MESSRS A. AND T. BURT'S FACTORY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 4174, 5 July 1875, Page 7

MESSRS A. AND T. BURT'S FACTORY.

Aftar sonti*? monthß of active exertion, Messrs A. and T. Burt have now about got their copper and brass works and lead pipe !factory, in Cumberland street, into complete ■working order. The premises are thdse that ■were ouce occupied by Messrs Sparrow and ■Co., but the buildings have been greatly enlarged. The buildings have a,frontage of •66ft. to Cumberland street, and extend baok —a portion to a depth of; 90ft., and the remainder 130 ft. There is abundance of yard space, the firm's ground extending from ■street to street,, being a distance of 330 ft. 'The front portion of the building is of brick, and two storeys high, and the rear ia of iron. The buildings are sub-divided as follows : —An office and private office ; a store-room, •from which the men are supplied with material ; a pattern shop; the pattern store-room —a large room in which the patterns that iLave accumulated for years are stowed away, to their classification, on shelves ; tfishydraulio engineering department, where ■water engines, pumps, aud other hydraulic ■ apparatus are made; coppersmiths' and blacksmiths' shops; plumbers' and tin -smiths' shops ; brass mouldingahops ; boiler liouso, in which there is a large boiler that -supplies steam to three engines and drives the air fans of the forgea ; and the lead pipe ■worka.'. There is a chimney stsek 80ft. high. several dtpirtments bafore mentioned tre hiive already described in a previous ■notice of Meusra Burt's business when furmerly carried on in their Princes street ■premises. ■ It might, however, be mentioned that, since we last referred to their works, ■■various important additions have been made to the machinery. Among theso may be noticed a copper cutting engine, which cuts copper to any length aud shape ; a machine .for making screws on the ends of piping, and •which does more work in five minutes than ■could be formerly done in two hours, and enables odd lengths and short pieces of piping to be pit to use; three screw cutting lathes.; and a brass finishing shaping machine, which effects a great saving of labour iin the way of bringing brass work to a smooth surface, and does away with filing. In the new premises there is plenty of room, which was not the case in the old shop, which the business had outgrown. This is not only a great advantage to the firm, but a.comfort to the hands employed. Since Messrs Burt •oommenaed business in their new factory they have added to their business a branch of industry new to this Colony—that of lead pipe making—and to this department we will now refer. The lead pipe making machinery is that ■which is known as " Weem's hydraulic machine," and can be used for making solid lead, lead and tin composition pipes, block tin tubes, lead rods, aud sheet lead of.a narrow width. The machine consists of a hydraulic cylinder and ram, and a portable vessel called a container. There is & die winch forms the outside of the pipe, and the inside is formed by a mandril or •core. This coro is fixed upright in the centre of the lead container. The container is ■filled with molten lead, which is allowed to ■cool. On the hydraulic machinery being set ■in motion, the container is forced upwardß the ram and die. The surface of line metal in the container is pressed against the face of the ram and die, and the metal, Tiaving no other means of escape, is forced ■out through the opening between the core •and die, coming out in the shape of a continuous and finished pipe until all the metal in tho container is exhausted. There is a spoe Iy return motion, by which tho hydraulic machinery is lowerrd,_ whereupon the content* of another container can be put throm:h tho process deicriked. The machine can bo worked at the rate of five or six changes an hour. The hydraulic machinery Is worked "by three powerful steam pumps, which arc fixed in one frame. The whole of

the machinery is of the most substantial character—for instance, the bottom casting of the hydraulic machinery weighs five tons. To chow the strength required, it may be mentioned that when the hydraulic raachi nery is at work pressing the lead into tho form of piping, a pressure of from 30 cwt. to two tons to the square inch is often iudicated by the gauge, and the apparatus is capable of working up to a pressure of five tons to the square inch. This department ,of 'the Factory is under the charge of an experienced foreman, specially brought out from Britain by Messrs Burt. It is the first lead pipe-making machinery erected iv New Zealand, and the firm maintains that it is of the most improved make, and superior to any on this side of the Line Be this as it may, one fact is indisputable—that is, that the works are the beginning of a" new industry here, and a means of .using up old lead on the spot, instead of having it exported from the Colony to help to keep industry active elsewhere. Those who start a new enterprise always deserve well of a Colony, and we hope that Messrs Burt will have reason to be gratified with their venture.