A LARGE IRON CASTING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XX, Issue 6822, 28 September 1883, Page 5

A LARGE IRON CASTING.

One of the largest, if not the very largest, iron casting yet turned out in the colony was successfully accomplished last night in the foundry of Messrs. Masefield and Co. The ' ?ork turned out was a spur driving wheelin one piece, for the New Zealand Timber Company. The wheel is 13 feet 6 inches in diameter, with a breadth of rim of 10 inches. The wheel has eight arms, ahd when finished will weigh about five tons. About six tons of metal were used. Two furnaces were employed for melting the metal, and it was not until after the ordinary work closed, at five o'clock, that the engine was available for the blast. The furnaces are scarcely adequate for works of this magnitude, and it was not until after nine o'clock that the casting was completed. However, every detail was carried out very successfully, under the skilled workmen SHjployed, and tho final casting was cjmpletea without a hitch. The ladles employed were two in number, one of 3 tons Bcwt. capacity, and the other, a smaller one, capable of taking 2 tons 15cwt. The large one was filled first, and while the second one was in course of being filled, the metal in the first one was kept from crusting on the top,by a liberal supply of sawdust thrown upon the surface of the molten uietal. A large number of spectators were present, who looked on with a considerable degree of interest. As soon as both ladles were filled, they were hoisted to the proper elevation, canted over, and the tons of molten metal flowed out into the prepared mould. Every requisite preparation having been made, there was no explosion or sputtering of metal, which, sometimes takes place when anything goes wrong with the mould prepared. Although the size of casting was large as compared with the furnace capacity, no casting could have been more satisfactorily carried out, and the manner in which tho work was done testifies to the skill of the men employed. The wheel, when finished, will be dressed down to about five tons ; and it is intended to work into it a large pinion which has been prepared in the same foundry. The pinion will be fitted on to the driving-shaft, and furnished with wooden teeth, into which the spurs of the wheel cast last night will work. These new pieces of machinery will take the place of the wheels at present driven by a rope band. The successful manner in which the casting was completed, and the magnitude of the job, will show those at a distance, who are capable of forming an intelligent opinion on the- subject, the extensive works which Auckland engine workships are capable of turning out.