IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- FACTURE OR PRODUCTION OF HOLLOW INGOTS OR TUBES OF CAST STEEL
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Baker, of Corn Exchange Chambers, in the City
of London, Merchant, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OR PRODUCTION OF HOLLOW INGOTS OR TUBES OF CAST STEEL."
A communication from abroad by Cyrus Bullard Morse, of Rhinibeck, in the
State of New York, in the United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Baker at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 31st July 1880.
瑞華
RICHARD BAKER, of Corn Exchange Chambers, in the City of London, Merchant.
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR PRODUCTION OF HOLLOW INGOTS OR
TUBES OF CAST STEEL." A communication from abroad by Cyrus Bullard Morse,
of Rhinibeck, in the State of New York, in the United States of America.
The object of this Invention is to produce hollow ingots or tubes of cast steel of
any grade they will admit of, being drawn under the hammer or rolling mill to any
required thickness, diameter, and length, for conversion into a variety of useful
articles which have hitherto been made of iron or low steel by punching or welding,
such for instauce as steam pipes, gun barrels, boiler flues, tubular flues, tubular
shafting, hollow axles, axle boxes, spindles, locomotive, marine, or other flues, and
rings for spinning-frames, and other purposes.
The difficulty hitherto experienced in attempts at the production of steel ingots
or tubes by casting them in moulds is chiefly owing to the extreme brittleness and
intractability of steel when it is charged with carbon above, say, one per cent.,
and also the porosity and imperfections of the steel after it is moulded. These
difficulties are overcome by a process or treatment which is exceedingly simple
and effective. The several ingredients entering into the composition of the steel
which I prefer to use, and their relative proportions, are as follows:-For a pot of
steel weighing fifty pounds I take about thirty pounds of Peru or Swedish iron,
twenty pounds of scrap steel, five ounces of charcoal powder, six ounces of refined
manganese, and three ounces of rock salt. These substances are melted together
until the mass attains a very high degree of beat, and becomes what is technically
known as dead steel. It is then skimmed to remove the floating impurities, and
allowed to stand until it is ready for pouring. After conversion the steel, which

page_text: .
is carbonized to any desired degree, say one per cent., is poured from the melting
pot into a cylindrical mould of suitable dimensions, containing a core in its centre,
which will produce a tube or hollow ingot. The mould may be made in the usual
manner for casting cast steel ingots with the following important differences :-Near
the bottom of the mould, where the two halves or sections join, small holes or
conduits are made through its walls for allowing a free escape of air from the
bottom of the mould chamber during the filling thereof with steel, and thus prevent
imperfections in the castings, danger from explosion, or expulsion of the liquid
metal from the mould, which would be liable to occur if the air-vents were not
made as stated. The core which is arranged centrally in the mould may be made
of a cylindrical bar of cast-steel, or it may be made of a mixture of sand and flour
with a hole through its centre for allowing the upward and downward escape of
air and gas from the mould chamber while pouring in the steel. If the core is
made of metal the ingot, in cooling, will contract very firmly around it, and may
be removed by heating and expanding by hammering, and if the core is made of
sand it can be readily broken up and cleared out of the ingot after the latter has
cooled.
In manufacturing my improved axle I prefer to first cast a hollow cylindrical
ingot, as described, of the grade of steel desired. I then take the ingot, howsoever
made, and by drawing it out by hammering on mandrils while it rests in a die or
anvil into a tube of a diameter equal to the greatest diameter of the axle to be
made. This tube being slightly shorter than the axle desired, is then reduced in
diameter at its middle by hammering and swaging upon a mandril one half at a
time, or all at once if two mandrils are inserted from opposite ends so as to
meet in the centre.
