Evening star., 1898-09-17
COSTLN MONSTER MISSILES.
Steel Tempered With ns Much Cnre
as Razor Blade

ny 1ta2Or blade.
From the Philadelphia Record
Inc invention of the modern high-power
guns mas brought into use projectiles that
are the finest product of ingenuity and
improved machinery, calling forth the best
EFFORTS of skilled artisans. Instead of cast
iron globes that could be turned ont bv
any foundry twenty years ago, use is now
made Of the grades of steel, tempered with
as much care as a razor blade, and ground
and polished with as much exactitude as a
surgical Instrument.
Inc complete story of the manufacture
Oh arnor- piercing projectiles by the steel
"oihS IN Readng is a secret so carefully
guarded that it has always been hard TO
obtain, but at present when the biey Miami
IS running on war footing, it is still more
dl cult. as only employees and government
inspectors are permitted to enter the COM
panys immense machine shops Shells
4, o, q. g. 10, y and 13 inches in diameter
are being made for the navy, end s. 8 and
I2-lnch sizes for the army.
Here Is the history of the making of a
1o-inch shell, and as the projectiles of
ah sizes are made in the same manner
1t gives some idea of the vast amount of
labor required to equip a fleet.
IN the casting shop molten steel is cast
INTO sohd piece twelve and a half inches
In diameter. 1t is then taken to the forge
room. where. after being reheated, it is
hammered down to ten and three-quarter
inches. and considerably, elongated during
the process Next 1t Is conveyed to the
machine shop and placed upon q specially
constructed lathe and turned and pointed
Inc only parts of the shell that bear
against the rifled surface of the gun are
the concdl end and the copper ring that
enc1rcles the base. This ring is soft SO
as not to injure the rifing. After the
finishing cut has been given to the pro-
jecties the diameter of the largest part
of the cone is 1913 inches and that of the
DGGS OF the shell is $50 inches.
Then the Extracting score is cut
There is a V-shaped groove, in which
tool can be fastened when it is desired to
withdraw the shell from the gun. The
next move is the boring of five-inch hole
in the base of the projectile to a depth of
fourteen inches. Tempering follows. In
this process the shell Is suspended, point
downward, in receptacle filed with
molten lead. and is allowed to settle until
the metal rises above the cone base.
AT first the temperature of the lead is
but 800 degrees but it is increased grad
ually to 1900 degrees. i The work of heat
ing continues for many hours, when the
shell is withdrawn and sprayed with water,
to give 1t a hard exterior. Next follows
bath in vat filled with secret tngre-
dients, after which the shell is cooled with
a jet of water.
Once more the shell goes back to the
machine shop, where the hole in the base
is widened half an inch, and the depth
increased two inches. The hole is then
threaded and a screw plug inserted. The
grinding room is next. Here the extreme
diameter of the cone is ground down to
ten inches exactly. The workmen now
apply the band score" which is a groove
for the reception of the soft copper band.
After the soft steel cap has been fitted
to the tip of the projectile. on the theory
that when the shell strikes the armored
side of battle ship the point will be pro-
tected without any interference with its
penetrating power, the work Is finished so
far as the steel company is concerned.
1t is then boxed up and shipped to some
United States arsenal, where 1t is filled
with an explosive compound and made
ready for its work of destruction.