1876 Iron and Steel Institute: Visits to Works
Note: This is a sub-section of 1876 Iron and Steel Institute
Monkbridge Iron Works
The Monkbridge Iron Works are well-known for the production of "best Yorkshire" iron. The establishment comprises two departments, one devoted to iron-making and the other to the manufacture of crucible cast steel, and in both departments the appliances are of the most modern character. In the iron department, the system of manufacture is that adopted at other leading works in the Leeds district, the pig iron (cold blast) being first treated in refineries, then puddled in small charges, and then after suitable examination and sorting undergoing three or four reheatings before it assumes the form of the slabs from which plates are rolled and tyres made. At the Monkbridge Works, the Siemens gas heating furnaces are adopted throughout, and another feature of the works is that condensing engines are employed for the rolling mills. The rolls for bars and the smaller plate mill are driven by a condensing beam engine, while the large plate mill and tyre mill are each driven by horizontal condensing engines. The whole of the engines were constructed by Messrs. Kitson and Co., of the Airedale Foundry. The reversing gear in the large plate mill is the invention of Mr. F. W. Kitson, one of the partners in the firm. The mill consists of two stacks of rolls - roughing and finishing - 26 inches in diameter by 8 feet 6 inches long, and the reversing is effected by friction clutches applied by hydraulic power. The mill can be reversed very rapidly - from twenty to thirty times per minute. In the forge department the visitors had the opportunity of witnessing the working of a 24 cwt. slab, under a 6-ton hammer, while another hammer was engaged in forging crank axles. After examining the tyre mill, and the arrangements for cutting up bars for steel-making, the visitors passed on to the steel works, where Mr. Menelaus, the president, started a new 15-ton steam hammer. The steel produced is all made in crucibles, the crucibles containing 56 lb. to 60 lb. charges, heated in the Siemens gas furnaces. The ingot moulds for tyres are of cast iron, and of square section, the square slabs thus obtained being punched and forged into rings under the steam hammer. This method of making tyres, now generally adopted, is said to have been originated at the Monkbridge Works.
James Whitham and Sons
Messrs. James Whitham and Sons' establishment is known as the Perseverance Iron Works, and is chiefly remarkable for the adoption of double puddling furnaces, with mechanical rabbling apparatus. Mr. Whitham's patent furnaces have been in operation for many years with the greatest amount of success.
Taylor Brothers and Co
Messrs. Taylor Brothers and Co.'s Clarence Iron Works were established in 1857, and now give employment to about 800 hands. They cover upwards of 12 acres, and the principal productions are best Yorkshire iron for boiler plates, &c., solid cast steel and iron tyres and axles, steel and iron castings, &c.
Leeds Wheel and Axle Co
The Leeds Wheel and Axle Company's establishment is the only one in the country laid out exclusively for the manufacture of railway wheels. The works were founded in 1866, and were at first intended for the production of wooden disc wheels only. Subsequently, however, the manufacture of iron wheels of various types was also taken up, and the firm are now capable of turning out railway wheels of all kinds, the production of the wooden disc wheels being, however, still the leading speciality. In the iron department moulding machines for moulding the bosses of wheels were seen in operation by the visitors. All the bosses are machine-moulded. Adjoining the foundry is the forge, where there is a steam hammer for "bossing" and smiths' fires for the various operations of wrought iron wheel-making. In some of the fires there is provision for ring-welding, with a small supplementary fire for heating the "glut," the two fires working into the same chimney. Arrangements were inspected by the members for bending the fastening rings for Mansell's wheels. In the wood department the whole system of making wooden disc wheels was observed. The wood used is teak, and the firm have this in the form of slabs. The firm now manufacture a new type of disc wheel patented by Mr. W. H. Kitson, one of the managing partners. The chief feature of the wheel is the provision of a central flange or disc, which extends from the boss nearly to the tyre, and is traversed by the bolts securing the Mansell rings. This central disc is either forged in one piece with the boss, or if a cast-iron boss is used, it is made of wrought iron plate and the boss cast on it.
