Jim Turner was a good bloke to work with, as well as looking after tooling he would also saw the test pieces to length & cut the V in the Charpy test pieces on a milling machine.
Glad to see that Anon remembers my father Jim Turner who indeed did work in said machine shop. I believe Dad used to look after the tooling etc, prior to this he used to work for the erection department before an accident claimed half of his left foot. I believe some of his work mates then were Tim Riley, ? Cocherell, Arthur Howes.
THE FORGOTTEN TEST BAR WOULD HAVE BEEN MADE TO THE CORRECT SPEC REQUIRED AND THE CASTING WOULD HAVE ALREADY BEEN MADE TO THE CORRECT SPEC. THE FOUNDRY INSPECTER WITH FINGERS CROSSED WOULD HOPE THAT THE VISITING INSPECTOR WOULD NOT NOTICE THE WELDED ON TEST BAR, WHICH HE NEVER DID. THIS DIDN’T HAPPEN WITH EVERY TESTED CASTING, MAYBE ONE A YEAR. HEAD WRIGHTSONS FOUR FOUNDRIES HAD A VERY GOOD REPUTATION WITH ALL VISITING INSPECTORS OVER THE MANY YEARS I WORKED AS AN INSPECTOR FOR HEADS.
The Inspector must have had a lot of faith in the basic integrity of the work at Head Wrightsons! It is unlikely that a seperately cast test bar would have had the same properties as one which had been part of a big casting.
A LOT OF CASTINGS MADE IN STEEL FOUNDRIES HAD A TEST BAR CAST ON TO FACILITATE AS F STARR AND ANON STATE TO BE MACHINED UP AND TESTED BY THE PEOPLE IN HW TEST HOUSE TO CHECK THE BRITTLENESS AND OTHER PROPITIES OF THE STEEL. A VISITING INSPECTOR WOULD CHECK THE TEST BAR AND THEN STAMP IT WITH HIS SPECIAL STAMP AND WATCH IT BEING BURNT OFF FOR DELIVERY TO THE TEST HOUSE FOR THE TESTS. TROUBLE FOR THE FOUNDRY IF THE TEST BAR WAS NOT ATTACHED WHICH IN A FEW CASES IT WAS MISSED AND A NEW TEST BAR WAS CAST AND WELDED ON AND RUSHED OVER AND HOPEFULLY PASS THE EAGLE EYE OF THE INSPECTER, AND A BIG SIGH OF RELIEF WHEN IT DID BUT THE INSPECTORS WEREN’T DAFT AND MUST HAVE TURNED A BLIND EYE.
So this machine must have been used for Charpy tests (not sharpy). These are similar to Izod but the test piece can be cooled to below room temperature, since this is when some types of steel become quite brittle. A large number of ships, built in America in WWII, literally split in half because the steel was so brittle. There are pictures of the tow halves of some ships floating away from one another.
All the test pieces(sharpy & tensile) for the foundry were machined in a little machine shop at the side of Head Wrightson’s foundry. The men responsible for these were Don Thirwell, Jim Turner & an apprentice, when complete they were sent to the Test House in the photo.
This is an Izod testing machine, which is used to assess the brittleness of steels. A steel bar with a notch cut in its side is held in a vice at the bottom of the machine. The big weight is allowed to swing down and hit the bar. Sometimes the bar will snap in two, and very little energy will be absorbed and the weight will swing across to the other side of the frame. With less brittle steels a lot of energy is needed to absorb the impact and the weight only swings part way across. The scale a the top of the machine records the “IZOD Impact Value”
Jim Turner was a good bloke to work with, as well as looking after tooling he would also saw the test pieces to length & cut the V in the Charpy test pieces on a milling machine.
Glad to see that Anon remembers my father Jim Turner who indeed did work in said machine shop. I believe Dad used to look after the tooling etc, prior to this he used to work for the erection department before an accident claimed half of his left foot. I believe some of his work mates then were Tim Riley, ? Cocherell, Arthur Howes.
THE FORGOTTEN TEST BAR WOULD HAVE BEEN MADE TO THE CORRECT SPEC REQUIRED AND THE CASTING WOULD HAVE ALREADY BEEN MADE TO THE CORRECT SPEC. THE FOUNDRY INSPECTER WITH FINGERS CROSSED WOULD HOPE THAT THE VISITING INSPECTOR WOULD NOT NOTICE THE WELDED ON TEST BAR, WHICH HE NEVER DID. THIS DIDN’T HAPPEN WITH EVERY TESTED CASTING, MAYBE ONE A YEAR. HEAD WRIGHTSONS FOUR FOUNDRIES HAD A VERY GOOD REPUTATION WITH ALL VISITING INSPECTORS OVER THE MANY YEARS I WORKED AS AN INSPECTOR FOR HEADS.
The Inspector must have had a lot of faith in the basic integrity of the work at Head Wrightsons! It is unlikely that a seperately cast test bar would have had the same properties as one which had been part of a big casting.
A LOT OF CASTINGS MADE IN STEEL FOUNDRIES HAD A TEST BAR CAST ON TO FACILITATE AS F STARR AND ANON STATE TO BE MACHINED UP AND TESTED BY THE PEOPLE IN HW TEST HOUSE TO CHECK THE BRITTLENESS AND OTHER PROPITIES OF THE STEEL. A VISITING INSPECTOR WOULD CHECK THE TEST BAR AND THEN STAMP IT WITH HIS SPECIAL STAMP AND WATCH IT BEING BURNT OFF FOR DELIVERY TO THE TEST HOUSE FOR THE TESTS. TROUBLE FOR THE FOUNDRY IF THE TEST BAR WAS NOT ATTACHED WHICH IN A FEW CASES IT WAS MISSED AND A NEW TEST BAR WAS CAST AND WELDED ON AND RUSHED OVER AND HOPEFULLY PASS THE EAGLE EYE OF THE INSPECTER, AND A BIG SIGH OF RELIEF WHEN IT DID BUT THE INSPECTORS WEREN’T DAFT AND MUST HAVE TURNED A BLIND EYE.
So this machine must have been used for Charpy tests (not sharpy). These are similar to Izod but the test piece can be cooled to below room temperature, since this is when some types of steel become quite brittle. A large number of ships, built in America in WWII, literally split in half because the steel was so brittle. There are pictures of the tow halves of some ships floating away from one another.
All the test pieces(sharpy & tensile) for the foundry were machined in a little machine shop at the side of Head Wrightson’s foundry. The men responsible for these were Don Thirwell, Jim Turner & an apprentice, when complete they were sent to the Test House in the photo.
This is an Izod testing machine, which is used to assess the brittleness of steels. A steel bar with a notch cut in its side is held in a vice at the bottom of the machine. The big weight is allowed to swing down and hit the bar. Sometimes the bar will snap in two, and very little energy will be absorbed and the weight will swing across to the other side of the frame. With less brittle steels a lot of energy is needed to absorb the impact and the weight only swings part way across. The scale a the top of the machine records the “IZOD Impact Value”