The body of the axle is now complete, the metal is of about equal thickness at all
points, the smallest diameter is at the middle, and the diameter gradually increases
toward the ends until it reaches the greatest diameter at the wheel seat. The next
step is to form the dust guards and journal of the axle; this is done by swaging
upon a mandril in a die or anvil. The diameter of the journal must be less than
that of the dust guard next to it, and in reducing the diameter and forming the
dust guard and journal there will be an excess of metal that will thicken and
strengthen the shoulders, which is the point of the axle where the greatest strain
occurs and greatest strength is required. These swaging operations will elongate
the tube to the required length of the axle. The triangular die or anvil has
inclined sides and a flat bottom, so that the tube is swaged under the hammer at
three points; when it reaches the bottom of the die it is of proper diameter, the
sides of the die and hammer forming a triangle, or the sides of the die or anvil may
be inclined and the bottom rounded. In the operation of swaging and forming my
axle by the use of mandrils and these dies or anvils the tube is to be revolved a
little after each blow, either by hand or suitable machinery, and thus steel axle
tubes can be wrought into shape with ease and rapidity, and in the most perfect
manner without waste of metal. I have mentioned steel only in the above
description of this Invention of a tubular axle, and that is what I prefer, but any
malleable metal or compound metal suitable for the purpose may be used instead.
Axles' made as above set forth are much lighter than those heretofore used, are
three to four times as strong, and have more resiliency, and are not, therefore, liable
to fracture from sudden strains. I have described an axle the body of which is
reduced in diameter at its middle; but axles having bodies of cylindrical as well as
other shapes may be made in accordance with part of this Invention, that is to
say, the ingot having been drawn out into a tube of any desired section the
operation of reducing the diameter of the tube at its middle may be omitted and
the axle finished by forming the journals thereon, as above set forth.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Richard Baker in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 31st
January 1881.
RICHARD BAKER, of Corn Exchange Chambers, in the City of London, Merchant.
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR PRODUCTION OF HOLLOW INGOTS OR
TUBES OF CAST STEEL" A communication from abroad by Cyrus Bullard Morse,
of Rhinibeck, in the State of New York, in the United States of America.
The object of the said Invention is to produce seamless hollow ingots or tubes of
cast steel of any grade or quality desired. Such ingots or tubes will adinit of being
worked and drawn, as hereinafter described, under a hammer in notch anvils or in
rolling mills to any required thickness, diameter, length, form, or shape, into a
variety of useful articles which have hitherto been made of iron or low steel, by
punching, boring, or welding, such, for instance, as steam pipes, gun barrels, boiler
flues, tubular flues, tubular shafting, hollow axles, axle boxes, spindles, cannon,
locomotive, marine, or other flues, rings, or other tubular, annular, or hollow
bodies.
The difficulty hitherto experienced in attempts at the production of steel ingots
or tubes by casting them in moulds is chiefly owing to the extreme brittleness
and intractability of steel when it is charged with carbon above, say, one per
centum, and also the porosity, gas and air cavities, and imperfections of the steel
after it is moulded. These difficulties have been overcome according to the said
Invention by processes which are exceedingly simple and effective.
The ingots or tubes may be made of any grade or quality of steel, and no claim
is made under the said Invention to the metal, the ingredients composing the same,
or their respective proportion, or the method of melting.
Metal made by the Bessemer, Siemens, Martin, or other well known and
approved processes can be successfully used, and also crucible steel of any grade or
quality.
In using crucible steel, it is preferred that the following several ingredients shall
enter the composition thereof in the relative proportions stated, to wit, for a pot of
steel weighing fifty pounds, I take about thirty pounds of Peru or Swedish iron,
twenty pounds of scrap steel, five ounces of charcoal powder, six ounces of refined
manganese, and three ounces of rock salt. These substances I melt together until
the mass attains a very high degree of heat, and becomes what is technically known
as dead steel. I then skim it to remove the floating impurities, and allow it to
stand until it is reading for pouring.
The first step in the said Invention is the construction and arrangement of a
suitable mould and core, with base and cap for casting such hollow ingots or tubes,
each inade and ventilated as hereinafter described.
With reference to Figures 1 to 6 of the accompanying Drawings, which represent
the mould core, base, and cap, and their combination for casting hollow or annular
ingots,―
Figure 1 represents a plan view of the mould core, base, and cap, and manner of
connecting and securing the same to the runner plate.
Figure 2 is a vertical section of the same.
Figure 3 is a plan of the cap detached.
Figure 4 is an elevation of the cap.
Figure 5 is a vertical section of the core plate, rods, and loop, hereinafter
described.
