Mersey Forge
of Liverpool
1824 The forge was established - see Mersey Iron Co
1882 The company was registered on 24 June, to take over the property of the Mersey Steel and Iron Co. [1]
1886 A visit to the works was described in 'The Engineer' in 1886. At the time the Manager was Charles O'Connor M.I.M.E. The plant by then was reduced to a forge and machine shop, the Bessemer steel-making process having been given up 3 years previously. Equipment included seven large steam hammers by B. and S. Massey, Rigby and Davis and Primrose. The largest (15-ton) hammer was served by two 50-ton capacity steam cranes. Recent products included a solid three throw crankshaft weighing 41½ tons for the liner Normandie, and a 19-ton built-up crank for the City of Berlin, a welded stern frame for the liner Champagne, and another weighing 35 tons for City of Rome, and a 12 ton rudder for City of Chicago. Crankshaft crankpins were machined with the crankshaft stationary, using a Craven Brothers ‘hollow lathe’. This had a ring 9 ft diameter rotating in a relatively narrow bearing housing. The rotating ring carried two diametrically opposed tool holders which moved round the crankpin. With two tools cutting at once, each with 1½" depth of cut, the diameter could be reduced by as much as 6" per rev. There were two large Craven Brothers lathes with centre height of 6' 6", one 60 ft long, the other 70 ft. The works had a 10' x 10' x 25' capacity planer, made by W. Collier and Co, that had a divided table, and the two halves could be worked separately or together. [2]
1891 For description of works see 1891 The Practical Engineer.