B. Mountain and Sons
Messrs. B. Mountain and Sons, at the Hunslet Nail Works, give employment to upwards of 250 hands, and they produce 100 tons of nails per week. The works were established in 1869. The machinery for making and annealing zinc, copper, and iron nails is of the latest type.
Kitson and Co
At Messrs. Kitson and Co.'s Airedale Works the manufacture of locomotive and other engines is extensively carried on.
John Fowler and Co
Messrs. John Fowler and Co.'s Steam Plough Works cover about 14 acres, and employ 1,400 hands. They were established in 1860 by the late Mr. John Fowler, who had been in business as an ironfounder previously at Bristol, and had spent a large amount of time and money in perfecting the steam plough. The capacity of the establishment is now equal to turning out six different sets of ploughing tackle per week, being equivalent to 12 engines of 20 horse-power each, and all the accessories of ploughing apparatus, wire ropes, &c. Messrs. Fowler have a special department devoted to malleable castings, as they employ steel extensively in their gearing. In the boiler department there is an arrangement for flanging plates by hydraulic pressure, and Tweddell's hydraulic rivetters are employed. Messrs. Fowler and Co. do not confine themselves to the manufacture of agricultural machinery only; they produce a large number of locomotive and other engines for colliery and stationary purposes. They also manufacture Cooke's ventilating machinery.
Tannett, Walker and Co
Messrs. Tannett, Walker, and Company's Works are situate in Goodman Street, Hunslet, and have been established 14 years. They cover an area of seven acres, and employ 500 hands. They are principally engaged in the manufacture of forge machinery, steam hammers, rolling mills for bars, plates, and tyres - the weldless tyre rolling machinery at Low Moor, Bowling, Taylor Brothers and Co.'s, S. T. Cooper and Co.'s, Farnley, Chas. Cammell and Co.'s, and other works having been supplied by this firm; and Messrs. Tannett, Walker, and Co. also turn out all kinds of Bessemer plant, such as converters, centre-lifts, ingot cranes, blowing engines, &c.; hydraulic cranes, travelling cranes, &c. The establishment of this firm is specially adapted for work of the heaviest kind. Amongst the work in progress at the time of the visit of the members of the Institute, was a very large compound reversing engine for driving, without any intermediate gearing, two rail rolling mills for the new steel works of Messrs. Bolckow, Vaughan, and Co. (Limited), as well as the whole of the Bessemer plant for the same company. A similar plant was in hand for the Moss Bay Hematite Iron Company. Other plant of a like description has been made here for John Brown and Co. (Limited), Charles Cammell and Co. (Limited), Wilson, Cammell, and Co. (Limited), the Gorton Steel Works, and some of the principal steel works on the Continent. The firm is also largely engaged in the manufacture of pumping engines, and for steam hammers they are well known.
Carrett, Marshall and Co
Messrs. Hawthorn, Davis, Campbell, and Davey's establishment is known as the Sun Foundry. It was founded in 1850 by Messrs. Carrett and Marshall, but for some years past has been owned by the above-named firm, and has been principally engaged in the manufacture of Mr. Davey's differential pumping engines, as well as hydraulic engines, compound engines, and separate condensers. The works oocupy two acres of ground, and give employment to 300 hands. When the members visited these works, the proprietors were engaged with engines and machinery for the Croydon Waterworks. The Sun Foundry consists of a foundry, with two 15-ton power cranes, and one 10-ton hand crane, a smiths' shop fitted with steam hammer, and four machine shops, with two 20-ton travellers, and one of 10 tons, as well as two 6-ton jib cranes. The firm have a boring machine for boring cylinders up to 120 inches diameter by 12 feet stroke. The Croydon engines in course of construction had cylinders 30 inches by 60 inches diameter, and 7 feet stroke, and were capable of lifting 2,500 gallons per minute 200 feet high. Messrs. Bathers, Davis, Campbell, and Davey had also in hand some hydraulic pumping engines, to be principally employed in draining the "dip" workings of mines, &c. Differential engines have been made by this firm up to 400 horse-power.
