Excerpt from How to Make Converter Steel Castings It will be the author's object, in this and succeeding chapters, to give a general idea of the science and art of making steel castings in a foundry equipped with the Tropenas system of steel-making. It is a mistake to think that the company operating a small converter plant can successfully compete in all lines of the casting business. There are, undoubtedly, branches where it cannot compete with the open-hearth and the malleable iron foundry. There are few things so light that they cannot be cast from the excessively hot steel made in the small converter, but for these tiny pieces, gray iron, malleable iron or brass are generally strong enough. On the other hand, for the very large pieces, say over 8 tons in weight, the open-hearth is probably cheaper, in America at any rate, though in England a plant operating five converters is successful in competition with the open-hearth and produces over 600 tons per month of miscellaneous castings of all analyses, and varying from less than a pound up to 10 tons. The field of the small converter is ideally in the small and medium castings, and those calling for a specially high-grade material. It is an undisputed fact, that a well-handled converter of the Tropenas type produces a superior quality of steel, sounder, closer-grained and stronger than can be otherwise obtained. In automobile work, motor boats for gears, valves and levers, turbine work, gas engines and general machine work, converter castings are particularly desirable. The realization of what can be done in the way of making light and intricate castings has led to the elaboration of engine and machine details in a remarkable way. A designer has no longer to take into consideration the possibility of not being able to get the castings he requires in steel. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.