IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-- FACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ephraim Sabel, of Moorgate Street, in the City of
London,. Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU--
FACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL."-A communication from abroad by Martin.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ephraim Sabel at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th
July 1865.
I, EPHRAIM SABEL, of Moorgate Street, in the City of London, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL," (a communication to me from abroad by
Martin Dieudonné Henvaux, Civil Engineer, of Saint Servais, near Namur;.
Belgium,) to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in a new system of rollers for manufacturing every
description of bar iron by means of a single set of rolls, without separate
roughing rolls, direct from the faggots at a single heat system, forming the
basis of a new arrangement of the trains; also of a new method of working

page_text: the furnaces and rollers, by means of which the production of material is
doubled or trebled at will, with a reduction in the waste of iron in the furnace
and in the consumption of fuel.
This Invention is composed of two distinct parts; firstly, rolling with two
In both the above the system
rolls; secondly, rolling with three. rolls.
consists in forming in the same rolls all the necessary grooves for roughing
and finishing the faggots, and consequently the bars, all by the same process,
dispensing with separate roughing rolls for the production of flat, round,
square, angle, and other descriptions of ordinary iron by the two-roller
arrangement, requiring separate roughing rolls, only for rails, girders, and
sections of large dimensions. But the plan of three rolls requires. merely a
single set of rolls for all sorts of iron, up to dimensions which no, ordinary
rolls can produce by the present method. This system presents no difficulty
in its application to the process of rolling with two, rolls, at least as regards
flat bar iron. It suffices merely to give a little more length than usual to
the rolls, so as to apply all the necessary grooves. The length of the rolls
will in no case exceed the longest dimensions, at present in use. The rolls
for flat bar iron therefore present no difficulty, as it is, requisite merely to
apply the grooves for roughing the faggots flatwise and on edge, in place of
the ordinary roughing rolls, with the addition of the necessary finishing
grooves.
The rolls for manufacturing square and round iron present an entirely new
feature, by their combining on the same roller the roughing and preparatory
as well as finishing round or square grooves, which according to the present
system would require two pairs of rollers, the one for producing the faggots,
and the other for finishing the round or square bars. There is no more
difficulty experienced with the rolls in the production of square bar iron than
those used for flat bar, it being merely requisite to reduce the faggots alter-
nately flatwise and on edge by rolling, using rectangular grooves similar to
those used for flat bars until the requisite square is obtained for entering the
finishing grooves with the usual pressure required for each size. By reducing
a square bar on edge a merchant bar is produced instead of it having an
irregular shape as produced by the ordinary roughing rolls, but having to pass
besides through the finishing grooves of ordinary form to obtain the size
required, it being moreover not necessary to pass it more than once through
the rolls; whereas in order to reduce square iron it would require with the
ordinary roughing rolls to be passed at least twice through the finishing
grooves to be perfect. It is known that the reduction of round and of square
iron is only from about the of an inch in small sizes, up to one and of an

page_text: inch, and they increase from about the th of an inch to from one and of
an inch to two and of an inch, and from about & of an inch from 2 inches
to 3 inches. It follows, therefore, that by the ordinary system of separate
roughing rolls it is imperative to reduce the faggots to the size square which
precedes the size required, so as to be able to pass to the finishing grooves;
the result is that under the old system more grooves and rolling are required.
than by my now arrangement of rolls, because the latter roll the-faggots flat-
wise and on edge with the same pressures as required for flat bar iron, while-
the ordinary roughing rolls with square grooves can only impart very slight
pressures, the bar having naturally to pass through a greater number of
grooves than by my process, where all round bars and square sections com--
mencing from about an inch are reduced or roughed and finished through
the medium of 7 grooves and 8 times rolling by the two-roll system, and"
8 grooves and 9 times by the three-roll system, a saving of time equal to
being effected over the old methods.
To produce round iron by means of a single set of rolls by my method I
also reduce the faggots alternately flatwise and on edge as with square bar-
iron, but instead of reducing it into irregular shaped square bars, as with
ordinary roughing rolls, I begin by making at the 5th groove a double convex
shaped bar, which is then easily conveyed to the next groove
an oval
round shape, answering the purpose much better than a square bar, so as to-
be formed into the round shape required at a single rolling through the
finishing grooves, should it even be required to pass the lower groove by the
three-roll system in order to pass in the direction of the delivery yard, making.
in all 8 grooves and 9 rollings. This oval round shape will answer much
better than an irregular shaped square to enter the finishing grooves, as rounds
shapes are easily produced by the small train by ovals much less filled and.
less round than those produced from my convex bars.
According to the ordinary systein the finished square bar is produced from a
reduced irregular shaped square, which cannot pass the finishing grooves
without a minimum pressure according to the size of its decreasing scale, the
same applying to round iron. By my system, on the contrary, the faggots
reduced to form a square receive the same pressure as for fat bar up to the
square bars made on edge, which is itself a merchant bar, requiring only to
be passed once through the finishing grooves. Now for all sizes that increase
from of an inch up to 1 inches, I make a square bar on edge for each.
finished square bar; but when the decreasing is of an inch or more,
the same square on edge serves to form 2 and even 3 following square bars,
because it is only requisite to reduce the sides
of an inch. By
or

page_text: this means a saving of a number of grooves is effected, and consequently
several pairs of rollers.
For round iron by the old system it is necessary to pass it oftener through
the finishing grooves than for square iron to obtain perfect round shapes.
By my system, on the contrary, the faggot is rolled in the same manner as flat
bars up to the grooves, giving an oval on edge shape, which answers equally
well and even better than the preceding square bar in producing two con-
secutive round shapes and sometimes three, commencing at that of an inch.
The faggots for producing round shapes by my mode of working are also
reduced alternately flatwise and on edge in the four first grooves, then con-
verted into double convex bars, thence to the two following, and these double
convex bars are then transformed into an oval round shape to be finished at
the 7th or 8th round groove. The same oval shape serves also to produce
two and sometimes three round shapes, because my ovals contain sufficient
iron to be able to form the second and third round, without however using
too much pressure on the smallest one, which would be impossible according
to the ordinary method of producing reduced square bars, for the reason that
if the square were thicker than the size above the finished round it would
have to be passed through an extra round groove to be conveyed thence to
the finishing grooves, and were it smaller than the size it would not form a full
round shape; it follows, therefore, that my full oval answers much better than
irregular squares in producing rounds, and that it permits of dispensing with
a large number of grooves, and consequently rolls also, by producing two or
three rounds from the same oval, using a sufficient although slight pressure.
The manufacture of round and square iron by means of a single set of rollers
forms therefore an entirely new feature, the advantages of which will be shewn
bereafter.
The peculiarity of my three rollers for all sorts of iron consists in their not
only containing the roughing and finishing grooves so as to admit of the
manufacture of all sizes of iron with a single set of rollers, but it is by the
new arrangement of the grooves in particular that this result is obtained. In
fact my upper grooves are all superposed each over the preceding ones,
instead of being arranged alternately as in the ordinary three cylinder system
and it follows that each groove of the middle roller works twice; the first time
with the groove of the lower roll, and the second time with that of the upper
one, which doubles the number of grooves compared with the ordinary method
the result being that by this arrangement my triple rollers may contain the
roughing and finishing grooves without it being necessary to have them longer
than usual. By the ordinary system, the lower and upper grooves are placed

