HEAVY MANUFACTURES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21621, 16 April 1932, Page 19

HEAVY MANUFACTURES

TRADE FAIR AT BIRMINGHAM * BRITISH HARDWARE MACHINERY AND TOOLS. (From Odr Own Correspondent.) LONDON, March 1. Those in charge of the Birmingham section of the British Industries Fair have to report records in regard to attendance and purchases. At Castle Bromwich what is known as the heavy section of industry is primarily represented, but so comprehensive is the schedule, and so resourceful are the manufacturers, that the exhibits cover thousands of articles which may be found within the range from the domestic pin or a hair-like strand of wire to ponderous and powerful machinery, or from dainty and artistic tiles to substantial buildings of concrete and brick. The steady increase in the size of the fair is proof of the importance manufacturers attach to it. For the present exhibition the permanent buildings were enlarged by 40,000 square feet, bringing the total exhibiting space to 243,000 square feet, which is three times as much as there was at the first fair 12 years ago. There are approximately seven miles of stand _ frontage. The fair buildings now cover 13 acres, standing in 50 acres of grounds, and there are many exhibits outside. The number of exhibitors is 1027, or GO more than in 1931.

For the following information regarding the exhibits I am indebted to the Birmingham Post:— The products of the largest and bestorganised British works are displayed attractively in the section devoted to hardware. Once again this group is numerically the largest in the fair, and once again the articles exhibited are so varied as to exert a wide interest. In fact, the group may be said to comprise everything from edge tools and vacuum cleaners to needles and egg slicers. It is authoritatively stated that never were manufacturers in a better position to supply the world’s requirements in general hardware, brassfoundery, hollow ware, edge tools, and the many other products which come within the domain of ironmongery and domestic or builders’ hardware. STAINLESS STEEL.

It is apparent that stainless steel has, to some extent, taken the place of nickel, and that aluminium of good weight has affected somewhat the demand for copper utensils in the middle-class home. In the lighter gauges it is used everywhere. Enamelled sheet steel competes with cast iron, hut the makers of cast iron hollow ware are supplying saucepans of improved design and high finish. The rapid development of electric cooking has created a demand for a now type of cooking utensil, for it has come to be accepted that efficiency and economy in cooking by electricity are only attained with complete and perfect contact between the hot plate and the bottom of the pan. Stainless steel, aluminium (both drawn sheet and cast) and cast iron can all be machined or ground, and their place in the future of hollow ware is assured. For locks, nails, bolts, deedboxes, and trunks, the high reputation of the industry is fully maintained in the overseas markets.

Since Birmingham may be termed the British home of brassfoundery—the industry was established in the city in 1740 —and since there are many Midland brassfoundry firms whose history extends over a century or more, the display devoted to the products of this branch of endeavour is of local as well as national interest. The products of the brass trade come within the headings of cabinet brassfoundry, plumbers and engineers’ brassfoundry, gas and electrical fittings, and shop and licensed-house fittings, and each section is well represented. AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY. There have been definite advances duiy ing the past 12 months in the provision of machinery and tools for use in agriculture, and a large amount of new equipment implements and machinery is on view. In the main the improvements have been introduced with the object of economising in labour and cost. There are tractors working on crude oil, and makers of sheep shearing and similar equipment have perfected new models, chiefly of the electric type. These include special plant to cope with the demand for cow clippers created by the clean-milk campaign, a new rotary surface cultivating machine for keeping down weeds in sugar cane and other plantations, and a tractor-type corn and seed drill, with which one man can sow at a' rate hitherto unapproached by machines of this size and class. t Improved electrical lighting sets for 'farm and country houses are introduced, as well as equipment, compact and economical in running, for providing all the power necessary on a farm. Considerable progress has been made in connection with the equipment of the modern dairy. Close attention has been given particularly in the direction of more hygienic application, an example of which is the marketing of cream separators with howls of rustless steel and other refinements. It is to be noted, also, that aluminium hollow ware is playing an increasing part in furnishing the dairy. LABOUR-SAVING DEVICES. British firms are well represented with edge tools for plantations and agriculture, as well as those for excavation and reconstruction work, and the prices of these products, quality for quality, compare favourably with those of foreign competitors. The range of tools for export is exceptionally wide. This industry depends largely upon the international markets, and there is evidence of the utmost care on the part of the manufacturers to cater for the special requirements of individual countries—for those engaged in the cultivation of rice, cotton, tea, coffee, and rubber. The cry of the housewife for increased convenience and the installation of labour-saving devices have been readily met by the builder and the manufacturer. Automatic delivery hatches affixed

to door or wall permit milkman, baker, and butcher to deliver their goods in turn in the absence of the householder with absolute security from theft or contagion; and cleverly-designed dressers and built-in fitments enable those in charge of the kitchen to keep “ a place for everything and everything in its place.” BUILDING DEVELOPMENTS.

