The Globe-republican., 1891-06-17
MAKING TIN PLATE.

During the year 1890 there were abou,
$50, 900 tons of tin plate imported into
this country during the past twenty-five
years no less than $500, O00, OC0 have
been sent to Great Britain in payment
for the tin plate which England sup.
piled to this country.
The story which these figures tell OF
British industries and British working
men supported by American capital is
the epitome of the tin plate question up
| to the present time. Under the new
tariff all this will be changed. and
! Americans will no longer suffer the
humiliation of being dependent upon a
foreign country for one of the COM
monest of the every day necessities OF
life.
The provisions of the new tariff that
| apply to tin plate do not become opera
tive until July 1, but already American
! made tin plate is on the market. In
addition to this, large plants, whose
total possible output is figured at about
60, 900 net tons annually, are we'll under
way, and will before very long be ready
to begin work.
TIN DEFINED.
One of the best known dealers in tin
plate in this city is Mr.. Henry R. De
Milt, who is, perhaps, as conversant
with this subject as any one in the
country. Mr.. De Milt has been all
through the tin plate works in England,
and is one of the very few Americans
who are familiar from observation and
experience with every detail of tin plate
manufacture. To him, therefore. the
reporter went for information, and in
reply to his questions concerning tin
plate and its manufacture Mr.. De Milt
said:
Tin, pig tin, or block tin, as it is
sometimes called, is all one and the
same thing. It is a metal as distinctive
in its character as either lead, zinc or
copper, and is found in most parts of
the world in greater or less quantities.
The greater part of the pig tin of COM
merce. however, comes from around the
Straits of Malacca and Australia. 1t is
also mined to some extent in England.
but this tin is not extensively used in
the manufacture of tin plate, owing to
its combination with other minerals. 1t
is found, too quite commonly in many
parts of the United States, notably in
Virginia, Dakota and California. where
mines are already being developed. and
in one instance at least, pig tin is being
produced. 1t is confidently expected
that these mines will be sufficiently de-
veloped in a short time to produce large
quantities. The metal tin itself is
rather light in weight and lacks tough
ness. 1t is principally used as an alloy.
or in combination with other metals. 1t
comes to this country direct. and, as
there is no duty on it, the price here is
the same as in London.
'Tin plate, or more properly timed
plate, is merely sheet iron or steel
coated with tin by immersing the care
fully prepared sheets in the molten
metal. AS this timing is comparatively
simple matter, you will see that the
principal part of the cost is the prepar-
alton and production of the blank sheet
of iron or steel. This, you will under
stand, involves all the processes of the
manufacture of iron and steel, from the
ore to the finished product.
''As very few, if any, plates are now
made of iron the next step is the con-
version of the pig iron into Bessemer or
Siemens-Martin steel, which gives a
tougher and finer grade plate than iron,
and is cheaper quality considered. This
process also requires heavy machinery
and is usually separate business. The
steel leaves here in the shape of ingots,
weighing, say 1000 pounds or more
each. Then comes the next step, which
is the rolling of these ingots down to
bars of the required thickness, say one
half an inch thick by eight or ten inches
wide. This requires great mill and ire.
mendous power. The ingOt, which is
eight or ten inches square by about four
or five feet long, is handled automati-
cally throughout. 1t is first heated in a
large furnace and then taken up and
placed upon the automatic rollway to
be run through the rolls. This rollway
and its accompanying rolls are ire
mendous pieces of machinery. The
rollway itself is at least $50 feet long,
ana Is composer VI uuiuciOuS ohudii
rollers as carriers, driven by power and
leading directly to the jams of the
| monster rolls which do the work.
These rolls are about thirty-six inches
in diameter and weigh several tons
each. AS soon as the heated ingOt is
placed upon the rollway the power is
turned on and all the rolls are set going
| in the same direction.
THE MANUFACTURE OF TIN.
''This carries the ingot up to and
through the big rolls and on to the roll.
/ way on the other side of them. The
machinery is then reversed and the
rollers all set going in the opposite di
rection. which carries the ingot back
through the rolls again. By reversing
the machinery each time the ingot car
be put through the rolls back and
forth as many times as may be neces
sary to bring it to the required thick
ness If this is to be one-half inch anC
the ingot was originally five feet long
the resultant bar will be about seventy
five feet long. This bar is then taker
to the shears and cut into the required