page_text: alternately, so that those of the middle roller work only once, because the
subsequent grooves are not superposed to the preceding ones. For this
reason also the same rollers cannot contain both the roughing and finishing
grooves, which necessitates the placing of them in two separate sets of triple
rolls, the one for reducing the faggots, and the other for finishing the bars, as
is effected by the ordinary process of two rolls. The arrangement therefore of
the grooves of my triple rollers is entirely novel, and forms the basis of my
Invention, which is founded on the actual principles of rolling and the form
of the rollers. In point of fact the general rule for their design consists in
forming the grooves or the thicknesses of the bars by halves, one half in the
centre and the other in the lower roller for all the under grooves, with the
exceptions required for certain sections stated hereafter, so that these two
rollers have the same diameter and give an equal pressure on the bar at each
groove; but to give the pressures to the top superposed grooves a larger diameter
than that of the centre roller must be given to the upper roller at each groove,
the centre roller working twice, and this increase of diameter produces the
pressure required. This increase of diameter is consequently equal to doublé
the pressure at each groove, and it is the extended radius of the roller which
produces the pressure. Owing to this the grooves of the upper roller are here
in the same relation towards the centre roller as in the system of two rollers,
where generally a larger diameter is allowed for the top than the bottom
roller; nevertheless as it is better when practicable to roll the bars by means
of two equal diameters than with one diameter larger than the other, the
maximum pressure adopted at the top grooves is only about an inch, the
difference of which diameters should not exceed two inches, and it is only
hollow rails, girders, and similar sections that would require 1 of an
inch to one single groove; but this difference presents no difficulty to this
groove for these sectional models, which, however, form an exception to the
general rule of the diameter of hollow grooves. This exception proceeds from
the fact that these grooves are made of several different diameters in order to
form the parts of the section, consisting in placing the centre of these grooves
out of the centre of the others, so that the bar should not lift itself in coming
out from the rollers. For this reason the diameter of the middle roller at the
flat part commencing from the fifth groove should be larger than the corre
sponding diameter of the smaller roller, it being requisite that the difference
between these two diameters should equal the difference existing between the
diameter of the pressing collar of the bottom roller and that of the mildle
roller in the hollow of the ridge or projection "bourrelet"; these two
differences being equal it follows that the rail will come out straight. Never

page_text: theless it is preferable to allow a little greater diameter to the middle roller
to the extent of from to of an inch, so that the rail should turn down on
to the table. Respecting these same top grooves they have necessarily larger
diameters than those of the middle roller owing to the pressure they have to
yet
impart, so that the rail should turn down on to the table as customary. But
another peculiarity distinguishing the system of three rollers is that the middle
roller is required to be sometimes male, sometimes female, in relation to the
two others according to pattern of iron; it can therefore be either male or
female for all sorts of flat or other bar iron, having two symmetrical surfaces;
but it is more advantageous to have the female roller in the centre for regular
shaped iron. It must necessarily be female for hollow rails and girders, as
the pressing collars which have to make the hollows being placed on the other
two rollers with increasing diameters, thereby give the requisite pressure to the
top groove and to the bottom one in the hollow; whereas, were they placed
on the centre roller the same pressing collar could merely produce a single
pressure in the hollow, which would necessitate a greater number of pressing
collars, consequently grooves also, so as to obtain the final thickness. The
central roller must be male for the tyres of wheels and other analagous
shapes, having one flat surface and the other sectional, for the reason that the
flange of the tyre must be shifted alternately from the lower groove to the
upper one, so that the bar can enter at the top by the end which came out
last; without this- it would be requisite to turn it head to tail in order that it
should resume its positions at the top groove. By this method the central
roller which is male presses only on the flat surface of the top and bottom
grooves. Finally, for iron with non-symmetrical surfaces and of unequal
sides, for instance angle iron, the centre roller must be female, the same as for
hollow rails, as the triangular collars must hollow the angle iron at the
bottom grooves, and then at the upper one as for the hollow rail. On the
other hand 'for, angle iron of unequal sides, and other analagous iron, the upper
angular groove can only receive the bar coming from the lower angular groove
by turning it end for end, so that the uneven sides should resume their places;
but to avoid this manoeuvre I make another similar groove at the side on the
top, reversing the sides of the angle iron, and then the bar coming out of the
lower groove can pass into the 2nd groove by the end which came out last.
Such are the general and particular rules for successfully designing the rollers
relating to each of these systems of manufacture.
I'now pass to the description of the novel arrangement of the trains and
the new mode of working the same arising from my system of rollers, and to
the many advantages obtained over ordinary trains.

page_text: It will be sufficient in a Provisional Specification to state that large rolling
mills can only produce in one month with each train about one thousand tons
of rails, consuming in the operation about 60% of fuel, with an average
waste of iron of 10 %, in the heating furnaces: The new manufactory will
produce per month as much as from two to two thousand five hundred itons
of rails and other iron by moans of a single train, u.ing 40% of fuel, and
with only an average waste of from 4 to 5%
The arrangement of the mill in the manner I proposé is perfectly easy, and
the modification of the working of the furnaces and trains according to my.
new plan requires no apprenticeship. In order to reduce the waste in the
heating furnaces it suffices to reduce the time which the faggots at welding
heat remain in the furnace, and the time they have to pass in rotation through
the rolls, the waste is about 1% from one faggot to the other in batches of
from 5 to 6 faggots from the first to the last discharging of the furnace. The
conclusion can therefore be arrived at that if merely a single faggot were in
the furnace it could always be withdrawn at the point when it had attained
welding heat, and that in this case the waste would be by this means reduced
to its minimum of from 4 to 5% on puddled bar iron in faggots for rails
and merchant iron: This comparison is made only in order that the advantages
may be better understood as regards the arrangement and means employed.to
double and triple the production of one single train in reducing the waste to
its minimum, and the consumption of fuel to 40% instead of 60% What
contributes also towards increasing the waste in the heating furnaces is that
the working of the latter is generally entrusted to the will of the furnaceman;
and when there are 4 or 5 heating furnaces to a single train requiring as
many head furnacemen; the result is that often several batches are heated
together, notwithstanding that only one can be passed at a time through the
mill, thus occasioning an increase of waste without any increase whatever in
production, as in fact each furnace can only be replenished after having passed
its batch in its own turn. It is certainly more profitable to keep the trains
waiting than the:furnaces, and to reheat the same in.succession that they may
not be all hot-together, but according to their turn for passing through tho
trains. Now, by the arrangement of my trains, and the process. of working
arising therefrom in the furnaces and rolling mill; this defect is entirely
abolished, so that each batch can always be passed in its turn without having
to wait for the train. By this improvement niy furnaces gain in .time
.which admits of producing from 10.to 12 batches:instead of 6.; the saving.of
fuel can therefore be clearly understood. The mills which work with the
greatest activity employ two gangs of millmen together for one train, the one

page_text: to attend to the roughing, the other to the finishing rollers.
It will be seen
by my 3 roller system that I dispense with separate roughing rolls because iny
treble rollers contain the necessary grooves to reduce and finish all sorts of
iron and rails without changing from one set of rollers to the other, so that
by this means I am enabled to produce every description of iron and rails
either with two or three sets of rollers at once in the same train requiring two
ordinary gangs of millmen without any extra number of men for working with
two sets of rollers, and requiring only a third gang when working with three
sets. My production of iron is therefore doubled or tripled equal to the
work of the 3 ordinary trains.
And now to explain the arrangement of the trains, and the means for
effecting the reduction of waste of iron and consumption of fuel to their
minimum. It has just been pointed out that it is sufficient to have two sets
of triple rollers on the same train without separate roughing rollers in order
to produce as much and even more than two ordinary trains. Now in a mill
having two rail and merchant trains it is sufficient to place the two trains at
the side of each other facing all the heating furnaces to obtain the above-
mentioned result.
I proceed by arranging the two trains, rail and merchant, near each other,
allowing a space of about five yards between their extremities, so as to be
able to pass the batches indifferently to the one or the other train; and by
this arrangement, which is both as practical as it is advantageous, the furnace
and train can be worked in the following way, which enables me to reduce the
consumption of fuel and the waste of iron to their minimum:-It has already
been stated that the furnaces can only be replenished one after the other, as
the contents of each furnace can only be passed through the rollers in its
proper rotation; also that the system of reducing the waste consists in reducing
the waiting of the furnaces, and that it would be reduced to its minimum if
there were only a single faggot in the furnace.
Now by the arrangement of the two trains containing four sets of triple
rolls working rails and merchant iron with four gangs of millmen, the same
result is obtained in taking out of the furnace four rail faggots together on to
the four train trucks, so that they should be rolled at the same time by the
four sets of rollers waiting for them. Thus a batch of rails comes out of the
furnace entire in one minute at most, and consequently is protected from all
waste resulting from the waiting in the furnaces when the faggots have
attained welding, heat. This is analagous to having one faggot in the furnace,
as the head furnaceman, with his assistants whose business is to bring the
faggots to the rollers, have only to draw out the four faggots immediately the

