Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-08-17

spikes, like ironor steel. 1t should be very
suitable for submarine uses, as it will not
corrode. With all these advantages it is no
more expensive than the ordinary COM
mercial bronze, and there is no especial
selection of materials used in the COM
pound.
MANY USES FOR THE AMALGAM.
1t is difficult to say what services this
new compound may not be requisitioned to
perform. Its resistance to acids and
corrosion. will make it useful for propellers
which, made of steel or brass, are corroded
by the sea water and, rotting, finally break.
The attention of the Government being
drawn to this metal, Commander w. M.
Fowler, of the Bureau of Ordnance, in
structed Lieutenant Cowles, the naval in
spector at Homestead, to inquire into the
matter He did so and has made an ex-
haustive report to the bureau on the SUBJ
ject.
Mr.. Harrington says be will not take out
patent on his process, but will maintain it
as trade secret.
A PIECE MADE INTO A RAZOR.
Mr.. Harrington's process for making
nickel-steel is no less interesting than his
manganese bronze. He exhibited a razor
Yesterday made from piece of nickel-steel.
son on a customer The barber stropped it
before beginning operations, and he finished
off the man without again using the strop.
This barber said SIT was as fine piece of
steel as he ever had in his hand" 1t was
subsequently used on another man without
being stropped, and satisfactorily. This
piece of steel was made from ordinary
spring steel stock whose tensile strength
runs from 60, 900 to $500 pounds, with an
addition of 21S per cent of nickel Pre-
vious to being made into razor it had been
severely tested in the Westinghouse Electric
shops as turning tool. 1t worked in the
latter four days without requiring sharpen
ing, and when taken out the edge was
intact.
The process used by Harrington in the
alloy of nickel and steel is the only one, so
far as is known, in which refined nickel is
used. The metal is also American. All
other manufacturers use either nickel matt
or ferro nickel In nickel matt there is
copper, iron, and nearly always cobalt.
Where the matt is used these minerals are
present, and consequently the percentage of
nickel used must necessarily fuctuate and
remain an unknown quantity until an
analysis has been made.
A HoMoGENEITY OBTAINED.
According to Mr.. Harrington, the secret
of making nickel-steel is to overcome the
porosity. He claims to do this and to make
a perfectly homogeneous alloy. The diff
Guilty in the manufacture arises from the
fact that nickel and steel are, to a certain
extent, incompatible. They have an affinity,
and may be mixed, but owing to the nickel
being so liable to porosity, in casting 1t is
difficult to combine the two metals and
overcoming that tendency. This is where
Mr. Harrington's secret lies. He had added
2k per cent of nickel to ordinary spring
stick steel of $4,000 pound tensile strength,
and a test showed the strength of the alloy
to be 153, $50 pounds. He said yesterday
he could make alloys of from to 25 per cent
of nickel of complete homogeneity, solid,
and free from porosity. The fact that a
piece of the alloy was made into keen |
bladed razor supports this statement.
Speaking about nickel-steel the other day
L. c. Burwell, the well-known expert in
boilers, said he would like to see the alloy
used in boilermaking. He thinks it |
suited for the purpose, because it |
oxidizes slowly and shows the minimum in
corrosion. Its great strength and tenacity |
with its weight would adapt it |
especially to high-pressure boilers. Thus |
in many classes of boiler much lighter |
plates would answer. and much weight in
material would be saved.
The cost of nickel-steel, with l per cent |
If nickel added, is cent per pound, or $40 |
Der ton. 1t is interesting to know that on |
his much discussed compound there is alb |
iolutely no literature beyond the paper
'ead by Prof Riley before the British Iron |
md Steel Institute in 1889, and occasional |
lrticles in the daily press.