BRITISH INDUSTRY.

Thames Star, Volume LVII, Issue 15113, 23 December 1921, Page 6

BRITISH INDUSTRY.

M *,»*>! A<i STEEL, WITH COPPER Tiiu persistently high cost of laoou/ auu material has forced rnaiiuiacturers to give the keenest atten>.u every promising source of -u-ioi-y iji production. For this -*iinjiig otaer reasons there has been a revival of interest in a unique welding system developed in Great Britain a lew years ago and sinco put into commercial operation. This system depends upon the fact tha 1 if a piece of copper on an iron pla:< is heated in an atmosphere of hydrogen to the melting point of copper the copper will spread over the iron in a thin penetrating film rlike butter on hot toast. . So, if the copper is melted between two pieces of iron it welds them together in an amazingly intimate fashion, the copper film actually working itself in between the crystals of the iron. By this process machine parts which can most conveniently be made in two pieces can be efficiently joined together without the complication of screws. In effect it enables tin. cheapness of separate manufacture to be combined with the strength and convenience of the solid combination. Steam turbine blades and the cage of body of a high speed contrifugal governor for small steam turbines are among the articles which have been successfully made by this simple and ingenious process. IMPROVED DROP. HAMMERS. -A battery recently British firm to the engineering workshops of a Chinese railway possesses several interesting features. It includes three hammers, one of 30 cwt., one of ] 5 cwt., and a third of 7 cwt. All three hammers are lifted by wheels on " a single overhead shaft, driven by an electric motor through a closed gear box which reduces the speed. The ropes supporting the hammer blocks are raised on grooved' drums, to which they are held by' special friction blocks; at any desired moment the friction block is raised and the hammer falls. The mechanism of control is so simple that a child could operate the largest hammer with ease. Each hamer can be lifted to any height and allowed to fall, or it can be held sationary at any point. Before being installed the battery was subjected to the severest tests, all three hammers being held suspended whil the motor continued to run, but not the slightest tendency to overheating showed itself in the lifters. No other drop hammer,, it is confidently stated, was ever subjected to so arduous a test. WELDING BY CLOCKWORK.

In shipbuilding and in many engineering operations, it is necessary to fix brass studs and other small parts to iron plates. This operation is usually performed by drilling holes in the plate, each hole being drilled separately. By means of a most ingenious invention recently perfected by a British firm, the process is carried out in a few seconds by electric welding. The working of the machine is almost entirely automatic from the moment the stud is placed in position. Each size of stud requires a different time for welcling it to the plate, and the machine can be set to give exactly the period required to make a perfect .weld. The tests which have oeen made proved that the machine is «iole to weld 1?0 biass studs within: an hour. It might _be thought that weliing does not Kive such a firm , ar.it&gement as screwing the stud*ihto a hole in tne plate, but when the welded stud is hammered the brass will break before fee weld yields. Another advantage of the machine is that work can be satisfactorily carried out by semi-skilled labour. NEW DEVICE FOR CRANE OPERATION. In the operation of large cranes used in building construction or for dock work it is generally necessary to have two men engaged, one working the controlleds, and the other stationed at some convenient point to signal to the first. With the aid of a device invented in Great Britain it is possible to dispense with one of these men. The device consists of a portable electric controller which can be slung over a man's shoulder and can be supported by means of a long pointed leg. This controller is connected by means of a strong flexible cable with special controlled gear operating the crane motors. The user has merely to press certain buttons on the controller to make the crane go through all its usual evolutions. Thus the operator can stand at any point convenient for observation or he can walk about from one point to another so as to secure a complete supervision of the working of the crane. This invention should be of the greatest assistance in -saving labour in docks and on construction work generally.

A NEW FLAME CUTTER. For many years the oxy-acetylen flame has been largely used for cutting plates, girders, and other pieses of iron or steel. The flame is so intensely hot that it rapidly melts the metal upon which it impinges and it is a most interesting sight to watch the flame cutting through solid steel much as a knife will' cut through cheese. For rough work the ordinary acetylene blowpipe is quite satisfactory, but where it is desired to cut out a piece of metal with a sharp edge the blowpipe by itself is not suitable, as it leaves a ragged edge, where it cuts. The wide scope for an oxy-acetylene cutter which would- give a' fine edge has induced a British inventor to undertake very close research into the best form of blow-pipe. After spending many" thousands of pounds and undertaking many experiments he has succeeded in devising a blowpipe which cuts almost as fine an edge as a saw. He has developed, in conjunction with this blow pipe, an ingenious machine which enables any shape to be reproduced; that is to say, once a pattern has been made the machine will reproduce it as often as required by cutting metal sheets to precisely the same shape. The process is so rapid and so perfectly performed that the machine has attracted the greatest nterest among railway companies, motor car manufacturers, and others who have a-large amount of reproduction work in sheet metal to perform.