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34 FLUE WELDING MACHINE The practice of "piecing out" or "safe-ending" boiler tubes is almost as_old as the use of iron tubes in boilers, and, until comparatively recent times, the welding on of the piece was done by hand and required no little skill, with very uncertain results as to the durability of the job. Machines for doing this work have now almost entirely superseded the more expensive hand method, and of these there are two general classes, namely those that ham- mer the weld and 'those that roll the tube, or have _rollers revolving around the tube. For many rea- FERGUSSON FLUE-WELDING MACHINE. sons the hammer machines are undesirable, and those having the rollers revolve around a stationary mandrel are said to be not sufficiently powerful to make a smooth job of welding without expensive scarfing and preparation of the tube, besides being large and clumsy. There is only one make of machine in which the tube is revolved rapidly between rollers, the machine being known as the Fergus- son flue welding machine, and controlled by J. T. Ryerson & Son of Chicago, Ill. It is well recognized that the _best way to get uniform results in gauge and finish for either solid bars or tubes is to roll them, and this is just as true regarding the safe-ending or piecing-out, of boiler tubes. In the Fergusson machine a combination of rollers is so disposed as to bear on three points of circumference of the tube in hand, also an inner mandrel which has a rotary wiping action on the weld. One of the three roll- érs is larger in diameter than the other two, and is located directly above the tube, it and inner mandrel being driven 'by power. There is a small air or steam cylinder just above this upper roller which operates it arid causes it to press hard on the tube while it is being welded; at the same time the lower rollers are automatically brought up and closed in on the periphery of the tube, keeping the gauge perfect. A valve connected to a foot lever admits the air or steam to the cylinder, all of the other functions being performed automatically. The pressure on the up- per roller is sufficient to bring down the ridge where the tube ends are lapped so that the complete weld is invis- ible, and one would hardly believe that the tube had been welded. For this reason it is unnecessary to scarf either the tube or the tip, and the whole operation of' welding is reduced to extreme simplicity. The tube is heated and "belled" out on a mandrel, the tip inserted with about 3/16 of an inch lap, and when the joint is brought to a welding heat, the machine completes the weld in less than five seconds. The mandrel and upper roller revolve at _ about 200 revolutions per minute and are driven by belt power. The whole machine is not much larger than a sew- ing machine, and weighs about 450 lbs. By placing a cut- _ter disc on the end of the upper roller, tubes may be trimmed, or the tips cut to length cold, and very rapidly. . The cylinder on this machine is only 4% in. in diameter, TRAE MarRINE REVIEW and, as the stroke is never more than one inch, it will be seen that the consumption of air or steam is very small. The Fergusson machine works better when used in con- junction with an oil heating furnace, although a coke fire will give good results. When used with an oil furnace, there should be no difficulty in welding 300 tubes per day of ten hours with the machine, and it is known that a single onerator has welded as many as 475 tubes in one day. Contract shops are said to have fought shy of the old-style flue welding machine, and it is with considerable satisfaction that we are now able to draw the attention : of contractors to a machine destined to meet a long felt want, and one which is said to produce satisfactory results in welding tubes that will not have to be tested or cut out of the boiler on account of defective welds. FLOATING DOCK WILL GO VIA SUEZ Washington, Nov. 7.--The chief.of the Bureau of yards and docks, Navy Department, authorizes the Review to deny the newspaper' reports sent out from Washington to the effect that the new floating dry dock Dewey, recently com- pleted by the Maryland Steel Co., Sparrow's Point, Md., will be towed to its proposed station in the Philippines via Cape Horn rather than via the Suez canal. As -a matter of fact it is all but decided that the dock will go eastward and through the Suez instead of across the Pacific. The latter route would be somewhat shorter but the necessity for long stretches in the open ocean is considered to coun- terbalance the slight increase in time entailed by the journey via the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Nor is there any foundation for the newspaper reports | that the Suez canal authorities object to the passage of the dock through that waterway. Permission for its pas- sage through the canal has virtually been obtained but terms of payment have not been agreed upon--although there is no reason to expect that they will be exorbitant--and cer- tain questions of extra buoyage and other additional safe- guards in the canal have not been adjusted. It is stated that the dock will assuredly be towed by. naval colliers, the appropriation available not being sufficient to permit of a contract being made with a private towing com- pany even should the navy department officials deem it ad- visable. Three colliers will probably be detailed for this service, and it is expected that the voyage will occupy sev- eral months. Recently there has been some agitation in favor of not sending the new dock to the Philippines, but of stationing it permanently at Solomon's Island in the Chesapeake, where the official tests of the dock were con- ducted, and where it is argued, a naval station might be extensively used on the great lakes, and on salt water given no consideration to this scheme which is non-official ~ throughout. The Crandall Packing Co; of Palmyra, .N. Y:; for. some time have been considering the question of opening an Ohio office. The increasing~demands of their trade have at last forced them to establish a branch at Cleveland. 'They have secured a store at No. 9 South Water st., and have stocked it with one of the largest and most complete stocks of packing to be found in the city and have placed in charge Mr. John M. Chapman, who for many years has been the manager of the Cleveland branch of the Garlock Packing Co. Mr. Chap- man will be glad to meet all his friends at his new location,: and his many years of experience in this line bespeaks a suc- cessful outcome of this new undertaking of the Crandall peo- ple. Mr. Chapman expects to make this branch office the headquarters for the engineers in his territory and the com- bination of a good man and a good packing should prove a winner.