BRITISH MACHINE-TOOL MAKING.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11684, 13 July 1912, Page 3 (Supplement)

BRITISH MACHINE-TOOL MAKING.

. factor in the p, ii-."-c , r for a £C ore of years has T of tho machinc- , -i *>• <•'. t |-e machine which,is.used. :b»t l ~- || ( , r machine or some pars r lk:: ir- , Vrfii! as the progress of :: -'irhincrv has been m the ' rnr more wonderful than u it- will he more so in the : r; j. t , tpr ,n machine-tool is (I- including the lathe • ' : n m ':[i drilling, slotting, and ; . r: ' the steam-hammer hvrtraulic press, the tool •: .i ie %haft of a White ' V' r: the cylinder of a Great r "" ! ' -notire: or. a'i the other ex- ' r:! ' i .'minute tools as the tiny re- :: ' ' ~'reumatic hammer driven :• r - ; v( ~ and the diminutive ' : ?„rit the minute screws and " ' t he comjJOnenis or a • " i'-iular mechanisms. . _ i: ' 7: ' ..snansion of machine-tool \V!. ; . ; an extraordinary filip ~-'<s n» new thing, as shown strain-hammer, MaudsN . lathes, and Sir. Joseph " " jl, :, a.-torly inventions. These " r '!l"-ht' machine-tool movement • \ n ' ;;.' V( v r ' and enduring work, ' : - 1 v'il'irii' operates satisfactorily : ' Tii'c British inventors made iiV ' ■ • unlike their American ri- ■ : ' their production u'-iv :» the 6crap-heap at an r - (I -- cannot realise the marv " i-, - ruitv displayed in. most of \n»b in use at the present • : f: . . almost everything bus .„ I that specifically human " r '. .. 1; within the limits of posmachines are now mad© . uwmatically the required c ; , ;t number of the wrong size : ' .1 -rt-'ind aspect-of machme- ' r ,reiving more attention "7: fact that repeated en-h-'rtg made to put on to 11 : : r , .„ine of the duiies now per- • r ■ i v t -c operator, and so enlargr: -' , i u ltv of the machine-and - : _ ,"r functions. Ik the curi!t the 'shop." the mar ;( itood tool and a clean iu work accurately and ' : n-j reasonable economy of material. But this is not 1 ... more progressive >nven- ! be replete with devices human labor and conV/ further, do work which! ; pV -iVlf when the human factor • 1 . -lYtibablv diminished. ' ",, r ;ho manufacture of mav " [. " tn with the "memorable " ,::-ike of 1897-98. which gave. ; r , , -nurt to this industry. The who at the outset r " .' fargelv from ■ America, ,: f " r , , r;-"M (l xheir less, dependence : factor;' and. Tshile they marvels or skill in the u- chey were not slow to . iir. ': qualities and to abandon 5 ;.,Tr." Tlie result was that makers > ' - liritaht considerably extended ' ii-t" t-> «-f usefulness of maclinKV ■'' Tl'ev have, for instance, suptii- "shaping and planing tools ( tT ii and horizontal milling ma\r,i l.ave confined the once en-T-Jl operating lathe to lathethe processes of Jionne, awl grindiug being better e|-Miecially-made machines. Z''-r V jr- however, must be credited ;r-I".he idea of the milling machine and turning mill, the two former '".toionising practice in the machine--1 The Briton, too, lies improved on iiiri a dozen British firms are nowf-;- "'ki rt( , these. Mention should tlie resourceful turret V i, comparatively modern oomer, n thoniUghly labor-saving tool; the >ub-2'«S firm of Messrs Alfred Her'(Limited). Coventry, excel m cap- *, I- turret lathes, m OTrface-gnndr cichmes. and machines complete toSer notable invention by Englishier.co!s?sts of the shrface-grindor r>h di<l away with by-gone fihng ■ecftwis- and is now to work ' the most varied kind once done on f'i m „ jmi shaping machines or by "earloi the file. Within recent years number of special tools have come into rsfnoe which perform multiple serin all of which f .yrprne. British makers hold pnde of ills: as they do in shipbuilding machinery, doubtless, ; iif-elv <!ne to their lntroductiOT. i"h-speed steel in 1900, enablmg them ( incistmice tho whole world a:s spe--'ii-tsin the production of tool Saeel, in ,-roe:t vritli machine tool-builders makr thf strongest tools for cutting c-t.iU at high speeds. One -,k vekh other than feelings of . a 4™r a ; -p. lathes, planing and mitan ufhinW. or drilling maenmerj, which r.na tie c-Jsual visitor by their numie: ar-J variety, and enthuiura of the engineer by their T the r.'irk they do, and by the spiend f-r-ranisation that has h«tei ishem an a'.mcst perfect scheme ot eco- »« "f :.nnoh. In mining operations, tor lh Die. r. eoal-cutter invented by| Joto ,ii! u »iul Son. Batnsfey, eatroc. ciroutv yards per hour in the :a:d'si coal, or, as recorded, twenty- - t'.i.u-nud one hundred yards hole r. one thousand seven hundred, and t-xentv-5-ix hours, in six: > months,,va. a w e ;:rv-:-;-ht-incli seam of coal, ineludr.z sfl stoppages, and producing twelve 6.« and five hundred tons of-«»al. bjli-r/Jid records come trom Amencan many railways being equipped with Is the., "for car and driving fe nrt'idigies of work, ratc-xi out from sixteen to ir_ch car-nheels in ten hours, the fas Eerrormiinco in the West Albany, shops twe;itv-tive pairs of wf.e-U in seven hours and firtv-rour Kirntea. with one operator and ono helper. Extremelv heavy milhng was pertorme.! at the American Locomotive iCompanv's r.'orks at Dunkirk on a 15enV.t This naachinc, during tests, had removed nearly >'i ir.etat for minute, and a practical citu:ir.|: capacity was sta:ed to be 0/-10 01 r-.f t.il per htiur. the cutter bcmg provia"i with ir.serUfl Wades of. high-speed •tec-!. The introduction of high-speecl s'.c'L- lieen foilowcd by the compter) rnr of machine-tools to secure rimrlity. and facilities for.obt.T.ninv.-, ti(!,-rs in production. C"-r,>poin:ing machine-tool achiever.er.t> k, s'.iown in the- drilhng-ma- , t 1). and J. Tullis (Clydebank), Vi'iii:?.m .Wmith (Halifax), and Drum-~r-rA BmtlWs: in the boring-mill ot K af.d Bennett (Coventry), li;,-hards and Co. (Broadheath), •ir--. .if hti St irk and Sons (Halifax); the sw.-hmi-* ti> >iiear iron and stecl-plato V H ; . Bergut* and Co- (Manchester); : -V- machines of Cunliffe ana Br-'.-p. i M; itfhe.ster); the slotting-ma-,f tit- Smith Slotting Machine (■'tinpsay (l.i>r.d:.n); a:«i the marvellous p/.-Uurroto combination tool or 'JK-.Vf rs.i'; f -; i'V.-cUttillg, turniiig. etc , nachi.'.e. All of these liave created a, or ,=;"i-pnse at their tine finish,-.and a tsa:--rr.f>nr at the complexity of detail. Rut ti-f> A mertcans continue fornnd"h ./'"itpotitors for a. share of the 1'«! trade. Formerly unwilling/ r.-.t!ot>. of inventors, to learn anvi!;ir.c: ;rr.;i: ncross the seas, they are susr<p::n'.-. ro-day to ideas from any quarti r- uioiio. and as willing to cast their own inventive _ 'plant' -if'"» [ one offers itself. Sev e " the Amf-riean firms even I C: ;r-> kind of tool, making it a lifer.i;':. T :f nethi he—a feature, bv the way, ;1 r.innber of British _ comparaes .v.opti;i4, and thus contributing not 1'"- '- 10 S've them priority among the ;-,---cr-'.n<---f-o5 makers of the countries of may. in passing,•• refer d' of the steam-hammer for p"-*-iima;ic and power-hammer, tools, in fact. : ever .-'finding 111 conquer. It. is-also, no--•t,;LaT machine-tools are being with cutting.parK or J-- K - 'ii iiis.. nuUing-cutters, borihg-bai"S. , f-aryels of conirivanC© vfhich;. a ■:jrrs; r r ,; ft rn , s produce. c _^' : "-rkih!if to note, textile-mafcbane principally in Lancashire,. wKch spir-ndtdiy equipped with machine'rr - i r : re capable ot undertaking - the furnishing of a cotton" mill. «ntl ran easily easily fit out- a.number of m tlie course of a year. > in direction invenjive genios.is v : p -"Iy exhibited, the: search, for -nip-ici ty and incredible accuracy being par.icuJarjy aimed at. By,tie"adoption Tv-i^? e engineers are. able" to -ir ßC6^ ork true to more; than oheP aTi of an inch, and as the .. , an 4 ar t of correct measurement 1 ?? "3sis of all modern methods oi nmc-tool iadnstries, a proficient ma-