page_text: one after the other on to the four train trucks, which requires but a minute's
time, particularly when the assistance of the machinery of the trains is brought
to bear by means of a chain and pulley, or any other efficient method for
bringing out the faggots without detaining the trucks. It would therefore
require only one or two minutes with two trains to roll four rails at once,
from whence it follows that the trains will be clear in two minutes, and ready
to pass a second batch, then a third, and so to the last. It is therefore under-
stood that as soon as each batch can be brought out of the furnace in its
entire state, and be rolled in two minutes at the furthest, the first furnace can
be replenished before the second, this one before the third, and so on in
rotation in such a manner that each passes in its turn without having to
wait. It is therefore the train which would be at liberty first and ready for
the furnaces instead of the reverse being the case. The manufacture of bars
and special sections of iron, as girders for example, presents by this mode of
working still greater advantages than that of rails, for the reason that the
batches contain generally a much greater number of faggots than those for
rails, which increases consequently the time required for taking them out of
the furnace, as well as the waste in the furnace. Now when it is considered
that the ordinary production of one heating furnace of heavy iron and rails
is to the extent of about twelve tons in twenty-four hours, and that the
reduction of one per cent. only on the waste would amount to about 260 lbs.,
of the value of say sixteen shillings per furnace, an opinion can be formed
of the advantages which can be gained from this arrangement and manner of
working, by which cach batch of merchant iron may be passed to the rolling
mill in three or four minutes instead of from 25 or 30, reducing the waste to
4 or 5% instead of 12 to 15%, which other factories have to lose by the
present working.
In order to apply this arrangement and mode of manufacturing for pro-
ducing merchant iron it is casily understood that it would require merely to
fit to the the three sets of rollers of each train triple rollers according to my plan
producing round, square, flat bar, and angle iron girders and other sections,
using a single set of rollers without separate roughing rollers in order to
manufacture at once different descriptions of iron, such as round and square
girders, and other sorts (using the same faggots), the dimensions of which
would be given for executing orders. All this being executed through the
medium of the first grooves of my rollers in width and depth, using only the
first pressure. By this method it is possible also to take out of the furnace four
or six faggots at a time for the two trains, which would admit of the batches
being taken out of the furnace in twice, requiring but two or three minutes,

page_text: and therefore reducing the waste of iron and consumption of fuel to their true
minimum.
In the application of this method to the manufacture of slit or nail
rods the advantages will be found to be still greater than in producing
merchant iron, for the reason that the batches require a much longer time
to pass them to the rollers and slitters. It requires merely to arrange a
slitting mill at the end of each train, so as to engage at the same time two
or even three slitting rolls to each train, in order to discharge the furnace of four
or six faggots at once, one for each set of rolls, from whence they are conveyed to
the slitting mill, following each other at every other groove, and in their order of
passing out of the furnace. By this means also each batch will be completed in
four or five minutes at the utmost, instead of 30 or more, and the production
would be tripled if three sets of rolls were employed, and doubled with two
sets, requiring of course the necessary number of beating furnaces. The wasto
will therefore be further reduced from 4 to 5% by rapidly discharging the
furnace, and it is especially in this quick work with the small train that the
advantage is obtained with this system of rolls, by their arrangement and
manner of working, all sorts of iron being produced on these principles
through a single set of rolls, and at a single heat from their faggots of puddled
iron, commencing from round and square iron of about half an inch rolled
with the use of tongs and the smallest flat bars. It is only the small round
and square iron of from about to an inch which cannot be reduced and
finished by a single set of rolls, owing to the length which they require in
being turned through two or three sets of rolls, they can nevertheless be
finished as the others at a single heat from their faggots of puddled iron,
serpentining them through two sets of my triple rolls to be finished by the
small rolls as usual.
For small iron of great length, rolled in guides through several sets of rolls,
I begin by taking out of the furnace four faggots at the first operation, one
for each set of rolls, letting them follow each other at every other groove, so
that the two first should be reduced in order to twist or twine them reciprocally
to their sets of rolls, and arrive at the small rolls with oval and finishing
grooves in following each other by one or two grooves. The two next work
the same way at their sets of rolls to follow the two first to the oval and
finishing grooves in the order of their coming out of the furnace. From
the moment the first set of rolls is at liberty it receives another faggot,
and so on in succession for the three other sets of rolls up to the last faggot
of the batch, and they continue to serpentine two by two. By these means
it will be seen that the number of batches is doubled in each furnace,

page_text: and that the waste is reduced to its minimum, as well as the consumption
of fuel, producing considerable advantages in the manufacture of small
iron, which by the ordinary system would require two heatings, carrying
a loss in waste of from 15% to 20%, and a double consumption of fuel.
The manufacture of puddled bar iron participates also equally in the advan-
tages of this novel arrangement of trains, and the method of their working,
inasmuch as each set of rolls of the puddled bar train reduces and finishes
bars up to three dimensions with the same roils, each set of rolls being equal
to a common train with ordinary roughing rolls for engaging the puddling
furnaces. In order to reduce the consumption of fuel in these furnaces also
to the minimum, I take out of the furnace at once three balls of middle and
small size, one for each set of rolls, furnishing the train with two double
squeezers for middle size and small balls, and with a steam hammer for the
largo ones required for large size bars which have to be rolled at the first set of
rolls. For these large bars I have a ball made larger than the others from cach
batch. By these means all the balls are discharged in two turns, and in the
space of two minutes instead of five or six turns, which would be required by
the ordinary method. On the other hand I regulate the charging of the
batches with the heating furnaces, so that they should follow their turn
exactly in being conveyed to the shinglers, and to the rolls which carry the
five balls of the same batch through the three sets in the space of two or
three minutes, being rolled at the same time, from which can be concluded
that the waste of material and consumption of fuel are again reduced to their
minimum.
In the annexed four Sheets of Drawings, forming part of this Provisional
Specification, Shcet I shews triple rollers for making flat bars of 5 and 6
inches in width. The red line A, B, denotes the centre of the top roller; C, D,
centro of middle roller; E, F, centre of bottom roller. Sheet 2, triple rollers
for making 4 square iron of from 2 to 2 of an inch. A, B, centre of top
roller; C, D, centre of middle roller; E, F, centre of bottom roller. Sheet 3
triple rollers for making 4 round iron of 2 to 3 inches. A, B, centre of
top roller; C, D, centre of middle roller; E, F, centre of bottom roller. The
Diagrams on Sheets 1, 2, and 3 are drawn to about one-fifth of the usual size
of the rollers.
Slicet 4. In this Drawing, in order to get the plan into ono sheet, Nos. 3
No. 1 shews first.merchant
and 4 have been separated from Nos. 1 and 2.
train making bars as under, with a single set of rollers (without separate
roughing rolls), producing consequently three sorts or series of iron at once.
A, first set of rolls, making Cologne or Minden rails; B, first. set of rolls,