Fairbairn, Kennedy and Naylor
Messrs. Fairbairn, Kennedy, and Naylor's works were established in 1825, and give employment to 2,000 hands. The principal manufactures are machines for twines and rope yarns, and machines for stranding and laying hemp and Manilla rope. They are also large makers of engineers' and other tools, both for locomotives and armour plates.
Greenwood and Batley
Messrs. Greenwood and Batley's Albion Works are of considerable extent, covering 10 acres of ground. The firm established works in East Street in 1856, but removed to their present site in 1862. About 1,200 machines specially adapted for economical working are found at their establishment. One of the specialities is their machinery used in .the manufacture of war materials of all kinds, viz., gun carriages, projectiles, rockets, small arms, powder barrels, &c. They have supplied this machinery to most of the foreign governments. Another branch of Messrs. Greenwood and Batley's business is the production of silk, preparing and spinning machinery, boot and shoe making machinery, bolt and nut waking machinery, and carriage wheel and cask making machinery. The firm are also large makers of general engineers' tools, and of wood working machinery. In their foundry are two 15-ton steam cranes, which are driven from belting. The fitting shops have an area of 9,628 square yards. The machines in one-half of the shop are driven by a 25 horsepower horizontal condensing engine, by Messrs. Fowler, and in the other half there is an engine of similar power by Messrs. Manning, Wardle, and Co. The firm have been engaged experimenting with Moy's engine, in which the cylinder is enclosed in the boiler. Besides the Albion Works above named, Messrs. Greenwood and Batley own the Albion Foundry in another part of Leeds, where they manufacture the patent " Globe" horseshoe nails, as well as a new horse-shoe, besides printing and paper-cutting machines.
Smith, Beacock and Tannett
Messrs. Smith, Beacock, and Tannett, at the Victoria Foundry, are principally makers of machine tools for locomotive and marine engineers, shipbuilders, armour plate manufacturers, ordnance works, &c.
Joshua Buckton and Co
Messrs. Joshua Buckton and Co.'s Well House Foundry was started in 1844, and covers about 4 acres. At these works the making of general engineers' and ironworks' tools was seen, including one very large plate shearing machine for shearing steel plates 1.5 in. thick, with 10 feet face of knife; also horizontal bloom shearing machines for cutting 8 inch square steel blooms, and a cold iron circular saw-bench for cutting all sections of girder iron. There was also at work an oval hole drilling machine, able to drill two holes through a steel rail in 1.5 minutes.
Joseph Cliff and Son
Joseph Cliff and Son Messrs. Joseph Cliff and Son's Fire Clay Works were established in 1795, and there are carried on the making of bricks and pipes, of retorts by Cliff's patent machinery, and of red bricks by Pratt's machine. Hoffman's kiln is in operation.
W. Ingham and Son
Messrs. W. Ingham and Son's Fire Clay Works cover upwards of eight acres, and give employment to between 500 and 600 workpeople. The manufacture of fire-bricks, blast and other furnace lumps, fire-clay retorts, sanitary pipes, &c., is extensively carried on.
Bowling Iron Co
The Bowling Iron Works were established in 1780 by Messrs. Sturge and Co. The designation of the firm was afterwards changed to Sturge, Paley, and Mason, and subsequently, about 30 years ago, to the Bowling Iron Company. It was made a joint-stock company in 1872, but only a very limited number of new shareholders were admitted. The operations of the company are carried on very extensively, not only in the raising of both coal and ironstone from the adjacent coal measures, but in the making of pig iron, and in its conversion into boiler plates of the best quality, up to 9 ft. 6 in. wide and from 9 to 12 ft. long, steel and iron tuyeres, rivets, and bar iron.
