The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-06-21
STEEL MOULDED LIKE DOUGH.
ArInOr-PfercIng Shells Made Under
High Pressure by brooklyn Con-
From the New York Sun.


From the New York Sun.
There are number Of concerns in the
United States that are now busy making
steel projectiIes for Uncle Sans big IL
fies, but It is said that in only one of them
is it possible to see steel-not what is
technically known as soft steel, either
moulded like so much dough. That is
literally what is done in Brooklyn. Us
ually such projechles are formed by cut
ting and are then bored out to make a
chamber for the explosive.
Both armor- piercing and semi-armor-
piercing shells are made in sizes ranging
from 6-pounders to 8-inch. The raw ma
terial is steel, partially hardened, in round
bars from two to about eight inches in
diameter. These bars are sawed into
lengths varying for the different sizes of
shells from about four inches to eighteen
or twenty inches The work of cutting
UP the steel bars Is such as may be seen
In any machine shop. But the next step
is surprise to the ordinary mortal who
has always conceived steel to be a re-
fractory ana difficult material to work in
to given form. Entering a great room
which has a dirt floor, he sees about him
hercely hot furnaces and huge hydraulic
presses. A solid cylinder or glowing white
metal is carefully adjusted In the die of
the hydraulic press that performs the fret
operation. the press operator pulls down
the lever with an easy movement of one
hand, and down comes the mighty pan-
drel eXerting q pressure of hundreds or
tons upon the chunk of hot steel. When
the mandrel is Withdrawn the piece is
automatically elected from the die. 1t Is
now slightly conical in form. having been
squeezed into this shape by the great pres
et1r no 81 q
dough Immediately it goes to another
of the great presses, where 1t Is held IN
a die with the thicker end up. Here when
the mandrel has silently applied its force
and been withdrawn, the piece shows a
deep hole punched in the center, and mas
taken a form roughly resembling the nm
shed projectile without reheating, so
rapid Is the process, the shell now goes
into a third press, from which it comes
still more nearly shaped to the proper pat
tern, and a fourth forming operation makes
it ready for the finishing room.
The shells are finished and trued In
lathes A rifiing band of copper is welded
on near the base. Around the nose of the
full armor-piercing projectiles, short dis
lance 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
shell from glancing when 1t strikes OBJ
liquely and also acts as a lubricant, en-
HANGING Its penetrating power
In the tempering of the shells the gov
eminent requirements are such that 1t is
seemingly necessary to work for two en6s
that lie in exactly opposite directions.
They must be both tough and brittle. A
certain number are selected al random
from each lot for testing. One half OF
these are fired at an armor-plate target,
and must pierce 1t without receiving any
Il.
hardly a scratch; the other half are load
ed and exploded in a pit, and the require
ment is that they shall be literally blown
to pieces. If in the first test a she'll Is
broken or fiattened or 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
perfection has the work been brought
however, that the company never has any
trouble In meeting the apparently para
doXical requirements of the official tests.
Curiously enough the four forging oper-
ations for making a projectile by this pro-
cess are identical with the first four OPP
erations for making drawn steel tubing
The company has in connection with it's
projectile plant a large bicycle-tubing
plant. The light strong, cold-drawn tub
ing, which Is considered superior to all
other kinds is made from solid chunk
of steel, sawed off a great bar. There are
the four hot operations on the piece, from
the last of which II comes in the form of
cylinder or tube FIVE inches in diameter, or
the1 eabouts, and several feet long, with
one end closed The closed end is then
hammered down into tongue. After that
the tube goes into draw benches. the
tongue serving % give a grip for the steel
jaws, and is drawn out cold. AS many as
seventeen cold operations are performed
on some of the tubing, it being annealed
after each. 1t is then Strengthened and
tempered.
The plant of this concern is probably
under higher pressure than any other In
the country. The power throughout is
hydraulic and constant pressure of 800
pounds 10 the square inch is maintained
over the whole system