page_text: making girders 7 inches deep; C, first set of rolls, making four sizes of
round iron from 2 to 3 inches. No. 2, merchant train and rail train making
bars as under with a single set of rolls, consequently three sorts or series of
iron at once. A, first set of rolls making double headed rails; B, second set
of rolls making 4 sizes of square bars of 2 to 2 of an inch; C, set of rulls
making flat bars of 5 and 6 inches. No. 3, puddled bar train making bars
as under with a single set of rolls without separate roughing rolls. A, making
bars of 53, 7, 7, 8, and 9 inches in width; B making bars of 2, 2, and 3
inches in width; C making bars of 23, 23, and 3 inches in width. The
three sets of rolls work together and produce consequently three different
sorts or series of bars at once, through a single set of rolls. No. 4 shews
small train (10 inches in diameter) making the under-mentioned descriptions
of bars with a single set of rolls (without separate roughing rolls, consequently
four sorts or series of iron at once. A, 1st set of rolls making flat bars
of 1 by B, second set of rolls making 8 sizes of round bars from to ths;
C, third set of rolls making 4 square bars to ; D, fourth set of rolls for
hoop iron by the latter has to be rolled once through the hard rolls.
These plans 1, 2, 3, 4 of Sheet 4 are drawn to scale of 10, and the grooves
of the rolls are not shewn, it being impossible to shew them on so small a
scale.
It will be evident that the method above described applies equally to the
manufacture of steel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Ephraim Sabel in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
26th January 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EPHRAIM
SABEL, of Moorgate Street, in the City of London, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of July, in the year of our Lord 3
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Ephraim Sabel, Her special licence that 1, the said Ephraim Sabel, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Epbraim
.Sabel; my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree 3
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the

page_text: term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL," (a communication to me from abroad by Martin
Dieudonné Henvaux, Civil Engineer, of Saint Servais, near Namur,
Belgium,) upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Ephraim Sabel,
my exccutors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was
to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Offico within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Ephraim Sabel, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the follow-
ing statement, reference being had to the accompanying Sheets of Drawings,
and to the figures and letters of reference marked thereon:-
This Invention consists in a new system of cylinders or rolls by which every
description of bar iron may be manufactured in a single frame or cage, that
is to say by a single set of rolls, without separate roughing rolls directly from
their faggots and at a single heat, which system forms the basis of a new
arrangement of the trains, and of a new method of working at the furnaces
and flatting mills, the result being that the production is doubled or trebled
at will, while the waste of iron in the furnaces and the consumption of coal
are reduced to their minimum, and I would here observe that the whole of the
operations herein-after described for rolling and flatting iron are applicable to
rolling or flatting steel. This system is composed of two distinct parts, the
first comprises rolling with two rolls, and the second rolling with three rolls.
In both cases the system in question consists in placing on the same rolls all
the necessary grooves for roughing and finishing the faggots, and consequently
the bars, without requiring separate roughing roHs in the manufacture of flat
bar iron, round or rod iron, square bars, angle iron, and other ordinary iron by
the two-roll system, which however requires separate roughing rolls for rails,
girders, and other iron of large dimensions. But this improved three-roll
system requires but a single set of rolls for every sort of bar iron, up to
large girders of 1 foot in height, and round iron up to 10 inches in diameter,
which no ordinary rolling mill could manufacture under existing circumstances.
This system presents no difficulty in its application to rolling with two rolls,
at least as regards flat iron. Giving to the rolls a little more length than

page_text: usual suffices to permit the placing upon them of all the necessary grooves,.
and this length does not exceed that of the large sizes now in use, it being
but 35 inches for the rolls of the small train, having a diameter of 10 inches
instead of 29 inches given in the ordinary method, and of 4 feet 11 inches
in length for the rolls of the merchant train (see Figures 1, 2, and 3, Sheet 1
of the annexed Drawings). The rolls for flat iron therefore present no
difficulty because it is sufficient to give them grooves for roughing the faggots
flatwise and on edge in place of the ordinary roughing rolls, and further the
necessary finishing grooves. As to the rolls making square bars and round
or rod iron, they present an entirely new system by the assemblage on the
same rollers of the roughing and preparatory grooves, and the round or square
finishing grooves which in the ordinary method exact two pairs of rolls, the
one for roughing the faggot and the other to finish the round or square bars.
The rolls for square bars present no more difficulty than those for flat iron,
because all that is required is to rough roll the faggot alternately flatwise and
on edge in rectangular grooves let in between two collars like those for flat
iron up to the requisite square for entering the finishing groove with the usual
pressure for each number or size. The square rough rolled on edge is already
itself a merchant square instead of being irregular, like those issuing from
ordinary roughing rolls, it still however passes by the finishing groove of
ordinary shape to furnish the number or size required, but it does not require
to be passed through it several times as do the squares rough rolled in the
ordinary roughing rolls, which demand at least two passes at the finishing
groove to be perfect. It is well known that round and square bars only
decrease by of an inch in the lower sizes up to bars or rods of 14 inches
(that is to say, that they must be only
which they are presented) by 1 of an
2, and by of an inch in bars of from 2
that in the ordinary system with separate roughing rolls it is necessary to
rough roll or decrease the faggot to the square preceding the required number
or size to enable it to enter the finishing groove. It results that the ordinary
method exacts many more grooves and passes than these improved rolls,
because these latter rough roll the faggots flatwise and on edge with the same
pressures as on flat iron, whereas the ordinary roughing rolls with square
grooves can give but slight pressures, the effect of which is naturally that they
must pass through a greater number of grooves than by this improved system,
by which all the rounds and all the squares starting from 1 of an inch are
rengh rolled and finished in 7 grooves and 8 passes in the two-roll system,
and in 8 grooves and 9 passes by the three-roll system, which gives a saving
of an inch larger than the groove to
inch in bars of from 1 inches to
inches to 3. It therefore follows

page_text: in time of over the ordinary method. To manufacture round bars or rods.
in a single frame or cage (that is by the one set of rollers in the frame) by
this improved system I also rough roll the faggot alternately flatwise and on.
edge as for the square bars, but instead of roughing it to an irregular rude.
square, as by the ordinary roughing rolls, I begin by making it at the fourth.
groove in the two-roll system (see Figure 3, Sheet 1) and at the fifth groove
in the three-roll system (see Figure 9, Sheet 9.) into a very easy convex bar,
readily convertible at the following groovo into an oval, almost round, which.
is infinitely better suited than a rough rolled or reduced square to the making of
the desired round bar or rod at a single pass at the finishing groove, although
it still passes through the lower groove No. 8* (see Figure 9, Sheet 9)
in the 3-roll system in order to be delivered towards the yard which makes
in all & grooves and 9 passes. There is no doubt but that this nearly.
round oval is better suited to enter the finishing groove than an irregular.
square, inasmuch as round bars are made at the small train by ovals much.
less filled and less round than those coming from my convex bars. In the
ordinary method the finished squaro comes from a rough rolled irregular.
Square, which can only enter the finishing groove by a slight pressure according
to its number and the decreasing scale (already cited), and the same applies
to the round bars. In this improved system on the contrary, the faggot rough.
rolled to form a squaro receives the same pressures as for flat bars up to the
square made on edge, which is itself a merchant square, and only further.
requires to be passed once through the finishing groove. Thus for all the
numbers or sizes that grow by of an inch only, that is to say up to bars of
1 inches, I make a square on edge for each finished square, but when the
decrease is from, or more, the same squaro on edge serves to form
two, and even three following squares, because all that is now required, is to
reduce the sides by or of an inch. By this. means many grooves.
are saved and consequently several pair of rolls. For round bars under the
old method it is necessary to pass even oftener through the finishing grooves
than, for the squares in order to obtain them perfectly round. By this improved
method on the contrary, the faggot is rough rolled as for flat bars up to the groove,
giving an oval on edge (see groove No. 7, Figure 9, Sheet 9), which serves
equally and even better than the preceding square to produce 2 consecutive
round bars and sometimes 3, starting from that of 1 of an inch. The fuggots
for round bars are by this improved method also rough rolled or reduced
alternatoly flatwise and on edge in the four first grooves (see Figure 9,, Sheet 9),
then converted into convex bars at the two following grooves (5 and 6 same
Figure), and these. convex bars are transformed into ovals nearly round to

