ONEHUNGA IRON WORKS.

Auckland Star, Volume XIX, Issue 68, 21 March 1888, Page 3

ONEHUNGA IRON WORKS.

THE .MACHINERY AND WHAT IT

I&' DOING.

Apropos of the Admiral's visit to the above Iron Works on Monday, we give a brief description Of the works as culled by our reporter from the manager, Mr X Hughes. The engines for driving the rolling mills are three in number and were manufactured by Davey Brothers, of Sheffield, of the latest modern type, being hi^h-pressure condensers. Engine No. 1 W 80-horse power, capable of driving machinery for making plates and sheets, also bars of heavy sizes. Engine No. 2is 60-horse power is used for driving rolling mills tor general merchant iron from one inch to three inches, round, square, and flat bars. Ens-mo No. 3is also of 60-horse power, and is now in course of erection, and will be ready for work in about 14 days for the manufacture of small iron, from i to 1£ inches round, square and flat bars, also hoop iron. The boiler power consists of three Lancashire boilers and one tubular, which are connected to each engine, so as to allow any engine to bo worked separThe rolling mills are three in number and are capable of turning out 200 tons, of finished iron per week. They are from the celebrated firm of Messrs Taylor and Farley, of West Broomwich, Staffordshire. The whole of the engines, boilers and rolling mills are covered by two of the finest roofs in the colonies, each being 100 feet square and constructed of iron. There are two steam, hammers, one by Ccndy for. forge purposes, striking a blow of tyro tons. Also one by Rigby tor general purposes* which strikes a blow of lOcwt. The roll - turning lathe, lately erected, is the heaviest and largest in the cplonies, and ia capable of turning rolls up to five tons each. The foundry is all that can be desired for a large iron work, being abont 50 feet square, and fitted up with furnaces and crane for castings up to 10 tons, with brass furnaces and all appliances required for carrying on the works. The work for the manufacture of fire bricks is complete in itself, consisting of one 10 • horse power portable engine and chilling mill for grinding the clay, two circular kilns, and drying sheds. The quality of the fire bricks are of the bost description for smelting purposes. The position of the works is second to none, being bounded on the south by the Manukau Harbour, and on the north by the Government railway. The distance from the works to the Onehunga Wharf is only a few hundred yards. The works were taken over by Mr Enoch Hughes in August, 1887, under contract with the proprietors, Messrs T. and S. Morrin, to erect and complete the bar rolling mills, and produce 120 tone of bar iron within four months, which was completed in due time; and up to the present date some 400 or 500 tons of finished iron have been produced from cast and wrought scrap iron that was already on the works. Mr E. Hughes, the manager, has been 45 years in the iron trade, 30 years of which he has been in the Australian colonies. During this time he has been employed as manager and partner off thewhole of the works in the colonies of Victoria and New South Wales, and he has made all the machinery for and constructed every iron rolling mill in the Australasian colonies. Mr Hughes has only been in New Zealand for six months, during which short period he has erected the machinery imported by the late New Zealand Iron Company, which machinery was lying at the. works at Onehunga in an absolutely useless state and deteriorating in value until Mr Hughes took it over. He has during the last three months manufactured upwards of 500 tons of bar iron, all of which is said to be of a superior quality to any imported, and at once found a ready market at a price to competo with the imported article. Mr Hughes anticipates within a short time to produce iron from a mixture of hematite iron ore from Kamo (where there is a splendid seam of both hematite and limestone) and the iron sand in equal proportion, at a cost to compete with any pig iron imported, both as to quality and price. The bnck works, foundry, pattern shops, and fitting shops are all complete for producing thenown machinery for the works. The rolling nulls at present are capable of producing; 200 tons of finished iron pec week. It is the intention, of the Company shortly to commence the manufacture of sheet iron for corrugating and galvanising for roofing, and other purposes. ]Vlr Hughes attributes the many pastfailures to experimenting in the making: of bar iron direct from the sand, instead of following the process adoped by all skilled manufacturers of iron in producing the pig iron first. Since the first production of pig iron by the Earl of Dudley (or Lord Ward as he was. then, in 1620) there has not been one work erected that has ever produced the s bar iron direct from this ore, to pay commercially. Dr. Siemens^ of Wellenborough, near Northampton, England, the greatest steel manufacturer and best authority we liave, spent some thousands of pounds m endeavouring to make the iron from the New Zealand iron sand, or any other rich ores, but was unsuccessful. Mr Hughes is at present engaged m compiling a treatise on the manufacture and cost of pig iron, bar, plate, sheet and hoops, which will prove that iron can be produced in the colonies as cheap, if not cheaper than the imported material. This work Mr Hughes purposes to lay before the public ats an early date.