G wm* ° • * « x5 g* v «v-r.. ' v kV _ „ • • - «*U .£> ^d* r %-T^/ V*^\** %,-Wr#> \ v 1 • o. ^\ A» • • " - -^ \ "W ,*** : Sg.*y% «§?.' /V5K* **^ l™ »* o ^ \u 'Tv?-*-* & roV V'T^- s/ % ^?-y • ^ A* ' .4 *•*•• • o ° . AT *$» 4* -^ . ^K • -^ ^ •ii* . a r «^ A^* •* ^^ ^ v^" ^ * • •- • ^s» A^ *rfCvs»A° ^ & • ^ A^ A Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from The Library of Congress http://www.archive.org/details/practicalalloyinOObuch PRACTICAL ALLOYING A Compendium of alloys and processes for brass founders, metal workers and engineers. By John F/Buchanan Author of Brass Founders' Alloys and Foundry Nomenclature SECOND EDITION Published by The Penton Publishing Co. Cleveland, Ohio TShSo Copyright in the United States and Entered at Stationers' Hall, London, 1920 The Penton Publishing Co. Cleveland, Ohio THE PENTON PRESS. CLEVELAND FEB 2! 1921 §)CU608434 i CONTENTS CHAPTER I Metal Refining—Ancient and Modern 1 CHAPTER II History and Peculiarities of Alloys 14 CHAPTER III The Properties of Alloys 25 CHAPTER IV Some Difficulties of Alloying 41 CHAPTER V Methods of Making Alloys 52 CHAPTER VI Color of Alloys 65 CHAPTER VII The Notation of Alloys 73 CHAPTER VIII Standard Alloys 80 CHAPTER IX Foundry Mixtures 118 CHAPTER X White Metals 133 CHAPTER XI Solders, Novelty Metals, etc 138 CHAPTER XII Fluxes for Alloys 150 CHAPTER XIII Gates and Risers for Alloys 163 CHAPTER XIV Ab'out Crucibles 174 CHAPTER XV Testing Alloys 181 Tables, etc 184 Index 192 PREFACE progress made in the production of alloys within the THElast two decades has been phenomenal. There is no end to the invention of new alloys, and the number of varia- tions in the composition of alloys that have long ago passed the experimental stages, is simply overwhelming. Out of the multitudinous mixtures advocated and employed in the practical and constructive arts, it is no easy matter to select, or even to classify the metals of importance. The "battle of the bronzes" has been going on for at least thirty years, and the honors have fallen to phosphor bronze, aluminum bronze and manganese bronze at different periods. In other branches of the metal industry similar progress is being recorded. New alloys are being introduced or new addi- tions are being made to old alloys, and new records are being made in alloy practice. It is needless to add that new difficul- ties are also presenting themselves, and these are the things that make effort worth while. This book professes to be no more than a handy guide to the practical alloys and processes. The bulk of the matter originally appeared in "The Foundry" and other trade maga- zines, and judging by the number of inquiries addressed to me on many of the subjects treated, the reappearance of the articles in book form should be hailed with interest. J. F. Buchanan. — PRACTICAL ALLOYING METAL REFINING—ANCIENT AND MODERN the average individual, the universe is a mass of organic TOand inorganic substances regulated 'by the inscrutable laws of an all-wise Providence; to the philosopher, it is simply ''harmonious matter;" but to the student of ap- plied sciences it presents an inexhaustible array of forces and elements, which lend themselves to analytic and synthetic observa- tion. Thus, in the view of the scientist, the spectroscope and the balance may be said to prove all things, while the blowpipe and the melting pot enable him to hold fast that which is good. It is the province of science to investigate. The chemist and the physicist have to determine the nature and limits of all the ma- terial things in their ultimate relations. We may take pride, therefore, in the long and ever-increasing list of elementary sub- stances compiled by the noble army of workers who have en- deavored to unravel for us the mysteries of earth and space. The ancients supposed fire, air, earth and water to be the fundamental constituents of the universe, and these compounds are still known in literature as "the elements." Modern science, however, de- fines the simple or elementary bodies as "those substances which do not admit of analysis." Up to the present time over seventy such substances have been isolated. They are recognized as metallic and non-metallic bodies, but the metals are an over- whelming majority. Midway between the metals and non- metals four elements—sulphur, phosphorus, arsenic and silicon designated metalloids, occur. The distinction between a metal and a metalloid is a purely artificial one, based on physical rather than chemical standards. The metals are characterized by the Practical Alloying possession, in varying degrees, of a wide range of properties, as ductility, malleability, fusibility, metallic lustre, sonorousness and thermal and electrical conductivities. The useful metals are elec- tro-positive, and with few exceptions, they readily combine with electro-negative bodies, such as oxygen, sulphur, chlorine, etc. Consequently, the largest bulk of the metals in the earth exist in the mineral state, as ores, requiring a separation of the compon- ents^ before they can be put to any practical use. It is with metals as with everything else in nature—the useful members exist in greater abundance than do those of more superficial qualities. Antiquity of the softer metals.