The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1871-06-17
SCIENTIFIC AND MECHANICAL

A PROCESS Of coating iron and steel
with molten iron has been patented BY two
Chicago mechanics, which is described as
follows: The iron 10 be applied is melted
in a crucible and mixed with borax or other
tlux. The plate Of wrought iron or steel
should be covered upon the surface to be
coated with a thin layer of borax, previ-
ously burned. and then placed in close
furnace or oven, and heated to a white or
welding heat. 1t is then placed upon an
anvil. or other level surface. The melted
iron mixed with borax is then poured upon
the SUFFICE of the heated plate, which has
been previously surrounded by an iron
frame formed to prevent the melted iron
flowing of the surface TO be coated When
sufficient quantity of molten iron has
been poured on a plate Of steel or hard
smooth iron of sufficient size to cover nearly
the whole Of the melted iron, is brought
down upon the upper surface sufficient to
reduce the iron to the proper thickness, and
to repel all the air or gases, which would
otherwise render the coating porous Of nc
value. The amount of pressure required
depends upon the degree Of heat to which
the molten iron has been brought, and must
Ne applied while the iron is melted. Any
IF the mechanical devices for pressure may
~ used, but must be near the surface that
he welding heat be preserved, and the sur
face Of the plate or article to be coated
must be perfectly clean and free frem scale
The advantages claimed are a more perfect
union between the wrought iron or steel
and the melted iron by the air or gases be-
ing expelled, giving a more perfect weld
and smoother coating Of iron. TIE pro-
cess simply claims tie coating Of the sur
face Of plates, or other articles Of wrought
iron, by the use or application Of pressure.
The Appleton Times says that Wiscon-
,in Is now looming up as great irOn-pro-
ducng State Of the Union. -Four ranges
Of bills, each twenty miles long, running
parallel with the Menominee river, have
been found to contain immense quantities
If almost solid iron, and are estimated to
contain ten times more Of that metal than
All the Lake Superior range combined.
GLASS is practically a non-conductor Of
heat, as well as Of electricity. A practical
Example Of the latter may have been seen
the use Of glass as an insulator, a non
Conductor, for telegraphic purposes. 1t is
j fiicult to draw the line Of non conduction,
but bad conductors of heat are practically
assumed as non conductors. The question
Of conduction is purely one Of degree. Let
two rods Of equal slze-but one Of copper
and the other of glass-be brought togeth-
er, and have at their extremities small
weight or marble attached by wax. Apply
a spirit lamp to the ends, touching each
other 50 that the heat may be equally ap-
pied. In the case Of the copper, owing to
its being a good conductor, the wax will
rapidly melt and let the weight drop; while
in the case of the glass, owing to its being a
very bad conductor, very long time must
clapse before such a result can happen.
u drilling wrought iron, use one pound
Of soft soap, mixed with gallon Of boiling
water. This is a cheap lubricator. 1t in.
sures working with great case, and clean
cutting by the drill.
there are over fifty kinds Of canary
birds Five hundred years ago there was
but one kind.