechanical

World and the Practical Engineer, and

well-known journals

am

also for permission to

to the Editors of these

indebted for encouragement and

make

use of some of the information

that has already appeared in their columns.

I take this

opportunity of thanking

and ironfounders,

for aiding

me

many

friends, engineers

with useful suggestions.

excellent photographs of typical Pig Irons

(S.

C.

The

M. brand)

were supplied by Mr. F. P. Sharpe, Wolverhampton, and the

accompanying analyses by the Seaton Carew Iron

Co.,

West

IlartleiDOol.
S.

J.

P.

Leicestek, 1908.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

Owing

to the progress that

founding since the

considered

it

information

first

has been made in malleable iron-

edition of tbis book was issued, I have

advisable to revise the contents so as to include

concerning

the

more

modern and

scientific

PREFACE.

vi

methods

of production, thus bringing the

adding considerably to

Mixing by Analysis
system

of

its practical

value.

The

to date

and

section

on

based on successful experience in this

mixing metals, and in preparing the section on Heat-

measuring
Scientific

is

book up

Instruments

Instrument

am

indebted to

Co., Ltd., for

the

Cambridge

reviewing the manuscript

for suitable illustrations.

S. J. P.

LOMDON, i9iy.

CONTENTS
INTEODUCTOEY

MELTING

......

Analyses of Pig Irons

Crucible Furnace
Crucibles Cupola Air Furnace

Mixing

Care of
8

MOULDma
Facing Sands
Moulding

Feeding Grating Spray Moulding Oddside

Tub MouldingPlate Moulding Moulding a Cube,
Pump

....

27

Theories Annealing Annealing Ore

Treatment of Hard Castings Packing Charging Building a
Yault Firing Drawing Ee-anneaUng Measurement of
Temperature American Process Treatment of Special Castings Annealing Pans

60

a Eing, Pipe,

Lever, Jawstook, Wheel, Elevator Bucket

Muffling Core-making

...

ANNEALING
Construction of Ovens

of

CLEANING AND STEAIGHTENING

Tumbling Grinding Causes of Distortion Straightening Press

Straightening Wheels and Eings, Cylindrical Castings and
Flanges, Irregular Shapes Use of Wedges and Blocks Setting
Plate

93

DESIGN
First Principles

Design

of

Classification Influence

on Foundry Practice
109

Wheels, etc

PATTEENS

Cores
Metal Patterns
Machining Allowance
Contraction
Core-boxes Making a Spray Setting Patterns on Plates

120

CONTENTS

viii

INSPECTION AND TESTING

Defects in Castings, Dirt,

PAGE

Scab, Cold Shuts, Sears, Blowholes

Mechanical Tests, Bending, Dropping, Drawing, Eingmg

Shearing
Defective Annealing Good and Bad Tests

135

148

FOUNDRY CHEMISTET
Silicon

- Sulphur

Phosphorus Manganese Carbon

MIXING BY ANALYSIS

Methods

of Calculation

...

158

MEASUREMENT OP TEMPERATURE
Construction and Use of Pyrometers

Installation

ADDENDUM

MaUeable Cast Steel

INDEX

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PLATES

....

....

.....

....

...

...
.

164

170

173
ix.

si.

ILLUSTRATIONS
1.

CRUCIBLE OR POT FURNACE

2.

CUPOLA

3.

AIR

4.

5.

...

FURNACE CAMEL-BACK TYPE

STRAIGHT ROOF TYPE

SPINNER

CORRECT

6.

SPINNER INCORRECT

7.

FIN-GATES

8.

A SPRAY OF PATTERNS

9.

LARGE SPRAY

10.

TUB MOULDING BOXES

11.

GATING FOE TUB MOULD

12.
13.

READY FOR POURING

CENTRAL FEEDER

14.

SPINNER AND FEEDER PATTERNS

15.

FEEDER FOR LARGE CASTINGS

GATING FOR CUBE

16.

17.

CUBE MOULD COMPLETE

18.

BROKEN FEEDER

ly.

20.
21.

,,

moulding a ring

22.
23.

,,

correct
incorrect

,,

gating a light ring

24. pipe

25.

,,

mould gates

twin gates

mould feeders
bend gates and feeders
moulding a pump lever
moulding a jawstock

26. pipe

27.
28.
29.

31.

moulding a wheel
mould for elevator buckets

32.

moulder's fin

33.

MUFFLE

30.

....
.

ILLUSTEATIONS
y4.

CHAPLET

....

35.

ANNEALING

OVEN 30

FIGURE

36.

,,

4 TONS

,,

10 TONS

OVEN

(54
6.5

66

39.

DAMPER AND FHAME

40.

SECTION OF FLUB

41.

METHOD OF PACKING

42.

STOOL

48.

TROLLEY FOR SMALL PANS

67

69
74

75

44. FIREBRICK

59

OWTS.

37.
38. CASE

PAr.r:

DOOR

76
77

45.

A VAULT

46.

RE-ANNEALING OVEN

47.

FRACTURED WHEEL

84

48.

METHOD OF PACKING

89

78
83

49.

SOCKET PAN

50.

TOP AND BOTTOM PL.iTES

51.

OLEANI.NG STARS

52.

HORIZONTAL TUMBLING BARREL

94

53.

IMPROVED TUMBLING BARREL

94

54.

DISTORTION BY SUBSIDENCE

97

55.

ABRUPT BEND

98

56.

DISTORTED LEVER

98

91
.

92

93

57.

OSCILLATION OF TIERS

99

58.

STRAIGHTENING PRESS

100

59.

BITERS

101

60.

DISTORTED "WHEEL

102

61

USE OF SCREW JACK

102

62.

SADDLE BLOCKS

103

63.

BRIDGING

64.

DIE-BLOCK

65.

USE OF WEDGES

66.

SETTING PLATE

103

104

OF CRYSTALS

67. DISPOSITION
68.

BAD SECTION

69.

GOOD SECTION

70.

WEAR ON SOFT

71.

FORK END

72.

METAL COREBOX

105
106
109

110
110
PINION

113
118

129

ILLUSTRATIONS
FIGURE

PAOB

73.

ROPE COUEBOX

74.

GATE AND FEEDER ON PLATE

133

75.

REVERSE MOULDING

134

76.

77.

SCABBING

130

134

136
136

78.

136

79.

80.

GOLD SHUT

138

81.

SHEARING

146

82.

CHAT13L1ER PYROMETER

83.

TEMPERATURE INDICATOR
FSRY OPTICAL PYROMETER
FIRECLAY OBSERVATION TUBE
OPTICAL PYROMETER IN POSITION

84.
8.").

86.

165
.

LIST OP PLATES
BABLE PIG IRON GREY

....

166
167

168
169

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

INTEODUCTOEY
A

WELL-KNOWN authority on malleable castings has

" There

foundries most interested, and

very

little

said

really little information available outside of the

is

difficulties in his sales

if

may

it

The founder

within.

as well be said also,

not going to increase the

is

he can help

it,

and the inspecting

engineer, not being able to check the process from his

understanding,

cannot

act

as

intelligently

he

as

own

really

should."

There

owing

a deal of truth in the statement,

is

to the general

condemned as being

it

however, that

it is

So

produced.

is

is

term

in

little

"made

no branch

widest sense, in which

It is rapidly

tage.
steel

practically

is
its

malleable."

still

it

using the

cannot be used to advan-

many purposes where

regards

and although a

it

more general adoption, there

to believe that before long

C.I.

understood,

of engineering,
it

superseding steel for

lingering spirit of conservatism

its

this

is

was formerly considered indispensable

and hinders

alloy,

paid to the circumstances

not an unusual thing for people to send

ordinary grey iron castings to be

There

As a

unreliable.

any other metal or

fact, it is as reliable as

provided always that due regard

under which

probably

it is

ignorance on the subject that malleable

cast iron is frequently

matter of

and

with suspicion,

is

every reason

will take a higher place

than
B

it

MALLEABLE OAST LEON

now

occupies in the

somewhat limited

list of

materials that

the engineer has to draw upon.

The use of
century

but

cast iron in this country dates

it

was only towards

from the fourteenth

the latter

end

of the six-

teenth century, during the progressive reign of Queen Eliza-

became an established industry, and

although it may be assumed that in the meantime experiments
were carried out with a view to producing a softer and more
beth, that ironfounding

ductile iron with equal facility,

it

was over one hundred years

afterwards that the problem of producing a malleable iron

casting was solved.

The

credit for this

to the

must be given

famous French

chemist Eeaumur, the inventor of the system of thermometer

was in 1722 that he

announced his discovery that by heating iron castings packed
in red ore the iron was softened much more rapidly than by

graduation which bears his name, and

it

any other means.

For nearly another century no further progress

ment

is

of develop-

when Samuel Lucas, a Sheffield

patent for "a method of separating

recorded until 1804,

ironfounder, took out a

impurities from crude or cast iron without fusing or melting

it,

and

of

rendering the same malleable and proper for several

purposes for which forged and rolled iron

also

by the same method

of cast iron,

of

improving

and thereby rendering

cable to a variety of

new and

is

now used

articles

and

manufactured

cast or crude iron appli-

useful purposes."

According to the scanty information available

it

appears

that the castings were packed in iron ore or metallic oxides

ground

to

powder, " intense heat being necessary to

union

of the

this

will

it

carbon with the ore or other packing."

effect

From

be seen that Lucas actually patented the process

discovered by

A few years

Eeaumur nearly
later

a century earlier.

Seth Boyden, an ironfounder of Newark,

INTEODUCTOEY

New

Jersey, U.S.A.,

working on information he had received

from England, succeeded in producing malleable castings from

American pig
the

same

owing

to

iron,

were

and

small,

annealing was

by

made being

from sulphur.

this time the malleable castings

affected

practically

as that of Lucas, the quality of castings was different

the native pig iron from which they were

practically free

At

and although his process was

still

when

made

work

larger

in both countries

the

attempted

was

found to be a delicate operation, easily

slight variations in the quality of the pig iron,

while the high contraction of the most suitable pig irons

caused shrinkage flaws that could not

methods then known

end

of the

be

Prom

to founders.

by

eliminated

then until near the

nineteenth century progress was slow and tentative.

Metallurgists were either not

consulted,

or

were not in-

made were carried out by

experiments conducted by rule of thumb and guesswork.
terested,

and

developments

For many years the production

of malleable castings

was

confined to small and comparatively unimportant details, and

the possibilities of the material were neither appreciated nor

One great hindrance

exploited as they should have been.

to

the progress of the industry was the inordinate jealousy

between firms engaged in the business, who covered the

process with an absurd cloak of mystery and fiercely resented
friendly

offers

of

outside

assistance

in

improving

methods, and incidentally the quality of their castings.

the memorable cycle

boom

there

came a huge demand and a

good market for malleable castings

Naturally prices soon rose

were started
quality

their

With

suitable

for the trade.

and many new malleable foundries

but the castings on the whole were far inferior in

and not

sufficiently reliable,

and the amount

of castings

scrapped and returned to the makers soon became so excessive

that

many had

to shut

down.

Very few firms could be

B 2

relied

MALLEABLE CAST lEON

on

to

produce castings of uniform quality, and consequently

demand soon exceeded the supply.

Some of the larger
cycle firms set up their own foundries, and under the supervision of skilled metallurgists, some of whom were imported
the

from the continent, the production

more

scientific basis

was

justified

of malleable castings

the quality and reliability of the material.

strict secrecy

and

was

but

and the independent

of technical education,

and elsewhere, the

investigations of metallurgists at Sheffield

walls of ijrejudice were broken down,

that

details,

was available

to outsiders very little information

with the spread

It is true

maintained regarding the actual

still

on a

by a great improvement in

and

works

finally the

chemist became a necessity in places where he would previously have been

development

of the

castings

became

true

value,

its

munitions

of

an

regarded as

still

more

which

war was

at

evident,

in

an

With

intruder.

motor car industry the

and

utility of

now

is

the

malleable

appreciated at

unprecedented demand for

once recognised and

made use

of to

the fullest extent.

In one respect progress has lagged somewhat, and that

is

in

the melting process.

Speaking generally, the methods in use

in this country are behind those in vogue in the United States,

where probably 90 per

This preponderance

cent, of the world's

is

is

produced.

due to the greater popularity and

consequently wider application of

readiness

output

the

with which the American

material,

and

ironfounders

the

adapted

themselves to the demand by specialising on a large scale

to ensure a rapid

and constant supply

of

castings to their

customers.

In Great Britain a row of crucible furnaces, a cupola,

or, in

very few places, an air furnace, constitutes the entire melting

equipment.
small,

Under these conditions the output

and annealing ovens are kept open

is

necessarily

for several

days

INTEODUCTOEY
until there

a supply of eastings

is

to

sufficient

them.

fill

This means that in most cases the customer would have to

wait ten or fourteen days for a small batch of castings
a single casting

even
six

^that

should not take more than

or

five or

days to deliver.

Although

the'

crucible

method

of

melting

very largely in this country, in America

is

adopted

still

has long been

it

discarded as being too slow and costly, and even the cupola, in
spite of its

low cost of upkeep,

is

not considered to be as

successful as the air furnace for the production of castings of

good quality, while in large foundries they have adopted openhearth furnaces similar to those used for

These

steel melting.

huge furnaces are run continuously day and night

all

the year

round, except for necessary repairs at intervals, and as this

ensures a steady supply of castings to the annealing ovens
there

is

no waiting and consequently no cause

for

complaint

or prejudice on the part of the customer.

Efforts directed towards reducing the cost of melting have

so far

cupola

met with but

still

For ordinary purposes the

remains the cheapest and most economical furnace,
little

success.

the cost of repairs and upkeep being

much lower than

that of

the open-hearth and reverberatory furnaces, and the rate of

melting

is

much

quicker.

Most recent experiments made with

a view to greater economy in the consumption of fuel have

been concerned with crucible furnaces. Oil and gas have been
tried as substitutes for coke,

actual melting

is

and with some success

so far as

concerned, but the intense heat generated by

these fuels has such a destructive effect on the crucibles and the
lining*of the furnaces, both expensive items, that the saving in
cost of fuel

is

largely discounted.

This

is

unfortunate, since

it

has been proved conclusively that when iron for malleable castings

is

melted in a gas or

the castings are

oil

furnace,

and especially the

much sounder and more

free

latter,

from impurities

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

than those obtained by any other method, and

if

properly

annealed they possess a tensile strength and ductility combined

that cannot be equalled by any other process.

It is therefore

extremely probable that future improvements in melting and

greater

economy

most economical crucible furnace

of this type at present is

regenerative furnace, in which the fuel

six crucibles each,

is

utilised

and are constructed with gas and

through which the products

of

the

and applied

These furnaces hold

as in the open-hearth furnace.

crucibles, first in

The

in fuel will be reached along those lines.

five or

air ports

combustion sweep round the

one direction and then in another, the direc-

The
number of

tion of flow being reversed every twenty minutes or so.

best results are obtained

when

there

a sufficient

is

furnaces to justify the installation of a fairly large gas pro-

more economical than the smaller

ducer, since they are

ones,

but even then the cost of repairs to linings, and the renewal
of crucibles, is excessively

Malleable cast iron

sometimes supposed,
cast

iron

amount

is

of

wrought

common.

in

as annealing

and

not, as is

In other words,

That part
is

ore, or

it

is

this is practically a

and the castings have

misnamed

plished by the action of heat only

packed in

of steel,

iron.

carbon has been extracted

definition of cast steel,

known

form

really a

a special composition from which a certain

of

of

teristics

high in most cases.

of
;

many

charac-

the process which

is

annealing can be accombut

when

the castings are

any other suitable decarbonising material,

whether the object

is

precipitation or partial elimination of

the carbon content, the process becomes one of conversion.

The heat

is

only necessary to open out the structure of the

casting so as to allow the oxygen to penetrate, and the carbon,

in the

form

of

"annealing"

carbon dioxide, to escape.

is

in general use,

it

As, however, the term

has been retained for the

purposes of this work in order to avoid misunderstanding.

INTRODUCTORY

Many
(a)

failures

have been traced

to the following

causes:

Treating the material as for wrought iron or steel and

attempting

amenable
extent be

to

forge

weld

or

The

it.

castings

to this treatment, although they

hammered

are

not

can to a limited

or swaged in order to slightly reduce the

area or to elongate a plain casting that

is

short of the

trifle

required dimension, but even this must be done with great

care, preferably

with a succession of light blows, as

and the quality

causes disintegration,
deteriorates

under the

operation

if

of

it

soon

the iron rapidly

prolonged or roughly

carried out.
(b)

Heating the castings

and cooling

off

for

hardening or other purposes

by quenching suddenly

in cold water.

sudden strain thrown on the crystalline structure

casting by this treatment causes

open in

it

to " shatter,"

i.e.,

of

The
the

to split

but chiefly in the direction of the long

all directions,

axis of the crystals.

These cracks are sometimes very minute,

and not discovered

until failure occurs under

ditions,

when they

are attributed to other causes.

other operation for which

casting

it

working con-

it

may

For any

be necessary to heat the

should be allowed to cool slowly buried in ashes, dry

sand, or annealing ore.

(c)

Subjecting the castings to a temperature beyond the

critical

chaiige,

point at which the nature of iron undergoes a complete

by which a

soft,

ductile casting is

changed into a

stronger but harder one, causing difiiculty in machining and

otherwise rendering

was

The

critical

definitely, there

by

it

unsuitable for the purpose for which

it

originally intended.

temperature referred to has not been fixed

being a slight difference in the result obtained

different observers

about 1,250 F.

but as near as can be ascertained

it

is

FOUNDEY PRACTICE
Melting
To a casual onlooker a moulding shop devoted to the production of malleable eastings presents an appearance identical
with those in which grey iron castings are made, but although
the principles of ironfounding apply equally to both processes
there are essential differences in the mixing and melting, the

preparation of moulds and cores to suit the special characteristics of

white iron, and the gating and feeding of the castings

and while
all

for

grey iron considerable latitude

these particulars, a

more

is

permissible in

precise, methodical

system

is

indispensable for the production of malleable castings; and

this is principally the reason

why moulders

experienced in

grey iron work are not

much

where any disregard

fundamental principles

of

use in a malleable foundry,

is

fatal to

success.

For commercial purposes the various grades

numbered

of pig iron are

Nos. 1 to 4 are grey iron of varying

to 8.

degrees of structure. No. 1 being the softest; these are

all

used, singly or in different proportions, in the production of

ordinary castings.
suitable for

The remainder, Nos.

malleable castings,

classification of

names, thus

to

8,

Grey

No. 5
No. 6

Soft mottled.

No. 7

Hard

No. 8

White.

This nomenclature

are only

and are better known by

is

mottled.

derived from the appearance of the

FOUNDEY PEAOTICE
fracture, the " mottle " being

due

to

the appearance of the

graphitic or free carbon, the quantity of -which diminishes until

in white iron the carbon

The following
various sources

is

almost wholly combined.

analysis of these pig irons

is

derived from

MALLEABLE OAST IRON

10

flakes of a

brownish material, resembling spiegel in appearance

and

very undesirable character.

of a

than the iron in which

it is

found in the subsequent castings, where

ness,

and a casting

will invariably

it is

break

The pig

is

to destruction

Needless to say, iron

used except for a low class of work in

not a

first

iron in general use

medium and

be

under a strain that would

at this point

not materially affect a sound casting.

of this description is not

is to

a source of weak-

uniform thickness tested

of

which homogeneity

more refractory

It is

found, and in consequence

consideration.

made

is

in two sizes,

by the area

small, being defined

known

as

the section.

of

These have been adoj)ted principally for the convenience of

the crucible melting, the capacity of a crucible being unsuited
to the larger sections.

The three methods

crucible, cupola,

the one

first

and

melting employed in this country are

of

The

air furnace.

crucible

time being chiefly confined to the manufacture

such

as

demand

method was

adopted for malleable castings, the trade at the

of

door-keys and lock tumblers.

buckles,

for larger castings

became general

this

smallware,

As

the

method soon

proved inconvenient and expensive, and founders turned to

the cupola as being

more economical and

with the demand.

This did not, however, improve the quality

of the

work

tion.

made

on the contrary there was a perceptible deprecia-

few founders having an exceptionally large output

use of the air furnace, which

cupola, although

and
all

better suited to cope

is

it

is

superior in effect to the

not nearly so economical in working,

for this reason the cupola is still the

most widely used

of

furnaces.

Up

to the present

produces castings

time there

of

such excellent quality as the crucible.

The pot furnace shown

It consists of a

no method of melting which

is

in

fig.

is

used for this purpose.

rectangular cast iron casing resting on a stool

FOUNDRY PEAOTIOB
which supports a lining

cast plate
bricks,

fits

and the square hole

and

1.

in the centre

through which the

Crucible or pot furnace,

is

fitted

sunk in a

to

facilitate

removal.

The whole

pit so that the top is level

only slightly raised above the floor line

in placing

also the firebars as

fuel are introduced is covered with a loose lid

which has a ring

arrangement

and

of

Pig.

crucible

of firebricks

wrought iron IJ inches square. A heavy

inside the casing at the top and rests on the

shown these are

;

11

and withdrawing the

covered with a grating which

this is for

crucibles.

fulfils

with or

convenience

The ashpit

is

the double purpose of a


ISIAIiLBABLE CAST

12

working platform which allows the

through before the crucible

The working
at the

dirt

and skimmings

from sulphur

furnace

is

very simple.

of good,

latter condition

(the

fire is laid

hard foundry
absolutely

is

good malleable castings), and the

essential to produce really

lid of the

to fall

taken to the moulds.

is

of this fm-nace is

bottom and covered with 12 inches

coke,*" free

and

IRON

closed in order to ensure a keen draught

The

ignite the coke to incandescence.

crucibles used are

plumbago, and are identical with those used by brass-

of

They vary

founders.

holds about 50

lbs. of

in capacity, but the

melted iron.

most useful

The charge

size

consists of

refined pig iron (small), broken into pieces about 8 inches long,

and hard

scrap, gates, runners

and small

feeders,

broken into

suitable pieces.
It

may

be said that no two foundries are agreed as to what

constitutes the best mixtures for different kinds of

is

a matter on which

and each founder claims

possessed by no other.

opinion

personal
for his

and

if

work

it

sharply divided,

" special " mixture virtues

The following mixtures have

ably given satisfactory results, and are

others,

is

typical

they have any special merit

it

invari-

of

all

the

lies

in

the

addition of soft scrap, the inclusion of which will be regarded

by many

rank heresy, but the efficaceous results

as

are undeniable.

and

special

The

for the

table

is

former

of

which

divided into two classes, general

it is

necessary to use up the hard

scrap that would otherwise accumulate, but for the latter

left

out to ensure a uniform quality of iron

Class or work.

Very thin

light castings

General.

Light castings, not less than \"

thick.

^^I'ocial.

Soft mottled

Hard

scrap

Soft mottled

Hard scrap

it is

Grey or

Soft mottled
Soft mottled

FOUNDRY PEACTICE
Class or

i\

oik.

13

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

14

up again

iron are added

almost

an hour, at the end of which more coke and

for half

full

of

this is repeated half -hourly until the crucible is

molten iron in a highly incandescent

Under normal conditions

when once the iron

drawn immediately,
burnt and

this takes

about three hours, and

is

thoroughly melted

as

if

left

it

should be with-

too long in the furnace

anneal.

is difficult to

state.

It is

it

gets

necessary to bring the

iron to a very high temperature to ensure a thorough mixing

and consequently

of the different qualities,

even

if

a " cool " metal

section, as

it

can be allowed to cool down after withdrawal.

There are other special forms

an

Some of

of crucible furnaces.

these are heated by gas and in others the

assisted by

must be done

this

required for castings of heavy

is

air blast in the ashpit.

On

combustion

is

the whole, however,

they have no outstanding advantages over the one described,

which, for

all practical

purposes, has not yet been superseded.

Two

things must be borne in

The

fuel

mind in working these furnaces.

must not be allowed to come in contact with the
molten iron, and for very best work the crucible should be
fitted

with a

luted to prevent the iron

lid of fireclay,

absorbing any of those deleterious gases for which

Where

affinity.

number

Some

of the

main

flue

and opening into

large firms in this country

speciality of high-class

work have

arranged on this system.

has an

of furnaces are required they are

placed in a row parallel with the

it.

it

from

as

many

who make a

as fifty or

more

space of 6 inches should be

allowed between each furnace to facilitate repairs and,

if

necessary, removal without interfering with those on either

side.

Dampers

are fitted behind each draught hole, so that

only the furnaces in actual operation are in communication with

the main

when

flue.

it is

The necessity

for this will

stated that the furnaces are

As soon as the crucible

is

be better understood

worked continuously.

withdrawn the

fire-bars are cleaned.

POUNDRT PEACTICE

15

a fresh bed of coke made up, and the same crucible put in

The

again as soon as possible.

lid

should be put on to retain

the heat in the lining of the furnace, and by doing this the

subsequent " heats "

will

melt the iron in about two hours, so

that by charging the furnaces in the early

The

possible to get five heats a day.

these circumstances

is

from thirty

life of

morning

it

is

a crucible under

to iifty heats according to

quality and care in handling.

Unless the crucibles are properly annealed before being put

in the furnace for the first time they will invariably crack or

As a

chip badly on being exposed to the intense heat.

pre-

caution against this they should always be stored in a warm,

dry place, such as in a core stove or on racks immediately over

the furnaces.

few hours before they are required for melt-

ing purposes they are put over a slow

ashes.

This latter precaution

and

fire

filled

with hot

often neglected, with the result

is

that the difference in temperature between the outside and the

inside of the crucible causes unequal expansion

chipping which the process

good way

is to

and subsequent

intended to prevent.

is

Another

place the crucible over the fire with the bottom

upwards, thus warming up the inner and outer surfaces

simultaneously.

These are methods adopted when the cru-

cible is required for a furnace already heated up, but

circumstances will allow, the best way

in a newly-lighted furnace
together.

Plumbago

is

of

to place the crucible

and allow both

to heat

up gradually

a bad conductor of heat, and the more

slowly the preliminary heating

hood

is

when

is effected,

The

chipping or cracking.

be considerably prolonged

if

life

the less the

likeli-

of the crucibles will

immediately after use they are

put into a drying furnace or other suitable place where the

cooling

down

will

be gradual.

By

carefully observing the

foregoing rules, even with crucibles that have already been

used, they will stand a considerably greater

number

of heats

MALLEABLE OAST lEON

16

Some makes

than would otherwise be the case.

are

more

susceptible to sudden changes of temperature than others.

Although the cupola

not generally regarded as being

is

entirely satisfactory for melting iron required for malleable

castings,

it

is

more extensively used than any other form

furnace in this country.

of

maintenance

is

economical to work, the cost

It is

comparatively low, and

The

a melter is indisputable.

its

sulphur,
it is

etc.,

and

may

also that,

efficiency

as

objections to its use are that,

as the iron is in actual contact with the fuel,

deleterious matter that

of

it

absorbs any

be contained therein, such as

owing

possible to burn the iron

to the rapidity of the melting,

and so produce hard finished

castings.

The

first of

to

difficult

these objections

is

obtain coke which

the most important one.

is

It is

absolutely free from those

impurities for which iron in a melted state has an unfortunate

affinity,

but by the exercise of a

little

discretion in choosing

the fuel the resulting eastings will be of a quality that will

meet
this

requirements for " general work," and

all

it is

under

heading that the bulk of the eastings produced are

included.

The second objection may be overcome by systematically

regulating the blast so that the iron does not melt too rapidly
a pressure of 4 to 5 ozs.

is

ample, and this should always be

checked by a pressure gauge on the blast pipe near the tuyere.

In the present-day mania for " hustling " there
to

melt as quickly as possible

but this

is

the production of good malleable castings.

turned on there should be an interval

the iron

is

down, after which the blast

of

is

a temptation

absolutely fatal to

After the blast is

twenty minutes before

may be

slightly checked,

being then regulated as the melting proceeds, so that the iron

comes out

just hot

enough

to

pour into the lightest moulds

without premature chilling, and the iron must be kept flowing

FOUNDRY PBACTIOE

17

as long as possible without stopping up, so as to preclude the

burning or oxidising the iron accumulated at

possibility of

the bottom of the cupola.

All ladles are to be well lined with

a refractory mixture of red sand and fireclay (3 to 1)

and

thoroughly dried for some hours before use in a suitable

'

furnace
is

for this purpose the muffle is generally utilised, as

it

usually empty at the time, and the ladles can be kept hot

until the

moment

the

iron tapped into

first

" skull," as

they are required in order to prevent chilling

warmed up

and

is

is

a shell of iron formed on the

by the molten iron being burnt or

happens

this

the formation of a heavy

produced either by the ladle not being

sufficiently, or

When

oxidised.

This

called.

it is

inside of the ladle,

them and

it

adheres to the sides of the

ladle in such quantities as to considerably reduce the capacity,

which decreases with each

ladleful poured.

customary to use the

It is

castings, as the metal

is

The term

will be later.

iron

first

down

for the heaviest

not then quite as hot and fluid as

it

used comparatively, as the

fluid is

metal flows more freely from the tapping hole than grey iron.

and

It is whiter,

giving
for

off

it

the ladle with a distinct splash,

a constant shower

some time

until

falls into

in the ladle,

has subsided

and the metal must not be poured

when

continued

of sparks, this being

likely to chill or set quickly

it

for castings that are thin

must be poured

at once,

and

keeping

the gate full until the metal reaches the top of the feeder.

For

all

castings not less than 1 inch in

lightest section the

appearance

of

moment

pouring

for

when

first

it

the appearance of boiling gently

C.I.

it

is

as

if

from ordinary

drawn from the furnace the metal has

;

there

is

no

the surface has a marbled appearance which

changing

judged by the

This has another

the surface of the metal.

peculiar characteristic which distinguishes

cast iron, for

thickness at the
is

ebullition,
is

but

constantly

two distinct metals were in chemical

c

MALLEABLE CAST lEON

18

conflict.

This activity gradually ceases, and the metal

poured, quickly and steadily as soon as

Fig.

any delay

work the pouring

is

and mis-run

castings.

For

stopped as soon as the metal

with the top of the mould a shovelful of floor sand

then thrown on the gate and pressed down with the foot

is level
is

is

becomes quiescent,

2. Cupola,

will result in cold-laps

all classes of

it

FOUNDRY PRACTICE
this is to prevent regurgitation

owing

19

to the

back pressure

of

the feeders, which are gradually filled up with hot metal from
a

hand

Avill

No time should

ladle.

be lost in doing

this, or a crust

be formed on the surface which will prevent the feeder

from acting properly.