The Company raise their own ironstone from a number of mines within two or three miles of the works. They have leased extensive royalties in the township of Unsworth, and own a very large tract of land, from which they raise their own minerals. The Company usually exhaust about one acre of ironstone per week, and about two acres of coal royalty. The iron ore employed is the clayband of the district, and is found in nodular masses intermixed with the coal. The seam of coal used in the manufacture of iron is from 1 to 2 ft. thick, and the seam of coal in juxtaposition runs to about 30 inches thick. This coal is suitable for the raising of steam, but not for smelting purposes, and the coal for coking is obtained from other seams in the neighbourhood. There are 164 coke ovens on the works. The general average of coke consumed per ton of iron made is about 2 tons 5 cwts. Six blast furnaces are erected, five of them being old-fashioned in form with open tops, while one is close-topped and of modern design. These furnaces vary from 48 ft. to 54 ft. in height, the diameter at the boshes ranging from 12 to 14 ft. All of them are worked with cold blast. In charging, the firm use two parts of oven coke to one of open bed coke. The production of pig iron, when all the furnaces are going, is from 450 tons to 500 tons per week. The whole of the pig iron is refined in fuel refineries, the charge varying from 38 to 40 cwts., after which it is worked up into boiler plates, tyres, bars, &c. The boiler plates are the great speciality, and of these from 100 to 120 tons per week are turned out. There are two plate mills—one with 10 feet rolls, and both are driven by reversing engines. The visitors were shown the old plate mill at work. It has a 32-inch cylinder and a six feet stroke, the fly-wheel weighing about 35 tons. This mill was put down in 1860.
In the weldless tyre department, the machinery used for the shaping is an expired patent taken out by Jackson, of Manchester. It is worked by a pair of horizontal reversing engines, fitted up below ground wills a view to economy of space. There is a large number of steam hammers used about the mills, from the ancient helve to the newest form of hammer. The pattern shop contains hundreds of patterns of all kinds stored according to their number and size. In the steel department are about 50 casting pits. There are also a number of furnaces on the Siemens-Martin plan, but these were not working at the time of the visit of the members of the Institute. The total number of hands employed by the company is 3,500.
Low Moor Co
At the Low Moor Iron Works, the members were received by Mr. Jeffreys, the manager, and several members of the Local Committee. These works were founded in 1791, and now give employment to about 4,000 hands. There are eight square cold-blast furnaces, and the blowing engines are very old, as the inscription on them is as follows:—" Emmet's Founderers, 1791." The pig beds are all under cover, and in the foundry adjoining the company cast their own rolls. Eight refining furnaces are put down. Samples of the refined metal are broken, and each charge is sorted according to the number of blows it stands without breaking. None but refined metal is charged into the puddling furnaces. About 3i cwt. is the quantity, with more or less wrought scrap, according to the purpose for which the iron is intended. Each man's make of iron is carefully examined, and a number is given to him in accordance with the quality, and the man who gets the lowest numbers has to remain out of work a week. The puddled balls are hammered into blooms. These blooms are then piled, re-heated, and again hammered before being rolled off. While the members were present, they saw some plates being rolled off for Government boilers, and also some tyres in a hydraulic tyre-mill. A crank shaft was being forged under an 8-ton double-action hammer. The company showed a complete section of the " better bed " coal from their pits, also a specimen of their " best Yorkshire ironstone," and of the limestone, which comes from Tipton. They had also samples of plates, bars, Soc., which had been submitted to various tests.
Leeds Forge
The Leeds Forge, though not mentioned on the programme, was thrown open to members by the managing director, Mr. Samson Fox. These works are the most modern in the district, having been established in 1875. They adjoin the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, and are connected by sidings with the Midland, Great Northern, and North Eastern Railways. The raw pig is unloaded at one end, and passing through the several stages of manufacture, the finished plates and bars are delivered at the other. The "best Yorkshire pig," with a proper admixture of South Wales iron, is here treated in refinery furnaces of the beat design. This is puddled in ordinary reverberatory furnaces, with water bridges, and heated with coal. The plate mill is by Taylor and Farley, of West Bromwich. A plate-shearing machine, weighing 45 tons, and driven by its own engine mounted on the top, has been erected. It is capable of shearing a plate 10 feet wide, and 11 inches thick.
Kirkstall Forge
The Kirkstall Forge party consisted of about150 members, who proceeded from the Midland Station about eleven o'clock. They were met at Kirkstall Forge Station by Major Butler and his brother, Mr. Ambrose E. Butler, and were then conducted over the works, a bugler in the Leeds Artillery keeping the party together, and leading the way to the various objects of interest.