page_text: go and be finished at the seventh or eighth round groove (see same Figure).
The same oval serves also to produce two and sometimes three round bars,
because my ovals have sufficient iron to be able to form the second and third
round, without however giving too much pressure on the smallest, this cannot
be done by the ordinary method with rough rolled squares, because if the
square was larger than the number above the finished round it would be
necessary to pass it through an additional round groove in order to arrive at
the finishing groove, and if it was smaller than such No. it would not form
a full and perfect round bar or rod. It therefore follows that my full oval is
infinitely better fitted than the irregular squares to produce round bars, and that
it also permits the saving of a large number of grooves and consequently of rolls
by making 2 and even 3 rounds from the same oval with sufficient although
slight pressures. The manufacture of round and square bars in a single cage
or frame (that is to say by one set of rolls) therefore constitutes an entirely
new method, the advantages of which are herein-after set forth. But that
which constitutes the specialty of these improved triple cylinders for every sort
of iron is not only that they contain the roughing and finishing grooves which
permit the manufacture of all bar iron in a single cage or frame, but it is
particularly by the novel arrangement of the grooves that this result is
attained. In fact my top grooves are all superposed each to its preceding
instead of being alternate, as in the ordinary 3-roller system, and it
follows that each groove of the middle roll works twice, the first time with
the groove of the lower roll, and the second time with that of the upper roll,
which doubles the number of grooves as compared with the ordinary method,
from whence it results that by this arrangement my triple rolls may contain
the roughing and the finishing grooves without requiring to be longer than
usual, as may be seen on reference to the annexed Drawings. In the ordinary
system the bottom and the top grooves are alternate, so that those of the middle
roll work but one single time, because the subsequent groove is not superposed
to its preceding. It therefore follows that the same rolls cannot contain the
roughing grooves and the finishing grooves, and it is necessary to place them
in two separate sets of triple rolls, the one for rough rolling the faggots, and
the other to finish the bars in the same manner as in the ordinary two-roller
system. The arrangement of the grooves of my triple rolls is therefore
entirely new and forms the basis of this improved system, which rests further
on the known principles of rolling or lamination and the planning or con
struction of the rolls. In fact the general rule for their construction consists
in forming the grooves or the thicknesses of the bars by halves, one half in
the middle roll and the other half in the under roll, for all the under grooves

page_text: pressure.
with the exceptions necessitated for certain sections hereafter mentioned, so
that these two rolls have the same diameter and equally press the bar at each
groove. But to give the pressures to the top superposed grooves I give to
the upper roll at each groove a diameter exceeding that of the middle roll,
which works twice, and this increase of diameter forms the desired pressure.
This increase is consequently equal to double the pressure adopted at each
groove because it is the extended radius of the cylinder which forms the
It therefore follows that the grooves of the upper roll are here in
the same conditions with respect to the middle roll as in the two-roll system,
in which it is the custom to give greater diameters to the top than to the
bottom roll. Nevertheless, as it is better when possible to roll the bars by
two equal diameters than with one diameter greater than the other the.
maximum pressure adopted at the upper grooves is only 1 inch, in order
that the difference of the diameters may not exceed 2 inches, and it is
only hollow rails and girders of similar section which require 1 at a
single groove, but this difference presents no difficulty at this groove as
regards these sections, which are also an exception to the general rule of
diameters in their hollow grooves, as does also the hollow groove of the rail
shown No. 6, Figure 12, Sheet 10. This exception arises from these grooves
being composed of several different diameters to form the parts of the design
or section, and it consists in placing the centre of these grooves out of the
centre of the others in order that the bar may not relift as it issues from the
rolls. To this end it is necessary that the diameter of the middle cylinder at
the flat part starting from the fifth groove (see Figure 13, Sheet 11) be larger
than the corresponding diameter of the lower cylinder, and it is requisite that
the difference between these two diameters equals the difference which exists
between the diameter of the pressing collar of the under roll and that of the
middle roll in the hollow of the bend or projection. These two differences
being equal it follows that the rail comes out straight. Nevertheless I prefer
giving a little more diameter to the middle roll, say T or of an inch to
cause the rail to come down on to the delivery table. As to the same grooves
at the top, they have necessarily greater diameters than those of the middle
roll because of the pressures they are to give, thus the rail comes down on to
the table as customary. But another particularity which distinguishes this
system of triple rolls is that the middle roll must be sometimes inale and
sometimes female in relation to the two others, according to the pattern or
section of the iron. Thus it may be male or female for all the flat and other
iron having the two faces symmetrical, but it is more advantageous to adopt
the foale roll in the middle for all regular iron bars, as it is represented

page_text: the annexed Drawing. But it must be necessarily female for hollow rails and
girders, because the pressing collars which are to make the hollow being placed
on the two other rolls with gradually increasing diameters thus give the
desired pressure to the top and to the bottom groove into the hollow, whereas
if they were placed in the middle roll the same pressing collar could only give
one single pressure into the hollow, which would necessitate the use of a greater
number of pressing collars and consequently of grooves in order to arrive at the
final thickness. The middle roll must be male for tyres of wheels (see Figure
14, Sheet 11) and other analogous patterns having one plane surface and the
other sectional, because the projection or swelling, that is to say, the sectional
side of the tyre, must alternate from the under groove to that at the top to
permit the re-entering of the bar at the top by the end last come out from
below, otherwise it would be necessary to turn it end for end to permit it to
retake its place at the upper groove. By this means the middle roll, which
is male, only presses on the plane surface both at the bottom and at the top
groove.
Lastly, for iron bars with non-symmetrical surfaces and of equal sides angle
iron for example (see Figure 15, Sheet 12), the middle roll must be female, as
for the hollow rails, because the triangular collars must hollow the iron at the
under groove, then at the upper one as for the hollow rails. On the other
hand, for angle iron of unequal sides and other analogous iron, the upper
angular groove cannot receive the bar coming from the under angular groove,
but on its being turned end for end in order that the unequal sides retake
their places. But to avoid this manoeuvre I make another similar groove at
the side at the top, by reversing the sides of the angle, and then the bar
issuing from the lower groove may re-enter by the last delivered end at this
second groove, as shewn on the Drawing Figure 16 (Sheet 12). Such are
the grooves and particular rules for the successful designing and construction
of the rolls relating to each of these manufactures.
I now pass to the description of the new arrangement of the trains and of
the new method of working which flow from this improved new system of
rolls, and to the considerable advantages which it must give over ordinary
trains. But for the better comprehension of all the importance of this new
arrangement of trains and their mode of working, I will commence by
summarily setting forth the actual state of the present large iron works and
their ordinary method of working to serve as point of comparison with this
improved system. It is known that these large factories are usually com-
posed of two puddled bar trains for the puddles of two trains for rails and
.merchant iron, of two trains for sheet iron, and of two small trains. They manu-

page_text: facture when in full activity rails with 2 trains at a time, as well for special or
bar iron as for sheet iron, according to the markets to be supplied. There are
some which work with two gangs of workmen at once at the same train, one
to rough roll the faggots at the first cage (set of rolls) and the other to finish
them at the following sets of rolls. The roughing rolls receive the second
faggot as soon as they have delivered the first to the other workmen, so that
the two cages (sets of rolls) work at the same time. Their production in
rails is usually 5 or 6 batches of 4 or 5 rails, according to the sections in
12 hours' work, and each train is fed by 4 or 5 beating furnaces, so that
in a month of 25 working days the greatest production obtained up to this
day by a single train has only been 21,652 tons of rails. I have now stated
in a few words what these large factories can produce with their existing
arrangements and method of working at the furnaces and at the trains, but
at what cost can they manufacture these iron bars and these rails in their
existing state? It is certainly not with all the perfection nor with all the
economy possible, as it is a well established fact that the waste which they
undergo in the heating furnaces rises on the average to 10 per cent. on rails,
and that it is much higher on merchant bars and on sheet iron. The con
sumption of coal is also not less than 132 lbs. for every 220 lbs. of rails. It
is further known that the waste in the furnaces increases in proportion to the
length of time that the batches remain before passing to the rolls, and it is
established by the results of the manufacture of the largest works that each
batch of rails occupies as much as 10 minutes and more in its removal from
the furnace and finishing in the trains. As to merchant iron the batches take
as much as 30 minutes, because they comprise a greater number of faggots,
and sheet iron occupies about the same time because they generally require a
greater number of passes through the rolls by reason of the slight pressures
which they must receive: To sum up these large works can only manufac
ture por month at each train about 19,684 tons of rails, consuming in the
operation 60 per cent. of fuel, with an average waste of 10 per cent. in the
heating furnaces. This point being ascertained, it will be easily admitted that
a new factory which would produce monthly as much as 49,210 tons of rails
and other iron at a single train using 40 per cent. of fuel, and with an
average waste of from 4 to 5 per cent., would undeniably represent an
immense progress in this branch of industry. Nevertheless nothing is more
easy to realize by arranging the factory as I herein-after set forth, and by
modifying the working at the furnaces and at the trains in conformity with
this novel arrangement, which can be done without any apprenticeship. In
fact it is incontestable that to diminish the waste in the heating furnaces it is

