New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1886-03-03
MAKING NAILS.
From the Metal in the Ore to the Nails in
the KeS.

From the Metal in the Ore to the Nails in
the Keg.
Mining Enquirer.
Upon entering the works the first
thing which strikes one is the arrange
ment OF the pudding furnaces, they be |
ing built so as to form a hollow square. |
Each furnace is double-that is, one
stack is divided into two parts, max
ing two pudding furnaces. In the
space within the square is placed the
.ssqueezer," the train of rolls, and the
engine, which latter furnishes thepower
to drive the machinery and supplies
the blast for the furnaces. The pig
iron is brought from the blast furnace
in cars and carts, and at a certain
place is broken in halves, weighed and
apportlo ned to the puddlers.
The iron is placed in the furnaces,
blast OF hot air is driven
over it by means of a fan, and
as it melts the puddler stirs
it continually with a long iron instru-
ment called a puddle tool" This
process is kept up until every vestige
ofimpurity has been driven out. Then
the workman gradually cools down
his furnace by damping the fire, being
careful to note the consistency OF the
mass. Then he rolls into a ball shape,
withdraws it from the furnace, and by
means of a ponderous pair of tongs
running freely on an overhead rail
way conveys it to the squeezer, a.
piece of mechanicism worth describing.
In former times the squeezer resem-
bled the jaws OF a monster crocodile,
from which it derived it's name. Now
the apparatus is called "coffee-mill
squeezer," and, indeed, it looks very
much like a big coffee mill. The ball
is tossed into squeezer, which seizes
it and sends it rolling around and
around, the space becoming mar
rover as the outcome is approached.
When at last the mass emerges
it has taken the shape of roll OF
cotton batting. A man on the 'slook-
out" for it grasps it with tongs, and
the overhead rigging is again brought
into play to carry the "bloom," as it
is now called, to the rolls. The rolls
are constructed with numerous
grooves graduated to the size of the
bar desired to bemade The "bloom"
has now gone through the puddle rolls
and is fiat, say four inches wide,
three-quarters of an inch thick, and
twelve feet long; it is termed puddle or
muck bar. When used for nail-mak-
ing it must be cut into short lengths
Of a foot. These are piled in GER
tain manner, weighed and taken to a
department, the "sheet mill" This
mill has within it several heating fur
naces and two trains of rolls-one to
break down the pile and another to
finish the sheet. The heaters arrange
the piles OF iron on the furnaces pre-
cisely as the baker does his loaves in
the oven. When it is sufficiently heat
ed it is conveyed by means of the ever
useful, overhead. railway to the
| rolls, there to be again fatten-
ed and drawn into long thin
sheets. Now we have come to the
nail factory. The sheets are taken to
the Sitter" who cuts them into diff
ferent sizes, as the kind OF nails desired
to be made requires. The nail
plates are then packed in numbered
boxes to be delivered to the nail-cut-
tiers. The large-sized nails are cut hot,
and for the purpose of heating the
plates a furnace is at hand ncharge
! of a man whose business it is to sup
ply the nailers with iron. Now we
have reached the last process of this
| rather intricate manufacture We
hear the busy hum of 100 machines,
which in the course of eleven hours cut
| LOO kegs of nails. An invention of
recent date, which at one time threat
ened to revolutionize the cutting OF
nails, has been introduced in this fac
tory. It is called a self-feeder, but as
it only cuts middle sizes the
trade of the nail feeder IS not
| jeopardized The ingenious machines
| are almost human in their work
ing. An attendant takes up a
nail plate, prizes open the stiff jaws
| OF his nippers, places one end OF the
plate within and by skillful thrust
has set the machine going. 1t certain
| ly is more accurate in it's action than
any feeder can be- One person can,
if diligent, attend to two self-feeding
machines. Each machine consists OF
a cutting knife, a heading machine,
bed-plate, fy-wheel, and splint and
miss-cut separator. The last is the
invention of one of the workmen in
the factory. There is another process
to be told about, and that is the blue
ing. This is done in an inclined revolv-
ing cylinder, pierced wire holes, and
kept at dull red heat. The nails are
poured in at the elevated end, and, as
they slowly roll down the incline, take
on the pretty blue tint we haveso often
admired. The nails are now taken to
the packer, ''who weighs them, packing
100 pounds in each keg. The pack
ing is done by means Of machine
which, by an ingenious application of