Figure 6 is a plan of the base.

page_text: The runner plate A is provided with channel openings a, a, extending inwards
and connecting with the central hole I in the base of the mould, to admit a free
escape of gas and air.
The base H has a rim h around it to receive and hold in place the mould E; it
has in its centre a circular recess K to receive centre, and hold in place the lower
end of the core L. In the centre of this recess is a hole I running through the
base H, forming with the channel openings a, a, in the runner plate A, and the
openings d, d, through the core plate and core, and the opening C in the cap a
conduit for gas and air.
The core plate has rods attached at opposite points; these rods are slightly longer
than the core, and are united together, the top being arched so as to form a loop
above the core for the purpose of carrying, setting, and holding the core in place.
The core is made upon the plate around these rods, and has a hole through its
centre. The core is made of a mixture, one element of which is combustible. The
walls of the core are vented. The core is made slightly tapering from the
bottom up.
If the core is inade of metal, it should have a hole through its centre, and vent
holes through its sides, the same as if made of a mixture. The ingot in cooling
will contract very firmly around a metal core, but the core may be removed readily
by heating the ingot and expanding it by hammering. If the core is made of sand
mixture, it can readily be broken up and cleared out of the ingot after the latter
has cooled. If the core is made of mixture, it should be one part fire brick and two
parts best fire sand, with sufficient unbolted flour to hold it together, the whole
being wet with thin fireclay wash.
The inner wall of the core should be covered with a combustible covering that
will readily ignite. The core should not be too hard nor too soft, but medium
throughout. After removing the core box, a small vent wire should be passed
frequently through the outer wall into the inner opening, in order to form vent
boles for the air and gases to escape inward.
The core should then be baked and afterwards given a heavy coat of the best
plumbago wet with clay wasb, slicked down and returned to the oven to remain
until ready for pouring. The core and mould should be hot when the metal is
poured.
The mould should be smoked.
The top of the mould E is closed with a recess cap F which fits inside of the
mould and rests upon it. The cap has a hole C through its centre to receive the
core L, and keep it central at the top of the mould. The cap F has conical
openings or vents c, c, c, c, to admit of the free escape of gas or air that may be

page_text: between the mould and core while the metal is being poured. The cap F has two
ears ff, at opposite sides for the purpose of holding it in place. The mould may
be made of cast iron or other suitable metal, may be of any convenient form, the
interior to be slightly tapering from the bottom up. It is provided on the top
with ears e, e, upon opposite sides, so constructed as to hold a bar g or other suitable
device to keep the cap and core in place. The cap F and core L are secured in
place by the bar G passed through the ears e, e, on the mould E over the top of the
core loop D, and over the ears f, f, of the cap F, the wedges g, g, making the
connection firm and secure.
The metal enters the mould at the bottom b, b, being poured through a central
runner B, connecting with each mould that may be in the cluster. The gases will
be ignited with the combustible element of the core. The gas and air will pass
through the vented walls of the core, and escape through it and the opening in the
base and channels in the runner plate.
When the mould is partly filled with metal the gas and air will pass through the
conical openings in the cap. As soon as the mould is full and the openings in the
cap are closed with metal, then the gases and air burn out through the core, the
oxygen being supplied through the base openings.
The next step in the said Invention is to overcome the difficulties hitherto
experienced in swaging or hammering metallic tubular, annular, or hollow
cylindrical bodies for the purpose of elongating or reducing them in diameter
without changing their cylindrical shape or disturbing the equal thickness of the
metal at opposite points of the structure. Rings, tubes, or hollow ingots hammered
over a mandril on a common anvil can be reduced and drawn out, although with
considerable difficulty, but without an inner support they cannot be thus worked.
In order to accomplish the object of the said Invention I employ peculiarly shaped
anvil blocks having three sided recesses, and such conformation that I can success-
fully reduce and draw out hollow tubes or ingots with or without mandrils, and
readily secure an equal and uniform thickness of metal and uniform strength and
elasticity at all points.
This part of the said Invention I shall now proceed to describe with the aid of
Figures 7 to 12 of the accompanying Drawings, in which Figures the same letters
of reference indicate corresponding parts.
