The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1936-01-11

Mr.. Stilwell bases his pre-
diction upon the fact that
the sale of machine tools
was larger in the summer
of 1885 than at any time
since 1929. The sale of machine
tools in 1885 was about 80 per cent
of the figure for 1926.
Machine tools are the machines
that make machines. They are
the turret lathes, the drill presses,
the shapers and the planners.
Name any mechanism that you
happen to think of, from mouse
trap to an automobile. You may
be certain its parts were manu-
featured with the aid of machine
tools.
Increased sales of machine tools
means that industrial companies
are expanding, undermining,
reaching out for bigger markets.
Past experience, Mr.. Stilwell says,
indicates that an influx of ma
chine tool orders is always fol-
lowed by an increase in employ
ment.
THIS fact, he points out, con-
Il flicts with the popular notion
that machines put men out of
work.
"Of course" he says, "the in
stallation of one certain machine
in a certain plant may displace
some men at that moment. But in
the end, machines create jobs
rather than destroy them.
Machines make possible better
products at lower prices. This
makes possible greater volume,
which in turn results in the hiring
of more men. At the same time
vast numbers of additional jobs
are created in the distribution and
servicing OF these products.
1.-THE automobile is the out
standing illustration of this prin-
ciple. Mechanization has made
possible a constant lowering of
the price; the lowering of the
price has multiplied the volume,
thereby giving jobs to thousands;
selling and servicing have provid-
ed occupations for still more
thousands in sales agencies, ga
RACES and gasoline stations.
"And this does not take into
consideration the many more
thousands of men employed by
parts and accessories manufacur-
ers, suppliers of raw material
such as steel, wood and paint, and
in the transportation of these
materials"
ID EGARDING the machine tools
IN now in use in the United
States, Mr. Stilwell says that 81
per cent of them are more than
10 years old, and consequently OBJ
Solete.
The new machine tools are IS
per cent more productive than
machine tools years ago and so
per cent more so than those of
10 years ago.
-Four factors characterize the
machine tools of 1886 and give
them their tremendous advan-
tage over the tools of 1926. They
are:
Increased power, increased
speed. permanent accuracy and
ease of operation.
The increase in power and speed
has been made possible by the
introduction of new cutting me-
diums. 1t is the cutting tool, es-
sentially the edge of cutter or
the point of a drill, that deter
mines in the last analysis what
the machine will do. For the
who le purpose of the machine is
to apply this cutter edge or drill
point to the metal that is being
worked.
TUNGSTEN carbide alloys,
i used for the cutting tools,
today are largely responsible for
the remarkable advances in ma
chine tool design.
At the turn of the century. low
carbon cutting metals we're being
used. Then came high carbon
steels. Machine tools could be
speeded up as a result and these
steels came to be known as high
speed steels."
For the last five years machine
tool designers have been develop
ing the possibilities of tungsten
carbide cutting edges. These
function under conditions where
the older cutting materials broke
down.
1t is possible to operate the new
cutting tools at speeds and with
power that cause them to become
so hot that they turn cherry red.
The older cutting materials, under
similar circumstances, would weld
themselves to the metal they were
supposed to cut.
Many improvements had to be
made in the machines, however,
to permit them to realize the full
efficiency of the new cutting ma
terials. For one thing, machines
had to be built to furnish abso-
lutely rigid support to the tung-
stem carbide cutting tool.