The cupola
design, yet

is

it is

a furnace which admits of

so susceptible to

little

variation in

minor influences that

it

is

next to impossible to standardise the various items which go

to

make

The

it effective.

ratio of height to the diameter, of

iron to fuel, of blast pipe area to tuyere area, of blast to charge,

are

all

governed by the "personal element," and also by

and

locality

worked by

atmospheric

conditions.

furnacemen, each of

different

The

same

whom

is

cupola,

an experi-

enced melter, will give widely different results even with the

same quality

and

of pig iron

and the

fuel,

behaviour of the metal when the barometer

it is

low

is

difference in the
is

high and when

sometimes perplexing to a degree.

Under these

circumstances the cupola described here and shown in

is

only typical, and though

it

fig.

has always given satisfaction

might possibly not do so under

different

conditions.

2
it

The

principal dimensions are:

Height of charging door above bottom

12 feet

Height

15 inches

of tuyeres

above bottom

Diameter outside

8 feet 6 inches

Diameter inside

2 feet 6 inches

Diameter

...

of blast pipe

Diameter

of

Diameter

of

8 inches

...

main tuyeres
monkey tuyere

4^ inches

2^ inches

Pressure of blast

4 to 5 pzs.

Weight

2 tons

of iron

melted per hour

Coke consumed per ton

The

blast is supplied

of iron

by a

4 cwts.

positive rotary blower,

and the

c 2

MALLEABLE CAST lEON

20

monkey tuyere can be shut off by means of a butterfly valve

when not required.
The linmg from the bottom plate up to the shoulder below
the charging door consists of best quality firebrick blocks,

moulded

correct size

to

They are

and shape.

carefully laid

without the use of a trowel, each block being dipped

first in

bucket of clean water and then in a very thin mixture of

fire-

method

will

clay and laid in

its

is

it

manner will outlast three

way with about f inch of
The deterioration and
chieflj'

The

place.

when

be appreciated

efficacy of this

stated that a lining laid in this

or four linings laid in the ordinary

thick fireclay between each brick.

destruction of the lining takes place

round the melting zone, in

mixture

and

of the tuyeres,

above the level

daily with

this case about

must be patched up

this

some refractory material such

of fireclay

and ground

18 inches

as gannister, or a

firebricks.

useless for the purpose, as having little or

Fireclay alone

is

no cohesiveness

it

falls away under the influence of heat.

The tuyere blocks are of ordinary cast iron, and are not
secured to the shell in any way, being laid as one of the
bricks, and as the inner end is 2 inches away from the inner

crumbles and

circumference of the lining,

it

not burn

does

therefore need not be protected or cooled in

brisk fire

after lining,

is

away, and

any way.

kept burning on the bed for twenty-four hours

and the cupola

drop bottom

is

is

then ready for melting.

provided, and this has

many

advantages

over the old-fashion plate bottom, not only because of the

facihties
it

it

offers for cleaning out at the

also renders

it

more

the greater ingress

end

for air

the

furnace cools

quicker, and can be sooner got ready for

sometimes objected that rapid cooling

being liable

to

set

of the heat,

accessible for repairing,

up contraction

is

but

and owing

to

down much

use again.

It is

a disadvantage, as

strains

and crack the

FOUNDEY PRACTICE

21

but this objection does not hold good in practice,

lining;

sudden strains being prevented by leaving the mass

and

slag dropped at the

end

of the heat in a partly

state, so that all air entering the

three hours

breast door, so that

slag

cupola for the

it

through the breast door, and also as a measure

is

moulders engaged in

filling their ladles.

well-rammed

thick

at

of

precaution

prevented from splashing amongst the

case the molten iron

The bottom being

two or

dropping during the melting, in which

in case of accidental

of

first

The drop bottom is hinged beneath the

acts as a screen when knocking down the

heated.

is

coke

of

quenched

in position, secured

sand

floor

is

by the

made up on

the centre, sloping from

it

trigger, a

bed

about 3 inches

every direction towards

the centre of the breast door, where the tapping hole will be

About four hours before the

made.

coal fire

started,

is

and

as soon as this

covered with a layer of coke about

opening
of

is

then

The

tapping hole.

make

it

is

to

laid

the

shell,

but

cohesive, applied

packed with

back

stands

sufficient space for a further

down

burns freely

1 foot thick

it

is

the breast

on the bottom to form the

breast door or plate put in position

to

put on, a good

interstices are then filled with floor sand,

space round the pipe

damped

is

with suitable pieces of coke, a piece

filled in

l|-inch gaspipe being

well

blast

to eii'ectually seal

by throwing; the

stiff fireclay,

this does not

about 2

fit

inches,

and the
close

up

leaving

rammed
now with-

supply of floor sand to be

the opening.

The pipe

is

drawn, and the aperture made wider at the front so that

it

will firmly hold the stopping.

further supply of coke

door until
tuyeres,

it

is

now added through

the charging

reaches about 18 inches above the level of the

and when

this has burnt

in the following order

through the charges are put

Pig iron, scrap, coke

the

proportion

being 6 cwts. pig and scrap to IJ cwt. of good hard coke

MALLEABLE CAST lEON

22

these are laid alternately until the charging door

handful of limestone, broken small,

and

of iron,

is

reached; a

thrown on each charge

the most efficient flux.

The mixtures suggested

charging the crucible furnace

for

apply to the cupola, and the weight of each charge of

will also

iron includes

addition

the

was

annealed scrap.

It

had an injurious

effect

excluded
causes,

is

is

as

sound,

clean,

one time considered that the

at

on the castings, and

the defects ascribed to

per cent,

10

of

it

were probably due

it

latter

was rigorously
to

other

has been found in modern practice that the

it

addition of a limited proportion sensibly improves the ultimate

ductility

of the material,

while not materially affecting the

As the melting proceeds the amount of coke

tensile strength.

and

in each charge is gradually reduced,

hours less than

at the

end

of

two

1 cwt. will suffice.

Unless for experimental purposes, nothing else must be put

into a cupola used for malleable cast

iron, or

the results,

although perhaps not apparent in the casting, will ultimately

affect the

extent,

character of the annealed article to a considerable

and

blamed.

for this the quality of the pig iron

It is

may

be unjustly

necessary to emphasise this point, as there

is

temptation to take advantage of the apparent economy and

run in a few charges

patterns, etc.

of

If this is

common

done

iron for moulding boxes,

will affect the whole of

the " malleable " charges put on afterwards, and if put on

at the

end the castings, instead

mottled, or even in

"Where there

is

to

many

of

being grey iron, will be

cases white,

and wholly unsuitable.

only one cupola a separate day should be

assigned to such

and

first it

common

iron castings as

may

be required

making annealing pans, the cupola being thoroughly

cleaned out before using

The importance
tive, as it is

of

it

for malleable castings again.

using a supply of good coke

is

impera-

absolutely necessary for the production of good

FOUNDEY PEACTIOE

23

ductile castings that the iron, in addition to containing the

smallest percentage of

should also be kept from

sulphur,

contact with that deleterious matter during the process of

Good coke can always be judged by

melting.

its

appearance,

being a bright metallic grey, free from the iridescent colours

that proclaim the presence of sulphur

is

it

hard, and will

not easily crush under the weight imposed upon

cupola, while the pieces are larger

when broken, and permit

and

through the cupola

free blast

which cannot be obtained with small, cheap

coke

fuel or

composite

gas coke must not be used under any circumstances

not only

too soft

is it

amount

intolerable

in the

it

from dust or breeze

free

and ashy, but

good idea of the quality

watching

marbled

effect

bold curves

it

generally contains an

may

of the iron

behaviour as soon as

its

it

of sulphur.

it is

previously alluded to

is

indicates a hard mixture,

be obtained by

tapped out.

iu the

and

form

If

the

of large,

vice versa

small

convolutions are a sure sign of soft metal, so that for important castings,

if

there

is

any doubt

as to the suitability of the

metal or the nature of the charge,

it

advisable to tap a

is

small quantity into a hand ladle and note the appearance of

the surface.

The use

of the air furnace for the production of malleable

iron castings in this country

is

extremely limited

probably

there are not more than half a dozen in operation at the

present time.
are that

tenance

is

The objections

more

costly

higher,

and

it is

to its

more general adoption

than the cupola

the cost of main-

only a large output will

make

it

commercially practicable, and while the superior quality of

the castings up to a certain size

is

indisputable, the cost of

production calls for a higher selling price than manufacturers

generally are prepared to pay.

Under these circumstances, and

considering the fact that the difference between air furnace

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

24

and cupola castings made from European pig iron

nearly so marked as in those
pig, this
this

form

country

but as

Fig. 3 shows

furnace, and

become popular in

of furnace is not likely to

some description

it

it

comes within the scope

furnace and

of the

what

is

known

its

working

work,

of this

necessary.

is

as the camel-back type of

be seen that

will

not

is

made from American low-sulphur

only a variation on

is

it

the old-fashioned puddling furnace.

built of firebrick

It is

and well braced together with buckstaves and

tie rods,

and

is

constructed with a chimney at the end furthest away from

the firegrate to carry away waste gases and promote a keen

natural draught, upon

which the

air

furnace

depends

for

melting.

To prepare

good

the furnace a bed of

3 or 4 inches of sand,

rammed down,
made up on the

well
ElG.

3.

is

An- furnace.

Camel-baok type.

bottom, which slopes

downwards towards the chimney end, where it is dished out

to form what is called the bath, to receive the molten iron.

The

entire charge for the heat, pig

and

on

scrap, is placed

this bed just behind the bridge, this being the hottest part of

furnaces of this type

when

then sealed up and the

at

work

fire started,

be as free from sul^Dhur as

it

is

bars.

As

it

much ash

to

possible to obtain it;

will

do provided

choke the draught through the

fire-

passes over the charge the flame

bottom

any
does

after

bath until tapping takes place

at the

is

it

downwards, so that the iron

shown

the charging door

the fuel for which should

good bituminous or long-flaming coal

not leave too

of the bath.

melting
this

is

is

is

deflected

kept hot in the

done

at the

hole

FOUNDRY PEACTICE
The charge begins
started,

fire is

and

hours, according

to
is

melt freely about two hours after the

ready for tapping in from

five to six

nature and weight of the charge.

to the

During the whole period

melting the

of

must be

fire

care-

so that the iron will melt regularly

fully attended to

continuously until
practice to keep

25

it

down.

all

is

It

considered

is

up the heat and allow the iron

to

and
good

remain

in the bath for at least half an hour after the last of the

charge

is

melted, in order to ensure a thorough mixing of

the various contents, and arrangements are

whole charge
rate

may

melting

of

be drawn

made

so that the

without stopping up.

off

The

is

watched through the

observation holes, and
these

opened as

are

seldom as possible,

to

prevent cheeldng the

draught

by the ad-

mission of

cold

air.

In charging the pig

"^10.

i.-Ah- inmace.

Straight roof type.

iron the alternate layers are laid crosswise, and not touching

may have

sideways, so that the products of combustion

free

play to melt quickly and evenly.

Fig. 4

charge
bath

is

is

tions

of

shows another type

of

air furnace

which the

in

introduced at the bottom of the chimney, and the

made up immediately behind

working are similar

to

the bridge

the condi-

those already given, and

neither type can be said to possess any particular advantage

over the other.

may

Each has

its its

possibly have something

to

votaries,

In each case the area of the firegrate

times

that of the

chimney or

and

local conditions

do with choice in the matter.

flue.

is

usually about four

Like the cupola, the

air

furnace requires patching daily at those parts where the

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

26

cutting

action

the

of

gases

is

most destructive, which

is

The sand bottom is also

repaired, not necessarily renewed, for each heat.
The ratio
of coal consumed to iron melted for the entire heat averagesalong

generally

about

to 3

the

it

is

slag

line.

seldom

less

than

1 to 4,

and

this ratio

can only be obtained under the most favourable circum-

The

stances.

chief advantages of

cupola are that

it

the air furnace over the

produces a larger body

of

metal that can

be tapped at one operation, and owing to the fact that the

iron does not
it

come

in contact with the fuel while melting,,

does not absorb any deleterious matter, but on the con-

trary

subjected to

is

it

a refining

other things, reduces the

amount

of

action which,

amongst

sulphur content, thus

it would be possible to produce in

These are eminently desirable qualifications, but for

giving a stronger iron than

a cupola.

the general run of malleable castings they are not imperative,

as the weight of a single casting seldom exceeds

while the
irons
tion

is

by

as the

amount

of suli^hur abstracted

12 cwts.,

from European pig

not sufficient to justify the increased cost of producthis

means, except

demand

for special classes of

work, and

for these is a limited one, the output is chiefly

confined to crucible furnaces, in which

it

similar conditions and with better results.

is

produced under

MOULDING
Any

moulding sands which are in general

of the recognised

use in this country are suitable for malleable castings, and

is

considered good practice to use plenty of

facing,

which should be freshly mixed

Excessive mois-

daily.

both in this and in the black sand used for

ture,

it

new sand in the

filling,

should

be avoided, only just sufficient being added to give the necessary cobesiveness, which

Wet sand

pack

will

is

much

tested

by squeezing in the hand.

closer than dry

this reduces the

porosity or permeability and causes blowholes.

hand,

if

too dry

it

is

to

difficult

withstand drawing the pattern, especially

sand form part

of the

On

the other

work, being too weak to

any thin walls

if

mould, while during the pouring

of

of

the

metal patches of the sand will become detached and cause

scabbing.

The amount

of coal dust to be

added

to the facing varies

considerably in different foundries, but for a

work the following

is reliable

medium

class of

New sand

...

...

...

...

...

10 parts

Old sand

...

...

...

...

...

6 parts

Coal dust

...

...

...

...

...

1 part

For

light castings

^ part coal dust

heavy work the proportion

latter being

is

is

used for thick, solid castings.

not exceeding

-^^

sufficient,

and

for

increased to 1^ or 2 parts, the

inch in thickness,

coal dust at the points furthest

it is

For thin

castings,

better not to use

away from the runners,

any

so as

to lessen the risk of mis-running.

As the use

of

plumbago

is

only intended to give a clean

MALLEABLE OAST lEON

28

foundry

surface, its use in a malleable

work as

high pressure

pipes,

is

restricted to such

fittings, pistons, etc.,

undergo minute inspection before annealing.

used or not will

make no

finished casting after

it

The method adopted

that have to

Whether

it

is

dilTerence in the appearance of the

has been annealed.

for feeding grey iron castings in order

to

prevent the formation of shrink-holes consists in working

or

ramming

the semi-fluid metal by

means

of thin iron rods

introduced into the mould through the risers or other special

openings, the operation being continued until the metal has
set to

such an extent that

process

is

is

it

no longer possible.

This

not applicable to malleable castings on account of

the rapidity of cooling and the considerably higher rate of

the

to be much confusion of ideas as to

terms "contraction" and " shrmkage,"

There seems

contraction.

meaning

of the

and they are often used synonymously by writers on foundry

matters, with the result that

many

of their statements are

somewhat vague and misleading.

The terms are interdepen-

dent, but are not interchangeable.

By

" contraction "

is

meant

the reduction in the linear dimensions of the casting due to

cooling;

in

other

words,

it

is

the

difference

between the

dimensions of the mould, or pattern, and those of the casting.

"

Shrinkage " applies to the structure

to the contraction of the crystals of

Daring the period

the

first

to

of the metal,

which the iron

is

and

refers

composed.

of cooling the crystals at the surface are

become

others are gradually

fixed,

and as congelation proceeds the

drawn away from the centre

leaving a cavity technically

known

of the

as a shrink-hole,

mass,

and

it

is

to jjrevent the formation of this cavity that feeding is resorted

to.

In malleable iron eastings this

large head

of

is

done by means

of a

metal situated immediately over the highest

point of the part or parts of the casting where shrink-Loles

are most likely to form, or where, owing to a difference of the

MALLEABLE CAST lEON

30
Bection,

and consequently in the rate

the casting

is likely

to pull apart

one part of

of cooling,

The

from the other.

fluid

metal in the head or feeder flows by gravity into the interior

of the casting

and replaces that which has been drawn towards

the surface, giving a sound section not attainable by any other

In some cases, where there

means.

owing

change

to abrupt

is

a danger of pulling

not always possible to

of section, it is

place a feeder at the desired point, and then

to

make

This

is

S'haped

to

becomes neces-

it

sary

use of

block

of

chill.

iron

cast

the outline

that

of

part of the casting to which

when

applied, so that

it is

the fluid

metal comes in contact with

proceeds

cooling

there

is

rapidly,

then not sufficient

it

and

differ-

ence in the temperature of the

Fig.

0.

Spinnercorrect.

paratively thin

sometimes

cause a flaw at the

Chills are only used

for small castings or for larger

ones in which the section is comwork they aggravate the cause of

must be used.

for heavier

shrink-holes, and feeders

The use

section to

junction.

of the

" spinner," or " whirling gate " as

of dirty castings that are sent out, as it is

best

way

of

in

which

it

The

action of the spinner

is

number

undoubtedly the

securing the admission of clean,

will

is

not a universal practice in malleable

called, is

iron founding, and this probably accounts for the

into the mould..

it

sound metal

shown

in

fig. 5,

be seen that the metal enters the circular space

at a tangent, setting

up a whirling motion and by centripetal

force keeping all floating impurities in the centre, while in the

meantime the clean iron

is

rirming into the mould.

The

MOULDING

31

runner leading into the mould must not be cut as in

fig. 6,

or

the spinner will be inoperative, and the metal together with

the floating impurities will be carried directly into the mould.

An
of

alternative

what are

method

number

cutting a

running clean iron

of

called fin-gates

is to

make

use

These are formed by

(fig. 7).

channels leading from a

of wide, shallow

deeper one to the mould, the idea being to leave only sufficient
space to allow the clean metal to enter while the passage of

open

impurities

is

passage

so restricted, the metal

is

arrested.

It is

to the objection that, as the

is

prematurely chilled and

therefore likely to cause mis-run castings

it is

therefore only

-o
D D

J
Fig.

6.

Spinnerinoorrect.

Fig.

c:

7.Fin-

suitable for thin, flat castings where a spinning gate could not

be conveniently introduced, and can only be used with very

hot metal.

The many
for as

many

different classes of

different

of the castings varies

ton,

it is

another.

and that

methods

is,

is,

is

call

moulding, and as the weight

from one quarter

obvious that what

There

of

work done in malleable

of

an ounce

to half a

suitable for one will not do for

however, one thing

common to all methods,

the necessity for feeding to counteract the shrinkage

of the crystals.

Taking the

lightest castings first,

which include such

articles

as key blanks, hinges, light machine parts for typewriters,

MALLEABLE OAST IRON

S2

sewing machines,

etc.,

these are usually

made up

into a spray,

and are moulded on a plaster oddside by boys.

number

of

To do

metal patterns are made sufficient to

by 8-inch snap
comes between

flask.
it

Each pattern has

and the

gate,

fill

this a

a 10-inch

own feeder, which

which runs down the centre
its

the flask; rapping holes are drilled or cast in the gate,

of

and steady pins

of

smooth iron or brass wire are

fitted for

lift when drawing the spray

The complete spray may be either cast all

the purpose of giving an even

from the mould.

one piece or have the various parts soldered together accord-

in

ing to circumstances, and in any case

Fig.
all

over with the

taper

plaster oddside
floor sand,

with the top

A spray of patterns.

and emery

cloth,

mould

will

the spray

made by first filling one half

rammed down and strickled off

is

be

wooden box having

it to

form a parting

sides 2 inches deep

number

placed over the flask, and quickly

mixed with clean water

of a

level

bedded down in this with the bottom

in thickness, through which a

is

and given plenty of

is

upward and the sand dressed round

a rough

smooth

(fig. 8).

flask with

is

finished off

or draught so that no dressing of the

required

The

file

8.

it is

of

filled

when

1 inch

long nails are driven

with plaster-of-paris

to the consistency of thick

allowed to set for thirty minutes,

and

line

it

may

cream

this

be removed.

MOULDING
the long nails acting as

to prevent

lifters

the plaster from

and battens across the bottom take

falling out of the box,

off

33

The

the effect of ramming.

face of the oddside,

plaster cast of the top half of the spray,

trimmed with a sharp

which

it

rammed

To mould from

up.

this the oddside is placed

on a bench with

the spray in position, the bottom half of the snap flask

with pins fitting in sockets

it

facing sand

thrown in

is

one in each hand, using

end and a

flat

first

the surface

is

and

is

laid

sufficient

up with

dollies or

the moulder uses two of these,

the " peg " end, and finishing off

Flask and oddside are then

is lifted off,

leaving the spray in the

dusted over with parting sand, and the top

filled

with sand as before, the down gate

cut with a piece of thin tubing about 1 inch in diameter.

The operation
spray

is

mould

moulding

The method

skill is

little

of

is

taken out, the mould

removed.

is

then completed, and after the

is

on the

laid

floor

and the

flask

remarkably expeditious, and so

required that a boy of sixteen can complete a

in considerably less time than

it

takes to describe

it.

spray of larger castings, moulded in the same way,

shown

in

When
is

is

strickle.

turned over, and the latter

half fitted on

and

to cover the spray, filling

double-ended wooden rammers

with the

fitted to the box,

whole being rammed up by means of

floor sand, the

flask,

this

a smooth, hard surface and prevents the sand from

adhering when

on

and then varnished with three

knife,

coats of shellac varnish, mixed with plenty of red lead

gives

is

scraped clean and

is

is

fig. 9.

the

number of

castings required from a certain pattern

small and not sufficient to justify the expense of making up

a spray and plaster oddside they can be cheaply moulded

under the above conditions by working them loose on a sand

oddside in the following manner.
filled
C.I.

with floor sand and levelled

One

half of the flask

off as in

is

the previous case, a


MALLEABLE CAST lEON

34

strip of

wood or metal

down the

called a " ridge " is laid

centre to form the gate, and the patterns arranged on either

side in a suitable manner, allowing sufficient room between

the centre gate and the pattern to introduce a feeder

when

the patterns are properly bedded in the other half of the flask
is

placed in position and

been added a handful

of

filled in

powdered resin

very hard, and when removed

is

with floor sand to which has

it is

rammed up

this is

a replica of a plaster cast

it

placed on an iron coreplate, and, after removing the snap

put in the core-stove or other hot place until heated

flask, it is

through
the

this causes

resin

melt

to

and bind the mass

together on cooling

The mould-

again.

ing

is

but a

done by boys,

9.-Large spray.

Fig.

more

little

perience

^^^^^

ex-

is

required

^^j.

^^^^^

moulding, as will be understood from the following description

of the

method

The top

which the oddside

half of the flask, being the one in

was made,

is

clipped round

it

in its original position, the

patterns are laid in their places together with the centre gate,

the bottom half of the flask

applying parting sand,

as before and

rammed

is fitted

in

its

place and, after

up with facing and floor sand

The whole thing is now rolled

is filled

up.

over and the upper half containing the oddside

leaving the pattern in the bottom flask.

At

is

this point

necessary to add feeders to the mould, and this

means
are

lifted

is

ofi',

it is

done by

truncated cones of wood or metal, and which

of small

generally stocked in different sizes to suit the different

classes of

work

one of these " knobs "

is laid

between each

MOULDING

35

pattern and the ridge, the top half of the flask

rammed

up, and the

again

is

it

down

is

then put on,

gate cut, and on being taken off

necessary, after taking out the patterns, to cut the

gates leading from the ridge;

this should be

flask

done on the top

which the feeder

in

is

third

way

who

and by

moulded

"tub "boxes are 2 ft. x

all

method

in each box

are experienced

and are

this

and

at the

of dirt.

with small castings

of dealing

" tub " moulding,

castings are

moulding boxes.

so as to allow free flow of the metal

same time prevent the ingress

lO-Tub

^"'-

situated, the gates being wide

and shallow

<

as

many

the work

is

is

known

as

as 100 to 150

done by

men

The
shown in fig. 10,
rammed up with a

in this particular class of work.

1ft.

interchangeable.

2 in., of the shape

top side

is

mixture of sand and resin, forming an oddside from which

Fig. 11. Gating for tub mould.

Fig. 12.

all

Eeady for pouring.

the moulds are then made, as in the last instance, with the

exception that

there

are no knobs introduced for feeders,

instead of which there are three ridges leading from one end
of

the box and connected together at the end by a cross strip

these are
in the top

all laid

from which shallow gates are

to each of the castings.

closing,

in position on the oddside to form channels

and when

this is

led

Fig. 11 shows a tub

from either side

mould ready

for

done the boxes are clamped between

D 2


MALLEABLE CAST IRON

36

flat

hardwood boards, secured by wooden screws and stood on

end ready

for

pouring

12).

(fig.

It will

be seen that in this

case the centre channel, in which the metal

the side channels,

all act

as feeders,

poured, and also

is

and an expert tub moulder

The

can turn out a huge quantity of castings in a day.

castings requiring the greatest pressure of feed are placed at

the lower end of the box, and vice versa.

Castings which are too heavy to mould by any of the fore-

going methods, that

is to

weighing from

say, those

1 lb. up-

made on plates, moulding machines, or in the

orthodox manner on bench or floor, according to suitability of
pattern and number of castings required, and these will be
wards,

are

by examples showing the particular method

better illustrated
of gating

and feeding required

Plate moulding

is

for malleable castings.

carried out in several ways, according to

whether the castings required are a standard pattern in continual use or only

used for

lifts

moulding machine
are of

wood

odd

is

or hundreds.

fifties

exceeding 1^

inch, as

in every

for small quantities

way more

(1)

Prom

a simple

suitable.

The

plates

The moulding

is

done:

a single plate on which the bottom flask

is

rammed

up, the top being

rammed up on

a plain board.

only suitable for castings having one side

From a single plate on which the

rammed up separately but closed

(2)

are

are seldom

this

and odd work, with the patterns

on with ordinary wood screws.

fixed

They

beyond

These are

flat.

top

and bottom

reversibly.

suitable for patterns having one flat side, or

which

flasks

This
is

is

made

in halves, each half being exactly similar in outline.

(3)

From two

separate plates, on which the corresponding

halves of a split pattern, not necessarily alike, are fitted so as

to register
(4)

each

when

From one
side.

the flasks, one

ofi^

each plate, are closed.

plate having corresponding half patterns

on

MOULDING
As the preparation

37

of these plates belongs to the pattern

shop, and will be described in another chapter,

only

is

it

necessary here to describe the manipulation of them in the

In each case very

foundry.

little

and as

required,

skill is

the necessary runners and feeders are fixed on the plate, the

work can be done by youths, and with very

little

training

they are capable of a large output.

Taking the single plate

the top flask

first,

is fitted

with the pins passing through lugs on the plate

is

then

rammed

on

to this

the box

and vented with

up, levelled off with a strickle

a fine wire, and the gate cut with a piece of tube as before

and plate are then

rolled over,

in all directions

and

on a plain

board,

flat

and the plate

The bottom

lifted off.

position on the floor

rammed up and
the top

is

then

is

flask

lightly ra23ped

flask is then laid

strickled

fitted

and

laid in

on and the

flasks

removed.
In the second case both flasks are

rammed up from

but in closing the mould the top

plate,

is

the same

reversed so that

similar impressions are at the opposite ends of each box.

each of these cases only one worker

third the moulders

work

in pairs, one

is

In

required, but in the

moulding the top and

the other one the bottom.

In

all

mould

cases the vent wire should be freely used and the

laid

When

on a thin bed

the

number

of loose sand.

of castings required justifies the prepara-

tion of a special cast plate having the corresponding halves

of the patterns

and bottom

on opposite

flasks,

which must be

sides, this is fitted

between the top

being brought into register by the pins,

parallel, passing

through holes in the plate

exactly in line with those in the top flask.

When using moulding machines for malleable castings it

should be noticed that those of the " presser " type give very
unsatisfactory results, and independent power

rammers are

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

38

very

little better, "while

made patterns-,

with properly
of

with a well designed machine, fitted up

the use of vibrators or any

The operation

rapping should be wholly unnecessary.

moulding

of

is carried out exactly as for plates.

only a few castings are required they are worked

When

small, several of

If

loose.

means

around a central

feeder, as

them

shown

moulded

are

in

fig.

in

one box

13, and the moulders

should always have a stock of feeder and spinner patterns

(fig.

at

14)

Fig. 13.

Central feeder.

suitable for the class of

As a

rule

it

averaging IJ
cone,

mould

Fia. 14.

Spinner and feeder patterns,

work they happen

to be

engaged upon.

be found that the most convenient way of

will

adjusting these

can select those most

from which they

hand

is

lbs.

that

shown

in

fig.

each the feeder

is

13,

and

for castings

simply a

truncated

which does not communicate with the surface of the

;

but for heavier castings the feeder shown in

fig.

15

better.
is
As will be seen, this is a conical block of
wood the length of which is equal to the depth from the top
of the pattern to the top

mould

is

dressed

off

edge

of the box, so that

when

the

with a straight-edge the feeder can be

withdrawn before opening the box again

to

draw patterns and

MOULDING
The sand

finish the mould.

39

bottom box immediately

in the

under the feeder should be spooned out to a depth

or so, so that the

which

will

first

wash

of

of

J inch

metal entering the feeder,

be chilled by contact with the sand, remains below

the level of the runners, and a flow of hot metal through the

runners

is

the feeder

much

secured

when

it is

of the castings

also helps to maintain the fluidity of

the mould

is full,

and

the only

way

in which perfect homogeneity

can be secured, and, in combination with the

use of the spinner,

was

it

until recently a jealously guarded

secret of success in malleable founding.

to the

migrations

intense

of peripatetic

now an open

secret is

so prolong the action as

This important point should be aimed at in

as possible.

every case, as

it

conservatism

Owing

moulders, the

one, but owing to the

of

founders generally,

together with a strong disinclination to melt

the

necessary amount of metal, the proper

use of these two adjuncts

comparatively few firms.

is still

These

restricted to jj^,
^5 _j'ee3er
are,

however,

for large castings,

the most progressive, and the quality of their work

is sufficient

testimony to the advantage gained.

So far the

class of

work described does not

high order of intelligence

on the part

call for a

very

moulder, but

of the

when we come to castings large enough to be moulded singly,

and which sometimes contain abrupt and extreme changes of
section, then considerable skill and judgment are required to
overcome
work.

To

difficulties

which are almost negligible in smaller

be able to locate the exact spot at which feeders

should be placed to be most

effective,

and

"also the

most

suitable point at which the gate and runners are to be cut,

an accomplishment only acquired by years

of experience in

the production of eastings of every description

form

of casting requires different

treatment

is

it is

and as each

only possible

MALLEABLE OAST lEON

40

within the limits of this work to give examples of typical

castings, and as these are taken from actual practice they will
serve to illustrate the principles laid

down and

same

at the

time suggest the lines upon which any other form of mould

may

be constructed.
general rule to be observed

highest point

is to

gate low and feed at the

but this only applies to plain work in which no

conflicting

stresses

contraction

is

caused by unequal section and the

are

This can be better

not restrained in any way.

explained by describing the method of moulding a 6-inch cube,

and although

may

this

appear

v///////////////////^//.

to be as simple a casting as
is

make

possible to

and

sibly is in grey iron

it

it

pos-

it

will

be

found by experiment that any

attempt

m
i

produce

to

sound

homogeneous cube by methods

other than

will result in a

^/>>>/>/>>/>//; y///>//>3>>///;i'-'/j^

Fig. 16.

