Chapter I: Foreword

It has long been a desire of the author to put into non-technical form the interesting data here given. During several years spent in the service of one of the great steel companies of this country, first in the laboratories and afterward in the rolling mills, he acquired a love for the industry that is now of fairly long standing. Spending as much of his spare time then and since in visiting various parts of that mammoth plant and as many others as he was able, he has always felt that this extremely interesting subject could not fail to prove fascinating even to those who had previously known little of the manufacture of steel and steel products. Later work with gray and malleable cast irons and with cast steel enlarged the outlook and further urged his sharing these interesting things with others not so fortunately situated.

Such an inspiration, if it may so be called, is the reason for the appearance of these articles. Practically as here reprinted, the first thirteen of them were published during 1915 and 1916 in serial form in the “Valve World,” the house organ of Crane Company of Chicago, with which the writer for some time has been connected. The enthusiasm with which they were received has been very gratifying, while the scores of letters bearing favorable comment testify to the correctness of the judgment that the metallurgy of our most useful metal, iron, is of very general interest.

It may be remarked by some that certain of the statements made in the book are not strictly accurate in that few details have been stated or exceptions made. This is true, but it seemed necessary if main facts were to be made to stand forth with the boldness required to accomplish the purpose which the author had in mind. The chapters are in no way intended to be an encyclopedia of the subject. The idea throughout has been to present only the main points and to show the derivation of the products from the raw materials and their relationships to each other. In other words the book is intended only as a sort of outline. References are given which will aid in the selection of works to be consulted by any who are sufficiently interested to go farther.

Without the encouragement and coöperation of Crane Company and the kind assistance of friends, some within and some without the iron and steel industry, this little book would not have been possible. Special mention must be made of the aid given by Messrs. I. M. Bregowsky, J. A. Matthews, C. D. Carpenter, and others whose reading of and suggestions concerning parts of the manuscript were of much help. Thanks are due also to many individuals and firms for their very hearty coöperation in furnishing information and the photographs which appear in the pages of the book.

L. W. S.

_Illustrations are from the following sources:_

A. M. Byers Co., Pittsburg.—National Tube Co., Pittsburg.—U. S. Steel Corporation, New York.—Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Co., Birmingham, Ala.—Shenango Furnace Co., Pittsburg.—Pickands, Mather & Co., Pittsburg.—United States Geological Survey.—Wellman-Seaver-Morgan Co., Cleveland, O.—Lackawanna Steel Co., Buffalo.—Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Co., Ishpeming, Mich.—J. H. Hillman & Sons Co., Pittsburg.—Harbison-Walker Refractories Co., Pittsburg.—By-Products Coke Corporation, Chicago.—H. Koppers Co., Pittsburg.—Federal Furnace Co., Chicago.—Crucible Steel Company of America, Pittsburg.—Crane Co., Chicago.—Interstate Iron & Steel Co., Chicago.—LaBelle Iron Works, Steubenville, O.—Morgan Construction Company, Worcester, Mass.—J. A. Matthews. Syracuse, N. Y.—McLain’s System, Milwaukee, Wis.—Allis-Chalmers Co., Milwaukee, Wis.—J. H. Williams & Co., New York.—Griffin Wheel Co., Chicago.—U. S. Molding Machine Co., Cleveland.—Bradley Manufacturing Co., Bradley, Ill. (Sears, Roebuck & Co., Chicago).—Snyder Electric Furnace Co., Chicago.—Commonwealth Steel Co., St. Louis.—John A. Crowley & Co., Detroit.—Illinois Steel Co., Chicago.—Pickands, Brown & Co., Chicago.—“Sketches of Creation,” by Alexander Winchell. Harper & Bros., New York.—“Descriptive Metallurgy of Iron,” by S. Groves.—“Materials of Engineering,” by R. H. Thurston. John Wiley & Sons, New York.—“Chambers’ Encyclopedia.” J. B. Lippincott, Philadelphia.—“Cast Iron in the Light of Recent Research,” by W. H. Hatfield. Charles Griffin & Co., Ltd., London.—“Handbook of Chemical Technology,” Wagner-Crookes. D. Appleton & Co., New York.—“The Ore Deposits of the United States and Canada,” by J. F. Kemp. McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York.—“The Valve World.” Crane Co., Chicago.—“The Romance of Steel,” by H. Casson. A. S. Barnes & Co., New York.—“The Metallurgy of Steel,” by Harbord & Hall. Chas. Griffin & Co., Ltd., London.—“Metallurgy of Steel,” by H. M. Howe. McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York.—Tomlinson’s “Encyclopedia of Useful Arts” (1854). G. Virtue & Co., New York.—“Liquid Steel,” by E. G. Carnegie. Longmans, Green & Co., New York.—“Iron and Steel in All Ages,” by James Swank. American Iron & Steel Association, Philadelphia.—“The A.B.C. of Iron and Steel.” Penton Publishing Co., Cleveland, O.—“The Iron Age.” David Williams, New York.—“The Iron Trade Review.” Penton Publishing Co., Cleveland, O.—“High Speed Steel,” by O. Becker. McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York.

CHAPTER PAGE
I THE EARLY HISTORY OF IRON 1
II THE RAW MATERIALS 17
III RAW MATERIALS (_Continued_) 37
IV THE BLAST FURNACE 52
V A GENERAL GLIMPSE AHEAD 69
VI WROUGHT IRON 91
VII CEMENTATION AND CRUCIBLE STEELS 106
VIII BESSEMER STEEL 123
IX THE OPEN-HEARTH PROCESS 142
X CAST IRON 160
XI CAST IRON (_Continued_) 178
XII MALLEABLE CAST IRON 195
XIII CAST STEEL 214
XIV THE ALLOY STEELS 233
XV THE HIGH-SPEED STEELS 240
XVI THE MECHANICAL TREATMENT OF STEEL 245
XVII THE ROLLING PROCESS 259
XVIII THE ROLLING OF RODS 277
XIX WIRE AND WIRE DRAWING 284
XX THE MANUFACTURE OF PIPE AND TUBES 292
XXI THE MANUFACTURE OF SEAMLESS STEEL TUBES 302
XXII TRANSFORMATIONS AND STRUCTURES OF THE STEELS 310
XXIII THE EQUILIBRIUM DIAGRAM OF THE IRON-CARBON ALLOYS 335
REFERENCES 350
INDEX 355

NON-TECHNICAL CHATS ON IRON AND STEEL