page_text: only necessary to lessen the waiting at welding heat which the faggots must
undergo in the furnaces while they are being passed to the rolls turn by turn,
and it has been more than once verified that the waste increases by about 1
per cent. from one faggot to the other, from the first to the last withdrawn
from the furnace in batches of 5 or 6 faggots. The conclusion is, therefore,
that if there were but a single faggot in the furnace at a time, it might be
always withdrawn at the precise moment that it arrived at welding heat, and
that thus the waste would be reduced to its minimum of 4 or 5
per cent.
on puddled iron in faggots for rails and merchant bars; but by working with
but a single faggot in the furnace it would be impossible to increase the pro-
duction and to reduce the consumption of fuel as I have above stated, and I
only make this comparison in order that the superiority of the arrangement,
and the means which I use to double or treble the production of a train while
reducing the waste in the furnaces to its minimum, and the consumption of
fuel to 40 instead of 60 per cent. may be the better understood. What con-
tributes also to increase the waste in the heating furnaces is that the working
of these furnaces is usually abandoned to the will of the furnacemen, and
when there are 4 or 5 furnaces to heat for a single train, and as many master
furnacemen, it often happens that several batches are all at welding heat at
the same time, although they can only be passed to the train one at a time,
which occasions a great increase of waste without any increase in production,
because after all each furnace can only be re-charged after it has passed its
batch in its turn. It is certainly better that the trains should wait than the
furnaces, and only to allow these latter to be re-charged one after the other,
so that they may not all be at welding heat together, but one after the
other in the order in which they are to pass their batches to the trains.
Now by the arrangement of these improved trains, and the method of
working resulting from it at the furnaces and rolling mills, this defect is
eliminated, so that each batch may always be passed in its turn without
waiting for the train, and by this improvement my furnaces gain one-third in
time, which permits them to make 10 to 12 batches instead of 6, which already
explains the economy of fuel.
As to the arrangement of the trains and the improvement resulting there-
from in the working at the furnaces and rolling mills they are as simple as
positive. In fact I have just stated that in the factories which work with the
greatest activity 2 gangs of rollers are employed at once at the same train,
the one at the roughing rolls and the other at the finishing ones.
thanks to this improved three-roll system (see Figure 17, Sheet 13), I no
Jonger require, as has already been herein-before shewn, separate roughing
Now

page_text: rolls, because my triple rolls contain the necessary grooves both for roughing
and finishing all iron bars and rails without changing cage or frame (set of
rolls), so that by this means I can manufacture all sorts of iron and rails at
2 or 3 cages at a time on the same train with my two ordinary gangs of
5 rollers, and that without increasing the number of workmen employed if I
only work with two cages or frames (sets of rolls), but taking a third gang if I
work with three cages. It follows that the train must in this case by worked.
by a suitable engine possessing a fly wheel of great power.
I have shewn how my production is doubled or trebled as if I worked with
two or three ordinary trains, and I will now pass to the arrangement of the-
trains, and to the means which will permit the reduction of the waste of of iron.
to its minimum, and the saving in the consumption of fuel while producing.as
much as 49,210 tons of rail and other iron monthly by one train instead of
19,684 obtained in existing factories.
It has been seen that it is sufficient to have two cages or frames of triple
rolls on the same train without separate roughing rolls to produce as much
and more than two ordinary trains. Now in a factory possessing two trains-
for rails and merchant iron it suffices to set up these two trains side by side
and in front of all the heating furnaces to be able to realize the progress-
above announced. And in fact I place the two rail and merchant trains.
near one another, and with a space of 16 feet between their ends, so as to-
be enabled to pass the batches to the one or to the other train indiscriminately,
and by this arrangement, as rational as advantageous, I can work at the
furnaces and at the trains in the following manner, which permits me incon-
testably to reduce the consumption of fuel and the waste of the iron to their
minimum. I have said that the furnaces should be charged only one after
the other because they can only pass their contents to the cylinders one at.
a time. I have also said that the means of reducing the waste consists in
reducing the waiting of the furnaces, and that it would be reduced to its
minimum if there were but one faggot in the furnace, a truth and fact which.
cannot be doubted.
Now by the arrangement of the two trains which possess four cages or
frames, cach containing a set of triple rolls for rail and merchant iron with
4 gangs of rollers. I arrive at the same result by taking the four-rail faggots-
out of the furnace together on to the 4-train trucks, which take them to be
rolled at the same time at the 4 cages or sets of rolls which await them..
Here therefore we have one entire batch of rails taken out of the furnace in
one minute at most, and consequently protected from all, waste resulting from
waiting in the furnace when the faggots have arrived at the white welding

page_text: heat, Now is not this as if there were but a single faggot in the furnace,
inasmuch as the foreman with his assistants who are to bring the faggots to
the rolls have but to draw out the. 4 faggots immediately the one after the
other on to the trucks which serve the trains, which does not occupy one
minute, when the steam engine of the trains is used by the aid of a chain
and pulley, or other efficacious means be used to draw out the faggots without
a check on to the trucks. It will therefore cost but from one to two minutes
at the two trains to roll the 4 rails at the same time, from whence it follows
that the trains will be free at the end of two minutes to pass the contents of a
second, then a third furnace, and so on to the last. It will therefore be under-
stood that directly each batch can be drawn out entire from the furnace and
be rolled in two minutes at most, the first furnace can be re-charged before
the second, this one before the third, 'and so on, that they always arrive at
the proper heat each in its turn without having to wait the one after the
other. It will then be the train which will be first free and await the furnaces
instead of these latter waiting; and it will be evident that a first-class factory
set up with this arrangement and working in this manner will without having
to pass an apprenticeship realize a great and important progress in the
manufacture of iron.
The manufacture of iron into bars and special shapes, such as girders and
others, experiences in this arrangement and in this mode of working results
still more advantageous than does that of rails, because the batches are
generally comprised of many more faggots than those for rails, consequently
their withdrawal from the furnaces occupies more time, and their waste in the
furnace is necessarily greater.
Now when it is considered that the ordinary production of a heating furnace
in large-sized bar iron and in rails is 2,645 lbs. in 24 hours, and that the
reduction of per cent. only on the waste would be 264 lbs., worth at least
sixteen shillings and eight pence per furnace, the progress and results which
this arrangement and this mode of working would produce in a factory may be
judged when it is considered that each batch of merchant iron may be passed
to the rolling mills in 3 or 4 minutes instead of 25 or 30, reducing the waste
to 4 or 5 per cent. instead of 12 or 15, which existing factories have still to
suffer. It may therefore be said that this economy of fuel and saving in waste
of iron in the furnace alone would at all times constitute a very remunerative
profit to the manufacturer.
To apply this arrangement and this mode of manufacture to merchant
iron, it will doubtless be understood that it is also only necessary to set up in
the three cages or frames of each train triple rolls on this improved system,

