The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-12-07
STEEL BAKED AND PICKLED.
Strange Sights and Sounds in the Bit Fac
tories of Connecticut.


Strange Sights and Sounds in the Bit Fac
tories of Connecticut.
Chester Conn Letter.
There are in the United States fourteen bit
factories, and eleven of them are in Connect
icut, and here in the own of Chester, within
a radius of two miles, can be found no less
than six of these eleven. The visitor here is
sure to have his curiosity aroused by the din
OF many trip-hammerS. On visiting one of
the factories, he will first enter the forging
room on the ground floor, where a busy and
curious spectacle is presented. His sense of
hearing at once becomes useless, as the clat-
ter and clang Of a multiplicity of heavy run
ming machinery makes conversation impossi-
bic except for a man OF strong lung-power.
From the ceiling are suspended long rows of
heavy shafting filled with driving pulleyS
from six inches to as many feet in diameter.
Instead of q floor, the visitor walks on clay
packed as hard and smooth as cement, and
on which are carelessly thrown in heaps tons
and tons of red-hot bits. He sees long bars
of cold steel placed between strong shears,
which cut them into appropriate lengths as
easily aud quickly as a lady would cut a
piece of string with her scissors. Here a line
of sturdy men stand beside glowing FORCES i'll
which these bars of steel are placed until
they are heated to a white heat, when they
are Immediately put under trip-hammers,
which, striking hundreds of blows in a min
ute, hammer the bars fiat on one end, round
in the center, and square on the other end.
The bit has now started into existence, and
is called in this form a plate" 1t is next
passed to the crimpers, who again heat it
to whiteness and run it through
machines which twist the fiat end
into a pod, or spiral of beautiful regular,
ity. The "swedgers" seize it now and again
under the influence of the blow-pipe, the
steel is soon red hot, when one pillow from a
powerful drop fashions the square end into
a shank properly bevelled for the bit brace;
again it is heated and passed under another
drop, which stamps on its shank a figure
telling the size of the hole it will bore when
finished. Once more it endures the fiery or
deal, and, glowing red, passes through the
heading presses, which, with a hug and a
squeeze, crush two inches of the twisted end
into a mass in which you can family discern
the point, spurs and cutting edges of the fu-
ture bit. 1t it is next carried into the an
healing room, where, with thousands of
others, it is buried beneath heaps of char
coal and thoroughly baked until the steel is
well sottened or annealed. Next it is picked
for several hours in watts containing a strong
solution of sulphuric acid, which eats off all
the scale left by the many previous heatings
in the FORCES.
The bit now passes into the machine-room,
where the rasping machine cuts out all SUI
periuous stock in the head, forming rude
cutting edges. The milling machine cuts
the point smoothly to the correct bevel,
ready for the screw TO be made upon it. The
bevelling machine smooths the bottom OF
the blades, the f%acing-back machine puts the
edges of the blades straight, the screw-cutting
machine forms the threads on the. point, and
the sizing machine cuts the boring end to
the exact diameter required. And still the
bit is only about half made.
You pass into another department, and
here you see long rows of skilled mechanics
seated upon high stools, each man having in
front OF him a heap of bits and a lot of files
nf arInlJ CIZnC and fnrnNc l-nnNur nc
square" "round," flat" ''half round"
'~humpback,' '~ground-off," and Feather
edge" and each of these is used in turn to
form and smooth the various parts and cut
ting surfaces Of the bit. The squeaking OF a
hundred files of almost as many sizes and
shapes fills the air will shrill notes and sets
your teeth on edge.
You pause Tor q moment to watch a couple
of men who, seated in front of tiny forges,
are heating the bits to a cherry red color and
then dipping them into dishes of oil and
water. You learn that they are tempering
them to the proper degree of hardness Tor
cutting, You also learn that although they
can control the temper of the steel, they can
not control their own-when they burn their
fingers. ~
You now open a door lettered Polishing
Room" and start back at the scene which
meets you gaze. A living production of
Dante,s dream is before you Men with faces |
blackened by charcoal dust and emery stand
in long rows, while a sheet of fire five or six
feet long plays from the hands Of each, light
ing up their blackened features and making
them look like veritable demons. Each man
holds in his hand a bit and presses it upon
the polishing wheel, which makes many
Thousand revolutions in a minute, causing by
its friction a great sheet of sparks to fly out
in front of the operator. You behold the
many different processes of finishing as the
bits pass on from one workman to another
down the row, until at last they look as
bright as FURNISHED silver.
In the packing-room many men are sharp
ening the finished bits, and a few inspectors
are examining them with magnifying glasses
to see if they can detect any scratches that
have been lett by the polishers. Here also
the bits are sorted into first class and second
quality, stamped with the manufacturers
name and trade mark, wrapped in strips of
paper, and packed in pasteboard boxes. You
are astonished at the variety of sizes and
forms, running from dowel bits, hardly an
inch long, up to car bits more than two feet
in length, and from the little bit cutting a
hole but three-sixteenths of an inch in di-
ameter to the great kline anger, which re-
quires two strong men to turn it. You are
struck, too, by the oddly-shaped machine
bits and the curious mortising bit, which
bores a square hole.
Secret of bookkeeping.
Washington Letter.