—Copper, lead, tin, iron, gold, silver and mercury appear to have been known from a remote antiquity. They are mentioned in Holy Writ and there is every reason to believe that they were applied in many ways by the Egyptians, Persians, Hindoos and Chinese, in the earlier epochs of human history. Obviously, the crude methods employed by the ancients for the reduction of the metals greatly restricted their application. Their rude furnaces would reduce only the richest ores in small quantities and very imperfectly. The early history of metallurgy is somewhat obscure. Egypt—the birth- place of astrology, alchemy and the liberal arts, and the first of old world empires—is known historically and by exploration, as the home of many manufacturing processes, indicating a compre- hensive knowledge of refractory materials, especially earths and metals. The Egyptian potters and refiners have been the models for artists, in form and color, down the generations. Prehistoric metal workers were undoubtedly engaged in fashioning such metals as are known to exist in the free or native condition. The seven elements already mentioned, with possibly a copper cala- mine compound, sometimes called golden-copper or native brass, comprised the stock-in-trade of the metal workers up to the be- ginning of the Christian era. Sacred and profane histories and the ancient mythologies contain many references to the metals and metal workers of that early period, so that Tubal Cain, Vul- can and the Cyclops, are names typical of metal workers unto this day. Exactly how much knowledge of metallurgic processes the early artificers possessed it would be difficult to surmise ; but their Metal Refining—Ancient and Modem skill in handicrafting metals for architectural and decorative pur- poses is beyond dispute. The Bible has made us familiar with some of the early metal refining processes, products and appli- ances, and it is there we trace the Genesis of metallurgy. The fire, the pure metal, and the dross are always related as cause and effect. Gold is mentioned as being refined with silver, which sounds like the first alloy on record, and Job says : "Surely there is a place for gold where they fine it;" and again, "Iron is taken out of the earth and brass is molten out of the stone." Here let me explain that the word "refining" is applied, in tech- nical circles, only to the later stages of the metal extraction processes, indicating the separation of impurities from metallic compounds ; but it has an older and more comprehensive signifi- cance, making it embrace all the operations of reducing as well as purifying and alloying metals; and in order to avoid tedious distinctions, I take the liberty of using the term in its widest application. Metal refining and alloying an ancient art.—Practical alloy- ing, or the art of refining metals and alloys of metals, is an ancient pursuit which has led to many important discoveries; it has also been greatly instrumental in furthering the progress of mechanical science. It is always interesting and instructive to trace the arts and inventions to their origins. A new idea may cause a sectional uneasiness, but an old one never loses its power to guide and uplift the activities of the race. When the world was young and the children of men had leisure to dream, the interpreter of visions was a power in the land; magic became a fine art and astrology the first science—music and hieroglyphics following in natural sequence. Husbandry was the essential oc- cupation of mankind until he learned that he could not live by bread alone. Worship made calls on his better nature, and these were answered, mistakenly, but sincerely, in the graven images of the semi-barbarous peoples. Even Israel, the chosen race, lapsed into idolatry. Thus, Aaron's golden calf became the forerunner of frequent failures as well as the first recorded work in metal founding. Such a beginning was befitting this industry, for there are many misguided workers engaged in founding met- als, even now. Did not Jeremiah establish his reputation as a ; Practical Alloying prophet when he said : "Every founder is confounded 'by the graven image."* Incidentally, the destruction of this golden calf sheds some light on the matter of reducing metals in those early days. Moses "took the calf and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water." These processes are characteristic of some ancient methods of gold refining, and the granulation of metals by strewing them upon water is still practiced in the manufacture of hard solders and shot metal, as well as in some of the modern methods of extracting metals from the earthly matter with which they are generally associated.