Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-11-15
pIow MAKING.
an Important and Intricate Industry
Latest improvements.

I 1e<St
"Do you make plows here?" asked
| Cincinnati Times-Star reporter of an agri
/ cultural implement manufacturer.
"1es, this is the only place in Cincin
natl where the work is done complete. We
buy chilled steel in Pittsburg. 1t come:
| in sheets twelve feet long and any width
ordered. Plow steel is generally one
| fourth of an inch thick. Sometimes we
buy the different parts, such as the mold.
| board bar and share already cut out
The mold board is fat when bought, and
must be shaped. So it is placed in this
vice, white hot, and this screw is frightened
down upon it. The pressure gradually
forces the fiat board into its circular shape
The mold-board is the part which turns
| over the mold or earth 1t is the princi
| pal part of the pillow, and must be curved
/ Just right, IN order to throw the soil off
/ 1t should be made of the best of steel, and
| then ground and polished until very
smooth. Some soils are hard to turn over
and farmers always want good mold
board. In the West is a certain so-callee
| 'gum-bow' soil which sticks to steel pillow
1t is very rich and productive, and is
plowed with glass mold boards. We make
some mold-l cards out of three layers Of
| steel. This is bar pillow. The bar, which
gives its name to the pillow, is the long
piece of steel which is welded to the share
1t is on the side next to the solid ground
| in blowing, and serves as sort of runner.
The share is first cut in a triangular form.
| and then shaped as you see The share
and bar are then welded together, and
holes are drilled into the share, through
which bolts are put, and these bolts hold
the share in its place.
"This long, heavy piece of wood is called
the beam. All the woodwork is made of
white oak timber. This heavy, upright
piece is called a sheath. Formerly this
piece was made of wood, but now it is
generally made of iron. A hollow piece
of iron, such as is used, is ! great deal
stronger than straight piece of wood.
The woodwork on pillow is first made
square by means of plane. The sharp
corners are then cut off by means Of this
Pressing machine. The long, three-cor-
nered strip cut off, as well as the surface it
comes from, is called 'chamfer or 'bevel
Chamfering is done by peculiar kind of
round bit of different sizes After the
handles are otherwise finished they are
bent Bending handles is very simple
process when once seen. You see that
barrel? 1t is stuck full OF plow handles,
which are being boiled ready for bending
Each end must be bent generally. The
handle is first boiled for an hour, then
taken out and placed in a steel strap, as
long as the handle. 1t now has the ap
pearance of sled runner. The handle
o,,l ,,Iaoal nd
at the end to be bert is a small wheel
about six inches in diamter. This wheel
has four-inch handle attached, and this
handle is seized and pulled down, bringing
the pressure of the wheel upon the place
in the handle where the crook is to be
made. The handle is held down until an
other workman can place rod over the
strap to hold it in position. This rod has
a ring at each end, and these rings slip
over the ends of the strap. The handle,
still in the strap, is taken out and placed
to one side to dry. After about an hour
man goes along and removes the handle,
which ever after retains the bent form.
sThe other end of the handle is now boiled
and bent in another peculiar wise. This
wise is made of wood and is placed flat on
the ground The handle is fastened in,
and workman seiZes 1t on one side with
pair of long handled tongs. He lifts on
the tongs and thus gives the handle
compound curve at the end which fastens
to the plow The handle is then tightly
wedged and left to dry in the wise. Bend
ing handles is the most difficult thing to
be done in making a pillow. After they
are dry a workman fits them to their
places and then fastens them securely with
rods and bolts.
"Here is a side-hill plow-much in de-
mand in billy countries. Kentucky farm
ers use these mostly. The share is shaped
the same on both sides, and is attached to
the bottom of the sheath by means of a
stout hinge. The farmer plows to the end
of his furrow, then turns around in his
track into the same furrow and goes
back. Before he goes he must turn his
share over. He reaches down and loosens
hook, tits the pillow on its beam and
swings the share under and refastens the
hook This is all done quicker than it can
be told. This pillow has two advantages to
the farmer; first, all the ground is sure to
ways walks on level ground. Here is a
double Michigan pillow that was put up
by US in twelve hours. 1t has a mini
ature plowshare on the beam in front of
the main pillow to turn sod. The main
pillow follows and throws the subsoil on
top of the sod, completely burying it. A
sod cutter, or wheel OF thin steel, runs
ahead Of the small pillow and cuts the way
open This is contractors plow.' 1t is
made very heavy, and the big beam is
nearly covered with iron. 1t requires
from eight to twelve horses to pull it, and
often twenty are needed. A contractor on
Bond Hill is using one of these plows
hitched to Steam engine. Another man
is blowing up the jacksonville pike with
the same kind. He uses a stationary en-
CINE with a cable one-half mile long.
This pillow will go through eighteen inches
of heavy metal. 1t sells for about 500.
We make all sizes of grading plows such
as these. They never wear out"
"What is the life of plow?"
"A good steel pillow will last farmer
twenty years. There is little wear except
on the share, and that can be replaced"
what city leads in pillow manufacturer
Probably Moline, H., has the largest
works. Louisville, KY, has big trade ;
also, Hamilton and Dayton, in our own
State. The making of plows has i'm
proved wonderfully of late. There are con-
slant alterations going on, and farmers are
beginning to like improved machinery.
Besides breaking-up plows, we make potato
diggers, single shovel, double shovel and
several other kinds of small plows. Yes,
a good steel pillow is a handy implement
when compared with the crooked sticks
and wooden mold boards of years ago."