These works were established by the family of the present proprietors in 1779, and give employment, when in full work, to about 1,000 hands. The estate consists of over 100 acres (of which upwards of 14 acres are covered by the various works), and is connected by a siding with the Leeds and Bradford Railway. The best quality of Yorkshire iron is here manufactured into railway axles and tyres, cranked axles, bars, &c.; there are also large shops for making wheels and axles, capable of producing about 150 sets a week. In the engineering shops are manufactured steam hammers, on Naylor's pattern, up to 50 tons, cranes, turntables, &c. Considerable interest was evinced in a tank engine for conducting the internal traffic of works; this useful combination engine carries a swing crane worked by steam, capable of lifting three tons, and conveying the load to any part of the works.
In the erecting shop there was in progress a large hydraulic press on the Haswell system, as described in the paper read on the previous day, calculated to exert a pressure of 1,250 tons. A water-wheel was shown that had worked the old helves for more than 200 years; and the members inspected closely the new machine for straightening and planishing round bars for shafting, also described the previous day. The bars are passed between the faces of two discs continually revolving in the same direction in a vertical plane, and move along in different directions according as they are above or below the centre of the discs, the bed being raised and lowered by screws. In this way, the bars are not only straightened and smoothed, but are also so compressed as to gain 20 per cent. in torsional strength. Another machine was shown for polishing these bars when cold, by causing them to revolve, and at the same time travel across the face of a solid emery wheel. In this way the work of the lathe is executed in a most expeditious and economical manner. The tyre mill, by Tannett and Walker, differs from those inspected the previous day in having the finishing rolls immediately above the roughing. In passing through the works, the visitors were shown a number of railway axles and wheels for the Indian State Railways in course of construction. The Joe Pickles Mechanical Rabble, worked in preference to the old reverberatory furnace at Kirkstall Forge, was also seen. The proprietors stated that they found the Pickles furnace an efficient compromise between the ordinary puddling furnace and the rotary furnace of Banks or Crampton. The inventor, Mr. Joe Pickles, is one of the foremen at the forge, and he was present to explain the mode of working.
After the inspection of the works, Mr. J. O. Butler led the way to Kirkstall Abbey, where luncheon had been laid in a tent, pitched in the old refectory. After luncheon, Alderman Croft, Mayor of Leeds, proposed the health of Major Butler, and Mr. Barran, M.P., supported it, as did also Mr. Head, who said that at none of the meetings of the Institute had the kindness and hospitality of the West Riding been exceeded. In districts where common iron was manufactured, more attention was paid to quantity than to quality; but the sight of this "best" iron should send home some of the ironmasters assembled sadder if not wiser men. Major Butler, in responding, said that evidence was afforded, in digging foundations, of the works at Kirkstall having existed hundreds of years ago. Mr. Ambrose Butler, who was appealed to by his brother to supplement his remarks, combatted the idea that the forging press was antagonistic to the steam hammer; they were twin sisters, and should work together in harmony side by side. He asked, however, what this country would be without a wholesome competition, and contended that he who saved labour was a benefactor to his country. He then told a story in a humorous manner, which frequently evoked hearty laughter, of a puddling machine having stood for five years after erection, until a man was found willing to work that and another machine at the same time, thus benefitting himself by increased wages, and saving his employer expense at the same time. When he saw locomotive axle-boxes pressed out in six minutes, he wished locomotive engineers would come to some agreement as to the best form of the different parts, so as to favour the hydraulic press. Again, it was the greatest mistake in the world to take the outside skin off a shaft as long as it ran true, for thereby the strength was impaired, and brightness meant oil and labour. He went on to say that these Kirkstall works were very old, and it was not more strange than true that the Staffordshire iron trade in some measure sprang from them. Two lads, who were twins, went from Kirkstall Forge into Staffordshire, and set up a small establishment, at which they made what was called bullet iron, and this they introduced very successfully into the market for fluted rollers. These lads were the Thorneycrofts. Then, as to Bolckow, Vaughan, and Co. Mr. Vaughan's father had turned rolls at Kirkstall Forge, and Mr. Vaughan had taught him more of the trade than anyone else.
