MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 37 



MACHINE FOR BLOOMING IRON. 



AT a late meeting of the Birmingham Institution of Mechanical 

 Engineers, a paper was read, " On a new machine for blooming iron," 

 accompanied by a model, illustrating the invention. The working 

 portion of the machine consists of three eccentric, cuspidated, semilunar- 

 shaped cams, working simultaneously, and all kept rotating in one 

 direction by wheels and pinions, firmly connected together in a strong 

 frame, and set in motion by a steam engine. The convex sides of these 

 semi-cylindrical cams are deeply grooved and serrated, and their pecu- 

 liar form is such, that, on dropping a bloom of iron into the concavity 

 of the upper cam, as it presents itself, it is immediately drawn into the 

 vortex, or centre of motion, of the three cams, at the instant when that 

 opening is the largest. As they rotate, the convexities, in consequence 

 of the eccentricity of the centres, approach nearer and nearer the 

 ridges and rough surfaces squeezing, rolling, and kneading the iron in 

 all directions, like squeezing a sponge in the hand. The cinders and 

 impurities are thus ejected, and fall out beneath the machine ; and the 

 cams, in the latter part of their rotation, having closed the space be- 

 tween them to the smallest dimensions in the revolution, the bloom 

 is elongated and ejected in the form of an iron cylinder. The paper 

 stated that the machine was the invention of Mr. Jeremiah Brown, 

 and that its use was calculated to form a new era in the iron trade. 

 For the production of superior iron, it had hitherto been considered that 

 the hammer was indispensable ; but for all purposes of efficiency, rapid- 

 ity of action, and economy, this machine, it was assumed, would come 

 into general use. From its strength and simplicity, it would not cost in 

 repairs 20 a year ; while a hammer involved expenses of ten times 

 that amount, and the cost of replacing a broken hammer was well- 

 known in the iron trade to be a serious item. It turned out a finished 

 bloom, entirely free from cinder, in twelve seconds, the engine working 

 moderately ; while under the hammer it could not be completed under 

 eighty seconds. Thus, by the machine, the cylindrical bloom, when 

 ejected, was still at welding heat, and could be at once passed through 

 the rolls, while, from the hammer, it had again to pass through the 

 furnace. 



In the discussion which followed the reading of the paper, Mr. 

 Beazley, the author of the paper, stated that, from some comparative 

 experiments he had made, as to the strength of the same iron finished 

 by hammer and by the machine, he considered the quality about equal ; 

 on different sized bars, in some cases, they were a trifle in favor of the 

 hammer, and in others of the machine ; but he considered the economy 

 highly important. In labor there was a saving of Is. 3d. per ton ; in 

 tools of Is. per ton ; and the saving in time was equally worthy of con- 

 sideration. That a more perfect ejection of the cinder was effected by 

 the machine than by the hammer, was clear from the fact that the 

 same quantity of iron weighed less after passing the former than from 

 the operation of the latter ; and Mr. Beazley said that he had taken 

 two blooms direct from the machine successively, and passed them 

 together through the rolls ; and the result was a perfectly welded joint. 



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