page_text: manufacturing rounds, squares, flat iron bars, girders, and other analogous
sections in a single cage or frame (set of rolls) without separate roughing rolls
to make several sorts of iron at the: same time, rounds, squares, and. girders,
and other iron of the same weights and qualities, employing everywhere the
same faggots, the dimensions of which are indicated to the foreman or manager
by the first groove of these improved rolls themselves as to height and breadth
by adding to them the first pressure. By this means 4 or 6 faggots may
also be drawn out of the furnace at one time for the two trains, which will
permit the drawing out of the entire batch in twice, this will occupy but
2 or 3 minutes, and consequently also reduce the waste of iron to its real
minimum, as well as the consumption of fuel. And in fact the manufacture
of all these irons in a single cage (one set of rolls) without separate roughing
rolls by the triple rolls of this improved system is still more easy than that of
rails.
The application of the means to the manufacture of slitted iron presents
still greater advantages than in that of merchant iron, because the batches
take still longer time to pass to the cylinders and to the slitting mill. In
fact it is sufficient to set up a slitting mill at the end of each train, to take
away at the same time from 2 and even 3 sets of slitting rolls at each.
train, so that 4 or 6 faggots may also be drawn from the furnace at one time..
one for each cage (set of rolls), from whence they will go one after the other
to the slitting mill, following each other in every following groove, and in the
order in which they issue from the furnace. By this means each batch will.
also be finished in 4 or 5 minutes at most instead of 30 and more, and the
production will be trebled if 3 cages (sets) of rolls be used, and doubled if
only two aro used with the number of heating furnaces necessary to this
purpose. The waste will therefore be again reduced to 4 or 5 per cent. as.
has been proved more than once by emptying the furnaces with rapidity.
But it is above all in manufacturing at the small trains (see Figure 17,.
Sheet 13) that the greatest profit is derived from my system of rolls,. my
new arrangement and my method of working, because it manufactures all...
iron by these means in a single cage (set of rolls), and at a single beat from.
their faggot of puddled bar iron starting from round or rod iron and. square
bars of of an inch, rolled with the pincers or tongs, and from the smallest..
flat bars. It is only the small rounds and squares of from to of an
inch which are not rough rolled and fiuished at a. single cage (set of rolls),.
because of their great length, which necessitates their being rolled in.
serpentining at 2 or 3 cages (sets of rolls), but they are nevertheless rough
rolled and finished like the others at a single heat from their faggots of:

page_text: puddled bar iron by serpentining in two cages or sets of my triple rolls to go
to and be finished at the small rolls in the usual manner. On the other hand,
my small train is composed of 4 cages of triple rolls of 29 inches in length
by 9 inches in diameter, and of two cages of small rolls for the ovals, and
the rounds, the squares, or hoop iron, so that when I am rolling iron with the
pincers or tongs starting from the rounds and squares of of an inch I can
set up in this train 4 different sets of triple rolls, and manufacture in it 4
different patterns or sections of iron, at the same time rounds, squares, flat
bars, and other shapes, taking out of the furnace 4 faggots at a time, one for
each cage (set of rolls), which would give a production equal to that of 4
ordinary trains, while reducing the waste of iron and the consumption of coal
to their minimum. Further, for small iron of great length rolled with guides
at several cages (sets of rolls), I begin by withdrawing from the furnace 4
faggots at the first time, one for each cage, making then follow each other
only by one groove, so that the two first are rough rolled to serpentine
reciprocally at their cages (sets of rolls), and arrive at the small rolls with
oval grooves and to the finishing grooves in following each other with an
interval of one or two grooves or passes. The two following work in the
same manner at their cages (sets of rolls), to follow the two first to the oval
and finishing grooves in the order in which they issue from the furnace. As
soon as the first cage (set of rolls) is free it receives a new faggot, and so on
for the three other cages up to the last faggot of the batch, and they continue
to serpentine two and two.
By these means it is evident that the number of batches will be doubled at
each furnace, and that the waste will be reduced to its minimum, as also the
consumption of fuel, which will produce very considerable results in pro-
duction and an economy of iron and fuel in the manufacture of these small
iron bars, which for the most part cost two heatings by the ordinary system
with wastes of from 15 to 20 per cent., and a consumption of (fuel nearly the
double that of mine.
The manufacture of puddle bar iron participates equally in the advantages
of this new arrangement of the trains and this new method of working, inas-
much that each cage (set of rolls) of the puddle bar train (see Figure 17,
Sheet 13) rough rolls and finishes its bars, making even up to 3 sizes with
the same rolls, so that each cage (set of rolls) is equal to an ordinary train
with separate roughing rolls to wait upon or serve the puddling furnaces.
And to also reduce the waste and the consumption of fuel in these puddling
furnaces to their minimum I take out 3 loops or blooms at a time for each
cage, furnishing the train with two double presses for the average and small

page_text: centre of the rollers in each of the following Figures respectively. Groove
No. 1 receives and rolls the ball or loop; it passes thence to No. 2; then to
No. 3, where it is rolled on edge to reduce it to 7 inches; it then comes back
by No. 2, where it now receives no pressure; from thence it passes successively
to Nos. 4, 5, 6, and 7, where it is finished. To make the 6-inch bar it passes
from groove No. 3, where it has been rolled edgewise, to No. 4*, where it is
also rolled on edge, and reduced to 6 inches; from thence it
to 5*, 6*, 7, and 8*, where it is completed.
goes successively
Figure 2 (Sheet 2) illustrates the manufacture of flat bars of 6, 10, 11,
and 12 inches in width by the puddled bar train; these rollers are balanced,
and are used for making bars of great breadth in a single groove. No. 1
groove makes the 12-inch bar, which passes successfully by the lower groove
No. 1 and upper groove No. 2, the top and bottom rollers being each time
brought closer to the middle one until the bar is brought to the required
thickness. Nos. 1 and 24 make the 11-inch bar; Nos. 1B and 2B that
of 10 inches; and Nos. 1° and 2° that of 6 inches in a precisely similar
manner.
Figure 3 (Sheet 3) illustrates the manufacture of flat bars of 5 of an inch
and 6 inches in width; this is effected precisely as described for Figure 1
(Sheet 2), 1 to 7 indicating the progress of the 6-inch bar, and 4* to 8* that
of the bar of 5.
Figure 4 (Sheet 4) illustrates the rolling of faggots for producing small
square bar iron from 1 to 1, finished at a single heat by the small train of
10 inches diameter. In each case the grooves Nos. 1 and 2 roll the faggot
flatwise, Nos. 3 and 4 on edge, as illustrated. The groove No. 4' furnishes
the bar to No. 5B, where it is rolled flatwise, but by unscrewing the
press screw of No. 4 of an inch it furnishes a bar to No. 54, where it is
rolled flatwise. From 5 the bar passes to 64, which furnishes a bar to A¹,
B, and C, and that in groove 5 passes to 6B, which furnishes a bar to C,
D', and D. The groove No. 7° rolls the bar on edge, from whence it goes
to No. 8, which furnishes a bar to E¹ and F. The groove No. 7 rolls the
bar on edge, from whence it goes to No. 8 to furnish a bar to grooves E, G,
and H. The ninth groove E rolls the bar flatwise; from thence it goes to
No. 10, which furnishes a bar to I and J. It will be observed that each of
the upper grooves just enumerated furnish bars of more than one size; this is
effected in every case by tightening or loosening the press screw of that
particular groove to obtain the size required. The above are the preparatory
grooves, and the 10 following square grooves give 10 roughened bars of
corresponding size to be completed at the small separate rollers, as set forth