Gating for cube.

"matter out

of

in

one

the

the centre,

described

huge shrink-hole
as

well

as

an

accumulation of slag and other

place" in the upper surface.

Ten-inch boxes will be found most suitable for the purpose,

and

as these are usually 3 inches deep, four of

required.

would be
is laid
is

better, but this is not essential.

The

on a board together with a spinner, as in

rammed

up, strickled

turned over, dusted

will

be

off,

which

is laid

is

fig.

box part
16.

This

and vented thoroughly, and then

receive

the middle part

and the

in the centre of the box together with a

knob over the spinner.

sand, this part

first

over with parting sand, and placed in

position on the floor to

pattern,

them

three-part box, with a middle part 6 inches deep,

Eamming up and

using strong facing

finished off level with the top of the pattern.

MOULDING

41

parting sand applied, and the top part fitted on and

The down-gate is cut in one corner with a

down to the bottom part. The mould
finishing,

is

now ready

and on removing the top part an impression

pattern will be seen, in the centre of which a hole

through

rammed

up.

thin tube, passing

is

for

of the

cut right

the feeder, tapering outwards from 2 inches

for

diameter to 4 inches diameter towards the top of the mould

this is laid

on one

side

and the

pattern drawn from the middle

part,

which

also

is

turned over

lifted

take

to

out

off,

the

spinning knob, and put aside.

The spinner pattern

drawn

is

from the bottom part and the

runners completed by cutting to
connect with the down-gate in

one

direction

bottom

of the

and

the

with

mould as shown

by the impression

of the pattern.

The box parts are re-assembled,

and additional height added
the feeder by
lined

means

sand

with

of a ring

placed

The mould

the centre.

to

is

Fig.

over

n.

Cube mould complete.

then ready for pouring

(fig.

Just previous to this a " spot " of metal should be

down
fill

the gate and

the mould the

and flows

off

left to cool,

so that

when

17).

poured

the time comes to

downward stream impinges on the "spot"

without dislodging any sand that might possibly

be carried past the "spinner " and cause a dirty patch in the
surface of the casting.

as the iron

is

The pouring

is

done slowly as soon

" quiet," the down-gate being kept full until the

metal reaches the top of the box

the gate

is

then stopped up

with a handful of floor sand pressed down with the

foot,

and

MALLEABLE OAST IRON

42
sufficient

"hot" metal poured

weight

metal necessary to feed the casting properly will be

of

into the ring to

fill

The

it.

about three-fourths that of the finished casting.

The feeder

not broken

is

off until cold, as it is

start a crack in a casting of this description.

knocked

off

If

not likely to
the feeder

is

too soon after pouring there is always danger of

bleeding taking place owing to the centre being kept in a

semi-fluid state

by the heat

mass

of the

this

would nullify

the purpose of feeding, which should be maintained until the

casting has " set " right through, and the result would be an

ugly spongy hole in the top of the casting

Broken
if

throughout but
off at

knocked
is still

some unexpected

removed

18).

EiG. 19.

EiG. 18.

other hand,

(fig.

off

Fig. 20.

when

the metal has

congealed

red-hot, the feeder will probably break

spot, leaving 4 or 5 lbs. of

in the dressing

(fig.

metal to be

In cutting the hole for

19).
is

always chamfered

as to form a neck at which the feeder will break off

if

break

this precaution is neglected

off

as

shown

in

the

feeders.

feeder the sand nearest the easting

and

On

fig.

it

will

off so

when

cold,

almost invariably

20.

Before proceeding further on the subject of moulding

will

it

be as well to draw attention to the fact that a blunt wire

The passage formed by a

up when the mould is sleeked, and

should always be used for venting.

pointed wire

is

firmly sealed

the gases can only escape by percolating slowly through the

MOULDING
sand

43

By using

this is sure to cause blowholes.

only a very thin wall of sand

mould and the passage, and, even

if

this is not

a plain ring of the description

appears equally simple, but there

of the

broken down by

the pressure, the resistance to the escape of gases

To mould

a blunt wire,

between the interior

lies

is

very

shown

in

slight.

only one way in which

is

can be successfully accomplished, and the method

Fig. 21.
It

Moulding a ring

must be borne

there

is

in

Incorrect.

that in circular castings of this class

during the cooling of the metal a point at which the

is

part of the mould which

by that

resisted to a certain extent

is inside,

to the outer edge of the ring,

if

will

to be well vented.

Fig. 22.

correct.

mind

contraction of the ring

and

mould

it

of gating

and feeding again decides whether the resultant casting

be sound or scrap, assuming the

21

fig.

and the

where

it

pull is transferred

acts eircumferentially,

anywhere on the outer edge there

is

a soft or

weak spot

the crystals at that jDoint will be torn apart, forming a pull or

sear

(fig.

22).

It is evident, then, that the outer

ence should be of an even temperature

runner

is

situated at

any point on

all

circumfer-

round, and

this circumference

if
it

the
will,

being slightly hotter than the rest of the casting, form the

weak spot

at

which the sear

will occur.

To prevent

this the

MALLEABLE CAST lEON

44

metal

is

always run from the inside, as shown, where the

and there

results of contraction are reversed

anything

of

kind

the

runners, each with

filled

its

and

happening,

own

no danger

is

use

the

two

of

mould

spinner, enables the

of

to be

quickly without the possibility of "cold laps " or mis-

run edges that might otherwise be formed, owing to the metal

having to flow from a single gate
circumference of which

is

round the

all

equal to

same reason two

for the

of

mean diameter

of

feeders are employed, each

which

is sufficient to

half of the casting,

surface of which

an area equal
of

mean

a straight casting, the

length of which would be three times the

the ring

ring, the

metal

object

at the

it

should have

to

the section

the

in

The

ring.

placing

in

feed one

and

the

nearer the inside edge

feeders
is

also

weakening the outer

to prevent

edge during contraction.

In the case of a lighter form

Fig. 23.-Gating a light ring.

of j-ing of

the

Same diameter,

having thin edges or surrounded by teeth as in a sprocket,

it

becomes a question

of filling

the

mould

as quickly as

possible with hot metal in order to prevent the thin edge or

the points of the teeth from being mis-run, and

necessary to employ a

mould

enters the

uniting and

Two

filling

number

of

it

then becomes

runners by which the iron

at several places at once (fig.

'23),

quickly

the mould without appreciable loss of heat.

feeders, as in the previous instance, will be suitable for

this casting.

weaker facing sand

small proportion of coal dust

running.

If

the casting

is of

will also

i.e.,

one containing a

help to prevent mis-

a particularly light section

it

will

be necessary to run the metal through two gates simultaneously.

MOULDING
To mould
skill

45

a pipe or pipe connection calls for an

which marks the expert.

amount

of

Pipes of this material, though

^ /,<i^''y.{(.''/^/. ''///.

^/^'!^//y/ {'!'!/. '.{////'

:a^
0///y//>y//>/>y//////>//>y//7)/>///>///////////A
Pig. 24.

seldom more than 4

feet

Pipe mould

gates.

6 inches in length,

be as

much

and when required

as 18 inches, or even more, in diameter,

stand a working pressure of perhaps 150

tested to 300 lbs.

may

lbs.

to

per square inch,

by hydrostatic pressure, with a thickness of

I inch or at most | inch, it will be understood that considerable

care is necessary to ensure a sound casting absolutely free

from porosity or cold shuts, and most moulders

them " fuzzy" along the upper surface this is due
;

or a combination of two causes

may
be

the

will

get

to either

mould, or core, or both,

be improperly dried and warmed, or the metal

allowed to cool too far before pouring,

and

in

may

any ease

proper gating and disposition of feeders cannot in any way be

expected to rectify matters.

In moulding a pipe 3 feet 6 inches

long and 10 inches in diameter,

which may be taken as an

average
at each

sides

size, it

should be gated

end and on opposite

of

shown in
by means

the parting line

fig.

of

24, although

Fig.

as
it

is

25.-Twm

gates.

possible to get good results

two gates on one side

(fig.

25).

Four

feeders are

used, one on the top of each flange to ensure soundness at the

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

46

neck, and the other two on the body of the pipe as

in

26, to feed that part,

fig.

dirt or

scum

floating

and

also to act as risers for

on the surface

crush core must be used,

shown
any

of the iron.

made up

sand mixed with

of red

a liberal quantity of sawdust; the cinders, etc., in the centre

forming a " heart " not less than 5 inches in diameter, and
the whole well stiffened with iron rods about f inch square.
It is made at least three days before required, thoroughly
dried,

and painted over with two coats only

Pia. 26.

Pipe mould

and water, applied with a

plumbago

feeders.

brush

soft

of

it

is

placed in position

immediately before pouring, and must be quite hot at the time.

The mould

is laid

on a cinder-bed, with a short length of

2-inch pipe leading from

gases rapidly

when

it

atmosphere

to

the bottom half

is

placed on the cinder bed,

to carry

rammed up

is

made along the

from the

side of the box

the

hard and,

well vented with a blmit

vent wire pushed right down into the cinders

are also

fairly

off

oblique vents

surface of the parting about 2 inches

;

they are connected by a longitudinal

channel from which other short channels are cut at right

angles leading to the edge

rammed up harder
out,

but must be

of

the box.

so that there will be

The top

no danger

of

half

is

knocking

well ventilated between the feeders

the

'

MOULDINO
entire
over,

mould

is

47

dusted over with plumbago, lightly sleeked

and thoroughly surface dried with hot

plates, so that

when closed immediately before pouring it feels quite hot

when touched with the knuckles.
The metal for pouring should be taken at the middle of the
heat and have a preponderance of

mixture

pour as quickly as the gating

feeders

mottled or grey in the

is level

with the top

will allow until the iron in the

As a casting

fill

of this description does not require muffling,

mould

in the

then add more weights,

up with more " hot feed."

of the box,

put on rims 6 inches deep and

is left

soft

the condition at the time of pouring should be "hot"

y^

twelve hours, the feeders being

knocked

from four

off

hours after pouring.

conditions

foregoing
filled

and the metal

chances are

good casting;

and mould

is

to five
If

the

are

ful-

/
/
,

if,

^
-L-^^j
Q
/-

,..._^

clean the
j,^^

\
l

l .^

,..,,

27.-Bends: gates and

however, metal

are cool

^""^^
___

'

in favour of a

all

it

for at least

feeders.

and venting

inefficiently done, then,

when

the rising metal flows over from each side across the top of
the core,

it

will set

almost immediately, and

all

impurities will

be trapped there, while cold shuts are almost certain to occur.

The method of gating and feeding a bend

is shown in fig. 27.

of the

same diameter

In contrast with the pipe previously described,

fig.

28 shows

a heavy air-pump lever which can be moulded in the same box.

Here we have a

section

which

is

solid throughout, the cores in

the bosses being too small in proportion to the bulk of casting

to

have any appreciable

effect,

and as there are no flanges or

other projections to grip the mould

that the high
description

is

it is

only necessary to see

shrinkage incidental to solid castings of this

counteracted

by properly placed feeders

of

MALLEABLE OAST lEON

48

The

ample dimensions.

difference

bosses and the stalk of the lever

it is

bulk

in

between

comparatively

is

slight,

the

but

nevertheless sufficient to cause shrinkage of the crystals

junction

at the

in

the relatively short space of time that

elapses between the final setting of each, and as there are

three of these bosses,

it

will

be necessary to place a feeder over

each of them, so that as shrinkage takes place the metal in

make up

these sinks by gravitation to

to secure
call for

the

amount necessary

The preparation of the mould does not

homogeneity.

such elaborate care as

is

necessary for a pipe, and the

facing sand contains a greater proportion of coal dust, the

Fig. 28.

Moulding a pump lever.

surface being further protected by a good sleeking of

The venting must be ample

bago.
limits,

it

in fact, within reasonable

cannot be overdone for malleable castings of this

description.

The

poured from both ends of the mould as

iron,

shown, should be in that state

as there is very

little

of fluidity

known as "medium,"

risk of chilling or cold shuts

are no thin sections to run up, while the shrinkage

minimum..

to a

It will

as soon as possible after the

Probably one

fig.

is

29

of the

and there
is

reduced

be necessary to pour steadily to avoid

scabbing, and the feeders are

iron

plum-

filled

mould

up with " very hot" metal

is full.

heaviest castings

made

in malleable

a jawstock for stone-breaking machinery, of which

is

an example.

This weighs about 12 cwts. and requires

MOULDING
for

including feeders, nearly 15 cwts. of

casting purposes,

The mould

metal.

that greater care

is

is

49

pump

prepared as for the

necessary to

make up a

rod, except

though well

solid,

vented, bottom part on account of the heavy pressure of metal,

and

also to use plenty of weights

on the top when pouring, as

the lifting power of a body of metal of this size

As

siderable.

will

be seen in the illustration,

is
it

very con-

is

gated at

one end only, the runners being led through two separate

T?IQ. 29.

spinners

and

three feeders are used, being placed as shown, and

should contain not less than 1 cwt. of iron,

of these

each

mass

as a

set, it is

there

Moulding a jawstock.

of

metal

of this description takes

necessary to cut the feeders

may

full at

some time

to

the neck so that

be no risk of setting at this point until sufficient

make-up has been supplied to the interior of the easting;

for the same reason, the feeder rims should be put on and
quickly

filled

with very hot metal immediately pouring ceases

and the mould is full.

The iron for the casting
contrary,

tapped
CI,

it is

it is

itself

should not be too hot

better on the " dull " side,

and

if

on the

too hot

when

advisable to throw some parting sand over the

MALLEABLE OAST IRON

50

surface of the metal in the ladle while waiting until the proper

consistency

reached

is

this

forms a " skin " on the surface,

which prevents oxidisation and also holds together

all

loose

pieces of slag and dirt that are left in the ladle after skimming
and prevents them from being carried into the mould when

pouring,

metal

the

coming up clean from

beneath the skin,

which

left

is

in the

ladle.

No attempt must be
made

to

feeders

knock
for

off

at

the

least

eight hours after the

"bleeding"

or

cast,

occur

will

the centre

owing
still

to

being

in a semi-fluid state

when

this

may

be

happens

it

stopped by

applying a cold metal

surface,
Fig. 30.

such as the

face of a fiat

Moulding a wheel.

to

rammer,

the spot immedi-

ately; this chills the metal sufficiently to stop the "bleeding,"

but there

is

part owing

stopped.

almost sure to be an ugly " shrink-hole

to

The

"'

at this

the action of the feeder being prematurely

casting had better be

three or four days, but

may

be

left

lifted or

in the

mould

for

loosened in twenty-

four hours, to accelerate the rate of cooling.

Fig. 30 shows the best

the type of which

is

is

method

a familiar one

in itself a simple one,

of
;

moulding a large wheel,

the operation of moulding

and subsequent

difficulties

due to

MOULDING

51

Structural strains will be considerably minimised

mixture

12 per cent.
the rim

diameter

is

scrap, say

be seen that there are four feeders on

It will

this

by using a

more annealed

iron containing rather

of

assuming the wheel

down

for smaller wheels

to be 3 feet or

more

in

diameter three

to 2 feet

feeders will suffice, placed between alternate pairs of arms.

Wheels between

and 2

feet in

diameter should have only

two feeders, placed between opposite pairs

sizes

below 1 foot diameter, one feeder will

The metal

and as soon as

must be put

it

all

suffice.

pouring should be "

at the time of

feeders to be

arms, and for

of

medium

hot,''

has become sufficiently set to allow the

knocked

off

without "bleeding" the casting

into a well-heated muffle without delay.

Although, owing to

simplicity of

its

high percentage of wasters in this class

of

an elevator

design,

bucket seems an easy casting to make, there

is

usually a very

work on account

of

the lightness of the section and the large superficial area of

the

mould

the thickness of the metal

is

seldom more than

5^ inch, and frequently only ^ inch, so that cold shuts and

mis-run castings are numerous unless the mould can be
very quickly, and

filled

considerable

mould

amount

on account

of

the

if

dirt

of the

runners

will

find

are

large

too

waj'

its

light section a spinning

the

into

gate

is

impracticable, while a horizontal fin-gate sufficiently shallow

to

check the dirt would not

method adopted with much

fig.

is

31

the iron

is,

the mould quickly enough.

success

poured down the

done quickly with very hot,

to receive
It

is

fill

clean,

is

riser

that
as

shown

shown

in

this

well-skimmed metal,

which the mould must be thoroughly well vented.

in fact, a vertical fin-gate which also acts as a feeder,

and which by gravitation causes the metal

mould and fill it rapidly, the impurities

to

rush into the

floating

surface of the metal in the feeder.

K 2

at

the

MALLEABLE CAST

52

In

all

IRON"

castings of comparatively light section in which there

are sharp corners or angles, as in

fig.

32, there is

always a

danger of the crystals being torn apart on cooling, owing

the resistance of

the intervening sand, and

moulder cuts away

corners as shown

which

is

sufficient
;

sand to form a "

fin " across the

the rupture will then occur in the

ground or cut out

to

in this case the

fin,

of the finished casting.

Strictly speaking all malleable castings should be muffled

in the

same way as

viz., to relieve

steel castings,

Fio. 31.

practice

Mould for elevator buckets.

work which experience shows

taneously

if

same reason,

for the

only found to be necessary in certain classes of

is

it

and

the tension due to cooling strains, but in general

cooled

mentioned wheels

down

will be likely to fracture

quickly,

every description

of

spon-

and amongst these may be

thin

especially circular discs, including pistons

and

flat

plates,

intricate or

complicated castings in which the section of metal varies

considerably.
that

it

is

The tension in some

by no means unusual

of these is so excessive

for a casting to fracture in

several places even two or three days after being taken out of

the muffle.

This

is

due

to

being removed too soon, before the

molecules of iron have had sufficient time to adjust themselves.

On

the otlier hand, castings having unequal sections

will fracture in transit

from the mould

to the muffle

if

exposed to

MOULDING

53

cold winds or draughts in the interval, so that the muffle door

should always be inside the moulding shop, and should be so

conveniently placed that castings from any part of the floor

can be transferred to

As

it

in the shortest possible space of time.

in all furnaces of

description, the design is to a

this

great extent a matter of personal opinion, as well as being

governed by such causes as locality and position of

capacity,

and

work

class of

described here will be found

adapted for the general run

but where there

of malleable castings,
of

Avell

work ranging from very heavy

divide the

work into two

heavy work

as the

muffling

for

is

a continuous output

to very light

it

is

and provide a muffle

classes

flue,

The mufile

which required.

for

better to
for each,

will require

considerably

longer period than the light

work, and owing to the heavy

scaling

which takes place when

j

the process
lighter

duced

to

is

prolonged, the

castings

may

Fig. 32. -Moulder's

be re-

worthlessness

if

fin.

treated with the heavier class.

It is, of course, possible to

obviate this to a certain extent by

placing the light work as far away from the fire as possible
that

is to sny, close to

the door

but when this

is

done there

is

the additional risk of fracture owing to the rush of cold air

which enters

at this

end each time the door

Prolonged muffling, even

is

opened.

for light castings, is

an advantage

rather than otherwise, but to accomplish this without the

inevitable scaling would require a special incandescent oven

which could be sealed up so as

tight,

and

to render

this is impracticable for the

As before

it

practically gas-

purpose referred

to.

stated, the duration of the muffling varies with

the size of the casting and the nature of the strains.

The

temperature of the muffle whsn the castings are put into

it

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

54

should not be less than

1,500 F., and

further firing will be necessary and the

work no

light

for

damper may be

shut,

the castings being

left

down with

the

to cool

they

which

from

muffle,

may

be removed

in about ten or twelve

heavy

For

hours.

eastings the fire

must

made up imme-

be

diately they are

all

in

the muffle, and again

in about

two hours,

and shortly afterwards

damper may be

the

shut and the temperature

allowed

to

fall

gradually and the

castings

allowed

to

remain in the muffle

as

long as

which
means
fore

possible,

generally
until just be-

the

muffle

is

again required.

In

all cases,

heavy

or light, the castings

must be screened
Fig.

33. Muffle.

from cold winds from

the time of their removal from the muffle until they are cold,
or the local strains caused

bably cause them to

of muffle

fly.

by unequal temperature

will pro-

Fig. 33 shows details of a useful form

which was specially designed

to facilitate the placing

Malleable Pig

Iron.

Soft

Mottled.

Approximate Analysis.
Graphitic carbon, 2-30 per cent. combined carbon, 1-24 per cent.
silicon, -98 per cent.
sulplmr, -143 per cent. pbospborus,
06 per cent. ; manganese, "40 per cent.
;

"MALLEABLE CAST lEON

56

and removal
attended

of large castings

the smaller ones are easily

but to manipulate half a ton of red-hot metal, such

to,

as a piston for instance,

venience in order that

a matter which calls for every con-

is

may

it

be expeditiously done; for this

reason the bottom of the furnace

as to present no obstruction and to do

for lifting

and

plates were tried at

but

first,

not conducive to easy working

burning away at the

fire

it

the heat

may

one side

floor

that

end was also excessive in comparison

higher than

require

may

is

very useful

is

when some

muffling for more than the usual

be laid along one side so as to leave room

In order to retain the

as possible, the door should not be raised

necessary to admit the casting, and

the joint round the edge of the door

advantage be luted with wet sand.

carefully regulated by
will act as

an

hottest parts.

fire line

flues are provided so that

consignment on the other.

much

all in,

Two

This arrangement

castings

for a fresh

was

the cost of renewal owing to

necessary by closing one damper and leaving

period, as they

heat as

Long

was found that they buckled

be distributed throughout the furnace or drawn

if

the other open.

the

of a

covered with cast

the slabs which replaced them, only those at the

requiring periodical renewal.

are

is

1 foot 6 inches square.

made an uneven

badly under the heat and

of

away with the necessity

The bottom

raised floor.

iron plates 2 inches thick

to

line, so

heavy work, as would be required in the case

mufHe with a

(vith

with the floor

is level

means

air furnace,

any

when they

may

with

The temperature must be

of the

dampers, or the muffle

and melting

will

commence

at the

COKEMAKING
Theee

main

are two

principles to be kept in view in the

preparation of cores for malleable castings

vented, and must be

made up

they must be well

so as to offer the least possible

resistance to compression, so that the casting

tract in cooling without

crystals of

which

it is

is free to

The general use

composed.

waxwire

of

has considerably simplified matters with regard to the

named, and

is

now

con-

undue strain being thrown upon the

first

regarded by malleable ironfounders as

indispensable for small cores, while for larger ones an open

centre of cinders or straw-rope, together with a liberal addition
of

sawdust and chopped hay

to the

sand used for the body of

the core, provides ample escape for the gases, and at the same

time

will yield to the pressure of the contracting metal.

it

All large cores should contain not less

resin to ensure binding

enough

large

than one part sawdust

red sand in bulk, with just sufficient powdered

to five parts of

about

1 in 30.

Cores that are not

for a cinder or straw centre are

larger proportion of sawdust, and as they are

sufficiently to

hold together when damp, a

must be added

so that they can be safely

made up with a
only rammed up
little

more

resin

handled after they

are dried.

The drying must be done thoroughly, as nothing

is

more

conducive to blowholes than an improperly dried core.

reason for this is obvious
core

is

formed

to

when

is

is

The
remembered that the

meet conditions exactly opposite

required in making the mould

metal

it

to those

in the latter case the

molten

surrounded by sand and the opportunities for the

escape of steam and gases are numerous, but with a core the

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

58

state of affairs is reversed,

and we have a body

sand sur-

of

rounded by metal in which any bubbles formed by steam or

gas are immediately imprisoned.

Steam bubbles

of course,

are,

caused by moisture in the

which have their origin in the rapid

core, but there are others

generation of gases evolved from substances used as binders

mixed with the sand, and pastes

halves,

some

for jointing cores

of the special preparations sold for these

being particularly offensive in this respect, no matter

vented a core

The more

may

in

how

well

be.

loosely a core

made up the better it will serve

not rammed at all, the sand being

is

purpose (small cores are

its

made

purposes

merely pressed into a corebox with the baud), and consequently wires and rods dipped into a wash of fireclay are
freely used to stiffen

imder the pressure

ujD

number
ing

is

of light rods

them and prevent them from breaking

of the fluid iron.

than a few stronger ones, as the

then better distributed, and there

use a

It is better to

is

not so

much

stiffen-

risk of

a portion of the core breaking away under the wash of the

metal.

This

is

the principle of reinforced concrete applied to

the foundry practice.

The use

of chaplets or stops for supporting cores, or pre-

venting the tendency to

float,

is

sparingly adopted, as the

iron never fuses properly with that part of the chaplet which
is

embedded

in

it,

even

if

it

is

tinned for the purpose, while

the reaction caused by contact produces blowholes, and

any other means the core can be held

done

in preference.

If

make them

is

better to

3^2

iiich thick or

in its place

the use of supports

21 gauge

and placed as shown in

it

by

should be

unavoidable

thin sheet iron, not

of
;

is

if

it

more than

these are bent into channel shape

fig.

34.

They are

easily fused into

the metal of the casting, and are strong enough to serve their

purpose until no longer required.

Intricate cores,

and others

CORE MAKING

59

that are diiBcult to clean out of the castings, are coated with a

wash

of

plumbago and water applied with a

camel hair; this does not

affect

soft

brush such as

the venting, and will prevent

the sand from adhering to the iron.

It is often

necessary to cast special grids or frames to carry

cores of a peculiar shape, and which cannot

except by breaking
this is

them up

inside the casting,

be

extracted

and provided

done before the castings are annealed, they may be cast

of white iron, but

after annealing

if

to

it

iron, or

they

and

will

advisable to leave the core in until

prevent the

collapsing the frames

easting,

is

must be

of

casting from

common

or

become annealed with the

this will render

them

not impossible, to remove entirely.

foregoing remarks

crushing

grey

it will

ness in cored castings

difficult, if

From

the

-p^^ 3^

Chaplet.

be understood that to ensure sound-

it is

absolutely essential that nothing

should enter into the composition

of the core

but red sand,

and powdered

resin, with

cinders

or straw rope in the centre of large ones.

The ends

of large

sawdust or chopped hay,

cores that rest in the prints are packed in cinders or coke

breeze so that the gases

the core.

Loam

able castings,

the purpose.

may have

free escape after leaving

cores are too close and unsuitable for malle-

and are consequently seldom,

if

ever, used for

ANNEALING
The problem

of designing

an annealing oven

economical in consumption of fuel and

to

be at once

efficient in

results is

one upon which more attention has been bestowed, more

money spent than on any other

As a consequence

ingenuity exercised, and more

item in the entire process of manufacture.

some foundries have always

several ovens of different types at

work, and these are being continually altered in an attempt to

The

attain greater efficiency.

size of the firegrate

position of the flue have been varied

manner

gas and

oil firing

and the introduction

added to the cost

of

of

in every conceivable

have been tried and found wanting,

steam or

air into the ashpit

of

oven

No doubt some more

will eventually

be designed, but for

the purposes of this book reference will only be

in general use

has only

production without giving any improvement

in the quality of the finished castings.

economical type

and the

which have up

superior to those of

to the present

made

to those

proved equal or

more elaborate construction, which have

not up to the present time justified the extra cost of building

and maintenance.
It is essential that the
(1)

oven should be

Strongly built to withstand the alternate expansion and

contraction due to a variation of nearly 1,700 F.

(2)

That in order

to attain ;.n

coal the area of the firegrate

economical consumption of

must be

carefully considered in

relation to the cubic capacity of the oven,

and the

ratio kept

as low as possible.
(3)

fairly

That the

flues

must be

even temperature in

all

so situated as to maintain a

parts of the oven, while the full

ANNEALING

61

area will only permit the escape of gases after thorough combustion.

That when sealed up and

(4)

at

work there should be no

possibility of heat escaping otherwise

than by the

flue; in

other words, the structure must be practically gas-tight.

That

(5)

must be capable

it

of the adjoining ovens,

way

and

of

being operated independently

being repaired without in any

of

interfering with the working of them.

The foundations must be

(6)

enough

substantial

to

prevent

subsidence and consequent cracking of the walls.

Whether they

are built separately, in pairs, or in a con-

tinuous stack of three or

work

to be dealt with,

more ovens depends on the

and

on the output.

also

the production of castings

class of

In cases where

only for special purposes, the

is

demand being limited and intermittent, a small single oven

shown in fig. 35 will be the most suitable. In this may be
placed four tigrs of five pans each, which

An

square.

oven

of this description

may

be round or

measuring 5

feet 6 inches

each way inside will hold about 30 cwts. of castings, more or

less,

according to class of work.

The
to

capacity of this oven

have a

so small that

it is

not necessary

firegrate at each end, as is usual in the larger ones

instead of this, two are

situated at the other.

shown

This

same stoke-hole

as the

is

is

is

at

one end, the flue

being

a most convenient arrangement,

common

to

both grates.

The

entire structure rests upon ample foundations about 2 feet

thick,

The

more

walls

quality,"

or less, according to the nature of the ground.

are of

i.e.,

firebrick,

the most refractory obtainable.

a spring of 9 inches, and

courses, as this
fireline.
left

the inside course being " best

is

is

The arch has

also of "best'' brick in

two

the hottest part of the oven away from the

In the centre of the arch a hole 6 inches square

this is covered with a firebrick slab

when

the oven

is

is at

62

MALLEABLE CAST lEON

Fig. 35.

Annealing oven 30 cwts.

ANNEALING
work, which

removed

is

63

to allow the hot air to escape

when

cooling down, and also to ventilate the oven while the packing

or repairing

Instead of a slab, some designers

going on.

is

prefer a tapered plug fitting into a corresponding hole in the

arch, but although

adds to the expense, this method has no

it

advantages to recommend

The oven

is

sealed

it.

up by building up a wall in the doorway

with old firebricks, the mortar used for the purpose being

made from foundry

tion of fireclay

when completed

floor sand,

this wall is generally

the entire surface of

Two

similar mortar.

mixed with a very small propor-

it

is

plastered over with

observation holes are

one about 6 inches from the

distance from the bottom

appearance

termed a " wicket," and

top,

left in

the wicket,

and the other the same

through the upper one the general

oven can be watched, and the lower one

of the

is

used for ascertaining the amount of scale which has fallen

from the pans.

firebrick plug,
is

These holes should be closed with a taper

which

is v^'ell

luted with wet sand each time

The customary method

replaced.

of stopping

it

up the hole

with a loose brick causes a considerable loss of heat, and

makes an appreciable

When

increase in the coal

the production

is

bill.

more regular and

of greater variety,

but supply limited, a pair of ovens, similar to the one shown

in

fig.

36,

the other

may
is

be used, one of the pair being at work while

being discharged and

packed with pans

of castings, as

height,

all

refilled

these ovens can be

of different sizes, according to

shown

in the drawing;

dimensions

the tiers are five in

the pans being 12 inches deep, and each oven holds

approximately 4 tons of castings, according to

dimensions inside are 7

feet

size.

