N. Hawkins

Fig 609.—See page 348.

TOOLS.

The implements described hereafter are called “hand-tools” to distinguish them from machine-tools. A portable tool is a tool or machine-tool which can be taken from place to place, for example a riveting machine.

Fig. 610.

Tool, the word, comes probably from toil, signifying the thing with which one toils or labors, a hammer, file or wrench; a tool never ceases to be a tool, i.e., something which is applied directly to the work; generally tools in machine practice cut, abrade, like a file, or strike—as a hammer; a tool is that which is brought to bear directly on the work; again, it is any implement used by a craftsman at his work; it is any instrument employed for performing, or aiding to perform, mechanical operations by means of striking, penetration, separation, abrasion, friction, etc.

Again in practical mechanics the word tool has a restrictive meaning; a single device, as a chisel, crowbar or saw, or a very simple combination of moving parts, as tongs, shears, pincers, etc. These latter for manual use, are always called tools, although embodied in the strict technical definition of machine.

Such machines as are used in shaping materials in the construction of the parts of other machines, and also many of those which perform work, such as boring, planing, riveting, etc., formerly only done by hand, and still performed manually to a greater or less extent, are nearly always called machine tools; the term, engine tool, is more in accord with general usage when referring to large and complicated machines.

It is by his knowledge of the application of hand-tools and their practical use, that the pump attendant is judged by those around him. The skillful mechanic, who with many others, constructs a machine, may be neglected, but one who skillfully operates the apparatus, seldom fails of due credit and reward, hence these paragraphs are intended to emphasize the importance of these more humble implements.

Fig. 610 represents a pipe cutter—a hand tool specially used for cutting of wrought iron, steel or brass pipe. This tool consists of a cast steel body, tapped in one end to receive the adjusting screw or handle which also serves to rotate the tool when applied to a pipe. The cutting is generally effected by a hardened cast steel cutter with cutting edges having angles of about 60° like a V thread; an enlarged form of this cutter is shown in the engraving.

Fig. 611.

Fig. 611 shows a ratchet drill; this is a tool in which the rotary motion of the drill is derived from a ratchet and pawl actuated by a lever or handle. There are various forms of this class of tools. This one is the “Packer ratchet.” The thread for adjusting or feeding the drill is protected from chips and dirt by a sleeve which covers the shank.

The center is of tempered tool steel as well as the ratchet and pawl. The socket is usually made square.

In cutting larger sizes of pipes sometimes a special cutting-tool is introduced in place of the circular cutter to accomplish the more difficult work; in shop practice it is customary to cut the large sizes of pipe in a lathe or screwing machine.

Fig. 612.

Fig. 613.

Fig. 614.

The three tools shown on this page are designed to prepare the pipe for the reception of the threaded end of the pipe to be joined. The upper one, Fig. 612, is a reamer used to enlarge a hole, or to round up one that has been drilled or cut with a chisel, to prepare it for tapping. The lower, Fig. 614, is the tap which cuts the thread. The middle, Fig. 613, is a combined drill and tap which is operated by a ratchet and is used to drill and tap a hole in water pipe, etc., at one operation.

“Tapping” is the process by which the thread is formed in the interior of a hole, and is done with a tap; screwing is the reverse process by which the thread is formed on the outside of a cylindrical surface, as a pipe or round bar of iron.

A tap consists of an external screw of the required size, formed of steel and more or less tapered, part of the thread being cut away by longitudinal grooves in order to present a series of cutting edges. By screwing into a nut in the manner of an ordinary bolt this tap forms the thread required.

Plug-taps are usually made in sets of three. The first, called the entering tap or taper tap, generally tapers regularly throughout its length; the second, or intermediate tap, sometimes tapers, but is usually cylindrical with two or three tapering threads at the end; the third, called the plug-tap or bottoming-tap, is always parallel, with the full thread carried to the end.

Fig. 615.

Fig. 616.

Fig. 615 shows a crow. This is used to hook underneath a pipe and to support and feed a ratchet drill in cutting a hole. The sliding head is fastened by a double ended gib key which secures it in any desired position. A swivel bench vise is shown in Fig. 616. This tool has cast steel jaws with a wrought iron slide and is attached to the bench with a screw so that it may be turned in any position.

A pipe vise is shown in Fig. 617. This is mounted on a journal bearing so that it may be clamped in any position from a horizontal to a perpendicular.

Fig. 617.

The pipe vise is especially a bench tool; it is designed to “grip” pipes of various sizes while they are being threaded, cut off or otherwise operated upon.

A parallel or ordinary bench vise will only grip a pipe on two opposite sides, and, if tightened, the strain will easily collapse it, owing to its hollow form; but a pipe vise is so made that it presses upon four points, as the jaws or holding portions are formed V shaped, instead of parallel.

