St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1912-07-17
REMODELLNG PLANT
Extensive Changes and Improve
ments Under Way at The Fair
banks Scale Plant.

the e. and T. Fairbanks and Co.
tearing down the old joinder shop
preparatory to the erection of large
and modern dry kiln. The contract
for erecting this building has been
let to the Cummings Construction
Company which will begin work next
Monday morning. This is but the be-
ginning of extensive changes and
additions to be made to the plant in
order to allow the conduct of the
work in accordance. with the recon-
mendations of the efficiency engin-
eers, who have made complete
study of the plant and changes nee
essary to have operations conducted
to the best advantage.
A compressed air plant will be in
stalled and used for lifts to operate
chipping hammers, tamping ma
stalled and used for air lifts to Oper-
ate chipping hammers, tamping ma
chimes, etc. When completed electric
power will be used in all the shops on
this side OF the river. Another labor
saving plan is to arrange track from
the foundry to the shipping room.
so cars will be moved by gravity and
do away with the difficult pushing of
the heavy cars from the foundry up
to the shipping room. An elevator
will be placed in the foun-
dry to raise the castings to the
top floor and load them on the truck
and then run them to the Shipping
room. A double decked bridge will
be constructed over the stream to
carry this track. The work necessary
to carry out the plans means the
largest amount of construction work
undertaken in st. Johnsbury in re-
cent years.
The new dry kiln will be located
between the soft and hard wood
working buildings and will be AZ by
72 feet in dimension and three stories
high. There will be five kilns on
each floor or Is in the building. The
lumber will be taken into the base
ment and cut up and then lifted by
elevator to the proper floor and put
in the kilns. The building will be
constructed of solid brick walls of
standard mill construction.
The top story Of the hardwood
shop has been finished and the ma
chinery in the old joiner shop has
been moved there and the wood
working will be done in the same
building An electric drive will. be
used to handle the lumber and the
machinery arranged so that when
piece of lumber starts from the kiln
it will be kept moving in the same
direction until put in the shipping
room ready for use.
Another extensive change will be
made in the blacksmith shop. The
ell part of this shop will be recon
structed into a storage room which
will be on level with the bridge so
the materials can be sent by gravity
to the shipping department. All the
forges in the shop will be arranged
in four rows, one along each side
and two rows in the middle of the
room and down draft furnaces in
stalled. The central fo~ges will be
lighted by strong arc lights.
In the machine shop the machinery
is to be rearranged so with group
drives and electric power can be in
stalled if the management desires.
Under the new arrangement the work
will move in one direction from one
machine to another until it is ready
to leave the shop.
The iron foundry will be extended
to the old pattern shop which means
a building of quite large dimensions
and the men now working in the old
pattern SnOp Will De placed on the
second floor of the extension. The
top story of this building will be di-
vided by saw tooth monitor and on
the river side of the building cast
ing cleaning department and on the
other the pattern making shop. n
A narrow gauge track will be in
stalled in place of the standard
gauge now used through the shops.
In the cleaning room compressed air
will be used for chipping the castings
and the work lifted into the tumbler
by an air lift and do away with an
other heavy hand operation. For
work in this room a Weiner sand
blast which has just reached New
York from Germany will be installed |
also sand blast rolling barrels and
chipping hammers.
The air compressor will give 534
cubic feet of compressed air per sec
ond at 163 revolutions per minute
and will require an 80 horse power
motor to operate. One order already
placed by the company calls for $5,-
900 worth of motors.
These are only a part of the chang
es contemplated, the others not being
ready for announcement.
The work is in charge of J. S. In
skip, engineer of construction and
maintenance.
Safe Savings Rank.