The Express.
London, England, 1858-12-27 00:00:00

?Hl 1(1W OUR FOUNDRY AT WOOLWICH

The sew department which has recently been
seenkehel in the Royal Anneal at Woolwich fee the
atentlkenre of iron ordnance, end the remits of its opera-
tics, have bun the sorest if month public dimension of lets.
Whirr premien' experieme of the great expense of govern-
meat menallintoring departments is a powerful 113111•1161 in
anew of those who opposed the establishment of the
iheseary, the experienced the new solanne, se fee se It has
gam, It mast in Janke be admitted le highly onocamfaL
IS iir net se moth the Moen of the present notice, however,
teenne Into the gentles of the policy of the enabliehment
of fie sew keadry, are kr doer& the manipulsenry opera-
tbse by width the gee are meth the and te show how
kr the echesee km been annenfal in its pranical details.
The belays neenewp ger esedneling the MIMI ogees-
legother, with the vest pint mad otemliomed raw
ehbety fir Maine, drilla& end baring the ions, are en a
veer eanasiva soils, and oomerniently east a van sem ot
ream, awl Indeed lie may be doubted whether the govern-
ment haw scar to Os end of the outlay yet.
The foundry le • building upwards of 300 fest long, of pro-
portionate width, mid having two loog wings at each sad. In
the wetral manna are anaaged the pin in which the cast-
WIPP
fir /We di via as the malting runner, of whkk
eddy IS eigki Betsey is to euthent we at present
eroded. The wale= ezinnity Is devoted to the making of
the worths wed the weleen wing to the preparation of the
mad and the " TAMA; " of the finished castings. To follow
the popper of • goes frees the manuficture of the mould
In the proving of the finished piece to obviously the
hest way of explaining all the departments of the new factory.
Token the weld he which the casting takes place an accurate
model of the gun to be rest is so constructed se to divide into
seven piece ; each piece to put Into an iron case of the same
height, and a tenacious mixture of keno and powdered coke
messed tightly into the interval between the model and the
wee, se that when the kiwis Is sled est a perfect impression
of It remains. Each of than ewes Imo frames, containing
the moulds of the iseemetio porthole of to goo, being
monrstely pearlised, whin put together firm one soled frame,
tentelodni of thane the pet mouths ef the wens. The
operatics of reeking a meth* for a lag ell•peanier takes Ave
or six are • dry, met etsemthe about two tee of send. The
different parte of the mould, Won they en pat together to
receive the melted metal, are slowly baked at a hest of
Moat 600 &grew Par. for ketreight hours, to completely
expel all mainnte—a ang wierroary precaution. The mould
sad 01111% width now logadre weigh between nine and ten
tome, are rammed le the phi under the forms, for the pur-
pose of meshing ohs naiad metal. Here the reel thfiloolthe
of Imo founding communes, for en the chili and experience
displayed in selecting end combining the variourdescriptkas
_ .

of bore in the &ma*. s entirely depends the quality of the
casting. The Low Moor, Gospel Oak, end other foundries
employed by parnment in manufacturing iron pas very
naturally object to giving Colonel Wilmot, the sapeintendent
of the saw works, Ins results of their dearly-bought a-
periesos of the pancake kind of anal beet suited
for the payee& Bet though both Coked yam)*
and Mr, Keyes deal without thfa very neometry
experience a lbw meths ego, they were not long
in enquiring It by the admirable mien of forming sada*.
of the companion, tonicity, and strength of the iron of each