Figure 7 represents a perspective view of the improved anvil, having the
horizontal face A and the two convex faces B, B, inclined at an angle of about sixty.
degrees. This form is intended to be used to reduce and elongate parallel sided
tubes or hollow cylindrical ingots.
Figure 8 is a side elevation of an anvil represented in Figure 7, showing a tube
or cylindrical ingot D in place, ready to be swaged, reduced, or elongated by the
hammer E. It will be observed that there are three equi distant points of contact
a, b, and c, of the tube with the hammer and anvil, and the result is in operation
that the circular form of the tube or ingot being swaged will be preserved, and the
thickness of the metal will be kept uniform.
After each blow the tube or ingot should be rotated slightly either by hand or
by machinery, so that the points of contact with the anvil and hammer shall be
constantly changed. If the interior of the tube or ingot be supported by a fitting
mandril, the tube will be drawn out or elongated uniformly and equally. In
varying the diameter of the structure at different points by swaging it the same
result is secured, and the thickness of the metal may be regulated as desired in any
part.
Figure 9 shows a form of anvils intended for swaging tapering tubes or ingots,
as indicated in the dotted lines. It only differs from the anvils shown in Figure 7
by presenting a wider opening upon the front side at d, e, than at the rear f,g, the
two convex inclined faces B, B, diverging accordingly.
Figure 10 is a front elevation of the anvils represented in Figure 9, showing a
tube or hollow ingot in position to be swaged under the hammer.

page_text: Figure 11 shows a form of anvils, differing from that shown in Figure 7 only in
having flat parallel faces h, i, and convex or rounded corners k, l.
Figure 12 shows an elevation of the anvils represented in Figure 11, with a
finished tube in place under the hammer, the tube having been reduced until it
touches the horizontal face A of the anvil.
The face of the hammer used should be a duplicate of the face of the anvil, that
is to say, convex, convex and diverging, or plain, as the case may be. When a
mandril is used the metal will be closed tightly around it, and in order to loosen
it readily I raise the structure out of contact with the anvils, when a slight
hammering will serve to loosen the mandril at once. Instead of constructing anvils
in the forms described I may use ordinary horizontal but similarly shaped faced
anvils, and construct recessed hammers of the form specified, and I may increase the
number of points of contact of the structure with anvils and hammer, but it is
preferable to employ recessed anvils and hammers fixed as described.
In rolling such ingot or tube the ordinary appliances and rolling mills are used.
The ingot or tube is heated in a furnace to a proper degree of heat, and is then
placed upon a mandril and rolled between properly grooved rolls until the required
diameter and length are obtained.
The use of a rolling machine for rolling such ingots or tubes is not claimed as
forming any part of the said Invention.
The next step in the Invention is to make the ingot or tube so produced by
casting, hammering, swaging, or rolling, into one or more of the various useful
articles specified, say, for example, a seamless hollow axle for rail road carriages and
other vehicles.
This part of the said Invention is illustrated in Figures 13 to 20 of the
accompanying Drawings, which represent the axle in the various stages of its
manufacture, as well as apparatus for forming it.
Figure 13 is a longitudinal section of an ingot from which the axle is made.
Figure 14 represents the ingot after it has been drawn out by hammering or
rolling into a tube of the requisite length and thickness.
Figure 15 represents the tube after it has been subjected to the first swaging
operation, its centre being reduced in diameter.
Figure 16 represents the tapering mandril, upon which the centre of the tube is
formed. Figure 17 represents the complete axle partly in section.
1 Figure 18 represents the mandril, in which the ends or journals of the axle are
formed, and Figures 19 and 20 represent sections of the recessed dies or anvils in
which the ingot and axle are swaged into shape.
The same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all Figures.
In manufacturing the improved axle I prefer to first cast a hollow cylindrical
ingot A, as described, of the grade of steel desired; I then take the ingot, and by
drawing it out by hammering on mandrils while it rests in the die or anvil B into
a tube C of a diameter equal to the greatest diameter of the axle to be made. This
tube being slightly shorter than the axle desired, is then reduced in diameter at its
middle, as shewn at b, Figures 15 and 17, by hammering and swaging upon a
mandril D one half at a time, or all at once if two materials are inserted from
opposite ends so as to meet in the centre.