Some pipe vises are formed of two pivoted discs instead of jaws, having semicircles or recesses, which fit all diameters of pipes up to two inches, and bear on the outside of the pipe all around.

It is an improvement to have the upper portion of the vise hinged at one side, and fixed with a pin or collar at the other, as by opening the jaws it renders more convenient the removal or insertion of the pipe to be operated upon.

The upper Fig. 618 on page 342 represents an indispensable tool for cutting pipe threads by hand; one handle—of which there are two—is shown in the figure immediately beneath the pipe stock and die, which is the familiar name of the combination. The guard in the illustration is thrown open to allow the die to be removed or exchanged. Fig. 620 represents the latter; solid steel dies are commonly used, but adjustable dies are made. Figs. 621 and 622 are bushings to fit in the end of the stock to guide the pipe; there is one bushing for each size of pipe.

Fig. 623 shows a nipple-holder which is used to hold short pieces of pipe by the thread upon one end, while the die is applied to cut a thread upon the other end. This tool is generally used in a pipe cutting machine, which is operated by power, but it can also be held in a common vise.

Note.—The die may be centered on the nipple described above by placing in the die stock a guide bushing that will easily ride over the nipple holder. The thread can now be cut until the die just touches the nipple holder, and there will be practically no blank space between the threads on the ends. After the die has been backed off the nipple can be removed from the holder by unscrewing the center with a monkey wrench. A nipple holder should be made for each size of pipe that is cut and threaded by hand. A piece of pipe with a coupling on its end may be used as an improvised nipple holder.

Fig. 618.

Fig. 619.

Figs. 620-622.

Fig. 623.

Fig. 624 shows an extension pipe tongs; this tool may be adjusted to fit a number of different sizes by manipulating the thumb screw, shown in the cut.

Fig. 624.

Fig. 625.

Fig. 625 represents the Trimo pipe wrench. This name is an abbreviation of the word Tremont from the street in Boston of that name. It is adjusted to its work by a milled nut in the pivoted jaw; the latter is brought into position at each stroke by a leaf spring attached to the main lever. In the larger sizes the steel jaws are removable or can be detached and replaced after being repaired. The lower engraving, Fig. 626, is a chain tongs with removable, tool-steel jaws. The hard scale on the piping rapidly destroys the sharp edges on these jaws so that they require frequent sharpening. The links of the chain have a peculiar hook form so that they cannot slip.

Fig. 626.

A spanner, shown in Fig. 627, is a special form of wrench, which circles or spans around; generally used for twisting a circular-shaped portion, provided with holes in its circumference.

Fig. 627.

Fig. 628.

Screw or monkey-wrenches are those which have a movable jaw, so that the tool may be adjusted to fit any sized nut within its compass; as shown in Fig. 628. There are many designs of monkey-wrenches. The one here represented is known as the “knife-handle” on account of the identical construction of the handle of this wrench and that of a pocket knife. It is strong and the shank is extra heavy so that it is hardly possible to spring the jaws in fair use.

Fig. 629.

An interchangeable socket wrench is shown in Fig. 629. The handle is much like a ratchet drill, having a pawl and ratchet wheel attached to the sockets; these are for use upon various sizes of hexagon or square heads, as represented by figures underneath the handle. Some of these socket wrenches have forms of steel for insertion into the hole in the ratchet by which different shaped and sized bolt heads and nuts may be turned without changing the main socket.

The word wrench which gives this term to the tools here described is one of the strong words of the English language; wrench means, primarily, “a violent twist or turn given to something,” hence, as derived, almost any instrument that causes a twist or torsional strain comes under this heading. A wrench is a tool used by hand to turn or rotate other tools, nuts or bolts.

A wrench is specially designated according to its shape and of the jaws or openings, as an open-end box-wrench, etc. If the opening is through one end, it is termed a single-ended wrench; if it is in the middle, a double-ended or tap-wrench. If the recess is open, it is termed an open-ended wrench; if closed, forming a square or hexagon opening through the metal, a box-wrench. A solid wrench having a notched angular recess in its end, so that any nut or bolt which will enter the jaws can be grasped, is called an alligator-wrench.

The hammer was probably the first tool used by mankind; hammers of stone are found among the remains of antiquity, and these are still in common use among barbarous races. The hammer is made in such a variety of forms that it is almost impossible to classify it; it is named not only for the use to which it is put, but after the trade-class which uses it, as the machinist hammer, the blacksmith-hammer, etc.

The hammer is made of high-grade steel, carefully tempered head and peen; the head is usually made cylindrical with slightly rounding face; the eye of the hammer is the center opening through which the handle is inserted. The peen of a hammer is the opposite end to the face, and terminates in a rounded or wedge-shaped point.

