418 mechanics, Physics, and (%maistry. e. s. Il.

Amount brought forward, . . 33 9 0 PRODUCE. 2. s. i.

5 tons of manufactured j-inch slabs . . 11 5 0 5 tons ditto $-inch slabs, . . 2210 0 6 tons ditto t-inch slabs, . . 45 0 .o

-- ~&78 15 0

Profit . . 45 6 0 --

s78 15 0

Slag is particularly adapted for roofing similarto the Crystal Palace, and may be manufactured and used similar to rough glass, with putty and paint, and if SO used, the above calculations may be nearly doubled, as they are

upposed to be worked as slate. Thin slabs may also be used instead of plastering, as Dutch tile are frequently used, and will admit of paper- ing or paintmg immediately, and will be found a certain remedy for damp and vermin.

If worked on a large scale, a small bIast furnace may be used for melt- ing, the material to be dried by the waste heat, but as it will then he mix- ed with the fuel in the furnace,f.it will require refining, and may also at the same time be colored, as fully described in Dr. Smith’s paper, (ante, page 335.)

JManufacture of Ades and Piston Rods. By JAMES FENTON, Low Moor,

York, Civ. Eng., Patentee, Dec. 16, 1854.*

The invention consists in a mode of manufacturing axles, piston rods, and shafts, girders, and other like articles, by rolling up or coiling a plate of iron of any required thickness and size into a compact roll or coil, next bring it to a welding heat in a suitable furnace, and then drawing it to the required shape under a hammer, or by passing it when at a welding heat through a pair of rolls. The welding may be carried completely through or only partially, say half, through the mass ; if the latter, a com- pound axle or other article will thus he formed, neither solid nor hollow, which it will be nearly impossible to break,

The manner in which the invention is performed is as follows : A plate of iron is selected or prepared, of a suitable length, width, and

thickness to form a compact roll or coil, containing sufficient metal for the production of the intended axle or other article. The thickness, and consequently the other dimensions of the plate, will depend upon the quality of the iron employed. This plate is heated to a red heat (when needful), and two or more workmen, with tongs or pinchers, turn up one of the edges; hammermen then bend down this turned-up edge on to the side of the plate, so as to form the commencement of a roll or coil; after which the operation is continued in the same manner until the whole of the plate has been rolled up, after which it may be passed through a pair of rolls, ifconsidered necessary. A compact roll or coil of metal being thus produced, it is heated to the welding heat in an air or other suitabie furnace, and then welded and drawn down under a

??From the Civil Engineer and Architect’s Journal, Sept., 1855.

Proceedings of the Franklin Institute. 419

hammer to the form of the axle or other article required to be manufac- tured. The welding and shaping of the axle or other article may also be performed by passing the roll or coil of metal when at the welding heat between a pair of rollers, having sets-of grooves of gradually decreasing diameter, in the manner commonly practised when rolling bars and rods of iron ; or the roll or coil may be submitted first to a hammering process, and then passed between grooved rollers until it is reduced to the re- quired shape. The plate of iron employed for forming a coil or roll which is to be manufactured into an axle or other like article may be a ‘com- pound one, that is, it may be composed of iron of different qualities, and in this case the plate should be so rolled up or coiled as to bring the iron of superior quality at the outer part or surface of the roll or coil. Two or more different qualities of iron may thus be combined in the same axle or other like article. In some cases also a small solid or hollow core o centre may be employed, and the plate of iron may be rolled up or coiled around this core until a mass has been produced of sufficient size for the production of the intended axle or other like article ; the process of man- ufacture is then concluded as above directed. Although in the foregoing description only hand labor is mentioned as the means of rolling up or coiling the plates of iron into a compact roll or coil, in some cases ma- chinery suitably arranged for the purpose may he also made use of.

Claim.-The mode of manufacturing axles, piston rods, and shafts, girders, and other like articles, by rolling up or coiling a plate of iron into a compact roll or coil, next bringing this roll or coil to a welding heat, and then drawing it to the required shape under a hammer, or by passing it between rollers, or by a combination of hammering and rolling processes.

FRANKLIN INSTITUTE.

Proceedings of the Stated .Monthly Meeting, .November 15, 1855.

John C. Cresson, President, in the chair. John F. Frazer, Treasurer. Isaac B. Garrigues, Recording Secretary. The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved. The Periodicals received in exchange for the Journal of the Institute

were laid on the table. The Treasurer read his statement of the receipts and payments for the

month of October. The Board ofhlanagers and StandingCommitteesreported their minutes. Resignations of membership in the Institute by 15 gentlemen were

read and accepted. The candidates for membership in the Institute, (11,) were proposed,

and the candidates proposed at the last meeting, (12,) were duly elected. Dr. Rand exhibited Baker and Desilver’s gas burner. It consists of

two or more fish-tail jets placed at an angle, so that the flames may unite.