The body E of the axle is now complete, and it will be observed that the metal
is of about equal thickness at all points, that the smallest diameter is at the middle,
and that the diameter gradually increases towards the ends until it reaches the
greatest diameter at the wheel seat.
The next step is to form the dust guards F and journal F¹ of the axle. This is
done by swaging upon a mandril G in the die or anvil B¹. The diameter of the
journal must be less than that of the dust guard next to it, and in reducing the
diameter and forming the dust guard and journal there will be an excess of metal
that will thicken and strengthen the shoulders H, which is the point of the axle
where the greatest strain occurs and where the greatest strength is required.

page_text: These swaging operations will elongate the tube to the required length of the
xle.
The triangular die or anvil shewn in Figure 19 has inclined sides g, g, and a flat
bottom h, so that the tube is swaged under the hammer X at three points; when it
eaches the bottom of the die it is of proper diameter; the sides of the die and
ammer form a triangle.
In the operation of swaging and forming the axle by the use of mandrils and
these dies or anvils the tube is to be revolved a little after each blow, either by
hand or suitable machinery, and thus steel axle tubes can be wrought into shape
with ease and rapidity, and in the most perfect manner without waste of metal.
I am aware that, broadly speaking, hollow metallic axles are old, but such axles,
30 far as I am aware, have been made either by casting them of the shape desired,
or by boring out solid metal, or by welding together bars or plates. These methods
are objectionable, because they fail to produce axles of sufficient strength and
lightness at the same time, and the two latter are also objectionable as being
too expensive.
The axle berein described is designed especially as a rail road carriage axle, but
the Invention is applicable to axles for vehicles of all kinds, and it will be observed
that it is of great strength and durability, its shape being that best adapted to
resist the strains to which it is subjected, and the metal so distributed as to be
thickest at the point of greatest strain and least in weight and section at the point
of least strain, so as to be in structure architecturally correct, and to combine at
once minimum weight with maximum strength.
Axles made as above set forth are much lighter than those heretofore used, are
three to four times as strong, and have more resiliency, and, therefore, are not
liable to fracture from sudden strains.
Their use for railway carriages results directly in a material economy, not only
over solid axles, but over any other species of hollow axle known to me.
I have described an axle the body of which is reduced in diameter at its middle,
but axles having bodies of cylindrical as well as other shapes may be made in
accordance with part of the said Invention, that is to say, the ingot having been
drawn out into a tube of any desired section the operation of reducing the diameter
of the tube at its middle may be omitted, and the axle finished by forming the
journals thereon, as above set forth.
Gun barrels, cannon pipes, steam pipes, boiler flues, tubular flues, tubular shafting,
locomotive, marine, and other flues may be made by hammering and swaging on
the notch anvil and drawing in a rolling mill, as described, and various other
articles, tubular or hollow, may be made from these ingots or tubes by adapting the
appliances described to the peculiar forms and shapes desired.
It should be observed that under the term "cast steel" used in this my
Specification is included any homogeneous metal capable of being treated in the
manner described.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
5 effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original,
and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the hereinbefore in part
recited Letters Patent is,-
0
First. As a new article of manufacture, a cast steel ingot or tube, which is
produced substantially as herein before described.
Second. The peculiar construction and arrangement of mould and its appur-
tenances, substantially as herein before described.
Third. The method of reducing and elongating tubular, annular, or hollow
cylindrical bodies of cast steel by operating upon them at three equi-distant points
under the same blow, substantially as herein before described.
Fourth. The recessed anvil having two faces inclined at an angle of about sixty
degrees, whereby a blow from a hammer upon a body in the recess will affect the

page_text: body at three equi-distant points simultaneously in the swaging operation,
substantially as herein before described.
Fifth. The herein before described seamless wrought hollow metal axle or body,
the interior wall of which conforms in general outline with its exterior shape,
produced substantially as hereinbefore described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Baker, have to this my Specification
set my hand and seal, the Twenty ninth day of January, One thousand
eight hundred and eighty one.
RICHARD BAKER. (L.S.)