ohinist will make tins his chief object to understand. Here, again, Britishers Jiavo borrowed the limit-gauge system from Brother Jonathan and adapted ; t for their own specific needs, Tecognising that perfect accuracy from start to finish is the only road to final perfection. In illustration of the value of gauges . jis.au-accurate-measurement,, it -may be mentioned that sit the Villar Perosa Motor Company's works in Turin, where Whitwortli gauges are in use, a machine which dominates the whole is used for testing the gauges manufactured on the spot, which measures accurately-to one-two-willionth .of an inch —a sufficient proof, if necessary, that workmen artists yet exisi in the world. It is quite evident that in machinetool Resigns finality, is an unknown term;'nor can it be otherwise with highspeed steels in the ascendant., while the question of correct speed's for machinetools is receiving the attention of the whole engineering field. The question of the effect of machinetool machinery upon tho .individual workman is not easy to answer. As a rule, the machinist, as distinguished from the laborer - and the skilled artisan, cannot find Iris employment elevatingi unless he has a sotit -above it, is not fitted for anything superior. Over against this, however, it as contended, as in the working of the automatic lathe, -that the machine does the work and .the man supplies the intelligence; so the same thing holds good in case of new tool-steels where operative labor is relatively much more necessary thsuu It was. and- a saving in times relatively less important. Significant, too, is the experience that the introduction of up-to-date machines and l methods in workshops has a stimulating effect on the. mind of the workers, as-indicated by several of the most modernly equipped shops containing the best men. This being so. it tends to disprove, in part, the suggestion that workmen are degraded by the use of tools that do everything but think or by machines that* are almost: human. It is still tindeniable that although the machine-tool may subordinate the worker, it cannot wholly surpass human skill and direction. The influence of machine-tool protruc- ! tion upon the labor market is, perhaps, a more complex question. Advance, always. must spell displacement for many of the workers; nor is it possible to introduce new machinery and improved methods of production without this inevitable sequence.' On the other hand, there are compensations, inasmuch as labor is- being constantly absorbed by fresh modes of industry. The adoption of a new idea, major 'or minor, for example, generally entails, a secondary invention in the form of machinery capable of making the desired, part; while the replacing of worn-out machinery calls for vast numbers in-the- army of indusiry. From another standpoint st may be noticed for the consolation of tho toiler that mechanical. facilities cheapen the commodities of life and add not a little to the sum total of happiness. That is to say, the development of mechanical processes spells increasing, production. Meanwhile, amidst the foremost European nations, there is a ceaseless rivalry in she arts of "peace; and, although Britons may astonish the world with their mechanical genius, they have more to fear from the army in the foreign workshops than from the army in tlie foreign barracks. If the British tool-maker is beaten in his own market by the foreigner lve will be beaten in the neutral markets; hut *if, on the other hand, he can excel the foreigner in the British market, he will excel 'him in every neutral market.