Note.—In its use the hammer should be grasped near the end of the handle, giving it a free arm swing, and carrying the head through a nearly vertical plane. If the plane of the swing approaches a horizontal the weight of the hammer will produce a twisting effort on the fore-arm, which will be very tiresome. The handle should be grasped with only sufficient force to safely control the blow.

Fig. 630.

Fig. 631.

Fig. 632.

VALVES AND COCKS.

The word valve comes from the Latin—valva—a leaf, fold or valve of a door (as of a folding door).

A valve may act automatically so as to be opened by the effort of a fluid to pass in one direction and closed by its effort to pass in the other direction, as a clack valve; or it may be opened or closed by hand or mechanism, as a screw valve or a slide valve. In the glossary at the beginning of this work, the word has been carefully defined and several illustrations have been given of various designs of the device which have come into general use.

Valves are of several classes.

1. Rotary; such as cocks, faucets, plug throttle-valves.

2. Lifting; raised clear from the seat by power beneath; such as ball, conical, cup, safety, poppet.

3. Hinged; such as clack, butterfly.

4. Sliding; such as the slide, D, B and box.

5. Spring; such as some forms of safety-valves, Snifting and Relief valves.

6. Inverted-cup; such as quicksilver valve, air trap, etc.

7. Key; such as those of the organ, flute, etc.

Other names are derived from peculiar shape, application, mode of actuation, etc.

A cock is a faucet or rotary valve usually taking its name from its peculiar use or construction, as:—

As may be judged by the preceding paragraphs, giving the names derived from their mechanical and other uses of several only, of a great many varieties of valves, it were vain to attempt a complete list of these devices; it may be said however that the whole system of modern mechanism would be, almost, if not quite, a failure, if they were not used.

Hence, the student will do well to familiarize himself with the valve movements sure to be found in every combination of industrial and mechanical forces.

A few illustrations of the adaptation of valves of various designs to useful purposes now follow.—

A combined throttle and quick closing trip valve is shown in Fig. 609, page 336; this is made by Schutte & Koerting Co., Philadelphia; this apparatus is designed to fill the requirements of an emergency shut-off; the valve is balanced and operates as stop and throttle. The object of balancing the valve is to remove the strain from the spindle, so that its operation can be effected quickly and with the least effort. The piston above the valve is not tight fitting, and contains a small auxiliary or pilot valve attached to the spindle, which opens in advance of the opening of the main valve; thus the pressure above the piston and below the valve is equalized; little effort is now required to lift the main valve, at the same time the pilot valve, E, answers the purpose of a by-pass.

The several proportions are such that a slight over-pressure is maintained above the piston to give the valve, at all times, a tendency to close. This over-pressure should be but slight, and to regulate it at will there is (besides the leak around the piston) a separate steam admission above the piston, regulated by the plug, C.

Depending on the fit of the piston, this plug is opened more or less, or entirely closed, when valve is first put in operation, and then locked in that position.

Ordinarily the construction of this valve demands the application of a screw-spindle to actuate it; it is also made in angle form and can be placed with spindle upward or horizontal. In all positions, globe, inverted and angle valves, steam must always enter above the disc, viz., in the direction of the arrows.

The operation by lever is demanded when a valve is used as a quick emergency shut-off, either by hand or in connection with automatic appliance of governor, electrical cut-off or auxiliary, steam, air or hydraulic cylinder.

The valve itself is of the balanced form, except that in this valve the spindle carries at the bottom a small piston or sleeve, F, shown in the figure. The valve is locked open by moving hand lever up till the catch on same engages with the lever, G, supported on the upright bar.

The valve being then open, steam pressure acts on the area of the piston, F, with continuous downward force, which will cause the valve to close as soon as the latch is released. Thus, by connecting the rod on the outer end of lever, G, with a hand lever, at any desired location, the operation is had without effort and promptly.

A pressure reducing valve is shown in outline and a side view in Figs. 633 and 634; this is in effect a (Mason) pump pressure regulator and it is applicable for fire, tank, elevator, air and water works pumps, or any class of pumping machinery where it is necessary to maintain a constant pressure. The regulator may be quickly adjusted to any pressure desired by turning the key as shown in Fig. 633.

The especial feature of this regulator is that the pressure chamber into which the water enters is entirely removed and separate from the steam and all working parts.

The long cylinder at the bottom of the regulator is a dashpot, the piston of which is connected with the main valve of the regulator, thereby preventing sudden and violent “jumping” of the pump when the pressure suddenly changes. These valves are made in all the pipe sizes; those up to and including 2-inch of the best steam metal; the largest sizes of cast iron, lined with steam metal. The springs are made of the finest tool steel, tempered.