The

square and 6 feet 6 inches to top

of arch.

The dividing wall

in a pair of ovens should never be less

than 18 inches in thickness, or the radiation

will

be so great

MALLEABLE CAST lEON

64

that work in the idle oven can only be carried on under difficult
conditions.

An

ideal division

an

with

walls

would be formed by having two separate

between; but

space

air

this

would add

considerably to the cost of erection, as each wall would have

to be

this

the same thickness (18 inches),

is

not

render

any

work,

effect

the

one previously described, the difference

it

advisable to

fire

from both ends to

secure an even temperature, and although

unusual

for

the

Although these ovens are only

justified.

slightly larger than the

is sufficient to

to

Annealing oven 4 tons.

ElG. 3G.

expense

and

men accustomed

would have upon

to find ovens of this size fired

results are not so uniform,

it

is

by no means

from one end only, the

and imperfectly annealed castings

from the pans situated from the end furthest away from the
fire

are

more

When

often the rule than the exception.

the output

is large,

the ovens

may

be built either in

ANNEALING

65

continuous stacks or in pairs, each pair of different dimensions

to suit the different classes of work.

The

latter

method

is

preferable on account of the unequal expansion of ovens of

different

dimensions, which has a tendency to break the

^^^^^^

^^^^^^
Fig. 37.

continuity of a "stack

Annealing oven 10 tons,

and cause considerable

through the interstices in the brickwork.

to exceed the
will hold

It is

dimensions of the oven shown in

loss of

heat

not advisable
fig.

37,

which

about 10 tons of work, the internal measurements

being 10 feet by 10 feet by 6 feet 6 inches, on account of the

difficulty in

maintaining a large chamber intact, as well as of

loss of heat

by radiation, the consumption

C.I.

of coal necessary to

MALLEABLE CAST

ee

IfiON

maintain a continuous heat becomes excessive and out of

economical proportion to the amount of work to be annealed.

There

many

are

'

which cannot

eastings

be annealed in pans
in the ordinary way,

because of their length

or unusual shape, and
for dealing with these
it is

necessary to build

what

is

oven

(fig.

termed a case
These

38).

hold large quantities

of work,

and would,

no doubt, be used

for

general purposes but

for the fact that they

take considerable time

to

pack and unload.

They

are

also

very

in

fuel,

extravagant

on

account

of

the

thickness of the retaining walls restrain-

ing

the

passage

of

heat into the annealing material, firebrick

being a
Eia. 38.

heat

Case oven.

for this reason they

evil.

bad conductor

may

of

be regarded as a necessary

case oven should always be fired from both ends,

or the result will be

for the

notoriously

unequal annealing, and long eastings,

accommodation

of

which these ovens are

built, will

ANNEALING

67

be turned out soft at one end and hard at the other, owing
to the difference in the

temperature between the firing and

ends of the oven.

flue
fires,

may

the difficulty

the oven

If

too small for four

is

be overcome by having two diagonally

opposite.

upon the judicious manipulation

It is

of the

dampers that

the successful working of an oven chiefly depends, and for

this

reason they should be designed to work in a grooved

frame

of cast iron

(flg.

and

39),

built into the flue in such a

position that they are not likely to

intense heat of the oven

jammed, and

seriously

proper working at a
iron

this

become
with

interfere

moment.

critical

distorted with the

might cause them

to be preferred

plates are

to

become

the

Cast

wrought

to

they do not buckle so badly.

iron, as

The

fire-doors are set at

they keep shut by their

being necessary

at the

an angle, so that

own weight, no
same time the

latch
joint

with the frame should be a good one, and a

grid

in

the middle of the door will be

advantage,

as

by admitting

Damiserand

the

frame,

over

an

air

freshly-laid fuel for a short time after firing, a

combustion

is

assured.

Eectangular cast iron water troughs are

pit

they are not bedded

in,

but

fit

steam rising from the surface

is

built across

below the bottom

which

each ash-

They

are to be kept

water during the whole period of annealing, as the

same time prevents burning

bar

fitted to

loosely, so that they can

be easily replaced in case of breakage.

full of

more complete

of

of

assists

combustion, and at the

the fire-bars.

round cross-

the front of the ashpit about

the fire-bars

this acts as a

to rest the cleaner, a firing tool

spaces between the fire-bars.

The

6 inches

fulcrum on

used for clearing the

fire-bars are cast

from hard
F 2

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

68

grey scrap, and the air space between each bar should not
exceed half an inch in width.

The buckstaves are sometimes made

but,

owing

to the

enormous

much more

least 2 feet into the

the top

is

T section,

expansion and bulging

suitable

they should penetrate at

ground and be packed close up against

the brickwork in such a

when

of cast iron of

to

Light wrought iron or steel girders or

unusually heavy.

channels are

due

they are liable to fracture, unless the section

of the brickwork,
is

strain

way that they

pulled in by the

will retain their position

These rods are

tie rods.

of

1^ inch round iron, screwed at each end for a distance of at

least 6 inches to allow for taking

up when the rods are

expanded under the heat radiated from the oven.

fully

When

first

put up the nuts are tightened up every day until the limit

reached

after this they

may

is

be tried at intervals, and any

slackness due to stretching of the rod taken up.

In building the inside course, or lining, of an oven

it is

of

the greatest importance that the joints between the bricks

should be as thin as possible, and the best way to do this

dip each brick into a
in the

wash

orthodox way.

of fireclay instead of

lining

after the first heat, present

built in this

an apparently

is

to

using a trowel

manner

will,

jointless surface,

the whole of the interior of the oven lining being covered

with a thick glazed coating of fused

silicates.

no means a good binding material, and

so that the joints are

if

laid

unduly wide, the walls

away, and cracks develop sooner or

later,

Fireclay

on too

is

by

thickly,

will rapidly

burn

causing considerable

loss of heat.

Special attention should be paid to the parts adjoining the

firegrate,

that,

where the cutting action

however well

burn away.
will

The

built the walls

of the flame is so severe

may

be,

they will rapidly

application of gannister to the afl:ected part

postpone repairs

to a certain extent,

but that part of the

ANNEAXING

69

lining should be renewed before erosion has gone further than

4^ inches, the width

of bricks in the lining.

In building the draught holes a "well" or

made, the bottom

which

of

the lower edge of the outlet leading to

The

object of this

ore

which would

to catch

is

"sump"

is

not less than 6 inches below

is

the flue

and retain the sand,

otherwise be carried

Even with

ultimately impede the draught.

scale,

and

flue

and

the

into

40).

(fig.

this precaution

the finer particles will always be carried through into the

flue,

and

in time their effect

for this reason

on the draught

tinuous, to build twin flues,

The

alternately.

method

quite noticeable

that they

so

may

but

the

when

variation

it

considered that any

is

in

is

velocity

the

draught in the
oven, and

flue reacts

the flue should,

least

of

the
Fig. 40. Section of

upon the

In order to reduce the risks of stoppage,

possible, lead direct to the

if

without any sharp turns, where the dust

;

flue.

therefore detrimental to the uniformity of tem-

perature so necessary.

cipitated

be cleaned

corresponding advantages are apparent

con-

is

cost of this

first

considerable,

is

is

always advisable, where the work

it is

but

such a course

if

is

chimney, or at
is

usually pre-

not convenient, then an

inspection cover should be placed at the points where the run

of the flue is diverted

base of the chimney.

from a straight

The

in two courses, to prevent collapse,

should

it

from

the

be well arched,

and under no circumstances

pass under a cartway or where

to constant shocks
etc.,

line, as well as at

roof of the flue is to

it

will

be submitted

falling castings, breaking pig iron,

which may have an injurious

effect

on the joints already

deteriorated by the heat.

The annealing
given rise to

of

much

malleable castings
controversy in

all

is

a subject which has

countries concerned, the

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

70

disputed point being whether the change that takes place in

the character of the iron

due

is

the carbon content, or whether

of a certain

The advocates

annealing

it

of

the

up

porous to allow

medium

This

in such a

it

amongst the

are no cleavage planes

kind

of

oxygen contained in the

the

combining

manner

that

it

chemist Ledebur called " temper

teristic fracture of this

name

the

an amorphous graphitic free carbon, and

is

is so finely distributed

the

when

temperature they become

to penetrate into the iron, and,

becomes what the German

it

caused by the extraction

theory state that

first

to a certain

with the carbon, to precipitate

carbon."

is

of

percentage of carbon.

castings are heated

sufficiently

change in the nature

to a

hence

" black

its

crystals of iron that there

The charac-

malleability.

malleable cast iron has given

of

heart malleable," as

presents a

it

velvety black surface surrounded by a narrow rim of lighter

material, merging into silvery white at the extreme edge.

With regard

to the second theory

extraction of carbon

by Eeaumur

to

this

is

that

of elimination or

undoubtedly the reason ascribed

his discovery, viz., that at a

certain

tem-

perature the oxygen in the packing material extracts some of

the carbon in the iron, and, as carbon dioxide, passes

the products of combustion.

The

off

with

result is a steel casting, or

rather, a casting having an outer skin of mild steel surrounding

a core of cast iron annealed and rendered slightly ductile by

the action of heat only.

class

of

work

^ is

The

distinctly

characteristic fracture of this

"steely" in ^ appearance, the

structure ranging from granular to finely crystalline, accord-

ing to the quality of the pig iron from which

To

this

class

"Eeaumur
guish
of the

it

of

process

iron

the

somewhat

it

was made.

unwieldy name of

malleable" has been given to distin-

from "black heart."

cementation method

The
of

entire process

steel

is

a reversal

manufacture, in which

ANNEALING

71

bars of wrought iron are packed in iron boxes containing

powdered charcoal,

salt,

in a furnace until a

temperature

and wood ashes.

is

absorbs sufficient carbon to convert

From
distinct

the foregoing
classes

of

and elimination
suggestion

remainder

is

cast

iron,

and therefore the

not apparent, but

is

will

it

stated that both theories

applied to each class,

that part of the carbon

is
is

it

are

into steel.

it

be gathered that there are two

malleable

reason for controversy

understood when

will

it

These are heated

reached at which the iron

converted or precipitated.

is

be better

conversion

while a third

eliminated and the

As

a matter of fact,

the chemical reaction which takes place during the annealing

process has not yet been definitely ascertained, and consequently

much has

to

be assumed

but investigation and experiments

recently carried out by leading authorities point to the conclusion that with iron low in sulphur, such as that produced
in America,

and annealed

in iron scale, the result

is

" black

heart malleable," due to conversion or precipitation, while

with

European

irons,

which

are

comparatively high

sulphur, annealed in hematite ore, the product

in

is

a peculiar

grade of steel produced by elimination of carbon.

Only by

these

means

success.

is it

Any

possible to ensure uniformity and commercial

variations on these methods, such as annealing

a low sulphur iron in hematite ore, or a high sulphur iron in

rolling mill scale

although both are practicable are not com-

mercially practical

on account

of the

unevenness which

will

be found to exist amongst the castings.

The annealing material

red hematite ore (Fog O3).

in

which the castings are packed

This

is

is

granular in form, and the

most convenient size to use is that which is commercially

known as " 50 mesh"; this will pass through a f inch riddle.
New ore, i.e., the raw material as it comes from the mines,
is

too strong to use alone, as castings packed in this would be

MALLEABLE OAST IRON

72

badly pitted owing to the action of the oxygen on the iron

it

therefore mixed with old ore which has already been

is

used for annealing purposes in various proportions according to

the class of work, but always with a predominating proportion

Each time

of old ore.

the oven

emptied the ore

is

is

spread

out thinly over a floor reserved for the purpose, where

watered daily with

of sal

ammoniac

oxide

of

and the process

iron,

by the formation

of

hastened by turning

it

this enriches the ore

is

over on alternate days in order to expose

of the atmosphere.

it is

water (rainwater) or a weak solution

soft

It is possible to

it all

to the action

anneal castings in ore

which has not been treated in this way, but simply thrown
into a

heap and used again immediately.

ever, weak,

new

time necessary to

ore, the

and there

The

action

how-

is,

and unless enriched with an undue proportion

is

effect

the anneal

is

of

prolonged,

a tendency to burn the work, owing to excessive

and consequent weakening, causing sub-

scaling of the pans

sidence of the tiers and opening of the joints.

Before the castings are annealed they are cleaned with a

wire brush, and have

a shape that

may

quite

remove
it

is

cores removed.

If

they are of such

not likely to be broken in the process, they

be rather closely packed into a tumbling barrel with a

few shovels
is

is

all

of small,

sufficient

hard scrap

this

will

half

an hour in the barrel

knock out

every particle of adhering sand.

customary

to

all

the

In some foundries

use small star-shaped castings of hard

white iron in the tumbling barrel, and these are very

tive,

and

cores

effec-

as the points get into the corners of the castings and

remove sand that would otherwise be

wire brushes are

made

difficult of access.

in several different shapes in order to

clean out castings of complicated design.

For plain

which would probably get broken in a tumbling

which have no

The

interstices

castings,

barrel,

and

where the sand can lodge, the work

ANNEALING

73

can be done much quicker by means of circular brushes mounted

on a buffing spindle

these are generally arranged for external

and internal brushing, the brushes being

meters.

Special care

is

sand from surfaces that

unless this

is

done there

difficulty.

different dia-

ultimately be machined, and

will

always the possibility of the sand

is

fusing in the annealing oven,

removed with

of

taken to remove every particle of

after

which

it

can only be

Sand adheres much more tena-

ciously to castings that have been muffied.

The teeth

of gear wheels are first thoroughly

then painted with lime

way

this is

as for whitewashing, and prevents the teeth from being

burnt through overheating.

this

same

brushed and

mixed with water in the same

way

Letters and figures treated in

are not likely to become obliterated through the

cause, but

it

must be understood that

this is

merely a

precaution against accidental overheating of the oven.

Castings of any design that suggest unequal cooling strains

should not be struck or

hammered

in

any way in order

to rid

them of superfluous sand, the molecules being in such a high

state of tension that even a sharp tap will

sometimes cause

breakage, and in most cases will start a small crack, which,

although imperceptible in the hard casting, will extend under

the influence of heat to such an extent as to render the casting
absolutely worthless.
It will

be seen that from the time they leave the moulding

shop until they are in the ovens the unannealed castings

require the most careful handling, and unless this precaution
is

taken the result will be an unnecessarily high percentage

of softened wasters.

After being thoroughly cleaned, the castings are sorted into

separate heaps

heavy,

medium and

light

this is for the

convenience of the annealer, who arranges their position in

the oven according to treatment required.

]MALLEABLE CAST lEON

74

The packing
out as follows

layer of ore 2 inches thick

over the bottom of the

ings

is

them and
is laid

or ring

two

is

first

41)

(fig.

over these sufficient ore

this

this is repeated until the

pan

then placed over the

is

carried

is

spread out

without actually touching

down, and on

levelled

is

pan, and on this a layer of cast-

laid as closely as possible

each other

annealing pans

of the castings in the

:

cover

is laid to

another layer of castings

The second pan

is full.

and the joint between the

first,

luted or " pointed " inside and out with a mixture of one

part fireclay to ten parts black sand from the foundry floor,

mixed with water

to the consistency of

mortar and applied with

and the packing

a trowel,

carried on as before, the ore

being well worked down at

intervals with a pointed iron

rod not more than

diameter

the

-|

inch

latter

is

necessary to ensure close

packing of
Pig. 41. Method of packing.
will sink

under the influence

unless

empty, and the castings beneath

ingly distorted.

As much

will

would be possible otherwise.

rammed with

will penetrate

a flat

of boxes or

done the mass

topmost pan

is

well

is

more work can be

"rammed

"

than

Owing to its character, the ore

rammer only an iron rod that
;

between the castings

The number

and

ore,

have become correspond-

as 15 per cent,

packed into an oven when the ore

cannot be

it is

of heat until the

the

is

suitable for the purpose.

pans that go

to

form a

vertical

depends on the height of the oven inside, but the topmost

pan in each should be finished ofl" with a layer of ore 3

tier

inches thick, strickled

which

is

of the

pan and

flat

oft'

flush with the top edge.

plate of the

The

lid,

same dimensions as the outside

1 inch thick, is

then put on, and the joint

ANNEALING

75

The

fit

luted, as explained before.

inside the

pan

practice of having lids to

not recommended, as

is

and castings subsides, as

when

the mass of ore

always will do to a certain extent,

it

the lid also sinks and breaks the joint, and the upper layers
of castings get burnt.

The operation

packing in small pans

of

two ways, according

castings

is

is

carried out in

When

to circumstances.

the supply of

occasional and the oven has to wait for several

days until a sufiicient quantity has accumulated to

pans are

down

to cool

on

admit

sufficiently to

may

As

there.

fill it,

the

and packed inside the oven, which has had time

laid

be

economical one owing

this

method

not

is

consumption

the extra

to

work being carried

of the

inferred,

of

an
coal

required to raise the temperature to the annealing point from

a comparatively cool state.

addition to this there
of time,

which

is

is

In

the loss

important when
Fig. -12. Stool.

the works are being pressed to

To obviate

their full capacity.

and the
receive

must

up outside the oven before

tiers built

them

this the castings are

the lowest pan rests on a stool

soon as the oven

up by a charging

to

42)

of necessity be a substantial casting, otherwise

collapse under the weight of the tier

The

ready to

it is
(fig.

is

emptied the

trolley

shaft of the trolley

(fig.

is of

43)

when heated

tiers

of

packed

it

this

would

up.

As

boxes are picked

and deposited in

position.

sufficient length to enable this

be done without the necessity for entering the oven.

The

trolley is of substantial construction, as

to carry a

weight

of

from 12 to 15

of shaft necessary to deposit

away from the

door,

cwts..

Owing

it

is

required

to the length

and withdraw the pans furthest

ample leverage

is

obtained, and

by

arranging the wheels so that they revolve independently on a

shaft,

which

is also free to

revolve in

its

bearings, the trolley

MAIiLEABLE OAST IRON

76
is

easily manipulated

work

is

by two men.

done must be kept

the purpose

as

level

any unevenness

working of the trolley, but

high centre
capsize

if

is

The

on which the

flooring

cast iron plates are best

will not

for

only impede the

dangerous on account of the

of gravity of the load,

and consequent

liability to

suddenly thrown out of the vertical.

Fig. 43.

Trolley for small pans.

To further expedite matters, instead

of sealing

up the oven

by building a wicket in the doorway, it may

means of a firebrick door, the construction of which

be closed by

in

is

shown

44; this can be slung to a " monkey," which travels on

fig.

a runway secured to the buckstaves along the front of the

stack,

by means

of a

small pair of chain blocks or a lifting screw;

the door can be slightly raised and

moved across

or

away from

the doorway as required, and after lowering into position, the

" monkey "

case

is

is

available for other ovens.

The

sealing in this

accomplished by applying the mortar (sand and

clay) to the inner edge of the wicket,

which

is

fire-

then lowered

ANNEAIjING
into its place

and secured by means

with tightening screws,

the

77

pressure

or by iron

required

of

two crossbars

the edge of the door the fires are

and

refill

be practicable to handle the larger ones in the

In the packing

oven

of a case

except that, as the front end

retaining wall of firebrick
it

work proceeds

as the

covered with a row

those laid

is

is

would not

it

same way.

treated as a large pan,,

open, a

built across

is

when

it

full it is

luted.
I

case oven

is

castings are annealed in a vault built

an ordinary can oven.

and

available

zzl

^r

in
"^

only a few are required at a time, long

in

of plates similar to

along the bottom, and well

Where no

this

The system,

limited to the use of small pans, as

is

is

a 4-ton oven

two hours, including cleaning and relighting.

however,

case,

pointing

after

So expeditious

lit.

method that four men can withdraw and

in

any

In

wedges.

only slight,

is

fitted

up

In this case

the side tiers are first built up in the

usual way, and

down the

oven a low vault or case

centre of the

is

space and
will

annealed
of the

two or three pans

up the oven,

fill

be

not
;

out of

may

45)

on the top of

so that the consumption of coal

this proportion varies considerably with the weight

work in

it.

Starting with a cold oven of

it

much

as 15 per cent,

by a

medium

size,

works out at an average

18 cwts. of coal per ton of castings.

by as

(fig.

be placed to economise

proportion to the weight of castings

holding 4 tons of mixed castings,

of

Firebrick

door.

built of fire-

brick resting on supported iron plates

this tiers of

Fig. 44.

This

may

be reduced

skilful firing, well-sealed

ovens, and close-fitting dampers, while neglect of these details

will lead to a corresponding increase.

MALLEABLE CAST lEON

78

The

fires are started

Best steam coal,

immediately after the oven

is

sealed up.

in lumps only, should be used throughout

any good long-flaming

coal

is

and

suitable,

if

the castings

are small or of such a character that they are not likely to

fracture owing to rapid expan&ion, the fires

with dampers wide open, until the heat

by the j^yrometer or cones;

in

may

shown

an oven that has not been

allowed to get cold this takes about ten houi-s

will require

be forced

attained as

is

a cold oven

twenty-four hours under similar conditions of

K\\\\\\\\\^

Fia.
firing.

45.-

There are some castings, however, that, owing to their

shape, are in a state of highly conflicting strains, and these

will almost

ning.

always fracture

In this case

dull red is reached

it

is

if

the

fire is

forced at the begin-

necessary to proceed slowly until a

about 1,200 P.

The time taken

should not be less than that required to attain

previous case.

The

heat attained in

firing

may

about thirty-six hours.

sections, should be treated in this

is

for this

heat in the

then be forced, and the

12 inches diameter, and castings

temperature

full

All

made up

manner.

full

wheels over

of very

unequal

When the requisite

reached (1,800 F.) the dampers are partly

closed, leaving only sufficient

draught

to

maintain the heat,

ANNEAIiING
which at

first will fall off

lated properly,

A drop

79

rapidly by absorption unless regu-

of 80 to

should not be exceeded, and

100 F.

is

permissible, but

kept well within this

if

it

be

will

an advantage.

Each time the

fires are

made up again

the dampers are

left

open until the heavy smoke has cleared away, which

full

would otherwise leave a non-conducting deposit

pans, after which the
It will

damper

is

of soot

on the

again partly closed.

be necessary to clean the

fires

every six hours, and

as this operation admits considerable quantities of cold air

into the oven, the fires should only be allowed to

burn down

one

to

at a time, the others being kept

burning briskly

maintain

The cleaning must be done quickly and

the temperature.

thoroughly, all clinker being removed from the fire-bars with a

slice
is

and raked out together with the dead ashes.

then put on, and no other

fire in

Fresh coal

the same oven must be

burnt down or cleaned until this has burnt through.

The condition

of the

oven should be frequently examined

through the observation holes in the wicket, which should be

luted up again each time, and if the temperature is regularly
maintained, the pans will commence to blister or " scale " in

about twenty hours after the

The

scaling increases until

first

closing of the dampers.

leaves the pans

it

and

falls to

the

floor,

another layer of scale forming almost immediately.

From

forty-eight to sixty hours will have elapsed from the

commencement

(observed)

reached, and from

of

scaling

until

this

point

this time the interior state of the

observed more often.

formed, but just before

When
it

the second layer of

commences

is

oven

scale

is

has

to fall away, firing

is

stopped and dampers completely closed, and the oven is left to

" soak " and cool down gradually no less than twelve hours
;

should elapse before the wicket

is

allowed to cool down more quickly.

removed and the pans

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

80

By

most satisfactory eastings are those

far the

are

-n-hich

allowed to cool down in the pans until they can be handled,

but as this has

many

disadvantages from a commercial point of

view, they are generally taken out as soon as they have reached

known

the state

as " black-hot."

Malleable castings should

never be exposed to the air at a temperature above dark " bloodred " (900 to 1,000 F.), or the result will be to chill them;
this

changes the nature

of the

carbon content and

entire operation of annealing through

It

which they have passed.

only within recent times that this change in the

is

structure of malleable cast iron

Previous to this

chilling.

when

the

stultifies

the castings

had

it

was found

be due to air

to

was generally supposed that

been annealed

for the prescribed

period the final condition was fixed, and was no more susceptible to

change than a red-hot iron forging would

result of this

and not

was

that,

when

The

be.

the castings proved to be harder

was ascribed to

so ductile as anticipated, the condition

other causes than the real one, being usually put

down

to

imperfect annealing due to variations in temperature of the

Dven,

weak

As a matter

ore, or

an excess

of fact, the

of

sulphur in pig iron or

fuel.

appearance presented by a fracture of

a hard casting due to "chill" and that due to imperfect

annealing
structure

are
is

entirely

In

different.

changed from a granular

very similar to that which

is

the

first

case

the

to a fine crystalline one,

found in grey iron cast against a

cold chill, except that instead of being superficially changed

^ inch, more or less, the malleable casting is

changed right through. In the second case the fracture shows
to a depth' of

all

the characteristics of the unannealed casting, only differing

in colour,
iron,

and being surrounded by a narrow band

of

blue-grey

showing that annealing has just commenced.

When

the pans are withdrawn in tiers by

trolley previously referred to, they

means

of the

can be taken out red-hot

ANNEALING
and

left

standing until the castings are cool enough to take

where no such

out, but

SI

facilities exist

the

lid is

removed from

means of a long crowbar this will

escape more rapidly, and when there is no

the top of each tier by

allow the heat to

fear of chilling, the tiers can be pulled over

emptied on to the

and the castings

floor.

well-annealed casting will have a fine bine-grey skin, with

blue predominating, and except for a flimsy iridescent skin,

or scale, which comes

away

easily, the castings

and the sharp edges

fectly clean

intact.

If

should be

annealed they will be of a greyer colour, and there

On

signs of the iiidescent skin.

the other band,

ing has been unduly prolonged, or

if

]5er-

insufficiently

if

will

be no

the anneal-

the temperature at any

time has been too high, various fused or semi-fused substances

adhering to the work, the sharp edges are

be found

will

rounded

them

and the excessive tumbling necessary

off,

further destroys the

still

On examination an
to

symmetry

this is

of the castings.

over-annealed casting will be found

have a distinct skin of very

thickness

soft iron

about

This

off.

is

stated,

and

if

inch in

caused by a secondary

process of annealing, which sets in immediately the

It

^g-

not homogeneous with the rest of the

metal, and can be peeled

completed.

to clean

first

one

is

does not, however, extend beyond the depth

put through another oven the layer will become

detached and another one

will

be formed on the body of the

casting.

The treatment of castings that are insufficiently annealed

requires care and judgment in re-annealing, especially if, as it
sometimes happens, only those furthest away from the fire are
underdone, while those from the hottest parts of the oven are
soft

enough.

The top

of

the oven

is

naturally always hotter

than the bottom, and consequently the work which requires

the most heat to anneal
C.I.

it is

put in the upper pans

this is

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

S2

one reason
tliose at

why sometimes

the eastings at the top are soft while

Another is

the bottom are hard.

sides nearest the firegrate receive

more heat than those further

The usual

away, or than the centre of the pans.

counteract this

amount

where the temperature

and the hardest iron

of the lower ones.
that,

if

practice to

place the lightest castings, or those which

is to

require the least

that, in large pans, the

of heat, in that part of the

for the

oven

keeping the heavy work

lowest,

is

upper pans and the hottest side

It is possible

under these circumstances

the entire contents of the oven are re-annealed, those

which were already softened

an experienced eye

will

be overdone, and

to discriminate

it

requires

between those that require

further treatment and those that are sufficiently annealed, as

well as to decide approximately

how much more heat

the hard

castings will require to complete the anneal.

oven

If the

and the

first

is

systematically packed as already described,

drawn are hard,

castings

it

may

taken for granted that the remainder of the work

condition,

and the best course then

is

to

seal

generally be
is

in a similar

up the oven

again and force the firing until the required temperature

reached, maintaining

it

is

for a further period of twelve to twenty-

four hours, as the condition of the fracture of a tested casting

may indicate.
When only

part

of

the work

is

hard, these castings

are re-packed in pans, using black ore only, and placed in a

special re-annealing oven for further treatment.

This

is

small oven which can quickly be brought up to the required

temperature, and which

may

also be used for very light, thin

castings that can be annealed in two or three days.

struction of this oven

The con-

shown

in fig. 46.
As a rule it will be
found that re-annealed castings are not so satisfactory as those
completed in one heat, the cooling and re-heating afl'ecting the

carbon content

is

a delicate

element which up to the present

ANNEALING
time

has

defied

control,

the vagaries of which are

and

apparently inexplicable.
It is interesting to

note that only the carbon

the annealing process,

is

affected

by

other contents remaining the same

all

These have considerable influence in

as in the pig iron.

determining the ultimate condition of the carbon, but beyond

the fact that there
of

is

a considerable difference in the nature

carbon of high and

the

low sulphur irons respectively

and that iron

after annealing,

high in

silicon

can be annealed

than

at a lower temperature

that in which the percentage

of silicon is low, metallurgists

are apparently at fault, and

no

information

reliable

is

forthcoming.

The

scalings

from the pans

\\\\\\\\mM\mm^M

are sold to metal merchants,

who

stipulate that they

must

not contain an excessive proportion

of

impurities.
is

about

sand

and

other

The present

7s. 6d.

price

per ton.

In

Fig. 46.-Ee-annealmg oven,

some foundries the scalings
are used by the furnaceman for cleaning out the cupola at the
end of the heat. A few shovelsful thrown on the top of the
last charge have the effect of bringing down considerable

quantities of slag
is

and other adherent matter when the bottom

dropped, leaving the lining cleaner and easier to repair

than would otherwise be the

case.

Castings that are required to be exceptionally soft are

double annealed that

is

to say,

they are put back into the

G 2

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

84

ovens for a further period of

ing

may

six days,

and so that the anneal-

not be overdone they are packed in old ore only, and

placed in the coolest parts of the second oven.

necessary to clean them in any

and above

them

all,

at the

of the

It is

not

before repacking them,

they must not be tumbled,

end

or,

on withdrawing

second heat, they will be covered with

a thick tenacious scale that

if

way

most

is

difficult to

the ore has been treated with sal

Even

remove.

ammoniac

it

cause

will

the same accumulation of scale,

and

for this reason old ore as

taken from the ovens must be

used, the finishing anneal being

done more by heat than by the

action of the ore, which merely
acts as a

pabulum

to

hold the

castings in position.

a piston or wheel with

If

heavy rim

rim

Fig. 47.

One
with

below the level on

its

greater weight

at

or

always

near the bottom

least subsidence takes place.

of the greatest difficulties the

is

oven

where the

placed

loosely packed, the

for this reason they are

Fractured wheel.

of the oven,

will sink

account of

'7Z2Z222Zn2Z,

'Tzzzzzzzzzzm

is

founder has to contend

the frequent breakage of wheel arms in the annealing

(fig.

