River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1884-02-07
STEEL BAKED AND PICKLED
Strange Sights and Sounds in the
BIT Factories OF Connecticut.

BIT Factories OF Connecticut.
There are in the United States four
teen bit factories, and eleven of them
are in Connecticut, and here in the town
of Chest r, within 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 many
trip hammers. On visiting one of the
factories he will first enter the forging
room on the ground floor, where busy
and curious spectacle is presented. His
sense of hearing at once become useless,
as the clatter and cIang of multiplicity
of heavy running machinery makes con-
versation impossible except for a man Of
strong lung power. From the ceiling
are suspended long rows of
heavy shafting filled with driving pull
leys from six inches to as many feet in
diameter. Instead OF floor the visitor
walks on clay, packed as hard aud
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 and quickly as lady would cut
piece of string with her scissors. Here
line of sturdy men stand beside glow
ing foTges in which these bars of steel
are placed until they are heated to
white heat, when they are Immediately
put under trip hammers, which striking
hundreds of blows in a minute, hammer
the bars fiat on one md. round i'll the
the center, and square on the other end.
| The bit has now started into existence,
and is called in this form "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
pod ;" or spiral of beautiful regularity.
The "swedgers" seize it now, and again
under the influence Ofthe blowpipe the
steel is soon red hot, when one blow
| from a powerful drop fashions the square
end into a shank properly beveled for
the bit brace; again 1t IS heated and
passed under another drop which stamps
on its shank figure telling the size of
| the hole 1t viii bore when finished.
| Once more it endures the fiery ordeal,
and, glowing red, passes through the
| heading presses, which, wlth.a hug and
| a sdueese, crush two inches 0fthe twisted
emu into u mass IN which you family
discern the point spurs and cutting edges
of the future bit. 1t is next carried into
| the annealing room, where, with thou
sands of others, it is buried beneath
heaps of charcoal and thoroughly baked
until the steel is well softened or an
nealed. Next it is picked for several
hours in watts containing strong solution
of sui phuric acid, which eats off all the
scale left by the many previous heatlngs
in the toTges.
The bit now passes into the machine
nh fha machine ptItG
out all sup Tfiuous stock in the head,
| forming and cutting edges. The milling
machine cuts the point smoothly to the
correct level, ready for the screw TO be
made upon it. The leveling machine
smooths the bottom of the blades, the
facing. back machine cus the edges OF
the blades straight, the serew-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 but half made.
You pass into another department,
and there you see long rows of skilled
| mechanics seated upon high stonls, each
man having in front Of him a heap of
bits and a lot Of files OF various sizes and
forms, known as square" round,
"hat," "half-round," "humpback,"
''ground off, and feather edge" and
each of these is used in turn to form and
smooth the various parts and cutting
surfaces of he bit. The sQueaking OF a
hundred flies of almost as many sizes
and shapes fills the air with shrill notes
and sets your teeth on edge.
You pause for a moment to watch a
couple of men, who, seated IN front OF
tiny FORCES, are heating the bits to q
cherry red color and then dipping them
in dishes of oiland water. You learn that
they are tempering them to the proper
degree of hardness for cutting. You
also learn that although they can control
the temper of the steel, they cannot
control ii cir own-when they burn
their fingers.
You now opena door lettered Polish
ing Room" and start back 1t the scene
which meets your glxe. A living re-
production of Dante's dream Is before
YOU. Men with faces blackened by
charcoal dust and emery stand in long
rows, while sheet of fire i've or six
feet long plays from the hand of each,
lighting up their blackened features and
making them look like yeritable de-
mons. Each man holds in his band
bit and presses it upon the polishing
wheel, which makes many thousand rev.
0iudons III a minute, causing by its
friction great sheet of sparks to fly out
in front OF the operator. You behold
the many different processes OF finishing
the bits until at last they look as bright
as Furnished silver.
In the packing room many men are
sharpening the flashed bits, and
few inspectors are examining them with
manifylng glasses to see if they can de-
tect any scratches that have been left by
the polisher. Here also the bits are
sorted into the first and second quality