Labour-saving machinery is playing an increasingly-prominent part in ; modern building developments, and there is today a wider recognition throughout the building industry of the importance of standard specifications in relation to a variety of materials used in building. The advantage to all' concerned, at home and abroad, of materials to a definitely known standard of quality and dimensions in a range sufficiently wide to cover all everyday requirements, is apparent, and should prove extremely beneficial to the export trade. The latest information is afforded in a great variety of exhibits, with regard to the construction of ferro-concrete buildings which are fireproof and of exceptional strength. Again, by means of a special type of cellular bricks, it is claimed that a saving of 25 per cent, is effected in the weight of the brickwork. The strength is equal to the solid brick, while insulating and heat-retain-ing qualities are afforded by the interior cavities. Bricks and tiles are shown in many- textures, and a charming blending of colours is effected in an artistic building, which has on one side a Georgian front, and, on the other side, a Tudor elevation with ornamental chimneys and porches. The extensive use of glass in modern buildings has led to developments in the production of glass tiles and coloured opal glass, and in this cortnection the exhibits of armour plate-glass and glass enamel, which is impervious to rust, are interesting. There is encouraging evidence of the fact that doors are how being made in Yorkshire at a factory with a capacity of 1000 a day. This enterprise marks the first big attempt to arrest the annual importation from abroad of 3,000,000 doors, and Canada is supplying fibre and boarding which hitherto has come from the foreigner. NON-FERROUS ALLOYS.

There ia perhaps no section more important in its bearing on industry in general than that which has to do with metals and alloys, and each succeeding year the number of new non-ferrous alloys for special industrial purposes has shown an increase.

The application of alloy steels to modern construction may be said to have been revolutionised by metallurgical research. The latest triumphs of the metallurgist are seen in high-speed steels and new non-ferrous alloys of special industrial usefulness. There are, for example, the uncorrosive alloys /of rich nickel-copper used for the manufacture of tubes for oil and water cooling. The application of stainless steel and metal alloys is widespread, and the former is being used to an increasing extent in engineering practice and in the equipment of the home. As to the important alloys of nickel, when stresses are combined with exposure to corrosive influence, the modern nickel-chromium stainless steels give satisfactory service. Tin-plate manufacture is a rapidlygrowing British industry. Every year the number of canned products is increasing, and at present 1500 cans are produced every minute in Britain throughout the year. Every one of these cans is made of Welsh tin-plate, and the manufacturers make a joint display in the fair. WIRE GOODS. Wire and wire goods in various metals and alloys, and in many gauges, are on view. There are examples of copper wire of high conductivity, mild steel wire, wire of use in the engineering trades, wire for the production of nails, pins, and needles, screws and rivets, and wire covered with silk cotton, asbestos and enamel. Many firms specialise in the production of a definite class of wire goods, and their number tends to increase. Warrington has sent miles of wire of every conceivable variety, and there are machines which actually make the wire into field fences at the astonishing rate of 25 yards a minute. The demands of wireless have given an impetus to the non-ferrous wire trades. Wire for surgical purposes is nearly as fine as the human hair. The development of the plastics trade, one of the newer British has been exceptionally rapid. The exhibits indicate that the electrical trades absorb more of these plastic products than any other branch, but their uses are extending in the manufacture of telephone instruments and exchange equipment. They enter largely into the wireless trade, and motor car and aeroplane builders are applying them to an increasing extent. A remarkably new “thermo-plastic” material, which is transparent and can be made in any colour, is being shown for the first time. ROAD MAKING. A feature of this year’s fair, outside the exhibition buildings, is a full-scale “ quarry to road ” working exhibit. The purpose of this is to show as far as possible all the various operations, types of plant and materials used in connection with road making from the crushing of the stone to the finished highway, complete with lighting, paths, and all _ accessories. The section is introduced into the fair for the first time this year. There has been a notable advance in stone-breaking apparatus, and makers have brought out efficient portable machines with screens and loading bins. A new type of hammer crusher is shown for the first time. Instead of the material being crushed by the direct blow of the hammers, as usual, it is broken by impact with the beater bars, against which it is flung .with force by the rotating hammers. BOOT-CLEANING MACHINE.

Amongst the many interesting engineering exhibits are a process for arcwelding in an irregular shape by pressing a button, a steel fan-plate 13 feet 6 inches in diameter and with a shaft 29 feet long, for the new Mersey tunnel, all-electric moulding machines, a pitprop with expanding top, a new machine ‘for mechanical counting by weight, and a mono-rail conveyor. For the first time the Birmingham section includes a group of exhibits showing the uses of oil fuel for industrial processes. On a composite stand organised by one of the big oil companies will be found a comprehensive array of oilfired furnaces and oil-burning equipment representing the latest developments in the applications of liquid fuel in industry. These furnaces are shown in operation. In the electrical section a demonstration is given of a new boot-cleaning machine for use in hotels and elsewhere, while there is also a machine for drying the face and hands by hot air. A particularly interesting display is that made by the manufacturers of electric storage water heaters, which, it is said, are already an established economic method of domestic water heating. Hot cupboards, immersion heaters, and radiant heat apparatus make up a total of 13 varieties of manufactures from a group of 32 factories.