The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1882-11-22
WArLINt;roS'S WARNING.
SOnie Views on the AdaI'tnbillty of
steel for Nail Making.

SOnhe Views on the AtlRptnbility of
Steel for Nail Making.
To the Elitor Of the lnteliscnCer:
WHEATLaSB. Pa, Nov ol.-rhe 4ues,
ton OF steel nails having taken permanent
stand in tho minds Of Wheeling manuiac.
turcrs, few suggestions OIL the uanuilc.
ture Of steel for that purpose mny not bu
inopportune, and, having had some expert
encc in the three principal methods by
which steel is produced. my experience
may be OF some slight service to those who
contemplate embarking in sucl. MI enter.
prise. My experience then has taught me
that the Bessemer process is not 10 be
relied on for the production OF steel or
''insot iron.' Such IL grade is possible, /
must admit, but always uncertain, and,
without going into any elaborate argument
Of why ii is SO, prefer for the present Civ
ing m extract from my luper on "Thc Rise
and Development OF the Eessemer Process" :"
Pig iron with 4 minimum OF p!lospho-
rus anl sulphur was then tried, and most
excellent results obtained, nevertheless
with pig iron, iaullless as regards its plos-
phorus and sulphur, reliable results are not
always obtained. 'Red.short" iron, or
steel, is often produced containing
little or 10 sulphur, and "eoli short"
steel containing little or no phos.
or,ls. Silicon and Manganese are found to
play important parts in the production OF
good steel, the absence Of one and presence
OF the other are bo. detrimental 10 the
quality OF steel. Silicon is 4 rather uncer.
tain factor in the tessemer process, and 10
his element lnay be attributed 20 per cent
OF the brittle steel produced by this
method, this too. when comparatively soft
and tough is desired, and which from the
carbon indicators might have been expect.
cd. The elimination Of the silicon has
hitherto been II defect lit the !:essen.er pro.
cess, quite fatal to the constant production
OF good "inyot.iron." With The aid OF
ferro.manganesc the carbon may he re-.
duced to practically nil, but the silicon
sometimes shows up much in excess OF the
tolerated quantity, aud rails have been roll
land sold, lar from safe to be laid on
Il main line.
In lS72-'713 l male silicon the subject OF
Il searchin. inquiry. I was led to this he
cause OF the rails We were then milking
would eplit and break Off while being
punched; the carbon tests were not high,
indeed, sometimes rather low, neverthe.
less they occasionally split, or broke the
punches, and once or twice broke the shaft
Of the machine. knew the hardness w:is
not due 10 phosphorus, for the pig iron We
were using was well under the muxinlum
allowed for this climate. thought u,an.
ganese was probably in excess, but few
analyses convinced me it WIS not so. Sill.
con was then looked after, und iound SO
much in excess that felt inclined 10 lucs.
tion the correctness OF The analyses, but
had had such abundant proofs OF the
conscisntio. work Of the analyses that
could not doubt their results, and besides
often saw the resilaes weighed; again,
the chemists were MS lnucl, interested in
the question rs myself. Up 10 that period
/ was under the impression that silicon
was The first element 10 disappear duringa
blow and ordinarily ,i,ia is the case, but not
always the mho'e Of it. select few ana.
lyses ont Of iiily.iwo had made Gt rails
that broke while being punched.