47), especially

light in proportion.

if

This

the rim
is

due

to

is

heavy and the arms

the fact that the heat

passing through the sides of the pan reaches the rim

first,

expand while the arms are comparatively

cool.

causing

The

it

to

risk is considerably

minimised by setting the wheels up

on the edge in a case oven so that the heat reaches

of the

wheel simultaneously.

all

parts

The method has the disadvan-

tage of sometimes causing the castings to

assume an oval shape

Malleable Pig

Iron.

Medium Mottled.

Approxiinate Analysis.

combined taiu^n,
carbon, 1'75
,o per
pci ueuu.
cent.
sulphur, -152 per cent. ; phosphorus,

Graphitic carbon, 1'90 per cent.

silicon,

-84 per cent.

05 per cent.

manganese,

j.

-36

per cent.
4

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

86

under the combined influence

ore

is

and heat, unless the

very closely packed round them, but as a rule

difficult to

bring

bent casting

In most

them back

broken one

detail, a

foundries the temperature

small

and

only,

not

is

is

a dead loss.

determined

any way.

in

commendable accuracy

that the

and there are

trained

eye

is

still

more

some founders
reliable

pyrometer, and not as likely to get out of order.

is

not very

and whilst a

temperature that would not be apparent to

less experienced,

who claim

it is

is

measured

annealer can note with

skilled

variations in

anyone

into shape afterwards,

an every-day

is

by observation

of pressure

than a

This claim

evidently based on unfortunate experience in the use of

cheap and inferior pyrometers, as the improved instruments

are

now

They

and add
expert

considered indispensable in large establishments.

certainly
to

require careful

annealers

constitute

which the demand

these circumstances

is

it

most inexpensive way

pyramids

class

of

becomes necessary

of

skilled

men

for

services

of

Probably the simplest and

doing this

as " Seger cones."

the

to ascertain

means when the

other

an expert are not obtainable.

known

and adjustment,

than the supply, and under

greater

temperature by some

are

handling

the cost of production in small quantities, but

is

by means

of

what

These are small triangular

mixed with substances having

which collapse when the prescribed

of refractory earth

different melting points,

They may be obtained with melting

points ranging from 1,094 F. to 3,470 F., and are so simple
to use that an unskilled labourer can readily understand
temperature

their

oven.

is

reached.

working and accurately gauge the temperature

For

this

purpose three

of

the

of the

cones are placed in

the hottest part of the oven near the top, shielded from the
direct action of the flame,

and

in such a position that they

be observed through the holes in the wicket or door.

can

The

ANNEALING
cones most

suitable

for

87

the purpose

are

numbered

those

010, 09 and 08, having melting points of 1,742, 1,778, and

The

1,814 F., respectively.

collapse of the

indicates that the required temperature

and that the

may

firing

be

is

When

checked.

slightly

of these

first

being approached,
the

second cone begins to bend over the necessary temperature

The

has been reached, and dampers are to be closed.

third

cone acts as a danger signal, and under good management

should remain erect throughout the duration of the anneal.

Fresh cones may be introduced into the oven through the

observation holes during the process, and as they are sold
cheajDly, their continuous use is a
is

Nothing

good investment.

so conducive to good annealing as a full temperature

tained with as

little

variation as possible.

The American process

malleable

blackheart

method

main-

of

annealing in the production of

castings

in that the heat is

differs

brought up

from the European

to the desired point as

quicldy as possible and maintained there for only a short

period

about

forty-eight hours

after

which

it is

allowed to

down very slowly, in consequence of which there is

The high sulphur iron used in this country
distortion.
cool

less
will

not stand this treatment, as a large percentage of the castings

would inevitably fracture under rapid expansion.

mill

which

scale,

is

the American

medium

in

Eolling

which the

castings are packed, will also anneal the irons of this country,

but the result throughout the oven

ore

is

used

in

is

not so even as

when

addition to this a very tenacious scale is

formed on the castings, and

this is difficult to

remove.

On

one point, however, both systems are in complete agreement,

viz.,

that

castings which

are

allowed to cool

down slowly

in the pans in which they have been annealed are in every

way superior

to those

while at red heat.

which have been exposed

to

the air

MAILEABLE CAST IRON

88

Pipes and other hollow castings having comparatively thin

walls of metal
process,

and as

to restore

them

sary to prevent

be tightly

rammed

liable

always

is

neces-

Filling with ore is insufficient, as

it

cannot

The

it

way

will give

way

best

it

sand must be damped for

when

little

up with the

dried

not to remove the

is

Black sand,

to the pressure.

tightly, is better, but as the

core

until

the

This method has one disadvantage

casting has been annealed.

and sometimes impossible,

proper shape, some precaution

to the
it.

be crushed in the annealmg

to

difficult,

rammed and will yield

the purpose
heat.

are
it is

does not allow of inspection of the interior previous to

annealing.

If,

however, due care has been exercised in making

the core and preparing the mould, the chances of annealing a

defective casting are reduced to a

ance of a well-shaped easting

cases

casting

of

minimum, and

description

this

the assur-

w'orth the risk, as in

is

become

will

so

some
badly

distorted as to be utterly useless.

It is

contended by some that the sand

of the surface with

unfit for

which

machining,

upon what grounds

of

the annealing

thick,

it

if

this

necessary.

is

assumption

medium

prevent annealing

in contact, leaving

it is

such

will

must be obvious that

is

based, as

penetrate

will
it

will

it

hard and

It is difficult to see

if

the action

casting 2 feet

anneal a comparatively

thin wall of metal from one side, regardless of whatever sub-

stance

may

be on the other.

the early days of

Probably the idea originated in

manufacture, when the process of annealing

was imperfect and hard castings were attributed

to

causes

other than real ones.

In order to economise space and ore

it

is

easy to pack

small castings in the open spaces amongst larger ones.

illustration of this
practice.

is

shown

in

fig.

48,

taken from actual

In the spaces between the arms

placed elevator buckets,

and they

An

of

the wheel are

in turn are filled with layers

ANNEALING

89

of small, light castings packed in black ore only

space

The

the remaining

occupied by other castings of appropriate shape.

is

following table gives approximately the temperature of

the annealing oven as

it

appears to the eye of the observer

Deg. Fahr.

Dull red heat

Eed

1,000

heat...

1,400

Bright red heat

1,600

Yellow heat

1,800 (annealing temperature)

Melting point

2,000

The

boxes, or "pans," as they are generally termed, are

made from

scrap iron of

melted

every description

down
run

in the

cupola and

moulds

open

into

plenty of malleable scrap

is

as this prevents

used,

porosity,

which

is fatal

to

successful annealing, while

the pans are

Fig. 48.

Method of packing.

much more

durable and do not scale so heavily as would be the case

ordinary cast iron pans were used.
cupola available it
" pan iron " when

is

all

customary

to

Where there
make up the

is

of the

charge of

may

get into the moulds,

thoroughly cleaned out before the next

melt no contamination

The shape

no separate

last

the malleable work has been cast up, so

that no iron of a doubtful character

and as the cupola

is

if

is likely to

pans

may

occur afterwards.

be either cylindrical or rect-

angular, the capacity varying according to the class of work

Only one in five is cast with a
they are intended to contain.

bottom

to

it,

and

this

forms the lowest pan in each

remainder being rings which are

laid

tier,

the

one above the other as

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

90

the packing proceeds.

from
is

The thickness

1 inch in the smaller

pans

to

of

the metal ranges

IJ inch in the larger

thia

Good pans
they become too thin

reduced by scaling each time the pans are used.

will stand

from eight

and weak

to

to ten heats before

withstand the pressure within, and they are then

melted down with other scrap and re-cast into new pans.

made from cheap cast iron only

of a

pan

will

such as cinder pig

If
"
"
the life

seldom extend over three heats, and they are not

infrequently worthless after one heat only.

The following dimensions, measured

found suitable for

all

inside the pans, will

practical purposes

Rectangular.

be

ANNEALINa
ample

91

size to allow for this there is the risk of telescoping

under the influence

Bound pans
" self-stayed "

of heat

much

are

they

pressure than the

and

stronger than rectangular ones, being

offer

flat

vertical pressure.

greater

resistance to internal

which bulge out

sides of the latter,

under each successive heat until unfit

for further use

reason the sides should never exceed 2 feet in length.

other hand,

much more work

to

square.

ones

the

roughly speaking, this

about one-fourth more, or as the area

having a diameter equal

to that of a circle

On

can be packed into an oven in

square pans than in round

amounts

for this

The economical advantage

of

of a

square

to

one side of the

close

packing more

than counterbalances the loss in jDans

through distortion, and square pans

therefore

are

much more

generally

used.

pans must

All

the

edges so as

be
to

fairly

true

on

ensure as good

^^<^-

49. Socket

a joint as possible, and uniformity in depth

essential in order that the tier

may

all

pan.

round

is

retain its vertical position

throughout the heat, and the strongest and newest pans are
always used at the bottom of a

combined weight, while

for the

which have been burnt down

may

be used.

The

tier in

order to withstand the

topmost pans in each

to

tier those

J inch or f inch in thickness

largest rings or pans, 3 feet 6 inches

diameter, always become very badly distorted along the edges

in spite of all precautions, so that in building
will

sometimes be an opening

up the

tier

there

in portions of the joint of

from

IJ inches to 2 inches which cannot be effectively sealed with

mortar only, and in this case the joint is made good by
covering the openings on the inside with iron plates

pieces
before

of

old broken pans being generally used for the purpose

luting

the joint

all

round.

lid

or cover for large

pans

MALLEABLE CAST lEON

92
of this size

the tier

would be too unwieldy

to

be practicable, so that

covered by means of plates, as shown in

is

fig.

50.

Similar plates are used for the bottom

on which the

tier is built up, as a

with a bottom to
large

it is

rings

sizes,

although they are

in

some

others.
Fig.

50.

Top and bottom

is

description

plates.

joints there

districts,

owing
always a certain

seldom used

only being

pan
for

used,

known as " pans "

and as "cans" in

all

covering of plates of this

is

necessarily weak, and

number of longitudinal
amount of risk of burning the

to the

castings in the topmost ring, so that, in addition to well luting

the joints,

it

is

advisable to cover the whole with a layer of

black sand about 3 inches thick

this

must be

well beaten

down with the palms of the hands and will effectually prevent
ingress of the flames

if

the luted joint should be broken.

CLEANING AND STEAIGHTENING

Peopeely annealed castings require very
of large castings a

dislodge

the adhering matter, and this

all

by cutting down

them

all

may

cleaning.

will usually

be accomplished

the feeders and gates before grinding-

Smaller castings, from 50

off.

little

good hammering

In the case

lbs.

downwards, are put

into a tumbler with a quantity of small

scratches the surfaces and leaves

it

hard scrap

this

clean and bright, while

the addition of a quantity of leather scrap will

give a polished surface that

is

often called for.

Instead of utilising hard scrap, some firms use

what are
effective,

called "stars"

(fig.

51); these are very

but as they have to be specially made,

the advantage over hard scrap

hard scrap

is

is

meant small waster

pj^^ g^.
Cleaning stars,

By

doubtful.

castings, small feeders

and

runners broken up into convenient lengths, together with the

flash

knocked

off

from castings before annealing.

As the

sharp edges of the scrap become rounded by constant friction

it

should be discarded and fresh scrap substituted, or the time

required

for

cleaning will become unduly prolonged.

Old

emery wheels that are useless for other purposes may be broken
up and thrown in. With the ordinary horizontal tumbling
barrel

(fig.

hours are necessary

52) about two

to

complete the

cleaning and polishing, and the consequent friction for this

prolonged period rounds

appearance
in others

of the work.

it is

off

In

all

sharp edges and spoils the

many cases

this is immaterial, but

important, and the difficulty

by using a tumbler that

an endways motion

is

hung

obliquely

may

(fig.

53).

be overcome

This gives

to the castings in addition to the rolling

MALLEABLE CAST lEON

94

motion, and

so

is

much more

done in from thirty

Fig. 52.

minutes.

In either case the

Horizontal tumblicg barrel.

tumbler should be run

revolutions per minute.
force gradually

work can be

effective that the

to forty-five

at a

speed of not more than

If this is

overcomes the force

fifty

exceeded the centrifugal

of gravity in

proportion

to the increase in speed until the castings are carried

round

without any independent motion, and the process becomes

inoperative.

The

removing

final dressing of the eastings consists in

all

superfluous metal, such as flash, gates, feeders, etc.

Very

small eastings are moulded so that the runners break

close

and

up,

finished

ofl'

these

when

are

they

are taken out of the

tumbler,

but

larger

ones have the gates

and feeders broken

off

about i inch from the

casting so as to preFig. 53.

Improved tumbling barrel.

vent possible damage

to

the

surface,

and

these protuberances have to be chipped or ground off level.

The grinding

is

done by means

different sizes to suit the class of

of coarse

work done.

emery wheels of
They range from

CLBANIXa AND STRAIGHTENING

24 inches by 3 inches
-^

for

heavy castings down

inch for light and intricate work.

All

95

to 6

inches by

machines should be

provided with a rest on which the work can be held while

grinding, and castings which are too heavy to handle in this

way may be suspended by means of chain blocks in such a

hang by their own weight against the face of
the wheel. This is a better way than standing the work on

Avay that they

end

and allowing

it

lean against the wheel, as, being

to

suspended, a casting can be manipulated with ease by one

which would otherwise require two

Makers

of

emery wheels

will

men

soft

metal

filling

grained, while

if

if

man

it.

tendency to clog the

the interstices so quickly

and not an abrasive one.

that the action becomes a rubbing

This always happens

handle

supply wheels specially adapted

ior malleable castings, which have a

ordinary wheels, the

to

the wheel

is

too

hard or too

fine

too soft the particles of abrasive are torn out

without doing effective work; a grade of 14 to 16 will be

The numbers
for all-round purposes.
mesh through which the grains will pass
thus, a 16-grade wheel is made of grains that will pass
through a sieve having a mesh of je inch, but will not pass
through the next size smaller. Even the most suitable wheels
Avill glaze and clog if too much pressure is applied, so that to
found most suitable
indicate the size of

remove a maximum

of material in a

minimum

of

time only a

The peripheral speed

moderate pressure should be used.

should be kept as near as possible to that recommended by

the makers.

This

is

done by changing the wheels as they

wear down and putting them on a suitable spindle running at a

higher speed. If they are run at too high a speed the wheels
will glaze,

and

if

too slow the

emery

is

dislodged as in a soft

wheel.

Wheels that are glazed or worn out of truth can be corrected

by means of a dressing tool, of which there are several kinds

MALLEABLE CAST lEON

96

on the market, and

if

done frequently more work can

this is

be done, and at a cheaper rate than

to

become

eccentric, in

the wheels are allowed

if

which the case

of trueing

up

involves-

cutting to waste a considerable quantity of valuable abrasive-

Eccentricity

material.

The bearings
of

hard cast

is

also

due

grinding machines

of

to

may

unsteady foundation.
be either babbited or

iron, the latter for preference,

be enclosed to jDrotect
dust, using a solid

them from the

and should always

cutting action of

lubricant and screw-down lubricator

preference to sight-feed appliances or simple

must be kept
will

a good

fit

on the spindle

oil holes.

soon cause the wheels to run out of truth.

from the flying particles

An

intelligent

hard and

soft

emery and

of

grinder can not only

castings by the rate

at

in

They

any looseness or play

The workmen

employed on grinding machines should wear goggles

their eyes

the

to protect

iron.

distinguish

between

which the metal

is-

removed, but by observing the character and appearance of

the sparks

it

is

possible to grade the castings into several

qualities with a fair

The use
shops

is

of

of

amount

of accuracy.

pneumatic appliances in

modern growth and

especially pneumatic

hammers

tlie fettling

or dressing

is

rapidly coming into favour,

for

chipping down where grind-

ing cannot be done, but the cost of installing the necessary

air-compressing plant, together with maintenance, distribution,

and

cost of appliances,

large

make

and continuous output

the system prohibitive unless a

is

with the old-fashioned methods, but

cost of installation there

ings than by tumbling

is

sand
compare very favourably

if

is

of the

the output justifies the

no better method

them

through which a sand blast

The use

assured.

blast for cleaning castings does not

in a barrel

of cleaning east-

bung on trunnions

introduced.

A final polish is given to some classes of work, and this isdone by putting them loosely in a tumbler without any hard

CLEANING AND STEAIGHTENING

97

The

scrap or gritty material, using only leather waste.

addition of a small quantity of graphite at

with new

first

leather causes the latter to become impregnated with

crucibles,

and

broken up small and used in conjunction with the

leather, also help to

improve the appearance

All malleable castings are liable to

annealing process.
is

it

Old and discarded plumbago

gives a particularly good finish.

not possible to

This

ram

is

of the castings.

become distorted in the

principally owing to the fact that it

the annealing

medium

sufficiently tight to prevent the subsidence

of

the mass, which, owing to the super-

imposed weight, takes place when the heat

is

up,

period,

and
and

continues
if

during the whole

the proper temperature has

been maintained the subsidence, measured

from the

toj),

will

amount

to

from 4 inches

to 6 inches in a tier of boxes 5 feet high.

As some castings, owing to their shape, are

more liable to distortion than others, it is
usual to place any that would be

difficult to

restore to shape as low down as possible in the

bottom pan, where the subsidence

The
is

distortion of eastings

seldom

difficult to correct

from

is least.

this cause

Pig. 54. Distorby subsidence.

tion

because the intervening layers of

ore form a cushion which causes the deflection to take the foum
of

an easy curve.

parts of the
it

is

tier.

Fig. 54 shows the effect of this in different

The worst form

happens when the ore

is

of distortion,

frequently impossible to correct entirely,

is

and one that

is

that which

not well worked down, or

when there

only a thin layer between two layers of castings.

In both

cases the upper castings will sink until they are almost,
quite, in

further, they cause an abrupt

C.I.

if

not

contact with those beneath, and gradually sinking

bend

(fig.

55)

which

is

almost

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

98

sure to fracture on any attempt

a high temperature that

the casting in

its

straighten

to,

would seriously

it

finished state.

except at such

it,

nature of

affect the

'

Castings such as lever handles, pipes

'on end

etc.,

and

which are packed

occufiy two or

more

pans, are also liable to distortion

Fig. oo.-Abrupt bend.
(fig.

and

56)

When

the fires are

which

tier,

is

sometimes

is

the sides of the tiers

first lit

them expand quickly and cause the

tier to

fairly equalised,

when

it

again becomes perpen-

dicular, but subsequently the side nearest to the fire

softer

lean

the fire until the temperature throughout

away from

the oven

to side pressure of

adjacent and imposed castings

also to the tilting of the

unavoidable.

nearest to
slightly

owing

becomes

than the other and, collapsing under the weight, causes

the tier to lean over to that side
effect of this.

on the work

(fig.

The

57).

very slight, but

is

if

aggravated by the other causes already described

the difficulty of straightening

is

increased.

Thin, light castings are easily straightened cold

with a hand
is

hammer on an

slightly hollowed

portion

is

not

on the

anvil or block
face,

and

if

which

the bent

more than J inch thick and about

the same amount per foot out of truth

it

safely be heated to a dull red blood heat,

swaged down with a

Distorted
lever.

hammer, but
large flat

flat set

for dealing

surfaces

it

and a

The bed

or block of this

is of

becomes necessary

is

fig.

to use

58.

cast iron, 6 inches thick,

except for the hole in the middle

square,

and

light sledge

with heavy castings and

a powerful screw-press similar to that shown in

solid,

may

it

is

and

4 feet 6 inches

planed level on the top and rests on four stout cast

iron supports, which in turn are bedded in concrete on a solid

CLEANING AND STEAIGHTENING

The

foundation.

99

solidity of the bedplate is essential, as

it

is

partly an anvil block intended to resist the heavy blows of a

sledge

hammer on

down by

eastings held

the screw, for which

purpose a lighter plate, even when stiffened with ribs on the

under

side,

would be too springy and unsuitable.

The uprights are

of 3^-inch steel shafting,

3 inches at each end to

and secured with

is

the

fit

and crossbar,

holes in the plate

crossbar

turned down to

The

nuts.

a malleable casting,

6 inches deep at the centre and

4 inches at the ends, the thickness between the bosses being

2 inches.

The screw

2|

is

inches

dia-

meter with a square thread

of

^-inch pitch working in a gun-

metal nut, which

into the crossbar

and shouldered

fits

accurately

and

is

flanged

to take

up the

thrust.

The

end

of

the

screw

is

hardened, and to ensure steadiness

when the pressure is applied,

^lo-

67. Oscillation

of tiers,

as well as to prevent marking the work by the boring action

of the point,

it

works in a malleable nose-piece

fitted

guide rods working in holes drilled in the crossbar.

with

The

wear and tear on both screw and nut are necessarily very
heavy, and however accurately
that without

fitted

they soon work loose, so

some provision such

risk of side-slip, especially

as that shown there will be

when working on a die built up of

separate loose pieces.

The wheel

is

of

cast

iron,

with a heavy rim to give

MALLEABLE CAST lEON

100

momentum
holes

IJ-

to the screw,

and

pierced round the rim with

it is

inch diameter into which a steel bar can be introduced

in order to give greater leverage

if

necessary.

rm

JU]
M

11

TT

Fig. 58. Straightening press.

The furnace

for heating the

work

is

very similar to that

already described for muffling, except that the floor

with, or slightly higher than, the bed of the press,

and

is
it

level

should

be erected in close proximity to the press so that no time

may

CLEANING AND STRAIGHTENING

be

tant, as

work.

lost in transferring the

sometimes necessary

it is

manner

that the pressure

of the casting

is

This
to rig

up the press in such

little

only be done with the easting in position

quickly and with as

little loss

particularly impor-

is

only applied to certain portions

up some

this takes

of

time, and as

can

it

must be done

it

midway between

is

as

Perhaps

heat as possible.

the best, and certainly the most expeditious way

davit or wall jib located

101

to

have a

the press and the

furnace, so that the arc traversed by the outer end passes

through the centre

Attached to this

of each.

is

a pair of

handy

ElG. 59. Biters.

chain blocks which should be non-slipping to prevent accidents,

and these in turn carry a pair of grab hooks or biters for
picking up the hot castings

of these there are

use, but those illustrated in fig. 59 will be

castings of

any shape, and the same may be

which are used

for

handling the work.

should be kept handy, so that

work can

assist

men on

of the

kinds in

said of the tongs

Two

of each of these

opposite sides of the

one another in manipulating

examples are typical

many

found suitable for

it.

methods employed

The following

in straightening

various classes of work.

Wheels.

These belong

to a class of

work where the form

of

the casting in every dimension must be fairly good, and as

they are sometimes distorted in several directions, the work of

straightening

is

one which

calls for

some

skill

on the part

of

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

102

the straightener in order to carry

and with

as

little

loss of

out in a few operations

it

time as possible.

Fig. 60 shows,

slightly exaggerated for clear-

ness, a spur wheel blank dis-

The

torted in three directions.

Fig. 60. Distorted wheel.

y.[-^ {q

out of line with the rim, and the rim

is

brought to a suitable heat

best and

laid

steel girder,

wheel,

is

on the centre

dull

not straight, the boss

is

is

The casting

also oval.

red, or about 1,000 F. is

of the press.

short length of

which must be longer than the diameter

of the

placed so as to rest on the boss with the ends lying

over the highest parts of the rim, on which immediately under

the girder are laid two distance pieces corresponding to the

height of the boss above the rim in the pattern

then applied
until

to the girder,

which

pressure

down

squeezed
bed.

The pressure

while the rim

down with

is

flat

then

on the

is

main-

moments

tained for a few

to

down

presses the boss

first

the distance pieces are reached, and the rim

hammered
hammer

is

a sledge

prevent springing back

when

the

removed,

pressure

and when

is

this

has been done the wheel

turned on
longer
Fig.

61.-Use

of screw jack.

the screw, and pressure

is

is

its

edge with

diameter

direction of the

again applied until

it

shown by calhpers or trammels,

commutator rings, large flanges, and

in

is

its

the

thrust of

resumes a

circular shape, as

Eims

only,

of a similar class are treated in the

is

no boss

to

bring into

line.

all

castings

same way, except that there

CLEANING AND' STEAIGHTENING

It is

loa

seldom that such castings are made in malleable iron

larger in diameter than the press described can accommodate,

but in such a case the best way to overcome the difficulty

is to

adopt another plan for flattening down, bringing the opposite

sides alternately

by means

of

under the screw, and

screw jacks

(fig.

any

to correct

ovality

61).

Cylindrical castings, such as short lengths of piping which

have become

flattened,

may

be restored to their circular shape

by squeezing between a pair

which several pairs

Fig.

62. Saddle

saddle-blocks

of

62),

(fig.

to suit approximately different diameters

Fig. 63.

blocks.

13rid<riiig.

may

should be kept in stock, or a plug with rounded ends

forced through.

become

of

The

flattened at one

barrels

hubs

lof

of the

type

artillery

end only, the other being

be

stiffened

by

a flange, and in this case they are corrected by driving in a

conical plug.

on

If

the flanges are bent they are flattened

to a plate larger

large

and

enough

flange.

the ring

is

to

than the flange, in which a hole

miss the

In the case

made

Fig. 63 shows

fillet

with a flange at each end,

under

it.

to straighten the flanges of a crank-case

which have been bent downwards

to

cast

at the junction of the barrel

of a pipe

in halves to slip

how

down

is

and although

accomplish this by pressing the centre

and hammering down the

of

is

possible

the

casting

it

flanges, there is always a risk of

IBON

]SIAIiLEABLE OAST

10-1

and bridging

fracture at the angle that is avoided by packing

as shown.

For castings

of irregular shape,

and

for those

down on the

allow of their being pressed

flat

which do not

surface of the

bed, recourse must be had to die-blocks; these are of cast iron,

and are made

to follow the outlines of the casting in

both planes, as

may

be required.

one or

block for a bevel wheel,

for instance, would have a tapered hole representing the face

of the teeth, into

which the wheel could be pressed, while the

shown in fig. 64 would require two blocks the

lower one is moulded from a plaster cast, taken from the
pattern in such a way that when pressed

crank-shaft

down on

the shaft

it

is

in line

are at the correct angle.

When

The upper block

is

section, with projections cast

inside to bear

on cranks and shaft in such a

of inverted

Fig. 64.
Die-block.

and the cranks

way

that they are forced into their proper

pj^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^.g_

one only, or a few castings are required, the cost of

making a

die-block

is

not admissible, and the work

done on a temporary die

built

up

of

must be

any suitable packing-

pieces by placing the pattern under the press in the position

to be occupied

by the casting, and so using

There should be no

difficulty in

doing this

the work cannot be as accurately or

on a

specially prepared block,

it

which

as

is

as a templet.
but, of course,

quickly done as

similar in effect to

drop-forging, the difference being that the shape (in section)

is

already formed, so that

it

is

only necessary to get the

various parts of the casting into correct relation with one

another.

good stock of wedges

of malleable iron

made

is

indispensable, and they

in different thicknesses

the taper being at the rate of 1 in 12.

They

may

be

and widths,

are mostly used

CLEANING AND STEAIGHTENINa

for forcing out portions that

have been crushed

105

may

and

in,

be either forced in under the press or driven in with a sledge

hammer,

may

as

how they

of

be most convenient.

is

an example

used on a casting not amenable to other

are

The wedges

methods.

Pig. 65

are also used

for

packing and for

more

built-up dies, and used in pairs, head to point, they are

easily adjustable

than parallel blocks for the purpose.

should be curved one

side,

so

few

that they can be used for

circular openings.

Long

and especially those

castings,

should be supported on
there

is

always the risk

of

circular section,

blocks under the press, otherwise

of side-slip

an inverted V block under

the screw will also ensure steadiness and

applied

pressure

in

the proper direction.

In nearly

will be

found that

every case

the

it

casting

will

when

slightly

little

back

the pressure

removed, so that

amount

spring

it is

is

Fig. 65.-Use of

we

necessary to force the corrected portion

beyond the amount required,

varies with the size

also the temperature at which

to allow for this; the

and shape
it is

of the casting,

pressed, so that

not

it is

what the allowance should be

possible to state exactly

and

it

is approximately ^s inch per foot in length or diameter;

but some experience is necessary to be able to judge it to a

nicety.

Thin

flat

the edges,

surfaces
or

and

discs should never be

they will

become buckled,

happens they are usually most

ing

is

really necessary

it

difficult to restore

must be done

hammered

and when
;

if

at

this

hammer-

at least 1 inch

away

from the edge.

It will

be found that castings that have been annealed

in a case oven are less liable to distortion than those out of

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

106

ordinary ovens,

which the annealing pans also become

distorted with the heat.

desirable,

though not

straightening press

is

adjunct to

indispensable,

This

a setting plate.

the

a large cast iron

is

square and 4 inches thick, pierced with holes IJ

plate, 5 feet

should be bedded down

inch diameter and 6 inches apart.

It

on the

can get quickly round and

floor so that the straightener

over his work, and

is

chiefly of value because

it

allows a badly

distorted casting to be straightened at several points with only

one
o
o

setting

means

by

wedges driven

of

between

in

the affected part and

steel

pins dropped into the nearest

hole in the plate.

Fig. 66

shows how a large gear ring

blank,

that

not

is

merely

but also irregular in

oval,

shape,

may

be corrected on

a setting plate, and

it

will

be seen that neither press

nor

screw

jacks

could

be

so effectively utilised for the purpose.

Plain

any description can be

castings of

flat

another in a pile under the press, with a

the whole lot flattened

down

together.

laid

flat slab

on

one on
top,

and

This will save time,

although the pressure, being transmitted from one to the other,

had better be maintained

ings to cool

when

down

released.

considerably

slightly,

for a

and

minute or two

to allow the cast-

so prevent springing or recovery

Close-grained castings will sometimes spring

but a few smart blows with a

hammer on

the

surface while under pressure will give the crystals a set and

prevent

this.

Castings in which there are abrupt and widely difl'erent

CLEANING AND STRAIGHTENING

changes

of section are apt to

by burying

less after being^

but as this only happens when they

straightened hot;

down quickly

allowed to cool

warp more or

107

in the open air,

it

may be

are-

avoided

in ashes immediately after straightening

this

should also be done in every ease where a casting has accidentally

become overheated

otherwise

the furnace,

in

chilled surface will result.

It

must not be supposed

moment

for a

can straighten a malleable casting

inclined to be over-cautious,
of breakage.

advisable in

and

to

that

any blacksmith

on the contrary, they are

work with a constant

Local straightening with the aid

some

cases,

when

fear

of a forge is

only a part of an otherwise

correct casting has been bent or distorted, such as a projecting

arm

and

or bracket,

this is straightened after heating that

away with any chance of subsequent warping

which might occur if the entire casting was brought

part only, doing

or chilling

up to the required heat.

Long castings that are bent along their whole length
cannot be straightened by pressure applied to the centre only,
but must be done in sections in a similar way to that adopted
for

working on cold

rails

with a rail-bender, which can be

used for the jDurpose instead of a

of the casting is

jDress,

and unless the section

very heavy and very badly bent they can also

be worked cold, as the amount

of deflection required at

each

point will be very small.

