Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1898-05-20
HOW THE TEN INCH PRoJEcTILES
s. ARE MANUFACTURED. :.

the history of the making Of 10 inch
shell:
In the casting shop molten steel is
cast in solid piece about 12H inches
in diameter: From the casting shop it
goes to the forgeroom, where, after be-
ing reheated, it is hammered down to
1917 inches, being considerably elon-
gated in the process. It is then convey
ed to the machine shop and placed in a
specially constructed lathe. The base Of
the projectile is inserted in the lathe
"chuck, - and the conical end is swung
from the lathe center. A "roughing"
cut is then run over the shell, the shell
itself is pointed, and then receives q
finishing cut.
The only parts Of the shell that bear
against the rifled surface of the gun is
the larger part Of the conical end and
the surface Of copper ring that encir-
cles the projectile near it's base The
copper is quite soft, so does not injure
the rifling After the finishing cut is
given to the projectile the diameter Of
the largest part of the cone is 10 5-100
inches, and that Of the cylinder, which
Is the body of the projectile extending
back from the cone, is 9 80. = ..
The workmen now apply ~: :-s>
score," which is a groove - IT, -.
reception Of the soft cope l4D.] J "
a 10 inch projectile the ,Te, l. 4
inches wide at the bottom Ind Il QUAR-,
ter inch deep. The groove ice y
the bottom than at the top, so that the
copper band retains it's position after it
has been placed in the groove and
pounded down until the copper swells
out and fills the groove, thus taking a
fange hold on the underside.
Then the Extracting score'' is cut.
This presents sectionally view like the
letter V, with the letter lying on one
side and the converging lines pointing
to the base Of the shell. This groove is
made to permit a tool to be fastened to
the shell when it is desired to withdraw
it from the gun. The shell is put in the
cutting off machine, where the surplus
length is taken off. The next move is
the boring Of a five inch hole in the
base to depth Of ii inches
In the process Of hardening the shell
is suspended, point downward, in a re-
oeptacle filled with molten lead, and is
allowed to settle until the hot metal
rises above the cone base. At first the
temperature Of the lead is 500 degrees,
but is increased grad = I. HH0 t;a>
grees. The work G. 5',@>.it< .<}uirGt,
four hours, when tbs o:?@>A :. ':l:5.4:j%.,ys2,
from the bath and eprayo0 iii uAt:M
to give it . hard exit, :. u ~ then
plunged into a bath 49,: J.. /. # scc1a1
Ingredients, and whez> y III ~.4yr.A i: -,
cooled with a jet Of water.
The projectile goes again to the ma
chine shop. the hole in the base is wild
ened half an inch and the depth is in
creased two inches. The hole Is thread
ed" few inches and a screw plug is
inserted. The grinding room is the next
destination, and here the extreme d.
ameter of the cone is ground down to
ten inches exactly. After soft steel
cap has been fitted to the tip Of the pro-
jectile, on the theory that when the
shell strikes the armored side of bat
tleshlp the soft steel preserves the point
Of the projectile without interfering
with it's penetrating power, the shell is
finished as far as the Firth-Sterling
company is concerned. It is exactly
~ Is inches long. After it has been re-
ceived 1T some United States arsenal it
is filled with all explosive compound and
is ready for it's work Of destruction.
All large projectiles, from the six
inch size up, are made as described
The machinery at the Demmler plant
consists Of 10 lathes, 4 boring mills, Q
cutting off machines, 2 tool lathes, 3
chasing machines, l grinding and / GEN.
tering machine. This equipment is be-
ing REINFORCED, as the company has
enough work on hand for the govern
ment and foreign countries to keep the
plant busy for two years.-New York
Sun. -