Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1898-09-02
Washinaton Standard
STEEL PROJECTILES.
SOMt tOtA GIVEN OF HOW THEY
ARE MADE.

ta-tiu. and Workin. Steel Under
u Iii-h Moulded Like
Dnu.h Iht shells Must Pass Il
~>>,rc lest.
l.... .r.. a ,G'uhrr ni concerns in
'| lu.',I state that trr now busy
r,t.o, -t.I rrJ'rtil~ l"r Uncle
sun i.- .ll..-. iut II i al that in
only ono ii t. ,m : It possible To see
-tccl-u,t what : technically known
a. SOFT -tul. ,.;hyr-mould"d like :"
m4,h d,a.h. Ihtt i, literally what
j. dur ia Bro"klyn, says the New
Nrh >pa Usually such projectiles
are formed hy cutting. and are then
bored Yul l. make chamber for the
,,>Iu-..r.
Both armor piercing and semi
,rurr piercing shells are made in
40 ranging from G-poundcrs to S-inch.
Tho new material j. steel, partially
hardened. in round-barS, from two to
eight inches in diameter. These bars
are sawed into lengths varying for the
Iiil, rent sizes OF shells from four
inches to about eighteen or twenty
inches. The work OF cutting up the
steel bars in such as may be seen in
any machine shop. But the next
step i n surprise to the ordinary NOR
tai, who has always conserved steel to
bc refractory and difficult material to
work into given form. Entering a
great room which has q dirt floor,
he sees about him iiercely hot fur
nacc- and huge hydraulic presses. A
solid cylinder OF glowing white metal
is carefully adjusted in the die of the
hydraulic presses that performs the
first operation. The press operator
pulls down lever with an easy move
ment of one hand, and down comes
the mighty mandrel exerting press
urc of hundreds of tons upon the
chunk of hot STEEL When the man
drcl is withdrawn the piece is auto.
matically elected from the die. 1t is
now slightly conical in form having
been squeezed into this shape by the
great pressure as easily as if it had
lecn putty or dough. Immediately
it goes to another of the great presses
where it is held in q die with the
thicker end up. Here when the man.
drel has silently applied its force and
been Withdrawn, the piece shows a
deep hole punched in the center, and
has taken a form roughly resembling
the finished projectile. Without re-
heating, so rapid is the process, the
shell now goes into third press from
which it comes still more nearly
shaped to the proper pattern, and the
fourth forming operation makes it
ready for the finishing room.
The shells are finished and turned
in lathes. A rifling band of copper
is welded on near the base. Around
the nose OF the full armor-piercing
projectiles, short distance from the
point, a groove is cut. This is for a
soft steel cap, which is put on by the
government when the shells are
loaded. The cap serves to prevent
the shells from glancing when it
strikes obliquely and also acts as a
lubricant enhancing its penetrating
power. In the tempering OF the
shells the government requirements
are such that it is seemingly neces.
sary to work for two ends that lie in
exactly opposite directions. They
must be both tough and brittle.
A certain number are selected al
random from each 10: of testing
One-half of these are fired at armol
plate target, and must pierce it with
out receiving any damage Gotten they
come through with hardly scratch,
the other half are loaded and exploded
in pit, and the requirement is that
they shall be literally blown to pieces
If in the first test shell is broken OF
badly injured in any way, or if in the
second test the explosion simply rips
the shell open or rends it apart, the
whole lot is rejected. To such per.
lection has the work been brought
however, that the company never has
any trouble in meeting the apparently
paradoxical requirements of the of.
fetal test.
Curiously enough, the four opera.
tions for making projectile by this
process are identical with the first
four operations for making drawn
steel tubing. The company has in
connection with its projectile plant a
large bicycle tubing plant. The light
strong cold drawn tubing, which is
considered superior to all other kinds
is made from a solid chunk OF steel
sawed off a great bar. There are four
-, <1,o f.o.~, ,,I.o1, -