Casting In Iron (1940-1949)

articles made of iron can be seen almost everywhere in the world many of these for example this cooker hot plate have been given their final shape by the method of casting what sort of work goes on when small articles are cast to see what actually takes place you must visit a foundry here we are then in an iron foundry and this is a trolley of small castings ready for weighing and inspection included are some cooker hot plates we're going to follow the processes used in making these hot plates until they're ready for enameling first of all we must go along to the pattern shop the pattern maker makes a model or pattern of the cooker hot plate he works from drawings done by a draftsman or designer in this case he's using an alloy of lead and tin you may also use wood or plaster ferrous but whatever material he shapes he must be accurate for a Fault in a pattern if undiscovered wood we reproduced it all the castings made from it a final inspection and he satisfied before we leave the pattern shop however he will give us a general idea of how the pattern is to be used this black substance that he scraping level is known as molding or floss and it is sand mixed with small quantities of play and coal dust picks up the pattern places it on the sand and presses it down firmly pick it up again careful don't spoil it now that's some white party powder on so that we shall be able to see the impression quite clearly if on to this impression molten iron were poured and then allowed to cool the result would be somewhat similar in shape to the pattern the next actual stage is preparing the mold pattern plates to make to cook a hot plates are being used this man is smoothing floor sand to make a firm bed for an iron box which contains a pattern plate the top half of the box has already been packed with sand onto the pattern plate first parting powder is destard this prevents sand from sticking to the pattern when it is removed later the founder man is a neat worker he always puts down his tools where he can easily pick them up again next comes finally saved facing sin this prevents caught sand from causing lumps or hollows in the casting ordinary molding sand is now shoveled into the box and is carefully tucked in by hand this makes the sand fit closely to the pattern plate boulders have sensitive skillful fingers the box is topped up with more floss end ramming follows the sand going to its clay content will now be firm enough to withstand the weight of the hot metal a final stamp down all over did you know the man's boots they're made to keep out the sand and to protect him from any splashes of molten metal the box is leveled off holes are made in the sand in this case two for each hot plate so that later molten iron can be poured in these holes are carefully smoothed off so that no loose end remains the top half of the box complete with sand is now taken off leaving the pattern plate on the lower half this plate is brushed capped to loosen it and then carefully removed and placed on behalf of another box ready for making the next mold the inside ends of the holes are cleaned so that the molten metal will run down freely that tighten the box molding sand keeps its shape in both halves any loose end is blown away with hand bellows the top half of the box is replaced within this box now is a space left by the pattern plate we've just seen removed the space is connected to the outside of the box by the holes the mold is finished meanwhile furless men are busy melting the iron here is the lander or trough leading from the tap hole in the bottom part of a cupola furnace into the furnace are charged coke limestone pig iron and scrap-iron this is the upper part of a cupola furnace the furnace man throws in the materials through the charging doors they fall down into the lower part that was the cope here is the limestone it's followed by pig iron from the blast furnace and finally the scrap iron each load of iron is weighed so that the right amounts are used when the furnace is fully charged a blast of air is blown in at the bottom and in due course the metal melts down again now to see the tapping a hole is forced through the furnace lining white-hot molten iron flows out into a bogie placed under the lander the furnace man is not quite satisfied that the hole is big enough so he's going to enlarge it ah that's better now the molten iron is flowing out more freely it's temperature is about 1,000 450 degrees centigrade the bogie is now wheeled away to the foundry floor where we left the boxes pouring the molten metal into the mold can now begin along the foundry floor comes the bogie plummet hand shanks or ladles are filled each hand shank takes up to 50 pounds of molten metal the porters often work in pairs this man is waiting for his mate to have his hand shank filled notice how he protects his face from the heat and glare now ready there is cook a hot plate number 1 and there's the second down the holes goes the molten metal running in to fill the space in the sand once occupied by the pattern plate skillful men these porous molten iron isn't the stuff to spill now while we watch for a few minutes the metal changes from a liquid brilliantly quite hot it becomes a solid dough and gray but it is not cool yet so in opening the boxes the man take care not to touch the castings the two halves of the box are removed and here in each black and steaming heap of sand are two newly made cooker plates the metal that set in the holes is of course still part of these castings it looks a little the end of a golf club now it must be removed at an easy job because they are enjoining it to the plate is very thin notice that he knocks inwards each time this is to prevent damage to the plate itself cast iron is brittle watch inwards later the parts knocked off will be used for scrap and we melted in the furnace only finishing or fettling as they call it in the foundry now remains to be done first to get rid of the sand one way is to use a stiff wire brush but however carefully a mold is prepared there is always a certain amount of roughness on the casting some of this roughness is removed by an abrasive wheel this man is taking off the ridge round the edge of the casting it was formed between the top and bottom sections of the mold and here's the result the ridge has been smoothed down at the beginning in the pattern shop we saw work being done by hand and now at the end in the fettling shop we again see work being done by hand he is trimming up a cooker plate with a fire at a cooker parts on the bench at the back are also at their finishing stages as batches of cooker plates are finished and ready for anomaly they're removed on a trolley for weighing and inspection we have followed the processes used in making these small castings first there was a drawing and then a pattern pattern sand and boxing two halves made a mold iron was melted it was poured into the mold it's set and the plate was taken out of the sand and made smooth and so the finished article like thousands of others casting iron finds its way into everyday use

Channel: British Pathé

Views: 335,063

Keywords: footage, of, Visual, processes, Associations, for, newsreel, industry, work, R., British Pathe, industrial, BritishPathe, Ironfoundry, manufacturing, DOCS, A., documentary, Education, National, Council, 1807.02, Ltd, interiors, Main, Aids, iron, domestic, Reuters, housework, Committee, in

Id: EbZ9VnaZ-Xs

Length: 11min 43sec (703 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 13 2014