The Working of Steel: Annealing, Heat Treating and Hardening of Carbon and Alloy SteelColvin, Fred H. (Fred Herbert)
Science
The Working of Steel: Annealing, Heat Treating and Hardening of Carbon and Alloy Steel
Colvin, Fred H. (Fred Herbert)
Steel
The old way, however, had to be changed. Instead of the toolmaker
starting his work from cutting off the stock in the old hack saw,
a place for cutting off stock was provided. If, for instance, a
forming tool was wanted, the toolmaker was given the master tool
to make while an apprentice roughed out the cutter. The toolmaker,
however, reserved the hardening process for himself. That was one
of the particular operations that the old toolmaker refused to
give up. It seemed preposterous to think for a minute that any
one else could possibly do that particular job without spoiling
the tools, or at least warp it out of shape (most of us did not
grind holes in cutters 15 to 20 years ago); or a hundred or more
things might happen unless the toolmaker did his own hardening
and tempering.
That so many remarkably good tools were made at that time is still
a wonder to many, when we consider that the large shop had from 30
to 40 different men, all using their own secret compounds, heating
to suit eyesight, no matter if the day was bright or dark, and then
tempering to color. But the day of the old toolmaker has changed.
Now a tool is designed by a tool designer, O.K.'d, and then a print
goes to the foreman of the tool department, who specifies the size
and gets the steel from the cutting-off department. After finishing
the machine work it goes to the hardening room, and this is the
problem we shall now take up in detail.
THE MODERN HARDENING ROOM.--A hardening room of today means a very
different place from the dirty, dark smithshop in the corner with
the open coal forge. There, when we wanted to be somewhat particular,
we sometimes shoveled the coal cinders to one side and piled a great
pile of charcoal on the forge. We now have a complete equipment;
a gas- or oil-heating furnace, good running water, several sizes
of lead pots, and an oil tank large enough to hold a barrel of
oil. By running water, we mean a large tank with overflow pipes
giving a constant supply. The ordinary hardening room equipment
should consist of:
Gas or oil muffle furnace for hardening.
Gas or oil forge furnace.
A good size gas or oil furnace for annealing and case-hardening.
A gas or oil furnace to hold lead pots.
Oil tempering tank, gas- or oil-heated.
Pressure blower.
Large oil tank to hold at least a barrel of oil.
Big water tank with screen trays connected with large pipe from bottom
with overflow.
Straightening press.
The furnace should be connected with pyrometers and tempering tank with
a thermometer.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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