New-York tribune., 1902-05-25

busy The Strips" or bars of cold brass. are first
passed through breaking down rollers. which fiat
ten out and harden the metal Brass cannot be
tempered in water that the sheet is hauled off
to the annealtng furnaces. in which wood fires are
continually burning There is a long row OF the
'nauf1es. as the worknen call the furnaces, along
one side Of the mill They built of brick. paint
ed white, and look like a string Of old Dutch ovens.
except that their mouths are more given to yawn-
ing. On top of the ovens are stacked the cruel
bles which are not in use, safely stored against
possible moisture. which would spoil them Inc
sheets left in the oven for an hour. more or
less according TO the degree of softness desired.
They emerge covered with scale, or oxide. which is
taken off by acid bath Long tanks filled with
a vivid blue liquid. sulphuric acid. called the
pickle are provided for this purpose Next
every tub Of acid is of water in which the
brass sheet is doused 1t is then ready for another
trip through the rollers the annealng furnace and
the bath, operations which succeed one another
until the sheet reaches the desired degree Of thin
In the overhauling room every inch Of surface Of
the sheet brass is scraped in an effort TO md i'm
perfections. Much OF the work is done by hand
On the harder sheets noisy "scalping' machine
pulls its steel teeth over the surface, throwing a
shower Of rainbow shavings into the air The fric-
ton of the machine moving over the surface Of
she brass responsible for the vivid varied color
!ng of The scrapings
polished steel 4 Coy swabs the sheet with oil
to make its passage more easy, ana machine on
left the casting room seven-eighths of an inch
ton of an inch and passed through ifteen sets OF
r@oas @ II the mill has an order for soft metal the
running It through drying out machine, which is
finish and the color OF brass as most people know
II A different process of finishing gives brass such
portion of nickel is ad5ed in rhe csStin roon mat
The scrap from the rolling mill is carefully gath
ered up ard put in a power press Blocks of brass
These blocks are called icabbaEes'' so it is only
natural that the men who handle them cab
Modern machinery methods prevail in every cor
Which h rsf nIndnc @ IN &c fG me WAY ba IN
kettles-were hammered out by hand and It is
with a process which is most primitive. 10 ma
chine method Of making cores for tube mouds has
ever been success, and tubes cannot be with
80 The s,c cores are made II little room, the floor
clay One Of the three takes perforated
res' in corner and places it in a turning ma
chine BY turning crank he causes the barrel
Of hay and wraps it tightly around the barrel
on the outer covering Of clay with his hands II
IS dirty job for all three, and hard the hands
most expert and speedy workers.
ticularly differs from the sheet casting lirst
visited is the pit which forms its centre The
stand against the sides OF the pit The pouring is
When the brass has cooled workmen jump ' into he
PIT up me mould and drive out the core with a
brass tube which ranges in size from to 10 inches
cleaned of sand, a process which causes sick
ening Gust TO arise
For several reasons cast tubes have 10 undergo
considerable treatment before they are ready for
ana unstghtlv. Then. II Is Impossible to small
tunes, and the mere cast metal is strong enough
for most purposes. The hardening and drawing
out IS one of the most interesting mechanic op-
erations in brass making
The tubes are first put under A heavy steam ham
ner. which points one end Why are they spelling
the tubes? demands the visitor for II looks as if
they are being ruined. Then workmen carry them
90 a hydraulic drawing bench where they are
drawn through steel dies which are smaller than
the tubes If one end of each tube was not point
ed they could not be started through the dies
Inside the dies are plugs, which give smooth
interior surface. The ends of the tubes are firmly
fastened TO the drawing frames and the hydraulic
power turned The frames start away from the
dies, leaving long brass tube trails behind them or
course: the resultant tubes smaller and longer
than the original casting After being annealed the
process can be repeated until the tubes are drawn
down TO the smallest possible diameter
In another part or the tube mill boys busily
engaged in making a cheaper tube by brazlng long
strips OF sheet brass. The strip is first formed up
by being hammered into shape about an iron tube
hand machine. known the "scratcher" is run
over the edges; Frightening and bevellinR them
They are closed with wise, and kept tight until
wires can be put The is then filled with
passage through the brazing furnace, making a
The wire mill is interesting place. with from