Castings should always be

there

is

then greater risk

warmed

in very cold weather, as

of fracture, and, as a substitute for

ashes in which to cool them down, old ore

To break

is

frequently used.

a substantial malleable casting that

properly annealed

is

an exceedingly

to its excellent resilient properties,

difficult

and

if

has been

proposition owing
it

is

necessary to

break up a large waster annealed casting into suitable pieces

for re-melting,

it

can only be done by bringing

it

to a bright

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

108

red heat and immediately plunging

sudden contraction

and

will so

cause

will

it

it

into cold water

the

to fracture in several places,

harden the iron that

it

can be broken up under

a heavy drop-weight.

The cooling bosh

foundries,

and

is

is

an accessory

to be

found in

all

malleable

usually a tank of wrought iron, not less than

2 feet deep, sunk in the ground to the level of the edge, and
fitted

with supply and discharge pipes, so that

when necessary
The dis-

a stream of water can be kept flowing through.

charge should be as near the top as possible in order to carry

off

the

referred

In addition to the purpose already

heated water.
to, it

is

used for breaking up large feeders, which

sometimes weigh over

cwt.,

and which, on account of their

bulk, cannot be broken up otherwise.

DESIGN
The

principles governing the design of malleable castings-

are similar to those adopted for

tion that,

owing

common

iron, with the excep-

to the higher contraction of the iron

employed,

the initial strains are proportionately greater, and, although

these

strains

are

annealing, the

relieved

the

in

subsequent process of

must not be regarded

fact

influence on proposed designs, as

it is

as

in the hard

having any

unannealed

casting that faults due to unskilful design are originated,

Fig. 67.

no amount

and

Disposition of crystals.

annealing will convert a structurally weak

of

casting into a strong one.

The

first,

and perhaps the most important, point

into consideration

is

the disposition of the crystals as the iron

passes from fluid to a solid state

laws,

in

to take

obedience to which

this is

governed by natural

the crystals

always arrange

themselves in certain definite directions during the cooling of

a casting in the mould, and retain their position after
set,

it

has

the line of direction being that in which the heat passes

from the centre

From

this

it

of the

will

mass

or section to the outside

determined entirely by the form of the casting

crystallisation

(fig.

67).

be seen that the " set " of the crystals

means

maximum

is

regular

of strength, but the point

MAIiLEABLE CAST IRON

110

at which the continuity

source of weakness

is

broken or interrupted
apparent in

this is not so

is

a potential

common

iron,

but in a malleable casting the high rate of contraction

sufficient to cause the crystals to pull apart at

what may be

important points, and so destroy the homogeneity

This

entirely.

is

is

of

the mass

especially noticeable in castings having a

sharp angular section

(fig.

68)

here the crystals,

acting

independently, show a well-defined line of separation running

from the inner

palpable weakness.

and outer

This can be plainly seen

to the outer angle.

by breaking up a casting
It

angles, as

of

may
in

the

section

shown, and

is

be avoided by rounding the inner

fig.

69

assumed by the crystals gives a

the radiating form

maximum

then

of strength

and

reduces the structural strains to the lowest possible limit.

In the girder, or H section,

it is

not possible to apply this

Mall:eable Pig Iron.

^Haud Mottled.

Approximate Analysis.
Graptitic carbon, I'OO per cent. combined carbon, 2-62 per cent.
silicon, -72 per cent.; sulpbur, -162 per cent.; phosphorus,
O'o per cent. ; manganese, '33 per cent.
;


MALLEABLE CAST lEON

112

To put

it

in another way, the object of the designer should

be to aim at getting a casting in which the disposition of the

crystals throughout

is

a perfectly natural one.

but by keeping the idea in view

is

not possible in

is

always possible to get the best

There

are

so

all eases,

many

malleable iron that

of

them before the

ascertained,

be useful

it

ifc

of a difficult detail.

different

will

Of course this

grades and

qualities

of

be necessary to decide upon one

factors for necessary calculations can be

and the following

Class of work.

table,

based on averages, will

DESIGN

115

Fig. 70 shows a rubbing (reduced) taken from a pinion, cut

from blank,

after

The

one week's wear.

specification for this

merely called for " malleable cast iron of good quality

having a tensile strength
In order to

from

given

are

must be admitted

it

and

than 18 tons."

illustrate plainly the principles referred to, the

following examples

although

of not less

that

actual

more

castings,

and

defects are produced

by bad moulding than by bad design, there are some cases in

which a proficient moulder cannot make a mould from a given
pattern except by adopting methods that are conducive to

shrinkage and other flaws.

mind the

fact

that

The designer should always bear

in

sharp corners and thin partitions or

made

pockets of sand can only be

coherent to

sufficiently

withstand the flow of molten iron

by hard ramming and wetting the

sand

an extent that

to

an excessive volume

of

steam where

the iron comes in contact with

as

it is

V^

will generate

it,

^^l

Fig.

70.Wear on

soft

and

not generally possible to vent these parts of a mould

sufficiently to allow the escape of a

pressure,

i't

is

sudden accumulation

inevitable that a certain

amount

of

of gas or air

will

be imprisoned in the metal, the result being a sponginess

for

which the designer

responsible.

In

many

and not the moulder

instances this

may

is

directly

be prevented by

the introduction of a dried core at the point likely to cause

trouble,

and the patternmaker maybe instructed accordingly

but as this course

to

make

is

not always possible

it

may

alterations in the design so that the difficulties are

removed without

affecting the purpose of the casting.

Probably more unsound castings are due

on grey iron

principles than to

to

being designed

any other cause, and owing

lack of reliable information on the subject, this

is to

to

a great

extent excusable.
C.I.

be necessary

MALLEABLE OAST lEON

114

To exemplify

this

may

it

be instanced that in order to

secure the necessary combination of lightness and strength

some forms

in

of

grey iron castings

it is

make

necessary to

and gussets, which always cause trouble in the

use of ribs
foundry.

Assuming
malleable,

that

it is

make

but to

it

decided to have the same detail in

is

common

practice to retain the original design,

the scantling lighter throughout, that

to reduce the thickness

all

is to

say,

over including the ribs and gussets

already mentioned, the results under the altered conditions

of foundry practice being usually disastrous.

In nearly every case

it

will

be found that by retaining the

original thickness of metal in the

stiffening

devices

superfluous, owing

be

will

body of the casting

strength of material, and by dispensing with

down

the weight can be kept

additional

these

to

increased

them

altogether

point with the

to the desired

advantage of ensuring

all

sounder casting than

would otherwise be possible.

Although

it is

generally considered advisable to introduce a

into the angle

fillet

formed

at the junction of

two walls of

metal, no importance seems to be attached to the size or radius

of such

fillet,

and there

designers that

it

is

an erroneous idea prevalent amongst

should be as large as possible, restricted only

by the weight and symmetrical requirements

As

a matter of fact, while the

fillet is

the radius must be limited, or

to the very defect

it

is

the point of intersection.

this

may

fillets

it is

render the casting liable

intended to prevent,
It

i.e.,

rupture at

has already been explained

all,

how

but in

caused by the body of metal formed by

remaining

adjoining walls have

The

will

occur in the absence of any filleting at

the present case

large

it

of the casting.

a necessity in such cases,

in

plastic

condition

after

the

set.

real object of introducing a

fillet

is

twofold

it

does

DESIGN
away with sharp corners
and

in sand which are necessarily

break away, and

liable to

115

also ensures a regularity in

it

the crystallization of the iron which

fore conducive to rupture,

either case the radius need never be

should not be omitted even

or chip

it

if

broken, and there-

is

the angle

if

weak

will

it

is

In

a sharj) one.

more than J

inch, but

be necessary to machine

out afterwards.

The matter

is

not so important in plain castings of simple

design, in which the art of the moulder can assist in meeting

the requirements of the designer by the use of skilfully placed

chills

and

impossible to
benefit,

more complicated work it is often

place these accessories where they will be of any

feeders, but in

and the designer

compelled to take a certain

will be

amount of risk unless the design can be changed to one of

more accommodating form.
As an alternative, these complicated details, however satis-

may have

factory they

proved in

give better results in malleable

them up

common

if

it

iron, will invariably

can be arranged to build

two or more separate castings bolted together.

of

This can be done in most cases, and the increased cost

fitting

up and machining

is

of

more than counterbalanced by the

greater reliability of the structure.

The design

of malleable cast

one that frequently

ments

wheels of every description

is

calls for modification to suit the require-

of the founder.

The principal

designing

difficulty lies in

the arms so that they will act synchronously, or as near as

possible, with the

rim and boss in cooling contraction and

subsequent expansion in the annealing oven.

In most wheels

the sections of the rims or boss are heavier than that of one
of the arms,

and

in the case of flywheels

cutting the difference

of

is

and wheel blanks

considerable, and

it is

with this class

work more than any other that the moulder

handicapped.

Fig. 47, page 84,

is

an example

for

of a

is

heavily

wheel that
I

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

116

and

will give trouble in this respect,

will

be particularly liable

to the defects referred to.

Reasons

this

for

had better be explained.

During the

cooling process in the mould, the arms, being the lightest,

will

be the

first to set,

and

in doing so they will contract

will

be in a semi-fluid state owing to

the structure at the end of each

is

its

and

which
greater mass making

pull the crystals at the junction with the

rim and boss

arm spongy,

or "rotten " as it

termed, and as the crystals set hard in this state the subse-

quent contraction of the rim does not close the bad places up
again.

In the meantime the rim, contracting slowly,

resisted

by the arms, and not being cooled

stand the strain,

happens
owing

to

to the

and consequently the weakest,

be the hottest,

proximity of a runner or feeder, and

down the arms

the entire wheel has cooled

abnormal

sufficiently to

probably pull apart at that part which

will

it

state of

when

finally

are in such an

compression that when heated up again in

Here

the annealing oven they are almost sure to fracture.

again the moulder can do

much

may

possible for the designer

be,

is

and generally

is,

to

minimise the

risks,

but

it

and the

founder working in harmony not only to minimise but

to-

entirely eliminate them.

The design
consideration.

be either
as

it

the arms

If the

elliptical

offers a

medium, thus
is

of

or

rim

the

is

is

first

and most important

comparatively

section,

light, these

may

the latter for preference,,

greater surface to the action of the annealing

ensui'ing ductility

and freedom from strain that

highly desirable, while maintaining an appropriate rigidity

due

to the

shape

of the section.

Eectangular sections should

be avoided as being liable to start cracks from sharp corners.

The old-fashioned girder

section

is

bad, contraction flaws

being caused chiefly on the inside where they cannot be

properly inspected.

DESIGN"

117

Flywheels and wheel blanks, with heavy rims over 15 inches

diameter, should always be of the disc type, lateral rigidity

being secured by the introduction of radial ribs or webs, and,

if

may

necessary, the disc

the edges
fracture.

be lightened by circular holes,

which are rounded as a precaution against

of

The

must not be

holes

too large in diameter, or

the section of the intervening metal will not be strong enough

rim in the early stages

to resist the pull of the

of the anneal-

Most wheels can be made with curved arms, but

ing process.

the curve should be a decided one, as there

not sufficient

is

withstand a bending strain unless

elasticity in white iron to

evenly distributed.

Many

failures

misunderstood

have occurred owing

to the designer

having

A malleable

the real structure of the material.

casting has been defined as " a wrought iron casting," and

although there

is

some truth

sometimes overlooked

may

that,

in this definition, the fact

give an approximately similar analysis, there

fibrous or laminated, while malleable cast iron

crystalline, or granular,
of

wrought iron when

purpose.

It

it

is

a con-

Malleable wrought iron

siderable difference in the structure.

is

is

although the two kinds of iron

is

distinctly

and can only be used in the place

is

physically better adapted for the

must not be regarded as a substitute for either

wrought iron or

steel,

but rather as a distinct material, possess-

ing certain properties

common

to both, and, consequently,

better adapted than either for specific purposes.

It

is

by no means unusual

which a part

of

for details to be designed in

the casting has to be screwed to form a stud

or other connection, and though there

economical in this, there

is

really

is

apparently something

no surer way

a malleable casting than by screwing

it

of

externally.

weakening

The sharp

angle at the bottom of the thread and the crushing action

of the dies or

screw-cutting tool both contribute to cause a

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

118

weakness at
is

which

this point

shown what

is

known

is

In

well to avoid.

By having

malleable ironfounders.

shown, the cost

it

fig.

71

as a fork end, a detail familiar to all

it

screwing and

of drilling,

cast with a stalk, as

with a stud

fitting

more

avoided, but the latter would be stronger and

is

reliable,

especially under bending or reversed stresses, or in tension

when

carrying the ends of

tie

rods or braces.

circum-

If

stances call for this type of casting, the stalk or stud should

be about 25 per cent, larger in diameter than a steel stud

of the required diameter,

and the thread should be cut

which

lathe with a sharp screw-cutting tool,

to dies for the purpose, as

it

suijerior

does not break up the structure

There

of the material.
,

much

is

in a

one imjportant

is

point which must not be overlooked

is

easier

and cheaper

to replace a

stud or bolt than to replace a

I

it

damaged

casting.

that the designer should

It is essential

'

broken

know how every detail

nated by him will be moulded, so
at

least

origi-

as to

ensure that the more important parts will be situated in that

part of the

As a rule

mould which

it

will be

is

most conducive

to

homogeneity.

necessary to have important machining

parts at the bottom of the mould, or at least as low

possible,

make
is

so

that the

superincumbent weight

for density at that part, while

ensured by

all dirt, slag, etc.,

attainable point.
diately over

of

down

metal

as

will

freedom from impurities

rising to the surface or highest

At the same time,

if

there

that part of the casting that

sound, the designer can arrange for

it

to

is

is

a core

imme-

required to be

be properly sup-

ported without having recourse to chaplets, which are not

only a cause of blowholes, but also, owing to the fact that
fusion with the surrounding metal

is

not complete, even with

DESIGN

119

tinned chaplets, a uniform surface cannot be obtained. Unless

specially instructed, the -moulder will always support the core

in this manner, irrespective of the purpose to which the cast-

ing will be put or of any machining that

done to

it.

may

eventually be

PATTERNS
A

GREAT deal

among patternmakers in
be made for contraction on

of confusion exists

general as to the allowance to

patterns for malleable castings, with the result that considerable inconvenience

sometimes caused owing

is

to the castings

being larger or smaller than anticipated, especially

and

of considerable dimensions,

to elucidate the

they are

if

matter

it

will

be necessary to explain the various factors which influence

the ultimate proportions of the casting.

The contraction
4 inch per

of malleable

scrap in the mixture

it

will

be less

it

pig iron

an excess

If there is

foot.

will

of

is,

approximately,

white iron and hard

be slightly more, and conversely

grey iron and soft scrap predominate, and

if

even with properly proportioned mixtures the difference

so slight that

it

may

In a casting 4 or 5

be regarded as a negligible quantity.

feet long the

many

appreciable, in

not

is

cases

it

amount would be

would be equal

to the

quite

amount

allowed for machining.

The

rate of melting

influence on the

and pouring has also a certain

amount

of contraction.

with very hot iron the contraction

iron

rapidly.

But

change takes

some

it

is

in

the

will contract less

than

if

cases

melted

expand

the amount being at least ^ inch per foot,

it

may even

equal the original contraction, and

the casting will then be of the

is

filled
if

the annealing oven that the greatest

place, for during the process the castings

considerably,

this

In a mould

be greater than

allowed to cool and thicken before pouring, and iron

is

melted slowly and uniformly

in

will

definite

same dimensions

especially noticeable in large,

as the pattern

heavy castings, and

if

we

PATTERNS
add

to this the rapping

121

which a pattern

of this description

generally receives in the moulding shop,

the dimensions of the casting

it

probable that

is

even exceed those of the

will

pattern.

Castings of circular form, such as commutator rings and

the rims of wheels, are liable to resist contraction to a certain
extent, but the subsequent expansion

equal to pattern
it

may

be a

size,

trifle

more.

It

has been conclusively proved by

experiment that the expansion

continuous, so that

anneal

if

cast iron

of

under heat

from any cause the duration

prolonged, the expansion

is

in nearly all cases

is

while for diameters above 2 feet 6 inches

is

carried

still

of

is

the

further than

the instances given above.

With

so

many

factors having a direct influence

ultimate size of the casting,

-doubt

and uncertainty

exists

it

is

upon the

only natural that so

amongst patternmakers,

much

for it is

obvious that no fixed rule can be laid down for their guidance,

and the best that can be done

is

to give

an approximation

suited to various classes of work.

The following contraction

.all

the classes referred to

be found to include

table will

Light castings

Medium
Heavy

i%-

J
1

,,

,,

,,

Eings above

1 foot 6 inches

diameter

The allowance to be given for machining

quantity, and
is

inch per foot.

much depends on whether

is

also

an uncertain

the machined surface

intended for fitting purposes or to act as a bearing or other

"wearing surface, possibly hardened

and

in addition to these

there are machined surfaces which are only intended to give

.a

finished appearance to the work,

ior

effect.

In any case

it

and are probably polished

should be borne in mind that

;;

MALLEABLE CAST

122

lEON"

weakens a malleable

excessive machining

easting,

owing

the

to

tact that the outer skin or layer of the iron is the strongest

and most ductile

This layer gives the patternmaker

part.

approximately J inch over all, so that in

small castings -^^ inch is sufficient for any purpose, but
a

latitude

of

12 inches in any dimension there are

for castings exceeding

two factors

The

distortion.

second

dimensions

the

with

increases

reckoned with, the

be

to

eastings.

If

they

are

to

which

of

expansion

has already been referred

first

dependent

is

influence

and

and the

to,

a great extent on the form of the

they are solid and massive in design they are

not likely to lose their proper shape in the annealing oven,

but should they do

so,

a possible contingency,

it

this

may

must always be regarded

not be possible to get

Such castings as wheel blanks and

true to pattern.

may

and

it

as-

back

sprockets-

be slightly oval or otherwise out of truth, and

it

would

be unreasonable to expect dead accuracy in the rough casting

but,

taking

everything

allowance

may

excessive

amount

the same time

The

consideration,

into

be assumed as
of

dimensions

necessary

the

This

not an

is

metal to remove by machining, while

ample

it is

inch.

-^-g

of

to

compensate

coreboxes

come

under

influences,

and they are consequently subject

on the part

of the

patternmaker

at-

for distortion.

the
to

for instance, a

same

mistakes

round core

intended for a hole to machine out to 12 inches, with an

allowance of ^ inch, would in a malleable casting perhaps be

too large to clean up, owing to expansion during annealing

the allowance, therefore, should be in consonance with the

outer dimensions.

The

relative cost of malleable castings

that weight

when

is to

a certain

and the coring

be kept down as

amount
of

of iron

much

makes

it

imperative

as possible, particularly

has to be cut away afterwards,

machined holes should therefore be studied

PATTERNS

123.

This also applies to the manner in which

with this in view.

the cores are fixed in the sand, as

the cored holes are so

much

it

frequently happens that

out of place that they will not

clean up, and in most cases this

much

due not so

is

to

the

placing and fixing of the core by the moulder as to the meagre

print allowance given by the patternmaker
apiDlies to

It

must be remembered that a

in the

this especially

overhanging and depth cores secured

molten metal as a cork

is

at

well-dried core

is

and the

in water,

exerted at the free end of a depth core

is

one end.
as

buoyant

lifting force

very considerable,

increasing, of course, with the length of unsupported core, so

that to counteract this either a chaplet or stop

over the core by the moulder, which

or else the patternmaker

is

must be placed

not always desirable,

must make the corebox long enough,

with long prints on the pattern to correspond, so that the

core

may

be held firmly enough in the sand to resist the

tendency to

float,

and

for this

purpose that part

which goes into the print should not be

of the entire length

less

of the core

than one-third

thus a core for a hole 8 inches deep

would be 12 inches long, allowing 4 inches for print.

As 99 per
sand, there

cent, of malleable castings

is

occasionally

some

made

are

difiiculty in deciding

certain parts of a casting should be

moulded

or

in green

whether

formed with

a core, and although the cost of patternmaking and moulding

is

considerably reduced by dispensing with cores as

possible, the question of

much

sound castings must be the

as

first

consideration, and to secure this result in castings of any size

and imjDortance the pattern must be

so constructed that there

are no projections, hanging pockets, or thin walls

sand, as these are

defects,

owing

jprolific

sources

to the difficulty of

to withstand the

of

of

green

blowholes and other

making them strong enough

wash and pressure

of metal,

time porous enough to permit the escape

and

of gases

at the

same

and steam.

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

124

As a matter
and

of course, the only alternative is to use cores,

in all cases jDrovision

must be made

position, so that there will be

for securing

no unevenness

of

to cores fitting loosely into prints, while at the

may

be noted that

if

the allowance

possibility of the core being crushed

this will cause scabbing

them

metal owing

same time

too fine there

is

when

the

in

mould

is

it

the

is

closed

and dirty castings.

In the case of important and intricate patterns the foreman

moulder should always be consulted, and the pattern made

to

requirements, which

suit his

experience

which

based on a technical

are

patternmaker

cannot

be expected to

possess, although an elementary knowledge of

moulding

is

essential.

The shape

them

in

process

of

some castings renders

or

three-

can

four-part

generally be

external cores.

By

this

it

necessary to mould

but this

boxes,

simplified

by the

troublesome
adoption

means the work can be done

of

an

in

ordinary two-part box, and as the cores present a dry surface

to the

molten

iron, there is greater probability of the casting

being sound than would otherwise be the case.

This

an

is

important point, and one that should be especially considered

in the production of malleable castings,

owing

to the rapidity

with which the surface metal congeals after pouring.

above

may

Taaking, so

even

if it

may not mean an increase

much depends on the design

or

does increase the

in the cost of

first cost,

The

in cost of patternof the pattern,

but

the corresponding saving

moulding and reduction in percentage

of wasters

will usually be found to offset this.

In most malleable foundries

it

is

usual to have what

called a " button " nailed to the pattern at the points

a feeder will be cut.

These are cut out

the shape and also the location of these

foundry foreman

of ^ inch
is

is

where

wood, and

determined by the

they save time by indicating the exact spot

PATTERNS
at

which the moulder

125'

cut the feeder without having to

is to

appeal to his foreman.

In repetition work a pattern

bottom

is

also

made for the

The

feeder.

with the button, and

of this is identical

fitted

is

with

two dowels which go into corresponding sockets in the button

15,

(fig.

page

the worker moulds pattern and

39), so that

feeder simultaneously, instead of having to carve out the feeder

as for odd jobs.

The shape and dimensions

of feeder patterns

are also decided by the foundry foreman.

For plate moulding the spinning

are

built

all

moulder has

up and connected
to

do

is

them

is

and

convenient,

usual to arrange-

is

it

shown

in fig. 13,

page 38, and by spinning the metal into this a supply

iron flows into every part of the mould at the

is

no

is alike

possibility of

There

are,

however,

same

and equally distant from the

one being fed

many

When

sprue or down-gate.

so that the feeder is in the centre as

each pattern

feeders-

to the patterns, so that all the

to cut the

the shape of the patterns

gate, runners,

at the

of clean

time,

and as

feeder, there

expense of another.

instances where

not only

it is

more

convenient, but also better practice, to gate in one part of the

easting and feed in another.

Metal patterns are made of cast iron, brass, white metal,

alloy, or

aluminium.

For plain patterns and

which there are no thin sections

liable to get

also for those in

broken by rough

usage incidental to foundry practice, cast iron

is

the best

material for standard patterns that are continuously in use,

the principal objection being that they are rather difficult
clean

up properly

where not machined owing

ness of the outer skin, and for this reason they are best
of

very

chilling.

soft

liable to rust

finished

iron,

and

cast

in a dried

Constant contact with

and consequent

pattern

is

pitting,

dipped in a

mould

damp sand
and

to-

to the hard-

to

made

prevent

renders them

to prevent this the

weak pickling solution

of

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

126

sulphuric acid to remove every vestige of grease and coated

with good stove varnish.

This

is

not so liable to chip

ordinary shellac varnish, but the latter

off as

often used, pre-

is

ferably without the addition of red lead or other thickening

matter.

Malleable patterns are not

suitable

for

Although they cannot get broken, the surface

large

castings.

and easily

is soft

dented, especially on sharp corners.

For all-round purposes brass

.and although the cost is in

is

by

far the best material,

some cases necessarily high, the

bulk of this can be recovered by melting down

pattern

is

no longer required.

objections as
for

malleable iron,

Soft brass

and

open

is

when

to the

unsuitable

therefore,

is,

prolonged use, but a hard mixture

is

the

same

serviceable.

The

outstanding advantages of brass patterns are that they are

asy

to iinish,

and give a smooth non-corrodible

surface, and,

OM'ing to the simplicity of soldering or sweating, complicated

patterns can easily be built up of difl'erent parts, and additional details

more

added

to existing patterns or feeders

moved

suitable places without risk of their eventually

to

working

loose.

In order to reduce the weight as

economise in the amount

make what

of

are called " shell

coring or by cutting

much

as possible,

metal required,
patterns."

and

also

it

is

usual to

This

is

done by

away from the wooden pattern

all

the

superfluous metal from the interior of the pattern, leaving

only a shell of J inch or less in thickness, according to size

This method is especially suitable for split
pattern.

of

patterns and half-jDatterns for plate and machine moulding.

For large standard patterns from which only a limited

number
for

of castings are required at a time,

those which, owing

easily broken

if

made

of

to

their shape,

wood, the use

of

and particularly

would warp or be
aluminium alloyed

PATTERNS
with a small proportion

of zinc is

parts aluminium to one part zinc

alone

and

too soft,

is

temperatures,

hardens

it

and

also

affected

at

The

makes soldering

Aluminium
ordinary

required

that

impossible.

is

About eight

a good mixture.

rapidly at

so

soldering that a good joint

zinc

recommended.

is

although not

oxidises

it

127

for

addition of

possible, and, the

proportion being small, does not appreciably affect the lightness which makes aluminium so desirable for the purpose.

Temporary metal

patterns,

for experimental purposes, are

parts tin and lead

may

and those required in a hurry or

made

of soft white metal.

Equal

a good mixture, but the proportion of tin

is

be reduced or even lead alone used to suit requirements.

These patterns are

easily

finished,

but

are

too

soft

for

continuous service.

When

required to

it is

sample in which there

it is

necessary to

cooling,

and

is

make

make use

for this

a metal pattern from a plaster

no allowance
of

for double contraction,

an alloy that

purpose type metal

hand, an emergency pattern

may

is

will not shrink in

used

on the other

be required from a sample

casting which

is

wanted and cannot be retained as a pattern.

In this case

is

usually

it

left to

the moulder to

make

sufficient

allowance by rapjDing the pattern to enlarge the mould, but as

this is often so clumsily

the casting,

many

on cooling.

This

done as to destroy the symmetry

prefer to

is

make

of

use of an alloy that expands

cast in a mould,

made from

the sample, and

with only a moderate rapping gives an approximate allowance

that

is

near enough for

the outline of the

castings,

all practical

casting.

This

purposes, while preserving

is

only suitable for small

and the sand must not be rammed

too hard.

In the preparation of wooden patterns from which metal

patterns

allowance

are
is

to

be

doubled.

made
This

joung pattern-makers, and

the contraction and machining

is

a point frequently missed by

also

by older ones who are not

MALLEABLE CAST lEON

128

accustomed to

this class of work.

The following

table will be-

of assistance in setting out the required dimensions

Composition and Coxteaction of Metal Patterns.

Met.'il

or Alloy.

PATTERNS

129

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

130

open ends being stopped up with putty to prevent escape.

This will be set in an hour, and can be removed from the rope,
corebox, being faced with plaster,

continuous use,

one from

it

and therefore

and have

box

is

shaped to

it

made

articles are to be

fit

This

of thick shellac varnish.

trimmed up, and given a coat

is

it

made

not serviceable enough for

will

be necessary to mould

in cast iron or brass,

The other

in quantities.

the

if

half of the

the print on the pattern, and presents no

difficulty.
Ic

generally waste of time to

is

make

boards for

strickle

cylindrical cores, as these are very seldom

made

in

loam

for

malleable castings, and the foundries

usually require a corebox for the pur-

pose unless they happen to have suitable ones in stock.

Skeleton pipe patterns do not give

good
Fig. 13.

unsuitable

Eope corebox.

pattern

is

and although not wholly

malleable

for

i.

the expense of

more than

appearance

results,

justified

castings,

makmg

by the accuracy,

a complete

reliability,

and

of the resulting casting.

The patternmaker

is

sometimes called upon

to alter

and

adapt old patterns that have been used for grey iron castings
so as to

make them

class of

suitable for malleable,

work that the higher contraction

and
of

it

is

in this

white iron

is

frequently overlooked in the endeavour to reduce weight by

thinnmg down some portions and cutting or coring lightening

holes in others.

The

principal dimensions, over all

to centre, should first be

extra ^ inch per foot contraction,

attended

to.

This

is

odd single castings,

the safest
it is

and centre

checked over and altered to suit the

and then the other

way

details

of working, but, unless for

not often that an old pattern can be

satisfactorily adapted to suit the

requirements of the malleable

PATTERNS

131

foundry, and as a rule the cost of making a good job of

be as high as the cost of a

new

it

will

pattern, while the result

is

not quite so good.

Figures or letters that are to appear on the casting are

much more
in,

and are

legible

if

raised above the surface than

easier to mould, especially

characters on the pattern

block,

by means

of

they are fastened to a wooden

itself,

mould

as

may

it

reversed or

numbered

misplaced,

upon any

be required.

may

not

and every corebox should

be

Loose pieces are marked in position so that they

get

sunk

instead of having the

if,

which the moulder can impress

part of the finished

if

or lettered, a corresponding

stamped on the print that goes with

number
it.

or letter being

Core prints should

be painted a distinct colour, so that they will not be mistaken

for bosses or other projections,

which

will

be of the same

colour as the pattern.

In making up a spray of small patterns the best method of

procedure

is

to take

one half of a box similar to those in which

the castings will eventually be

sand

rammed

fairly hard.

moulded and

The

and the patterns are arranged

side of

it,

them.

at

is

it

with black

laid

leaving sufficient space to introduce a feeder between

All the parts are pressed lightly into the sand, after

which they are taken out

bit

in a

fill

down the middle,

suitable manner on each

ridge

singly,

and tinned with a soldering

the parts where they will be joined together and

The spray can now be soldered together without

replaced.

disturbing the arrangement, and after trimming the joints

with

file

and scraper

it is

ready for use.

In the preparation of plates for plate moulding the method

is

the same whether they are of wood or metal, and consequently

the following instructions will apply equally well to both.

