The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1916-06-08
HE AVERAGE man, when

seldom gives tnOugnt TO
IM the axles that hold them
~ up, nor does he very Of
- ten stop to think of the
labor and skill that is required to
make this very important part of
car or engine equipment.
The writer of this ariicle, having
worked for some time in large
foundry in which axles were made,
will try to explain how an axle is
made. We will pass over that part
which has to do with the smelling
of iron ore and making the steel;
for as a general thing, this part of
the work is done by firms making a
specially of that line of work.
There are two kinds of axles-
that is, there are iron and steel
axles. Either of these materials
may be used in any one of several
different shapes and kinds of axles.
Steel, however, is most commonly
used. The steel is usually pur-
chased in the form of ingots. These
ingots. or billets as they are some-
times called, are oblong in shape,
and are usually six inches thick and
about five feet long. The size. how
ever. varies according to the type of
axle to be manufactured. The iron
used is generally old scrap and is
purchased by the carload from junk
dealers. The scraps of iron are
piled on boards one foot wide and
two feet long; the pile when COM
pleted being fourteen inches high.
These piles of iron are placed on
long iron paddle and put into the
furnace. The paddle being used
to place the piles of iron at any
part of the furnace and is with
drawn as each pile is located. The
work is done in what are called
heats" twenty-four piles of scrap
90 to make one heat and eight heats
are a days work.
The furnace in which the iron is
heated is attended by three
men, called first heater. heat
er's helper and fireman. Each fur
mace has large steam hammer for
which it heats the iron or steel.
There are generally four men, or
rather three men and boy on the
hammers used for hammering the
scrap iron. These four men are
known as hammersmith, first helper,
truckman and hammer-runner; the
hammersmith having charge of both
the furnace and hammer crews.
When the iron has reached the
proper degree of heat the piles are
taken out of the furnace one al a
time and placed on the anvil under
the hammer. A long pair of tongs
on travelling crane being used for
this purpose. The hammer. runner
let's the hammer down on the mass
of iron which is usually at a white
heat; the hammer is then raised and
a staff some eight or nine feet in
length and heated red hot at one
end is placed on the pile of iron,
which is welded on and a large
stick is inserted to hole in the iron
staff; the stick being used to turn
the iron over. The pile of iron is
drawn back and forth across the
anvil block and turned up on edge
or completely over. This process is
kept up until the iron has been
completely welded together and in
the form of slab, each slab being
about eight inches in width, four
feet long and two or three inches
thick. The truckman then runs a
truck up to the hammer and the
slab is put on it and the staff cut off
by blow from the hammer. The
slab is then run into the yard and
placed on pile with others to cool
off. This is kept up until the entire
heat of twenty four piles have been
worked up. The furnace is then