gun out, and of every cirenunalance attending its sable-
quest manufacture. Thu, should • grin prove to be faulty,
its individual history is searched, and the cause of the par-
ticular iroperfaika Wag discovered is easily avoided for the
Eaters. Tho aseuselikm found to answer is 63 cwt. of old
ceauemila, 31 cwt. of Siamese's frau, 30 cwt. of grey
Swedish iris, Id out, of Netherton iron, and 18 cwt. of in-
ferior metal to form the top of the outing or deadhead. Thu
though the gun weigh. but 95 owl. when fielded upwerde of
ewes tau of metal see used in the aistiap, the superfluous
quail being poured on the top of the unadd, cempreems
sad treemabdates by Its weight the under pan d ea rutin
of which tha gun I. formed. TM ices le malted he
two ordinary reverberatory furnaces by hell it weight
of raw cool, and wham in a parkeetly lid Mato I.
ran Into • large teem yob, called a " flow," from
which it is allowed to flow into the mould. The molten
risme of metal, which from the breech to the top of the
bullhead is 17 feel high, hi than coveted ever with send and
allured to remain three or four days to get perfectly cold. 1
With sash gun two mull ban and an Iron ring are cast of
the seam metal, for the purpose of unreeling practically,
in the proving machine, the tensile strength of the iron In
each gun.
As may be inferred front the above description, the
guns are cast 'ad and subsequently bond out. This la a
method of construction about which then le • no Ire
vigorous dispel* maintained among gun founders than abaft
the new factory itself. The maul practice has been to out
the guns complete, with the bore in them, afterwards to be
turned smooth, so as to allow the leaser bulk at metal to
cool more rapidly, and thus make the Iron of • musk lithe
guilty, though of course more brittle. It is urged tbat the
net amount of metal used in the operation of casting • gun
solid cannot but cool unequally, and thus render the iron of
unequal tenacity at different parts. This, may be, and no
doubt is, the fact; but this very inequality I. of attester
to the piece, for at the breech, which takes the longest time
toning, the metal must approach nearest to wrought Ins,
and that fa the very part of the gun which has to mist the
most sadden and violent Fusin* when it is and.
The method of melting the metal has also bees found
to have a very considerable bed truce upon the strength
and quality of the casting. When the fuel is allowed
to woe In contact with the Iron during faeces, ft
cause it to become contaminated with Moth end
sulphur, both of which elements—but the former
especially—impair the strength of the metal to a
very great extent. Various methods of obviating this
d.fficulty have been proposed. The most suoosaird is that
for melting the mai by gee. This is effected by allowing a
powerful jet of gas direct from the retort, together with an
equal jet of air, to die:thugs themselves upon the bare of
metal, and, in fact, cur their fusion by a kind of gigantic
'' blow-pipe- °peruke. By this method the whole of the
liken and the greater pure. of the sulphur are removed.
It is by no mew ea suspensive process, and is the taut
effectual ona tar pishally refining iron yet ihisseessi.
The Sankey, silk the gsrest member of men esd lemma
suipirryed, tsar est her dillemeime per week; bet thints
the gevermesest Ihtelt It so emet dr remaining foram* Ind
pet the whole works Into active operation, about 20 gems per
week meld be amt. Zven this comparatively large eurether
of orates weal set mem she prima annual deseeml few
heavy entomme, sod slaw& we Untold not he isesimil le
more etteedes morns spesigions than these egelmt
the Liss Melt, tide VW demand is likely te he en
lermeadsg NM Shenk the stem imp:Meal opeentiess
iiisseadsg the Mow sestets of the plate me par
hewed la the flawelley, by be the mess trim and
tresMesime ems ham es be peibratsd In the &biles shop
bate the sea is la a state ft far ferries. The rash sebd
osellieg weighing sheet Wall IMO. end which is sollesideg
Ills four Ilesklimprihms thelinkhed wespon le Wended le be,
Is removed le the *mist awl brag mill, which is swam
begs building ef smily easel alesensisaie with the Landry.
Oa all sides la fhb vest degeilment are arranged im-
mense basin. tassiolk esseelsg. sod ether lathes, which
whirl the gigue& dihreindem mod as If they were but
playthings. Her, Seta are tauten boring nasoldnes with '
When and Oher apperatas to perform the other necemary
spec boss is peasetion, though whoa tha workshop is
entirely enlist Mull sustain 18. Bach of these gigentie
plisse of apperagm edible 48 WOW. The whole of the
Whoa sad middle' ill Ale building are drives by es
maim d 1111-heme gam. The fret operatics whisk
is pedeleM4 liges the sea* eterilso after it le brought ism
Ills lee* ditattlaig ell the sapsribeeas *me or
bar IMS d mid frees the Wended meads et the glees,
which gentles occupies from two to three home. The
solid elm is mat Massiermd to • "wisteriag " witaluse, Is
which the Use snare el the metal Is merited, for the pr-
per of crsameastag the boring. Thie is a very tedium
memos, for en the emotes' with which it h gerikreeed
depends the tree ales of the pion and occupies a mot lye
hears. The pa le sat satgeMed as “entside tole(" is a
lathe, by white the meshes= ef the art is remseed, sod the
whets eadise resdend porde* ehedar, bright, sod meta.
This ernes a one awl a lathe alpinism hems. The
trenehme ere this trued dews te • groper shahs .1 smooth-
sem, sad the "sem immediately at their bore, whisk could
not of sawn be melted by a elrealer torahs" properly
pissed down, la sheet tweaty-three hoses in. The

boring end venting then completes the gun. Thar sr
operations which are tedious, not only from the net
quantity of bard cut iron which has to be removed,
but also In oceesquers of the greet ore which is requked
coseinebur the work to ensure the bore being psefsotly
tem and era the whole way down. It requires one lathe
with the rester attention of one can for 40 hours. Thai
the time occupied in completing • gun from the time the
mould is made till the piece Is ready for proving, supposing
the various operations to be oontinued eureasively without
any delay, weld be ten days sod nights ; but u the met
are et present welt*, it takes about 17 days. A very
novel end ingenious improviser hes been lately introduced
is the formation of the yenta of the heavier guns. It was •
well •Imown feet that alter a few handed rounds have been
fired in rapid succession from • gun, the vent-hole become.
enlarged ; that greater portion of the charge is lost through
it, and the gun Is soon rendered worthless altogether. The
is now obviated by arewleg a copper Ter into the breech
of the roe, which, of course, r it weirs can be uneorewm.
and replaced.
Yr. Brie's admirable nethed et keeping the soccuate
shows us at a gismos exactly what soh individual gun has
cost, both Ice labour and materieL The contract price of •
long 68-peadee is 211. per tee, or about 1001. The
guns made to the Now fader, east for materiel,
fuel, and tobwiel on ant at pleat end mariner
about 444 with ssssstbtag adolikbed for real overseer
and management. The labour in the foundry on an aversg
about 61. 10e. ; the labour In the boring mill for
finishing the gun Is about 61. 10e. more, so that the
68-pounder can be made at the new foundry, allowing
for interne on the expires plant, for 671, Irving
a clear saving of 431., or nearly half. The factory I
has been working ethos February last, end from it
120 68-poundere have been issued. Of them only eight I
burst in the proving, and the Iron of which even these eight
ware made wee proved to be of an inferior description. The
factory is at pewee being adapted for the actin of long 32-
pounders and 13-Inch mortars. As yet the whole plan le
but an experiment, re should it rather to prove as Rio-
earful cm it Er up to the weer Mrs, there will be little
to complain of.