Many

patterns having one

single plate.

flat side

can be moulded from a

This forms the bottom half of the mould, and the

K 2

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

132

top

rammed up on

simply

is

The preparation
making

board.

flat

of the plate is identical with that already described for

u]3

a spray, except that, instead of being soldered together, the

various parts are secured to the plate.

made

Patterns that are

may

in halves

be moulded from two

separate plates or from both sides of a single plate, and in

both cases great care

is

necessary in arranging the patterns

the mould register correctly

so that the separate halves of

when

For

closed for pouring.

this reason only a

snap flask

or a set of interchangeable boxes can be used.

box

is

fitted

over one of

patterns arranged as

they are to occupy

secured to the plate

black sand, and
is

may

and

plates,

tlie

set of half-

be most convenient in the position

the box
the box

rammed up

is

removed, and the patterns

then replaced,

is

as for

moulding

filled

up with

the plate then

removed, and the surface of the mould dusted over with

French

The working

chalk.

face of the second plate is next

painted over with a thin coat of shellac varnish mixed with

and while

aniline black,

damp and "tacky"

still

it

is

fitted

over and pressed on to the face of the mould, so that on

removing
against a

it

the sharp outline of the mould

black

This

background.

is

is

shown

called

in white

" taking

an

impression," and as soon as the varnish has dried the remain-

ing half-patterns can be secured in position, as indicated by

the outlines of the impression, with a certainty of their being
accurately in register.
It

then remains to arrange the gating and feeding, and

will generally

be found that a

common

the centre of the plate to supply

-

a loose piece 'dowelled to

position

if

for

fit

all

it

feeder can be fixed in

the castings.

This will be

on a "button," marking

its

heavy castings, while for light ones a truncated

cone about 2 inches high will be

sufficient.

The runners are formed by well-tapered strips f inch deep

PATTERNS
and J inch wide the spinner
;

same

which forms the top half

position in

is

and depth.

in height

about 2 inches diameter, and the

on one

All these are fixed

plate,

mould, and are shown in

of the

In the bottom half are recesses formed

74.

fig.

133

below the down-gate and the feeder by buttons J inch thick,

and also the lower half of the spinning chamber.

single plate, with pattern halves on both sides, is prepared

same way

in the

but unless the position of the pins and

socliets is standardised

To do
side

of

this,

the

and

one half
plate

strictly accurate, it

by means

locate the second set

may

be safer to

of a "cross impression."

of the

box

rammed up on

is

that

which the

to

half-patterns are already secured,

rammed up on

the other being

flat

board

the

first

box part

a
is

then dusted over with chalk, and

the boxes are closed as for casting.

an "impression" on
This gives
"
the black sand in the second part,

and from

this

is

it

number

of castings

The

and feeder on

transferred

Eeverse plate-moulding

of patterns.

^
Gate

plate.

manner

to the plain side of the plate in the

the

^,

Fig. Y4.

is

made

title is

just described.

an ingenious method
in a

doubling

mould from a given number

erroneous, as

mould, and not the plate, which

of

is

the top half of the

it is

reversed.

Patterns suitable for single or double plate work are also

suitable for

when

the

reversing,

number

but the method

gating and feeding arrangements

it is

On

account of the

being reversed with the

only used for occasional work on account of the

extra metal required for casting.

it is

only resorted to

of castings required does not justify the

expense of making additional patterns.

mould,

is

As

will be seen in fig. 75,

accomplished by laying the patterns along one side or at

MALLEABLE CAST lEON

134

one end

on

this,

will be

of the plate

both halves of the box are

and the mould

on one side

of the

bottom box, and the remainder on

the opposite side in the top box, as

The system may

rammed up

closed, so that one half of the castings

also be

shown

in section (fig. 76)

worked by laying the two halves

of a

EiG. 76.

Fig. 73.

Reverse

moulding.

larger pattern, both of which are alike, in the middle of the

plate

but as this requires great accuracy in the fitting of the

boxes in order to ensure an even joint,

practice.

Keverse moulding

is

it

is

not general

not adapted for continuous or

standardised work, as a complete set of patterns gives a

more

satisfactory

and economical

result.

much

INSPECTION AND TESTING

When
new

castings are required in large quantities, or are of a

design not yet proved, or

firm,

is

it

if

they are ordered from a new

becoming a recognised custom

sample casting, unannealed, shall

order

is

to stipulate that a

be forwarded before

the

This should be broken up, and the

proceeded with.

various sections carefully examined for internal flaws, which

may be due to either the moulding or the design

Any alterations or corrections may thus be made

of the work.

in the initial

stage.

Defects due to moulding are, generally speaking,

holes,

and cold

laps, while flaws arising

wrong

excessive contraction generally indicate

examination
first,

of

design.

In the

unannealed castings, taking superficial defects

the most noticeable are caused by the presence of slag and

other impurities which float on the surface of

iron,

blow-

dirt,

from shrinkage and

and which sometimes

their

find

way

the molten

into the mould,

where they are trapped when the metal reaches the

are not at

all difficult to

discern,

and may

picking out with the tang of a

file

top.

They

easily be exposed

or other

pointed

by

tool.

Unless these holes are deeper than the allowance for machining,
they will have no deleterious
if

no machining

is

to

effect

on the finished

article

but

be done at that part, the reduction of

area caused by their presence must be taken into consideration,

and the casting accepted

amount

of reduction

or rejected according to the

and the margin allowed

Provided that the factor

of

safety

is

for in the design.

ample, and that the

stresses incurred will be only in direct tension or compression,

the presence of small quantities of dirt

is

not so detrimental

MALLEABLE CAST lEON

136

as

would be in castings subjected

it

under these conditions

as

rupture, and for this reason

A more
is

must be

serious defect of the

caused

by some part

to torsion or

bending

stress,

they form a starting-point for

same

class is

known

as scab. It

mould or core becoming

the

of

rejected.

detached, either by expansion of the gases generated, or by

being washed away by the stream of molten metal as

into

and around the mould.

it

runs

These detached portions may, as

in the previous case, rise at once to the surface of the fluid

metal,

in

which

case

their

presence

obvious

is

frequently happens that these parts do not break

but

away

it

until

'W

Fig. 77.

Pig. 78.

Pig. 79.

Scabbing.

well covered,

and by

this time the metal has already

congeal, with the result that the patch of sand

in the metal

by which

it

flaw, of the presence of

no apparent

is

Fig.

is to

become detached from the lower part

risen to the surface of the liquid metal,

is

of the

and

of

in its

sand has

mould, and has

is

trapped against

the scab corresponds in dimensions

If

i^robably sound,

section, the defect will be

defect

A patch

with the depression on the opposite side,

metal

to

the unpractised eye

77 shows this

simplest and most easily discernible form.

the top of ihe mould.

begun

imprisoned

surrounded, forming a dangerous

which there

indication.

is

and as there

is

the intervening

no reduction

merely an unsightly one.

the projection has been broken

carried to another part of the

by the flow

In

fig.

of

78

of metal,

and

mould before being trapped.

In

off

INSPECTION AND TESTING

case the full extent of

this

may

surface, but

the flaw

137

not visible

is

the

at

be ascertained by comparison with the scab.

Fig. 79 shows the worst form of this defect, the sand being

trapped before

has reached the surface, and

it

only indicated by the scab.

may

be immediately over

presence

its

The imprisoned patch

which case

this, in

it

may

be dis-

covered by drilling a small hole at the point indicated, or

may

possibly have been carried to

so that

casting,

possibility that

that the casting

the scab
it

is

may have

There

of

the further

is

been carried up the feeder, and

perfectly sound,

which

quite probable

if

to

is

some distance away,

it is

-especially in the case of

must be assumed,

it

important castings, that

is

it

in the

Scab must not be confounded with swelling, which

metal.

it

the

found immediately under, or in close proximity

is

however,

if,

some other part

cannot be located.

it
it

is

sand

of

due

protuberance

to

weakness

of

the mould at

and usually presents a smooth, evenly-rounded

is

the part,

surface, while

the scab shows distinctly the outlines of the cavity from which

the sand has broken away.

scab

is visible it is

or chipping

ment

in

it

away.

places

It will

be noted that

Any

where

it

best

unbroken

and

only the

evidence, therefore, of such treatis

not obviously necessary

amount

naturally be regarded with a certain

The

if

possible to conceal the defect by grinding

evidence of a good
skin, except

casting

in

is

where necessary

to

of

must

suspicion.

most cases an

remove the gate

feeder.

Cold shuts or laps are frequently mistaken for cracks, but

on close observation the difference

will

be at once apparent.

crack presents sharp, jagged edges, due to tearing apart of the

crystals, while

on the other hand the edges

of a cold

rounded and the contour distinctly curvilinear.

due

to

(1)

section of metal being too thin;

allowed to cool too far before pouring.

(2)

shut are

They are
iron being

In castings of light

MALLEABLE CAST lEON

138

and thin section they generally go right through, as shown in

fig.

80, but in heavier sections they rarely extend

more than

^ inch or j\ inch in depth. In either case the acceptance or

rejection of castings having this fault must be left to the
discrimination of the insjjector, who, knowing the purpose for

One thing

which they are intended, can judge accordingly.

must be
is

noted,

a cold lap occurs at the edge of a casting

if

it

a potential starting point for a crack to develop under

They may be

vibration or alternating stresses.

caulking or hammering, but

it

closed

up by

does not require a practised

eye to detect this.

The inner angles

of all castings of

u section should

H and

be carefully examined for flaws due to contraction, and the

circumference of

circular castings for

all

called a " sear."

^^^^^^^^^

at or

is

^^^^^^

jj.

j^j^^j.

is

What

are

known

of

the

improperly dried.

commonly

generally found

^jjj

a serious defect for the

probably extend under

working conditions similar to the last-named

venting

is

near the gate where the metal enters-

the mould, and

Fig. 80.-Cold shut.

This

what

as blowholes are

mould or
In the

core,
first

or

defect.

caused by insufficient

by

the

mould being

case the gases generated in

the mould are unable to escape, and are imprisoned in the

form

of globules,

and

in the second case they are

damp mould or core this

way through the iron, but is

formation of the steam from the

succeeds in partially forcing
arrested before
distinct
diffused.

it

its

due to the
;

reaches the surface, and causes sponginess,

from gaseous blowholes, being smaller and more

Both are somewhat

difficult to locate,

cases they are not discovered until

been removed by machining.

some

and in most

of the

metal has

Sometimes, however, careful

observation will reveal the presence of minute holes in the

skin of the casting through which some of the imprisoned

Malleable Pio Iron. Spotted White.

Approximate Analysis.
iphitio carbon, '50 per cent.

combined carbon, 3'06 per

cent.

;:

siKcon, -51 per cent.; sulphur, -184 per cent.; phosphorus,.

05

per cent.

manganese,

'28 per cent.

MALLEABLE CAST lEOX

140

gases have escaped, and by probing these with a fine wire

some

idea of their depth and extent

any circumstances

some

their

presence

cases possibly dangerous,

may be formed

but under

highly detrimental, in

is

and such castings had better

be rejected without reserve.

Cracks that have been caused throuf;h injury to the casting

condemn

while in a hard state must always

They are

it.

generally to be found in the immediate vicinity of a feeder or

gate.

In addition to the usual tensile

test

machine there are several mechanical

by means

of a testing

vogue

tests in

to

prove

the quality of the material, and of these the bending test

is

the most practical, as well as the most conclusive, provided

the bending

is

done under impact

if

the pressure

applied as by means of a screw-press,

A common

reliable reading.

is

may

this latter

be defiected

to

means, while

if

supported in the same manner and struck with a

would probably break

gradually

does not give such a

grey iron bar

amount by

a comparatively large

it

at half the deflection, or

hammer

even

less.

it

In

other words, pressure gradually applied gives no indication of

the

amount

of resilience

and

test for deflection

instances

from

is

the only test applied, as enough

this to influence the inspector's

for this purpose

ladle of iron

a,

of the casting

may

be

(1)

the casting;
(3)

A combined

possessed by the casting.

resilience is a severe one,

(2) cast

may

judgment.

cast separately

and

in

most

be deduced
Test pieces

from the same

on, but not forming a part

cut from a sample casting.

They should

be 6 inches in length, and in order to standardise, the section

should always be the same.

adopted that
is

bent

is

AV

block

<;ases,

of 1 inch

For

this

purpose the author has

by i inch, and the radius over which

it

fixed at f inch.
is

another accessory which

and as the angle

is

is

available in

usually 90 degrees

it

will

most

show the


INSPECTION AND TESTING
extreme bending
of the

141

test at a glance, the distance across the top

to be not

than 5J inches.

less

When

testing

is

frequently carried on there should be special blocks for the

purpose, three in number, and forming angles of 90, 60 and

The

40 degrees.

test piece is laid across the V,

and a IJ inch

bar or a special set having a face rounded to f inch radius is

held across the middle of the bar and hammered down by

a succession of moderate blows until the shape of the bar

coincides with that of the V.

The following

table

considerable period.
practical

and

of the best

is

based on tests carried out over a

It is

an approximation, but nevertheless

fairly reliable, representing

known founders

Class of Iron.

an average

in the country:

of several

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

142

done
30

test, as,

on
is

by dropping the casting from a height

(1)

feet

on to an iron slab or block.

when

carried out in this

It is

manner, everything depends

moment

the position of the casting at the

at best

about

of

not a very reliable

impact

of

it

only a rough-and-ready means of proving resist-

ance to shock.

similar height

on

such a way that

objection to this
casting as

better test (2)

that there

falls,

it

method

reliable

The

of the block.

no means

of controlling the

may

and consequently the impact

The most

slanting one.

is

of triangular section in

apex

strike the

will

it

is

drop the easting from a

is to

heavy block

to a

(3)

is

be a

to i^lace the

casting on a heavy slab or block, and dropping a weight upon

it

from a given height,

size of the

dropweight

casting, but

it

after the
will

manner

of a pile driver.

depend on the scantling

of

The
the

should have a spherical face and be so designed

as to drop fairly on to the casting at or near a point judged to

The success

be the most suitable for the purpose.

lies

in

having the

tion, or of sufficient
full force of

test

mass

hammering

shock of the impact

of the

hammering
apparent.

this

is

elastic material

or drawing out the end of a bar

may

or swaging that

it

may

when
amount of

anvil,

will stand before disintegration

is easily

detected by

of

carbon in

the other hand, an over-annealed casting will

sometimes exhibit a remarkable degree

hammer,

which

be formed by

on the

be judged by the

Imperfectly annealed work

On

solid founda-

to a certain extent.

means, as well as work containing an excess

the mixture.

of this test

possible to nullify the

toughness or ductility

the quality of the material

is

it

by supporting the slab on some

good idea

on a

to permit the casting to receive the

the blow, otherwise

will absorb the

slab or block resting

so that this test

of ductility

under the

must only be used in conjunction

with others.

Cracks or any description of rupture in a casting

may easily

INSPECTION AND TESTING

be detected by " ringing,"

hammer.

light

hearing this test

by suspending and tapping with

i.e.,

To anyone possessed
and even

infaUible,

is

143

if

good sense

of a

no flaw

is visible,

casting of any importance should be accepted unless

The

true.

artistically

rings

it

special merit of this test lies in the fact that

how

matter

artfully

may

fracture

any " stopping" has been

of

no
no

how

be caulked, or

applied, its presence is

betrayed by this means.

A bending test only is sometimes applied

to castings that will

not under working conditions be subjected to sudden shocks,

but have only to withstand variations in pressure gradually

The

applied and released.

end

in a vice, or the end

block

the other end

of pipe fitted over

is

it,

press

gripped at one

placed in a hole in an anvil or swage

is

and

then pulled over until signs of

it is

This

available, in

is

is

held in a pair of tongs, or has a piece

fracture are noticeable.

no

piece to be tested

is

a simple method, used

when

which case the piece would be sup-

ported at the ends and pressure applied at or near the centre.

It will

be apparent that this

therefore

its

value as such

is

not a severe

test is

small, but

it is

and

one,

suitable for long,

light castings of a certain class.

It requires

some experience

to be able

detect hard or

to

more especially when

commenced and has penetrated to

imperfectly annealed castings at sight,

the annealing has actually

a depth
will

of

^ inch or J inch.

If the

work

is

not stand the test for ductility, but

annealed as stated the casting

is

distinctly
if

hard

it

only slightly

enveloped in a soft ductile

skin; this will pass through any of the tests already referred
to,

provided they are not severely applied, and although the

interior or

hard core

will

be broken up in most of them,

concealed by the outer covering.

by the general appearance

outlines

more sharply

An

of a easting

defined,

it is

experienced eye can

if it is

hard

it

has

tell

its

and has a peculiar gloss on

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

144

the surface, neither of which are to be found on well-annealed

castings.
It is

impossible to describe these points intelligibly in print,

but should there be any suspicion of hardness

to destruction

and judge from the character

Under circumstances which

will not allow the

it is

well to test

of the fracture.

above method,

such as large and important castings, the drilling test

This means drilling a small hole, not

applied.

in diameter, at

any point where

with the utility of the casting

in fairly hard iron

it

made

in castings of

free

is

will

from structural

vided

-^^

be

inch

drill

work well

will

The hole should

the drill will penetrate so far

if

normal speed the casting

may

a twist drill of ordinary tool

properly tempered.

if

be about ^ inch in depth, and

than

presence will not interfere

should be used, as a flat-pointed

steel

at a

its

less

be found satisfactory, proflaws.

Exception must be

unusual length, which have probably been

annealed in a case oven and are possibly harder at one end

than the other

two ends
verify

will

a difference in

general appearance of the

suggest this, and a drilling at each end will

it.

Conditions exactly opposite to the foregoing are to be found

in castings that have been over-annealed or subjected to too

high a temperature during the process.

resilience are high,
tensile strength,

and

which

is

will

pass

all

The

ductility or

tests except that

exceedingly low.

ear will also note a dulness in the sound emitted

casting

is

rung, which

is

sound

of a

article is against
is

a lead-like

The

when the

very convincing, being totally different

from the sharp metallic ring

bell-like

for

The experienced

good one.

of a

hard casting, or the

.

The general appearance

clear,

of

the

the sharp corners are

missmg, and there

sheen on the surface which is unmistakable.
it

fracture shows a dull grey iron of a finely crystalline

nature, surrounded by a distinct skin of lighter metal, which

INSPECTION AND TESTING

may

be up to ^y inch in thickness, this

from the

distinctly separated

that

it

145

well defined and

is

such a way

rest of the material in

can be easily detached.

Castings which present an attenuated appearance heightened

by a

distinct pitting

on the

surface,

and which are palpably

much

smaller than the pattern, with cored holes

larger than

required, are those which have been subjected to the action of

the flames through defective sealing of the pans.

Excessive

scaling takes place under the circumstances, with the result

referred

and are
the

They

to.

are technically

of little value, as apart

casting, the nature

doubtful

of

from the bad appearance

the material

being

character,

" burnt " castings,

known as

of

is

of

an extremely

"short" and unreliable under

stress.

very deceptive

test,

m order to mislead
12 inches by

but one that

the unwary,

take a thin,

end with a spanner,

free

round into the form

of a spiral.

which suggests a high degree

is

sometimes resorted to
flat bar,

say

inch by J inch, and by fixing one end in a vice

and gripping the

which

is to

is

upon

dispelled

The

to twist

result is

an

it

completely

optical illusion

of malleability in the bar,

investigation,

which

will

but

show that

the actual angle of bend in proportion to the length of

the

casting

as a

is

so very small as to be practically valueless

test.

In order

to simplify calculations in the case of test pieces

made

for tensile strength,

the smallest diameter

798 inch, which

exactly half a square inch in area, or

564 inch, which

is

experiment that a

forming part

of

is

exactly one quarter.

test

It

bar cast separately

is

is

usually

has been found by

stronger than one

the casting required, owing to the quicker

cooling of the former, and the nearer a test piece

casting of which

it

lies to

forms a part, the more accurately

indicate the strength of the casting.

C.I.

the

will it

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

146

The strength

by

of a test piece is also materially influenced

the temperature of the metal at the time of pouring or casting.

The

hottest metal will

provided the bar

is

invariably give

cast to size

the

strongest

bar,

and not afterwards turned

down.
There

considerable diversity of opinion as to what con-

is

stitutes a reliable test piece for malleable cast

iron,

depends

of

to a great extent

its tensile

on the outer skin or layer

strength and ductility.

As

which

metal for

in grey iron castings,

the strength decreases towards the centre of the mass, where

the bulk of t^e carbon

from a thick

is

section,

concentrated, so that a test piece cut

or a test

bar

cast,

say IJ inch in

diameter, will,

0)

required size, leave a section of metal that

-^

when turned down

cannot possibly be relied upon

to the

to give

any

indication of the average strength of the

casting as a whole.

It follows, therefore,

made from

that a genuine test can only be

EiG. 81. Shearing,

g,

only sufSeient metal

size.

bar cast to nearly finished

to take off a light cut

size,

down

allowing

to standard

bar of this description will show an increase in tensile

strength of from 30 to 50 per cent, over one from which a

considerable

amount

This fact

not so generally

is

of the

engineering material as

many

result that

it

outer metal has been removed.

known amongst

inspectors of

ought to be, with the unfortunate

valuable eastings, the quality of which

is

indisputable and which are suitable in every particular for

the purpose for which they have been designed, are

on the misleading evidence

piece,

which

honestly

is

of

condemned

an improperly prepared

a glaring injustice to the founder

endeavouring

to

meet

the

test

who

is

requirements of his

customers.

A very

good

test to

apply

for

ductility or

softness is to

INSPECTION AND TESTING

may be done
hammer and sett

shear a piece right across, which

plate shears or with a sledge
latter

method being preferred.

147

The piece used

either under
81), the

(fig.

for this

purpose

need not be more than ^ inch square, and on examination the

sheared ends will have the appearance of good mild steel
plate

if

the material

is of

good quality, while an inferior grade

will present a more broken surface, showing a lack of cohesive-

ness due to ineffective feeding or an excess of grey iron in the

mixture, either of which detracts considerably from the value
of the work.

I.

FOUNDRY CHEMISTRY
To a great many ironfounders the analyses sent out with
consignments

have

of pig iron

The

or no significance.

little

various percentages of silicon, suli^hur, phosphorus, manganese,

carbon,

graphitic

combined

and

carbon

minds that are already

figures apparently intended to confuse

overburdened with problems

of a

meaningless

are

more

To

practical nature.

such minds, imperfectly aware of the interaction or

effect of

one element on another, any attempt

foundry

mixtures by a systematic combination

to

of so

regulate

many

variable

and

unstable factors must lead to complications, and the average

foundry has troubles enough without seeking for more.

There

been working for generations on

are foundries that have

certain classes of work, using the

same

old brands of pig iron

and getting excellent results every time, and

it

is

in such

places as these that any suggestion of mixing by analysis

ridiculed.

But

in

places have taken

hundreds

up new work they have

and

it

is

now

best malleable-foundry

chemistry

is

essential,

generally

practice

badly when

failed

required to work to specification on an entirely

castings,

new

to

class of

recognised that in the

some knowledge

not only

is

where these old-fashioned

of cases

of

foundry

gain and maintain a

reputation for turning out good, sound castings, but also to

remedy
working.

old

troubles

and

effect

Without the application

substantial
of

economies

in

chemistry heavy losses

are incurred through waste of fuel and iron waster castings,

and castings returned by dissatisfied customers as unsuitable

the purpose for which they were ordered.
of

Even

if

for

the services

an expert foundry chemist are not available, very

satis-

FOUNDEY CHEMISTEY
may

factory progress
intelligent

knowledge
that

of

be

made under

the supervision of an

or foreman possessing only

foundry chemistry.

It is

an elementary

only to the uninitiated

subject appears complicated and involved, for the

the

number

manager

149

of elements to

be considered

and simple

calculations are so few

is

and the

so small,

most purposes, that

for

any one with an elementary Board School education can in a

very short time learn the

first

principles of foundry chemistry,

and though he may not be able

of a

to take

up the onerous duties

foundry chemist, he can at least produce a satisfactory

iron mixture having any particular composition or property

required by specification.

He may

not be able to analyse the

pig iron, but he can use the analysis provided by the makers

which

is

usually near enough for most practical purposes.

Let us consider

first

the nature of the various elements that

are found in cast iron, and that have such important effects on
its

structure and characteristics.

These elements, sometimes

referred to as metalloids, will be dealt with in the order in

which they generally appear in the tabulated analyses

of pig

iron sent out by manufacturers or their agents.

Silicon.

In combination with other elements silicon forms

an important part in the formation

of rocks.

It

does not

occur free in a natural state, but aways in combination with

other elements.
it is

a solid that

The chemical symbol

may

for silicon is Si,

hard as a diamond, or amorphous in the form

brown powder.

What

silicon dioxide.

V/hite sand

yellow sands consist of

is

another form of

natural form.

and

be crystalline and very hard, almost as

is

familiarly

silica

silica,

is

known

nearly pure

of a fine reddish-

as silicon is really
silica,

and red and

coloured with iron oxide.

and rock crystal

is silica

in

its

Flint

purest

British pig irons contain silicon in varying

proportions according to their grade, usually from

-6

per cent.

in white and mottled pig to 3 per cent, in soft grades

of

MALLEABLE CAST lEON

160

Higher percentages are sometimes met with,

foundry iron.

and there are a few

soft irons that contain as

much

made

in the electric furnace

The form

silicon.

The

a silicide (FeSi).

and

considerable,

which

in

it

may

contain 30 to 50 per cent, of

silicon is

found in cast iron

influence of silicon

on cast iron

important as well as the most convenient element

base in making up mixtures for various purposes.

amount

is

is

as

very

considered to be the most

usually

is

as 3'5

Ferrosilicon

per cent, of silicon, but they are exceptional.

use as a

to

certain

cupola or furnace during the

of silicon is lost in the

melting process through oxidisation, and the greater the blast

the more oxygen

is

ing the silicon into

of silicon will lose

brought in contact with the iron, convert-

An

silica.

iron having a high percentage

much more than one

with a low percentage,

so that while one iron containing 3 per cent, of silicon will lose
as

much

as 15 per cent, of

it,

another iron with only a very

small percentage of silicon will under similar conditions show

The influence

hardly any

loss.

cast iron

very marked and

is

is

on the shrinkage of

of silicon

greater than that of any other

and recent experiments have shown

non-metallic element,

that an increase of "2 per cent, in the silicon content will

produce a corresponding decrease in shrinkage of "01

foot.
is

The

effect of silicon

most important, but

on the carbon content

this

matter

hardness or softness
of silicon
its

of iron is

will

The

dealing with the latter element.

maximum

in hardness

at about

up

Sulphur.

The

per cent.

effect,

Above

especially

when

on the

this

which reaches
is

a decrease

and beyond

this,

up

hardness increases again.

influence

of

sulphur (S) on cast iron

governed largely by the other elements that

more

per

very noticeable, a low percentage

to 2 per cent, of silicon,

to 3 per cent, the

be considered

effect of silicon

having a distinct hardening

"9

in.

of pig iron

by

the

manganese.

may

is

be present,

The sulphur

exists

FOUNDRY CHEMISTET

151

in the iron as a sulphide of iron, and in melting an iron

high in manganese the

latter will

combine with the sulphur

and pass into the slag as manganese sulphide. The percentage

of

sulphur present in ordinary grey irons ranges from '01 to

but in white and mottled irons there

may

be as

Although the sulphur content

to '35 per cent.

much
of

as

most

irons is considerably lower than that of any other controlling

elements

its

influence

is

very pronounced, and on this account

it

must not be

is

usually increased by the absorption of a further quantity

from the

The amount

neglected.

of

sulphur in pig iron

during melting in the cupola, and a definite and

fuel

unexpected increase in the sulphur percentage

will

produce

sluggish metal in the ladle and greater contraction and chill

The gain

in the mould.
fuel

may

in sulphur from contact with the

be as high as "04 to "06 per cent.,

and

if

the iron is

used for light work the castings will be extremely hard.

Further, owing to the sluggishness of the molten metal the
occluded gases are not able to pass

off freely

thus producing

blowholes and unsound castings, and leaving a heavy skull of

metal in the

The only remedy

ladle.

for this

is

to

pour such

iron very hot, because at a high temperature the sulphur has

the effect of

making the molten metal very

allow the gases to pass

will absorb

off.

fluid, and thus

The readiness with which iron

sulphur from the fuel indicates the necessity for

having a reliable analysis

in order to be

able

to

of the coke, as well as of the iron,

produce satisfactory castings from

specified mixtures.

Phosphoeus.

The

most familiar form

of

phosphorus (P)

a poisonous yellow substance that glows and smoulders

exposed to the

air,

in water, because

111 F.

It is

and

it

is

so inflammable that

it

is

when

must be kept

burns spontaneously at a temperature of

not found in a free state in nature, but exists in

several minerals as a phosphate.

It is easily

absorbed by the

MALLEABLE OAST lEON

152

iron from the ore, fuel, and flnx, hence there

is

always a slight

tendency for the percentage to be increased each time the iron

when once absorbed

melted, and

is

When combined

of.

substance that
is

owing

is

with iron

hard and

brittle,

to the brittleness of this

it

it

cannot be readily got rid

exists as a phosphide, a

but readily fusible, and

it

phosphide that the pig irons

containing a high percentage of phosphorus can be broken so

Very

easily.

fine

and

intricate castings can readily be

from high-phosphorus irons containing up

to 1'75

small quantity of phosphorus will increase the fluidity

the

of

molten metals, and so tend to produce a strong

homogeneous
has the

casting.

It

has already been stated that sulphur

making the iron sluggish

effect of

normal pouring

at

temperature, as well as increasing contraction and

chill, all of

which may be counteracted by a judicious adjustment

phosphorus content

may

be said that

of the mixture.

this the shrinkage is

increased,

effect

per cent., but as a compensation for

to

is

produce good sound castings.

Like many other metalloids, manganese (Mn)

found in nature as a compound, chiefly in the form of

manganese dioxide or peroxide (MnOa), which

forms the base of
mercially

The

it is

action

explained,
is

it

on most

reduced and the fluidity of the metal

which tends

Manganese.

of the

Generally speaking

phosphorus has a weakening

castings containing over

is

made

per cent.

all

better

of

known

as black

manganese on

and although

its

manganese

sulphur

that,

owing

to

its

has

Com-

or pyrolusite.

already

been

influence on cast iron in general

as yet imperfectly understood, there

show

practically

other manganese compounds.

action

is sufficient

on the

carbon,

evidence to
it

is

an

undesirable element in the production of malleable castings

by the Eeaumur process.

In other directions

valuable and important constituent, and

in

feteel

making in the form

of

is

it

is

a very

used extensively

ferromanganese and spiegeleisen.

Malleable Pig Iron.

White.