page_text: in the preceding description. But to manufacture these small bars I work
with two sets of similar rollers to roll in serpentining, as in the ordinary
system.
Figure 5 (Sheet 5) illustrates the manufacture of small square iron bars of
from to of an inch also by the small train of 10 inches. The two grooves
Nos. 1 and 2 roll the faggot flatwise, and the grooves 3 and 4 on edge. The
groove No. 4 furnishes the bar to the grooves A No. 5 and B No. 5, where it
is rolled flatwise. No. 6ª furnishes the bar to grooves Nos. 71, 74%, and 7ª³,
where it is rolled on edge. No. 6³ makes the bar for grooves 7B1 and 7B3,
which roll on edge. The bars are now roughened (several sizes are made in
one groove by loosening the press screw, as previously described). The bar 74
is finished in groove 841, and issues by the groove 8*, and so on for the other
4 bars to 7B inclusive.
Figure 6 (Sheet 6) illustrates the manufacture of 4 square iron bars of
2 inches to 2 inches by the merchant train. The bar passes from groove
to groove in the order indicated by the lettering, being rolled alternately
flatwise and on edge (Nos. 1 and 2, however, rolling flatwise in this and
every succeeding Figure). The upper grooves are always shewn, set for
the smaller size, and make the larger by loosening the press screw, as, already
described.
Figure 7 (Sheet 7) illustrates the rough rolling of faggots for producing
small round or rod iron of from to finished at a single heat, and
serpentining in the small train. The faggots are rolled alternately flatwise
and on edge in the order indicated by the lettering and cyphering, the
10 upper convex grooves forming 10 bars to go to the corresponding ovals
at the end of the small train, and thence to the finishing round grooves.
Figure 8 (Sheet 8) illustrates the manufacture of 8 round bars or rods of
from to of an inch. The faggots are here also rolled alternately flatwise
and on edge in the order indicated by the lettering, issuing by the
grooves 8*.
Figure 9 (Sheet 9) illustrates the making of 4 round bars or rods of from
2 to 3 inches. The faggot is here also rolled flatwise in grooves Nos. I and
2, and then alternately flatwise and on edge in the order indicated by the
lettering, issul by the grooves 8", the two or more sizes from one groove
being obtained as previously described.
Figure 10 (Sheet 9) illustrates the manufacture of iron girders of 7 inches
in height. Groove No. 1 receives a faggot made according to the pattern of
girder required and rolls it flatwise, it then passes to No. 2, where it is also
rolled flatwise, it is then rolled on edge in Nos. 3 and 4, where it assumes the

page_text: breadth of No. 5, which is the height of the girder, it then passes successively
to Nos. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, where it is rolled flatwise, and issues of the
thickness required.
Figure 11 (Sheet 10) illustrates the manufacture of a double headed rail,
which is precisely similar to the operation described in reference to Figure 10,
excepting that the rail is finished at the 9th groove, No. 9* being precisely
the same size as No. 9.
Figure 12. (Sheet 10) illustrates the making of another description of rail
(used on the Cologne and Minden Railway). Groove No. 1 receives a
faggot of suitable shape and rolls it flatwise, from thence it goes to No. 2,
where it is again rolled flatwise. Grooves 3 and 4 then roll it on edge to
make it as broad as groove No. 5, where it is rolled flatwise, and from which
it goes to top groove No. 6 in order to thin the flat base so that it may pass
to groove No. 7, where it is rolled flatwise, as also at Nos. 8 and 9, where it is
finished; grooves 6* and 9* not being used.
Figure 13 (Sheet 11) illustrates the manufacture of hollow rails. Groove
No. 1 receives a faggot of similar shape, which it rolls flatwise, passing it to
No. 2, where it is also rolled flatwise, from thence it goes to Nos. 3 and 4,
which roll it on edge, it then follows the order of the grooves which roll it
flatwise, and is finished at No. 9, No. 9* not being used.
Figure 14 (Sheet 11) illustrates the making of tyres for wheels. The 1,
2, 3, and 4 grooves roll the faggot flatwise, it is then rolled on edge at
grooves 5 and 6 to make the bar the breadth of the 7th groove, where it is
rolled flatwise, and so on to the 10th groove, where it issues finished.
Figure 15 (Sheet 12) illustrates the making of angle iron of equal sides.
No. 1 receives the faggot and rolls it flatwise; No. also rolls it flatwise for
the two grooves Nos. 34 and 3B by loosening the press screw as previously
described for 34, the groove being shewn prepared to supply 3B. Grooves 3ª
and 4 roll the faggot edgewise to go to the angle grooves 54, 6, 74, and 84,
where it is finished, and grooves 3 and 4 roll on edge to go to 5B, 6B, 7B, and
8, where it is finished.
Figure 16 (Sheet 12) illustrates the manufacture of angle iron of unequal
sides. Grooves 1 and 2 roll the faggot flatwise; 3 and 4 roll it on edge,
No. 4 furnishing (by unscrewing the press screw) a bar to Nos. 5ª and 5.
Nos. 5 and 6 roll the bar flatwise, from whence it goes to 74, 84, and 94,
where it is finished, and Nos. 5 and 6 roll the other bar flatwise and pass it
to 7, 8, and 9B, where it is finished. It will be seen that the grooves 8* are
It used to avoid the manoeuvers of turning the bar end for end.
Figure 17 (Sheet 13) illustrates the arrangement of this improved system

page_text: of rollers (in which separate roughing rolls are dispensed with) in their
several sets or cages in the puddled bar train (No. 1), merchant iron for
making bars (No. 2), merchant and rail making train (No. 3), and single
train (No. 4). On this Figure is also shewn the puddling furnaces, 26 in
number, and the heating furnaces, of which there are 22. At the puddled bar
train (No. 1), A indicates rolls for making bars of 5, 7, 7, 8, and 9 inches in
width; B, rolls making bars of 2, 23, and 3 inches in width; C, rolls making
bars of 2, 2, and 3 inches in width; that is to say, these three sets of rolls
work together and produce three different sorts or sizes of bars at once
without separate roughing rolls. At the merchant train (No. 2), A indicates a
set of rolls making single headed rails, as shewn in Figure 12 (Sheet 10); B,
a set of rolls making girders of 7 inches deep, as shewn Figure 10 (Sheet
9); C, a set of rolls making 4 sizes of round iron from 23 to 3 inches, as shewn
Figuro 9 (Sheet 9), thus three sorts and sizes of iron at once without separate
roughing rolls. At the merchant and rail train (No. 3), A indicates a set of
rolls making double headed rails, as shewn Figure 11 (Sheet 10); B, a set of
rolls making 4 sizes of square bars of from 2 to 2, as shown Figure 6
(Sheet 6); C, a set of rolls making flat bars of 5
and 6 inches; thus also
three sorts of iron at once from a single train always without separate roughing
Orolls. At the small train (No. 4) (10 inches in diameter), A is a set of rolls
making flat bars of 14 by 1; B, a set of rolls making 8 sizes of round bars
from to, as shewn Figure 8 (Sheet 8); C, a set making 4 sizes of square
bars from to ; D, a set making hoop iron 14 by 1, this latter has to
be passed once through the hard rolls E, therefore at this small train 4
5 sorts of iron are rolled at once and without separate roughing rolls. The
grooves of the rolls are in this Figure 17, which is made to a scale of To,
only in small size, it being impossible to draw them to a scale so small, but
the sets of rolls are shewn separately to a scale of one-fifth at their respective
Figures.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and the means by
which I carry it into practical effect, I would bere observe that I do not
confine myself to the precise details herein given, as such might be varied
without departure from the Invention, nor do I bind myself to the correctness
of all the calculations herein given, any error in which will not affect the
value or validity of my improvements, and that I claim,-
Firstly, the exclusive uso of rolls for rolling bar iron or steel by the two-roll
system, when made with the necessary grooves for roughing and finishing
without the aid of separate roughing rolls and at a single beat, up to flat bars

page_text: of 6 inches in width and round and square bars of 7 inches; iron of larger
dimensions requiring separate roughing rolls by the two-roll method.
Secondly, the exclusive use of rolls made with the necessary grooves for
roughing and finishing all sorts of bar iron or steel by the three-roll system at
a single heat and without the use of separate roughing rolls.
Thirdly, the arrangement of the trains as shewn Figure 17 (Sheet 13) of
the annexed Drawings, which arrangement permits the working at the trains
and furnaces as herein-before set forth. The whole substantially as herein-
before described and illustrated by the annexed Drawings.
. In witness whereof, I, the said Ephraim Sabel, have hereunto set my 1
hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
EPHRAIM SABEL. (L.S.)