Mr. Greig was called upon to speak, and said the mistake of the English people at the present time was that they believed they could make everything. Let England once be convinced that she was a little behind, and she would soon resume her place in the front rank. The forging press was a step in the right direction, and in future there must be no more blood and sinew wasted in forging, but the iron must be pressed out by the press, with the fibres all in the direction of the strain. After a few words from Mr. Perks, of Thorneycroft and Co., the party were conducted by Major Butler over the ruins of the abbey, their attention being particularly directed to a cast iron mullion of one of the windows, which went to prove the great antiquity of the neighbouring works.
Monk Bretton Colliery
The party visiting Monk Bretton Colliery, was only a small one. They left the Midland Station at about eleven o'clock, accompanied by Mr. Wm. Pepper, one of the partners in the firm owning the colliery, and were received by Mr. William Day (another partner), and Messrs. Frederick Pepper, jun., and R. Day, jun. After partaking of slight refreshment, they inspected the machinery above-ground, particularly the engines and screening apparatus.
Several of the visitors having changed their dress, were then lowered down the shaft, Mr. Hunter, the general manager, conducting them. When down, they visited the ventilating machine, stables, &c., and spent something like an hour and a-half in exploring the workings. The colliery is 2.5 miles from Barnsley, and is situated close to the Cudworth branch of the Midland Railway. The owners are Messrs. Day, Pepper, and Carter, and the extent of the property owned by them is nearly 1,500 acres, affording an almost inexhaustible supply of coal of the best quality. This coal is in great demand for steam and household purposes, and is got from the celebrated Barnsley bed.
The first sod of the colliery was cut in 1867, and its productive capacity is not yet fully developed. The "bind" of the pit is utilised for brickmaking, one of Messrs. Schofield and Fawcett's brickmaking machines being employed for this purpose. There are now three shafts sunk, two downcast, each 12 ft. in diameter, and one upcast, 16 ft. diameter. They are 300 yards deep, and are tubbed with metal tubbing for a distance of 130 yards. The length of the workings in different directions already opened out amounts to about 1 miles, the greatest distance from the bottom of the shaft to the end of the furthest working being close upon 1,000 yards. The underground haulage is effected by means of two engines, one made by Messrs. Pigott and Farrow, of Barnsley, and the other by Messrs. Thomas Murray and Co., of Chester-le-Street, Durham. Each has a pair of 18-in. cylinders, with two drums 6 ft. diameter. The stroke of the first-named is 5 ft., and of the other 4 ft., and steam is taken to these engines from the surface. The ventilation is carried on by means of a large furnace 12 ft. by 12 ft., with a dumb draft 30 yards from the bottom of the upcast.
At the surface there are two winding engines with a pair of 48-in. cylinders, equal to about 300 horse-power. They have 5 ft. stroke, and a 16 ft. drum fitted with a steam and foot brake, and will draw or lift 9-ton loads, comprising six tubs and three tons of coal. The makers of these engines are Messrs. Whitham and Sons, of Leeds. The cage is three-decked. There is also employed another pair of engines with 24-in. cylinders and a 12 ft. 4 in. drum, erected specially to draw up the men and send timber down into the mine. The engines are fed with steam from 17 ft. boilers, eight of which are 30 ft. long by 6 ft., and the others 25 ft. long by 5 ft. diameter. It may be remarked that these engines are said to be the largest used at any colliery in the country. The thickness of the seam worked is 9 ft., and the quality of the coal is highly appreciated in the market. The present output of the colliery is 1,200 tons per day, and this is to be increased. The Monk Bretton is one of the most celebrated in the South Yorkshire coalfield, and its produce, which is now so favourably received, was at one time little thought of. The arrangements altogether are of the most modern description. The party were afterwards entertained at luncheon by the company at the offices, and there expressed the pleasure they had had in viewing the colliery.
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