Approximate Analysis.
'215 per cent.
caroon, 3'28
a'za per cent.
ceni;.
combined carbon,
Graphitic carbon. 25
nor- rc^-nf.
nTinsnVinrTls
42 perf cent.
cent.; phosphorus,
sulphur, '218 per
silicon, ^42
05 per cent.
manganese, '2b per cent.
;

;
;

MALLEABLE OAST lEON

154

One

manganese on pig iron must be

mixing by analysis and

characteristic effect of

mentioned

show

to

clearly the value of

the futility of judging the quality of

appearance

By

the fracture.

of

cast

assumed that a coarse open grain indicates a

that hard iron shows a fine grain.

who maintain

this theory

fracture; yet

iron

is

will, when
broken, show
when melted down and run

scrap from the appearance of the fracture

hard close-grained chilled scrap

whereas the contrary

close grain being

soft iron,

i&

and

coarse-grained

into castings the

Again, in judging the character of

extremely hard.

is

will

is

it

assumed that

produce hard castings^

Good

usually the case.

made from very

castings are often

the
it

that pig iron high

manganese

in

by

Unfortunately for those

now known

it is

iron

the latter method

due entirely

soft iron, the

chilled

hardness and

to the effect of the chill in the

mould, which causes the carbon to assume a combined form,^

but

when rcmelted

the carbon resumes

its

graphitic form and

the castings are as soft as the original iron.

Caebon.

Carbon (C) exists in many forms, from the hardest

diamond

to the softest graphite or black lead, but for present

purposes

it

familiarly

graphitic

will

be considered in the two forms in which

in

classified

the

analyses

it

is

pig iron, namely,

of

carbon and combined carbon.

In the cold state

graphitic carbon exists as flakes of graphite in the spaces

between the crystals

fracture of soft cast iron

across

the

newly

and

iron,

of

its

if

and

stoves.

is

to

solidify,

A
soft

finger

is

drawn

grey iron

is

of the

used for polishing grates

hot and fluid the carbon

apparently chemically combined with

and begins

of

what gives the

drawn across a cake

familiar household black lead that

the iron

is

grey colour.

machined surface

blackened in the same way as

When

this

it,

but as

it

is

gets cooler

a certain percentage of the carbon

separates and assumes the free or graphitic form.

The

excess.

FOUNDBY CHEMISTEY
of free

form

carbon thus produced

is

155

familiar to moulders in the

scum, generally known as " kish," on the top

of a

cooling metal, and in

up from the surface

separation

is

gradual there

some

of

affected
is

of the

cases the flakes of carbon are thrown

the metal in the ladle.

by the

rate of cooling,

The process
and

of

this is

if

a tendency to produce a greater percentage of

graphitic carbon and a smaller percentage of the combined

On

form.

the other hand rapid cooling has the opposite

resulting in a larger percentage of combined carbon.

this reason that chills are used to

effect,.

It is for

produce hard surfaces, the

iron being cooled so quickly that the carbon has no time to

separate out into the graphitic form, so

form as a carbide

The form

of iron.

it

in

remains in combined

which carbon

exists

in any iron

is also affected to

presence

other elements, some of which have a very decided

effect

of

on the carbon content.

combined carbon on
of

a greater or less degree by the

Speaking broadly, the

cast iron are

any other element, and the influence

chiefly

effects of

more important than those

of

other elements

is

due to their action in increasing or decreasing the

amount of combined carbon in the iron.

The amount of total carbon in pig iron may be increased
decreased in the process of melting in the cupola.

or

On the

one hand the molten iron absorbs more carbon through coming
in contact with the fuel, the quantity absorbed being in direct

proportion to the temperature and the length of time

contact with the incandescent fuel.

On

it

is

in

the other hand a

cupola working with small charges of fuel will cause a loss of

carbon through oxidisation.

Combined Effect.

The

considered separately,

is

influence of each of the elements,

comparatively simj^le and definite so

own particular effect on the iron is concerned, but

when we come to consider the influence of one element on
far as its

another or on

all

the others, and their combined effect on the

156

MALLEABLE CAST lEON

iron, the subject

becomes highly complicated.

proportions of these elements in so

many

The varying

different

brands of

iron as there are in use introduces a multiplicity of combinations that are

In these circumstances the

beyond tabulation.

founder can only with certainty consider the

element separately, and

bined

if

this is

not usually be detrimental.

effect will

effect of

each

done judiciously the comregarding

It is in

the effects of the various elements on the carbon content that

most care

is

needed.

high percentage

within

of silicon,

certain well-defined limits, has a tendency to maintain the

carbon in graphitic form, and thus produce a

soft iron

but a

small percentage of sulphur will counteract this because of

tendency to convert the carbon into combined form.

tendency again

may

manganese, which in
the

same

in the

be counteracted by the presence

itself is

effect as sulphur,

a hardening agent having

but

when they

its

This
of

much

are present together

molten iron they have not the hardening

effect that

each possesses separately, since they combine and pass into the
slag.

The

phosphorus on the carbon

effect of

negligible, but with

Having studied the

structure of the iron,

effect of

it is

not

is

tends to

the various elements on the

difficult to

apply the knowledge

Many

engineers

castings are content merely to state the pur-

pose for which they are required, and leave

make up

it

induced by these elements.

thus gained to every-day foundry practice.

to

practically

manganese and sulphur present

reduce the high shrinkage that

when ordering

is

it

to the

foundry

a mixture that will give the desired result.

Very

few customers specify the particular brand of iron or the

mixture to be used, or the amount and quality of scrap that

may

be included in the mixture, but sometimes a limit

stated of the

may

amount

be allowed.

of

is

sulphur or phosphorus, or both, which

In any case the founder must

first

consider

the chemical composition of the finished casting, and after-


FOUNDRY CHEMISTRY
wards the composition
are in stock

and

of the various

suitable for

brands

157
of pig iron that

making up the mixture

that will

produce a casting to comply with the requirements.

purpose or use to which the casting

will be

The

submitted must

be considered before a suitable mixture can be decided upon

-^

the most suitable mixture can then be found by a repeated

i:)rocess of trial

The
some

and error in making the necessary calculations.

following table

shows the chemical composition

of the principal pig irons

Brand

of Pig Iron.

used for malleable castings

of
:

MIXING BY ANALYSIS

When

the chemical composition of the casting has been

decided upon, and this

a decision that must be based chiefly

is

on experience, but occasionally on

specification, the available

stock of pig iron must be studied to see what brands can be

which,

selected,

when mixed

in their proper proportions, will

approximate most closely to the analysis required.

the selection can
proportional

be narrowed

amount

of scrap iron, in

simplified considerably,

are

down

to

Sometimes

two brands and a

which case calculations

but very often three or more

brands will have to be used, in addition to scrap.

founders

who

specialise in certain classes of work, such as

<!omponents for motor cycles,

iron,

Many

etc.,

use only one brand of pig

such as Cumberland Lorn or H.C.M.

These irons when

melted in crucibles and annealed with care give excellent

results.

Assuming that castings are

centages, approximately
045,
of

and manganese

'4

to contain the following per-

silicon

'7,

sulphur

phosphorus

"3,

and that the iron in stock consists

Carnforth mottled, B.H.S. white, and Derbyshire mottled,

together with some clean hard scrap to select from

also that the total weight required
is

made

10 cwt.

is

assuming

trial calculation

for a charge consisting of 3 cwt. Carnforth, 3 cwt.

Derbyshire, 1 cwt. B.H.S., and 3 cwt. of scrap.

of

The analysis

the latter must be found by reference to the order for

castings
silicon

from which the scrap was taken.

we

get,

by multiplying the amount

charge by the percentage

of silicon

Starting with
of iron in the

MIXING BY ANALYSIS
Amount.
3

Cwt. per

Sih'con.

3 cwt.

2-1

2-4
2-1

10)7^26
726

made with

too high, so another trial is

is

cent.

66

66

10

This

159

the pro-

portions varied thus

Amount.

Cwt. per

Sili con.

cent.

2 cwt.
2

1-4
1-6

66

2-64

1^4

10)7^04

10

704

This

near enough for the purpose.

is

sulphur, phosphorus, and manganese

way,

and in

elements

of all

much

too high.

to the

iron.

be

this

example
is

it

will

is

The amount

be found that the percentage

satisfactory except phosphorus,

On

inspection

of

found in the same

it

will be

which

found that this

is

is

due

high phosphorus content of the Derbyshire mottled

By

omitting this iron from the charge, a mixture

made up

consisting of the other two brands

may

and the scrap

in different proportions, and the complete mixing sheet set

out as follows
Brand.

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

160

upon

can easily be supplied by adding to the ladle at the

it

time of pouring sufiSeient ferro-manganese to bring the per-

The

centage up to the required amount.

total carbon,

fairly constant in all brands, is usually neglected in

up charges by

The

this

being

making

method.

fracture of the unannealed castings

made from the

foregoing mixture should have an appearance similar to that

of spotted

this

white pig iron, and any mixture that will produce

appearance in the fracture can generally be relied upon

to give excellent results

As an example
is

if

of the

properly annealed.

method

working out a charge this

of

simple, but in actual practice there

Having made up a

difficulties.

satisfactory silicon content,

loids are too

trial

we may

are irritating

find that the other metal-

high or too low, in which case

be necessary,

will

it

as shown, to use different brands of pig iron, or else

repeated

trial

portions until

we

arrive at

After a

an analysis as near

little

practice

making up a mixture

attainment by such simple methods.

is

is

not

much

is

kept in stock.

however, very close results are impossible

cases,

sulphur

as possible ta

there

to specification, especially

in foundries where a variety of pig irons

some

make

mixtures of the same brands in different pro-

that required.
difficulty in

little

mixture that gives a

If a

required in the mixture, say

irons in stock contains less

than

In
of

low percentage of

"02,

and none

"05 per cent.,

it

is

of

the

obviously

impossible to get the desired result by calculation, and the

toundryman must

either get

some other more

suitable pig

iron or else try to reduce the sulphur content by using those

irons that contain a high percentage of manganese, provided,
of course, that the proportion of this

what

is

element does not exceed

required in the mixture.

When

it

is

necessary to work to a close specification, there

are certain gains

and

losses that occur during melting in

the

MIXING BY ANALYSIS
cupola, and these

must be taken

often have a very

marked

the iron as

effect

into consideration, for they

on the

final

composition of

These changes are not

appears in the casting.

it

161

constant factors, but are affected one

way

or another by the

conditions of melting, such as the quantity and quality of the

the volume and pressure of the blast, the thickness of

flux,

the fuel bed, the quality of the fuel, and the size and position
of the tuyeres, as well as

by the chemical composition

mixture charged into the cupola.

due

and

to oxidisation,

highest

is

loss of iron itself is

when

a large proportion of

the charge consists of rusty or burnt scrap, but for

may

purposes the loss of iron

is

about the average.

all

that

if

is

practical

be reckoned as 2 per cent., which

The probable

loss of silicon

may be

when

taken as 10 per cent, of the original percentage

original percentage

of the

The

the

This means

"IS per cent, or higher.

the original percentage was 1'8 the probable loss will

be "18 per cent., and for a percentage of 2'5 the loss will be

When

25 per cent.

the loss will be

the original percentage

much

is

lower than 1'5

smaller in proportion, for with an

original percentage of 1"3 the loss will be only about '06,

and

at I'O per cent, the loss will be negligible.

The

of

loss

manganese

will

depend on the amount of

sulphur present in the charge and in the

amount

of sulphur is excessive the loss of

run as high as 30

to

lower.

be neglected

Above

manganese may

Under ordinary working

without the excess of sulphur referred

may

and where the

35 per cent, of the amount originally

present in the charge.

ganese

fuel,

if

to,

conditions,

per cent.

for

'25 for '9 per cent.

any percentage above

The
C.I.

losses

"4

is

or

this there will be a probable loss of "08 per

cent, for iron that contained '6 per cent, originally

8

man-

the loss of

the original percentage

are

thus

"3 for 1"0

per cent.

"15 for

and

'4

1"0.

represented by iron,

silicon,

and

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

162

manganese, and on the other hand there

gain in carbon
speaking

it

is

if

so, it is

will

be a probable

usually very slight, and generally

not sufficient to affect the composition of the

charge to any appreciable extent.

It is chiefly

the low-carbon

irons that are affected, the additional carbon being absorbed

from the

fuel during the process of melting

the molten metal through the fuel as

it

and the passage

falls

of

to the bottom.

High-carbon pig irons are only slightly influenced, and at or

near 4 per cent, of carbon ordinary iron reaches a point of
saturation beyond which no more carbon can be taken up.
With ordinary high-carbon pig iron that contains also a high

percentage of silicon, and especially

blast

and

there

insufficient fuel,

when

may

there

is

a good

be a loss of carbon

instead of a gain.

The sulphur content

is

almost invariably increased during

melting, the additional quantity being derived from the coke,

and as a further increase occurs each time the iron

a great deal

of scrap

sulphur which

still

to absorption

flux used

The
a

On an

from the

The controlling

cent.

melted

average the increase in sulphur

fuel will be

from '02

to "04 per

factors in this case are the quantity of

and the amount

effect of

is

a high percentage of

further increases the sulphur content of

the complete charge.

due

iron contains

of

manganese present

in the iron.

the manganese has already been explained, and

free use of plenty of

good flux

will

have a similar

effect.

The phosphorus content may be regarded as constant.

There is no loss, and there may be a slight increase derived
from the
it

fuel or flux, but in

can be ignored.

any case

it

would be so small that

There are other losses in the cupola that

cannot very well be tabulated, since they depend chiefly on

the general composition of the charge and the local conditions.

Among

these are the losses in weight due to the rust, dirt,

and sand that are weighed with the charge and enter the

MIXING BY ANALYSIS
cupola with

it.

For

163

this the scrap iron is chiefly responsible,

thin scrap in the form of plates being particularly liable to

excessive oxidation.

From

this

it

will

be seen that the pro-

portion of scrap used in any charge has an important influence

on the calculation

for total loss of

weight of material, and in

making up a mixture an allowance must be made

for a loss of

about 5 per cent, in apportioning the amount

scrap to be

of

used.

MEASUREMENT OF TEMPERATURE
The high percentage

of waster castings formerly

produced

in malleable-iron foundries has undoubtedly been reduced by

adopting a more

method

scientific

according to chemical standards

of

making up mixtures

but this alone

is

not sufficient

good malleable castings.

to ensure a continuous output of

There has always been an undue amount of wastage in the

annealing

chiefly

process,

temperature of the ovens.

no means provided

it

to

This

inevitable

is

irregularities

when

the

in

there

is

measuring the temperature, and pre-

for

ferably for recording

owing

In the best foundries the hope-

also.

human element has long

now been proved that by the use

lessness of relying on the purely

been recognised, and

of suitable

has

it

pyrometers

for

of

checking the temperature a con-

may

siderable saving in fuel

be effected, and the percentage

waster eastings due to imperfect annealing

eliminated.

is

almost entirely

Even comparatively small establishments have

gradually realised the value of keeping a more rigid check on

the heat of the ovens by

means

simple chemical pyrometers,

of

but in larger and more advanced works more exact scientific

methods are employed, under the supervision

qualified

of trained

and

works chemists.

There are two kinds

as the optical

pyrometer.

of

pyrometers in general use, known

pyrometer and the thermo-couple or Chatelier

Each type has

its

votaries,

and as

all

seem

to get

equally good results, a brief description of each type and

application to the subject of this

work

The thermo-couple, sometimes

pyrometer,

is

will

called

its

be sufficient.
the thermo-electric

the type most widely used for industrial pur-

MEA.SUKEMBNT OF TEMPERATURE

165

poses, especially where, as in the case of annealing ovens,

is

it

necessary to measure and maintain an even temperature

for several days.

The

principle of construction

is

that

if

two

wires of dissimilar metals are fused together at one end, and

the free ends are connected to the terminals of a sensitive

galvanometer, the application of heat to the fused junction of

the wires will set up suf&cient electromotive force to

move

the

needle of the galvanometer, and as an increase in the tempera-

PiG.

82. Chatelier Pyrometer.

ture causes a corresponding increase in the E.M.F., the needle

or pointer of the galvanometer can be adjusted to indicate the

temperature on a graduated scale, or to record it jjermanently

on a chart by means of a suitable recording apparatus. The
wires used to form the couple are frequently made from rare
metals such as platinum and iridium or platinum and rhodium
for

the measurement of very high temperatures, but for

temperatures that do not exceed 1,000 C. or 1,832 F.,

baser metals, including iron,

ments are

less costly,

may

be employed.

Such instru-

but are suitable for use in annealing

MALLEABLE CAST lEON

166

ovens, where the temperature should on no account exceed

980 C.
in

In order

a tube of

to protect the wires the

couple

quartz or porcelain, which

is

enclosed

sheathed with

is

The wires thus

asbestos and fitted into a steel or iron tube.

protected can be inserted in the oven through a hole in the

wall or roof, the end of the tube to which the terminals are
attached,

and which

outside the oven.

at intervals

to

is

known

as the cold junction, being

In cases where the pyrometer

is

only used

check the observed temperature no special

provision

necessary, one end

is

of the tube being inserted in the

oven as shown in

where

acquired

off

connected by

is

leads

terminals,

and,

Temperature

if

of

on a portable

indicator that

the

to

A
has

it

The temperature

then read

which the pyrometer

ElG. 83.

82,

temperature

the

the interior.
is

fig.

remains until

it

necessary,

is

after

removed

inserted in

another oven in the same way.

Indicator.

This method of checking the

beat

is

not recommended, as there

may

be sufficient variation

in the temperature during the intervals to spoil the castings,

or at least
reliable

to cause

method

is

to

irregular

annealing.

have a pyrometer

so that the actual temperature

is

known

adopted the pyrometer

is

at

each oven,

any moment from

When

this

system

generally fitted in a permanent

recess in the wall of the oven, as

It is

A much more

fitted to

beginning to end of the annealing period.

is

shown

in B.

not necessary to have an indicator attached to each

pyrometer, since by connecting the leads from each one to a

switchboard a single indicator will serve for

all

the pyrometers

MEASUEEMENT OF TBMPEEATURE
in a battery or

row

There are various types of

of ovens.

indicators in use, one of which

figures

it

on the

scale

shown

is

hundreds

indicate

C, and the construction

1,000

167

in

fig.

The

degrees up to

of

instrument

of the

83.

is

such that

particularly suitable for industrial conditions such as

is

exist in malleable-iron foundries.

placed on the wall of the oven

some

Indicators should not be

itself,

but on a wall or support

away, where they are not likely to be affected by

feet

direct heat or

by the magnetic influence

of adjacent iron.

If

preferred, the indicator can be fitted in the manager's office,

but

it

is

better to

have

it

fixed

where the temperature can at

any moment be noted by

the foreman and the

g^

men

in charge of the anneal-

ing ovens.

As a

rule optical pyro-

r^

^^

meters are more generally

used for measuring temperatures

those

than

higher

attained

\.::
Fig. 84.

Fery Pyrometer.

the

in

annealing ovens of a malleable-iron foundry, but

many works

chemists prefer to use them for these and even lower temperatures,

although

it

ments are more

lower ones.

The

is

generally admitted that these instru-

sensitive to high temperatures than to the

best

known instrument

of this class is the

Fery radiation pyrometer, of which there are two

namely, the

both of these the optical arrangement

and

distinct types,

thermo-electric type and the spiral type.

is

In

practically identical,

consists of a focussing telescope containing a concave

mirror by means of which the heat rays can be focussed on a

point within the body of the telescope.
sensitive thermo-couple

is fitted

at the point

concentration of the heat rays on this couple

small but very

of focus,

and the

is utilised in

the

MALLEABLE CAST IRON

168

same manner
struction

is

as with the

shown diagrammatically

through the eyepiece

which has a hole

The con-

Chatelier pyrometer.

the image

in

fig.

The image

in the centre.

On

84.

looking

seen in a small mirror B,

is

focussed by

is

turning a pinion and thus moving the concave mirror C,

which

This adjustment also

also has a hole in the centre.

focusses the heat rays at the point D, where the thermo-couple

is situated,

the free ends being connected to the terminals E.

In the spiral type the couple

is

replaced by a strip built up

of two

made

metals and

dissimilar

The centre

into a coil.

and

of the coil is fixed,

outer end
pointer.

is

to the

attached a

An

light

in the

increase

temperature causes the strip to

uncoil,

and

scale

causing

vice versa,

move

the pointer to

across a

and indicate the tempera-

ture.

Pia. 85.

Observation Tube.

is

One form of pyrometer that

now becoming popular is

practically

photometer.

In

the Cambridge optical pyrometer a beam of light from the

heated body

is

compared with a similar beam from a small

incandescent electric lamp, the intensity of which

On

is

known.

looking through the eyepiece an illuminated circle

seen, divided into two semicircles, one of which

is

is

illuminated

by the standard lamp and the other by the beam of light from
the oven.
circles is
is

The

intensity of

the illumination in both semi-

equalised by turning the eyepiece, to which a pointer

attached that indicates the temperature directly on an

engraved

scale.

In using any form of optical pyrometer

it

is

necessary to

MEASUEEMENT OF TBMPEEATUEE
exercise great care

in

selecting the

169

most suitable point

of

observation to obtain a correct reading, and for annealing

purposes the best method

is to

use a fireclay or cast iron tube

with a closed end, the tube being built into the wall or door
the oven as shown in

Pig,

nd

86.

fig.

85.

The temperature

of

of the closed

Optical Pyrometer in Position.

of the tube is then that of the interior of the oven,

by sighting through the open end a very

and

close approximation

of the actual temperature can be obtained.

The

optical

pyrometer

is

usually

mounted on a tripod

convenience in moving from one oven to another, but

preferred

it

can be mounted on a bracket attached

to

the buckstaves near the door of the oven, as shown in

one
fig.

for
if

of

86.

ADDENDUM.MALLEABLE CAST STEEL

Of comparatively
is

sometimes erroneously called " semi-steel," has made con-

siderable
it

recent introduction, this material, whieb

headway

and as

far as the author's experience goes

promises to become an important item in the somewhat

limited

list of

engineering materials.

The process

of

manufacture

is

carried out on

somewhat

similar lines to that of malleable iron, but the result

metal

much

stronger and harder.

closely

crystallization

tensile strength of

The

resembling tool

from 30

to

fracture
steel,

and

not at

work,

it

is

fine

has a
;

but

ductility are

lower than in malleable iron, the elongation and con-

sequent reduction of area being relatively lower.

it is

and

35 tons per square inch

as an offset to this the factors of resilience

much

shows a

it

strength

all likely

will be
is

Thus, though

to displace malleable iron for all-round

found useful in

many

eases where increase of

required without a corresponding increase in weight,

or as a substitute for the higher class of steel castings in cases

where these cannot be utilised economically.

The principal drawback is a tendency to hardness, and in
this state
it

it is

very severe on machine tools, but in any case

requires a coarser cutting angle than malleable iron.

some instances, however, this hardness

on account

of its great

and pinions with

is

a distinct advantage

wearing properties, and for spur wheels

cast teeth

it

succeeds admirably, provided

they are not subjected to very heavy intermittent shocks.

is

In

not so easy to bend cold, as

it

is brittle

It

beyond a certain

point of flexure and breaks with an unexpected snap

but on


ADDENDUMMALLEABLE
hand

the other

it

OAST STEEL

171.

does not harden appreciably after being

heated.

The foregoing chapters on design and patiernmaking

apply equally well to this

steel, its

by the same natural laws as malleable

from the following description

The
is

pig iron, which

is

the same as that already described,,

used in different proportions, there being a

may

for

if

no hard scrap

is available,

is

mottled pig iron alone will do.

No annealed

added to the mixture, as for malleable

iron, otherwise

the melting

is

carried out in the

quantity of mild steel scrap

is

same way

Just previous

cupola, or air furnace.

venient

motor work, any

special purposes, such as high-class

good medium

metal

smaller

be of white pig iron, 6 parts, soft mottled 1 part, while

some

scrap

much

a mixture of hard scrap,.

spotted white pig iron, 4 parts, and soft mottled,

2 parts, will be found suitable

it

iron, as will be seen.

quantity of grey or soft mottled;

12 parts

will

production being governed

then tapped over

scrap should be red-hot

tapping a small

punchings are the most conladle,

and the

It is essential that

the steel

thrown into the bottom

is

to

in either crucible,

it.

when put

of

the

in the ladle, or

it

will

not mix properly with the molten metal, and will be subse-

quently found in the form of bright spots in the casting,

which
is

will

from 3

will not

be uneven in density.

to 5 per cent.

The proportion of

steel

used

This must not be exceeded, or fusion

be complete at the time of pouring, which should

be done immediately, or the metal will become too thick

or dull.

The

castings are muffled as soon as possible, as, owing

to-

their intense hardness, the cooling strains are very severe,

and they are allowed

if

to

remain in the muffle until

cold.

Even

taken out when cool enough to handle, they are liable to

spontaneous rupture.

They may be annealed together

with.


MALLEABLE OAST lEON

172

malleable eastings, preferably

the

with those that require

heating up slowly.
After they are cleaned and dressed the castings are put

through a
clear,

of

known

final process

smokeless furnace
1,500

about

is

as tempering, and for this a

necessary, in which a steady heat

The

F. can be maintained.

castings are

put into this until they attain the same heat, and they are

then withdrawn and

from

screened

currents

of

castings have a beautiful

rustless,
all

and

better

way

to

air.

and the heat

which

it

Firing

1,000 F.

oven brought up

to

the

heat treatment
results than

is

when

more

is

full

allowed to cool

is

same
for

is

these

practically

result is as follows

annealing

of the

oven

is

is

completed

allowed to

fall

then started again and the

annealing temperature, after

down

reliable

This method of

finally.

and gives more consistent

the castings are reheated after they have

been removed from the annealing oven.

quality of

finished,

atmospheric influences.

Just before the time allowed

to about

When

be

will

they are particularly suitable for

of obtaining the

firing is stopped,

where they

blue surface, which

for this reason

work exposed

in a pit

left to cool

ordinary malleable

improved by similar treatment.

In

many

cases the

castings can be considerably

INDEX
Air furnace, 23

Analyses

camel back, 24

,,

straight roof, 25
:

pig iron,

9,

157

grey iron, 29
soft mottled, 55
medium mottled, 85
hard mottled. 111
spotted white, 139
white, 153
Annealing, 60
oven, 30 cwt., 61
4 tons, 63

10 tons, 65
ore, 71
pans, 89
pipes, 88
wheels, 84
theory, 70
double, 83

American process, 87
temperature, 89

Cleaning and straightening, 93

fires, 79

hard castings, 72

Coke, 23
Contraction and shrinkage, 28,.
121, 128
Core- making, 57
Core sand, 57
grids, 59
Coreboxes, 122
Crucible furnace, 10
Crucibles, care of, 15
Cupola, 16
dimensions, 19
,,
lining, 20
,,
charging, 21
cleaning, 83
,,

Dampers, 67
Defects

dirt,

135

scab, 136

cold shuts, 137

sears, 138

Barbels, tumbling, 93
Bend, pipe, moulding, 47
Blackheart, 70, 87
Blast, pressure and regulation, 16
Bosh, cooling, 108
Broken feeders, 42
Buckstaves, 68

blowholes, 138
Design, 109
errors in, 113

Die blocks, 104

Disposition of crystals, 10ft
Distortion, 97
Door, firebrick, 76
Double annealing, 83

Carbon, 154

Elevator bucket, 51

Case oven, 66
Chaplets, 58
Chatelier pyrometer, 165
Chills, 30

Facing sand, 27

Biters, 101

Feeders, 28

INDEX

174

Moulding, spray, 32
sand oddside, 34
tub, 35

Feeders, patterns, 38
broken, 42
,,
F6ry, pyrometer, 167
Fin-gates, 31

a cube, 40

Fins, moulders, 52
Firebrick door, 76
Fires, cleaning, 79

rings, 43

pipe, 45

pump

lever, 47
jawstock, 49
wheels, 50
elevator bucket, 61
Muffle temperature, 54
Muffling, 52

Firing, 78
Flanges, straightening, 103

Flues, 69

Foundry

practice, 8

Furnace,

air,

23

,,

crucible, 10

heating, 100

Observed temperature, 89
Oddside, plaster, 32
sand, 34

Ore, annealing, 71
Ovens, annealing, 30 cwt., 61
4 tons, 63

10 tons, 65
,,
case, 66
lining, 68

Gates, spinning, 30

fin,

31

twin, 45
Grades of pig iron, 8
Grids, core, 59
Grinding, 94

Hard

re-annealing, 81
testing, 143

,,

,,

76
temperature, 78

sealing, 63,

castings, cleaning, 72

Packing
Inspection, 135

Jawstock, moulding, 49

sizes of, 90

Patterns, 120
allowances, 121
feeder, 38
metal, 125
spinner, 38

Ladles, care

of, 17
Lever, air-pump, 47
Lining, cupola, 20
ovens, 68
,,

Manganese, 152
Measurement of temperature,
164
Melting, 10, 16, 24
Mixing, 12

by

analysis, 158

Moulding, 27

castings, 74, 88

Pans, annealing, 89
sealing, 74, 91

scaling, 79, 83

86,

spray and plate, 131

Phosphorus, 151
Pig iron, 9, 157
grey, 29
soft mottled, 55
medium, mottled, 85
hard mottled. 111
spotted white, 139
white, 153

INDEX

Straightening -wheels and rings,

102
pipes and cylin
ders, 103
flanges, 103
,,
Sulphur, 150

Pipes, annealing, 88

moulding, 45

straightening, 103

Plaster, oddside, 32

Plate moulding, 36
Plates, preparation of, 131
PoKshing, 96
Press, screw, 98
Pressure of blast, 16
Pyrometers, 164

175

Tapping, 16
Temperature

of ovens, 78

measurement,

164

Ee-annealing, 81

Reaumur

process, 70

Regulation of blast, 16
Rings, moulding, 43
straightening, 102

Sand, core, 57
facing, 27

oddside, 34

Scaling of pans, 79, 83

Sealing ovens, 63, 76

pans, 74, 91
,,
Setting plate, 100
Shrinkage, 28
Silicon, 149
Specification, 163
Spinner, action of, 30
Spray, moulding, 32
patterns, 131

mufQe, 54

Test pieces, 140, 145

Tests, bending, 140
drop, 141
drawing, 142
ringing, 143
drilling, 144
shearing, 147

Theory

of annealing,

70

Trolley, 75

Tub moulding, 35
Tumbhng, 72, 93
barrels, 94

Twin-gates, 45

Vault, 77

Wheels, moulding, 50

Straightening, 93
furnace, 100

THE WHITEFEIAKB

of

Testing, 135

?KES8, LTD

,,

straightening, 102

annealing, 84

LONDON AND TONEEIDGE.

86,

D.Van nostrand Company

are prepared to supply, either from
their complete stock or at

short notice,

Any

Technical or
Scientific

Book

In addition to publishing a very large

and varied number of Scientific and

Engineering Books, D. Van Nostrand

Company have on hand

the

largest

assortment in the United States of such

books issued by American and foreign

publishers.

All inquiries are cheerfully and carefully

answered and complete catalogs

sent free

25

on

Park Place

request.

New York