The Works Of Messrs. Schneider And Co.

96 MESSRS. SCHNEIDER AND CO.’S WORKS. and loam is, however, carried on in a separate shop, which supplies the three foundries. The output of the foundries is about 10,000 tons per year. The castings represented by this figure do not all form parts of engines built in the construction Works, though these constitute an important item. It must be remarked liere that these three foundries turn out all the iron castings that are required for the numerous depart- inents of Creusot, and owing to the constant growth o£ the works, the castings necessary for the extension and main- tenance of plant, contribute much to the total. Rolls, the crânes only being required for carrying ladies, which contain a small quantity of cast iron for reserve feeding. According to the nature of the pieces and the uses to which they have to be put, different mixtures are employed in Order to obtain a suitable quality in every case. After numerous experiments, Messrs. Schneider and Co. have established a standard series of eight mixtures, each corre- sponding to a different quality ; for each piece they have to cast, they détermine previously which of tliese eight qualities they will make use of, according to whether the piece be to form part of an engine built in the Fig. 252. Plan of Construction Shops. housings, parts of steam hammers and presses, ingot moulds, &c., are often cast weighing 50 tons. It occasionally happens that castings are required more than 100 tons in weight, and-special means have to be resorted to for producing such heavy pieces. For this special work two cupolas have been erected on a high level above the floor of the foundry; these cupolas can cast 10 tons per hour, and as the charges are melted, they ar« poured into two heated receivers, each containing 50 tons. The bottom of these reservoirs is also above the level of the foundry ; when everything is ready for casting, the iron is allowecl to flow in a natural way to the top of the mould, Construction works, or for use in the varions other departments. This manner of classifying all the foundry work is a most valuable one, though it requires constant attention as regards the choice of pig iron and the pré- paration of mixtures, according to the work in progress. In order to ascertain the varions grades of foundry pig, a special testing system is in use at the foundries, which gives rapid and accurate results. The castings are made both in sand and in loam. In both cases the general manner of working is followed, namely, complété patterns are used for sand moulding, the moulds being cast in frames ; the loam moulding consista