The Portland daily press., 1889-03-26
HOW WROUGHT IRON BARS ARE MADE.
Fifty Tons of Iron melted and Weld
ed In a Day.
scores Of Men Who Labor Before
the Fiery Furnaces.
a Press Reporter Visits the Portland
Rolling Mills.

the Fiery Furnaces.
a Press Reporter Visits the Portland
Rolling mills.
with vests and jackets thrown aside, shirt
sleeves rolled up above the elbows, arms and
faces black with dust and wet with perspira-
tion, more than hundred sinewy men,
from morning till night, ply with busy
hands beneath the huge sooty roof of the
Portland Rolling Mills. All night as well,
smaller crew work at shaping the red hot
iron. A glance at these men as they pass
hither and thither, look at the huge, hot
furnaces of molten iron, then ones attention
is attracted toward the centre of the mill,
where Is scene of great activity. Here
with sturdy stroke and irresistible power
the 20 ton driving wheel is rapidly revolving,
moved by a 800 horse power engine. This
immense wheel is so feet In diameter. Be-
sides this monster there are two 100 horse
power engines and three still smaller ones
in the mills, each performing its allotted
task. The blowing engine fans the furnaces
another works the big shears that clip off
railroad rails as easily as the tailor's scissors
sever cotton thread; a third runs the horse
shoe machine. and so on. Yesterday the ge
NAL foreman of the Portland Rolling Mills,
Mr.. William Beardsworth, escorted PRESS
reporter through the various departments of
the big establishment, and explained the
process of making from pig and scrap iron
iron rods bars, ishplates, spikes, horse
| shoes, etc. The first place visited was the
| pudding department" Here are two ldou.
| BILE pudding furnaces" each with a capaci-
| ty of about 1000 pounds They are filled
with pig and scrap iron, which is melted
and worked for about two hours, at the end
of which time all foreign matter has been
removed. Working" the molten iron con-
sists of moving through it iron bars or polk
ers. This is done by men who work for a
short time before the hot furnaces and then
are relieved by other men who take their
turn. After the iron is removed from the
| pudding furnace. it is put into the "squeez-
| er, a powerful machine that makes the iron
into pieces some two or three feet long and
perhaps six inches thick. These pieces are
put into rollers and made into bars some ten
or dozen feet long. six inches wide and
about half an inch thick. This is the pro-
cess by which what is known as cast iron IS
made into wrought iron. About 24O0spounds
OF coal are consumed in making 1000 pounds
of wrought iron.
Inc next step in the manufacture of the
iron rods, etc., is taken in the "bar mill"
Here are two furnaces. In one coal is
burned, and in the other, which is of more
modern invention, gas is burned. The capac-
ity of the bar mill is some over 20 tons of
iron per day, of ten hours. The gas furnace
has capacity of about IS tons per day. The
gas producer Is located in the rear of the
furnace. 1t requires about 700 pounds of
coal TO bring to a welding heat 1000 pounds
OF iron in the gas furnace. The
old furnace consumes more coal than this.
Piles OF iron. about three feet long and of
different thicknesses, are put in these fur
naces, where they are allowed to remain I'M
I'll they are red not, or until they have
reached welding heat. Then they are TAX
en- out put into the roller and made into
long iron rods from I to A inches in diane
ter, square iron from to 81 inches; or fiat
iron from by inches to 3x6' inches, as may
be desired. III rod is being made, the iron
looks much like long golden rope when it
leaves the rollers. While 1t is yellow hot it is
taken to the Strengthening bench, which con-
sits of a lot of iron rails placed near together
and on the same level. A man at either
end OF the hot rod takes il with
a big pair of tongs pulls it out straight and
It Is taken along to huge pair of steam
snears and cut into the desired lengths,
/ when 1t becomes already to ship away. The
same process Is performed in making the
IRON bars, fish plates, etc. After leaving the
rollers, and while it Is still hot and pIiaple.
the quality of the iron is stamped upon each
piece. In the ~ten-inch mill" which is run
night and day, the same work is done, only
the iron made Is smaller. Near this mill is
| the horseshoe machine. For several wears
the managers of the rolling mills have been
experimenting with horse shoe machine
and at last they have got one that works sue
cessfully, 1t requires one man and two boys
| to run 1t, and it will make 1900 horse-shoes
| per day. The shoes are made from iron pre-
/ pared expressly for them.
/ Near the horseshoe machine is the spike
machine. One man and three boys operate
4 TINS machine, and they make with it 80 to 80
kegs Kegs q railroad spikes per day Spikes are
made here for the Grand Trunk road Maine
Central and Boston g. Maine. But except
| ing round and fiat iron. more fish plates are
made than anything else. Fish plates are the
irons that are used to join and hold In place
railroad rails. They are sometimes called
splicers. From q to % tons Of these plates
are made daily at the mills. They are manu-
factured here for all the railroads In Maine,
and also for the Boston & Providence, Old
colony and other roads; Angle iron is
Company OF Connecticut. and also iron for
vessels, To keep the machines and tools in
repair that are used in the mills we'll
equipped blacksmith shop is maintained.
Rolls Tor shaping the iron are made in the
roll-turners shop, another department.
linen there Is the machine shop, with
Its steam drills, lathes, planer and
other machines; the carpenters and the pat
tern makers shop; the drafting room and
TOOL room. All these are connected wit the
mills which have capacity of 30 tons of iron
per day. In the furnaces and in running the
engine about % tons OF coal are consumed
dally, or 5000 tons annually. reckoning 300
Jays one year.. The number of fish plates
manufactured last year was 1900 tons, and
more VIII be manufactured this year. They
are made In IL different patterns. For the six
months ending December /, 1888, 1924 tons of
Dulidlng or angle iron were made. Within
ments have been made that not only fdcili-
tates the manufacture of bar iron but lessen
the expense. The new gas furnace saves 400
pounds OF coal to the ton more than the old
furnaces; Last year condensers were put in
the smaller engines and this reduced the
consumption Of coal 200 tons per year, a
very considerable saving
condenser is to be put on the big 800
morse power engine, and this it is calculated
VIII save 10 tons more coal annually. I'M
proved furnaces have been added during the
last three years, and they have decreased the
waste Oh iron on an average of about per
cent, representing saving of some 200 tons
OF iron annually, All the iron manufac-
tured in the mills is tested before it is shipped
away. The bridge iron is strong and of
superior quality. There are several grades
OF bar iron. Twelve to fifteen hundred tons
OF bar iron is kept in stock all the time to fill
orders. The manufacture of this iron from
the pig and scrap iron is simple, but never
theless very interesting process. The iron
bars as they leave the rollers resemble rib
oons OF gold. and the rods are amber threads
as pliable as rope. Rapidly aud skilfully
are they manufactured, and the very sim,
gllclty OF the process makes 1t interesting,
~. Inc roaring furnaces, the whir of engines,