The Mason Regulator Co., Boston, are to be credited with the following directions:

Mason water reducing valve. Fig. 635 is designed to reduce the water pressure from the street water mains to a low pressure, for houses and buildings. The body or valve portion is fitted with couplings, so that it may be easily attached to a pipe. That part of the valve above the diaphragm, and which comes in contact with the water, is made of the best steam metal, thus preventing corrosion. The long spring case is made of heavy iron pipe, at the end of which is an iron bracket, suitably drilled, so that the valve may be securely bolted either to the floor or to a beam overhead. The tension of the main spring is adjusted by means of a small rod inserted in a nut at the end of the spring case. The diaphragm is very strong and will hold several times the pressure required. The working of this regulator is very simple. The water enters through the inlet coupling, 45, and passes through the chamber, 68, into the low pressure side of the regulator, the valve, 43, being held open by the tension of the spring, 53. When the low pressure has attained the desired limit, which is also felt in the diaphragm chamber through the hole which communicates with the chamber, 68, it forces down the diaphragm and seats the valve, 43. When the pressure again drops in the system, the diaphragm is forced up by the spring, 53, and the valve, 43, again opens.

An automatic throttle valve for a boiler feed pump is shown perspective and outline in Figs. 636 and 637; this is a governor for the pump, controlled by the relative pressures of steam and water. It is known as Mullin’s automatic controller and is made at Seattle, Wash., and has the following features:

It is simply a balance valve and differential piston; it is in a class by itself, both as to its construction and operation in regulating feed water pressure in connection with steam boilers.

The initial steam pressure being on the ends of the valve, has access, through the neck, to the full area of the piston, and will force it into a position that gives the full valve opening, where it will remain until overcome by water pressure from the pump, acting against the opposite side, which is of reduced area.

It is necessary in operating this valve to have an excess of water pressure over the steam pressure in the boiler. The excess of the water pressure is obtained by the reduction of the area of the water side of the piston—thus to illustrate—if the total area were 10 square inches, and the reduction was one inch or 10 per cent., it would require that the water pressure should be 10 per cent. greater than steam pressure, to give the same thrust on the piston, then until the water has reached a pressure 10 per cent. in excess of the steam, the valve would be held open, but thereafter it is held open only wide enough to admit steam to the pump to keep up this 10 per cent. excess pressure. Should the excess pressure attempt to rise above this, it immediately forces the steam valve nearly shut, thus nipping the cause of the rise, namely, too great a piston speed.

The water pressure will vary only as the steam pressure varies, always keeping the same per cent. of excess. The results are directly opposite to what would or does occur where feed water is delivered at a stated pressure. On a battery of boilers, during the cleaning of fires, the closing of feed valves on one, two or more boilers, does not affect the feed of those already set in the least, the pump will simply make less strokes necessary to properly feed the others.

The regulating is done by the feed valves at the boilers; if it is desired, all feeds may be closed, and the pressure will not rise, the pump will stop; if its plungers need packing it will be detected by the fact that the pump will creep, to keep up the required pressure. When feed valves are once regulated to admit the required amount of water, to replace the evaporation, they may be marked, and when in this position, they, with an even steam pressure, will always admit the same amount of water to the boilers.

It is understood that this valve is placed between the ordinary throttle valve and the pump.

The Bordo blow-off valve is shown in Figs. 638 and 639; it consists of a brass or iron body which resembles the shell of a plug-cock, but with this difference, it has a sharper taper than the regular plug-cock; in this device the plug is usually made of brass—tinned on the outside. In process of making and while hot a sheath of babbitt metal or its equivalent is cast upon the plug; the metals amalgamate and practically become one casting.

The parts of valve are as follows, 1, the body, 2, the plug, 3, the packing and lifting gland, 4, the lifting cam, 5, lock-nut, 6, two brass rings of equal size, with a special gasket between them—all as shown in the engravings.

The valve is operated with a wrench on the square of the plug. The lifting gland when adjusted is permanently held by a lock-nut. By releasing the lock-nut with the wrench and turning the gland to the left, the plug is lifted so that it will turn easily. When the lock-nut is moved up, the lifting cam (which couples the packing gland to the plug) can be pulled out; the gland is then free to be removed for repacking. In use the best method of handling is to open and close the valve slowly—never with a jerk.

The tendency toward higher pressure steam boiler installation has made apparent the need of a blow-off, like this one described, made of strong material and correct in principle; in fact the high steam pressures now carried have almost made a revolution in boiler appliances.

The Fig. 640 represents two valves applied to the end of a blow-off pipe. The valve next to the boiler is open at all times excepting when the operating valve, next to the sewer is to be attended to for repairs, etc.

The table below is intended to correspond with the letters to be seen in the illustration, Fig. 640.

Table.

One cock of this pattern is usually employed, but to use two (as shown in the figure) is the best practice especially for high steam service.