Making a Magnet.

In the forge shop a variety of work is done, but the most important and interesting is that of making the magnets which create the magnetic field for all direct current instruments. Cast iron, soft iron or soft steel will not retain magnetism for any considerable length of time, whereas properly hardened steel, employed under the conditions that obtain in the Weston instruments, will hold the power indefinitely. The finest obtainable magnet steel is bent into the various magnet forms which are placed on an automatically moving rack in a heating chamber, or retort, about twenty feet long, so laid that the magnet blanks are carried slowly over gas jets of uniformly intense temperature for a precise period of time, when they are delivered into cold water, which completes the hardening process.

The blanks are charged by being brought into contact with a large electro-magnet (a bar of soft iron wound with a conducting wire) which, being connected with a dynamo or with batteries, makes a magnet of the soft iron, that, in turn, imparts its magnetism to the hardened steel form, where the magnetic power is stored permanently.

Polishing.

As most of the Weston work is as delicate as that of a watch, polishing becomes a factor of prime importance. To this process three departments are devoted: (1) the grinding, where the rough surface is made smooth; (2) the polishing, where a high degree of smoothness is secured, and (3) the buffing, where the final polish is given by disks of walrus hide revolving with inconceivable rapidity against the surface to be treated. The grinding is done in one of the outlying buildings, the polishing in the basement of the main building, and the buffing on the first floor of the same.

In these operations dangerous to health, particularly the first, because of the grit and impalpable metal dust, employes are surrounded with every possible safeguard; powerful exhaust fans, constantly in operation, extract practically all

the noxious substances, and the highest degree of cleanliness is maintained.

Plating and Japanning.

After being polished the heavier pieces, such as the frames and cases, are either plated or japanned. Having discovered that no plating procurable could endure the chemical conditions to which electrical measuring instruments are frequently subjected by their peculiar surroundings, the Weston Company established its own plant, and here is done plating of all kinds-copper, brass, nickel, etc.

For the finishing of various parts the japanning process is employed-the lacquerlike method imported from that clever people in the farthest East. This is a fine and difficult operation, and, like the grinding, dangerous to health, but from a different cause-noxious fumes, instead of dust. In this occupation men frequently go insane, but not in the Weston works, where the studios are kept scrupulously clean at all times, the floors oiled, and every possible precaution observed—particularly in the baking-room, which is so constructed that not a whiff of fumes or gas escapes except by the tall chimney.

In about the same manner that varnish is applied, the lacquer is painted on the metal, and, as dust is the worst enemy of first-class work, it is, perhaps, needless to say that the coal handling and burning must be carried on in a room without connection with that in which the japan is applied. To be more precise, there are four divisions: (1) where the metal is painted, (2) the rubbing department, where the lacquer is brought to a mirror-like smoothness, (3) the baking-room, and (4) the furnaces.

After being lacquered and polished, the pieces are transferred to the ovens beneath which are clay crucibles, with grate bottoms to permit draught, filled with precisely the amount of fuel necessary to insure a perfect baking. These crucibles, resting on rollers which run on tracks, are lighted and shoved under the ovens—when they are burned out, a perfect baking has been accomplished.

Destructive explosions frequently occur in japanning establishments because they are so arranged that it is possible for the highly inflammable gases generated in the lacqueringroom to come into contact with the burning gases from the ovens. In the Weston plant this cannot occur. Not only are the fires far removed from the workrooms, but there is no possible connection between them. The furnace gases are carried off by a tall chimney, and the workroom gases by an independent system.

In all these outlying departments, although the work is coarser than that of the main shop, the same rigid requirements are enforced with regard to the finished product. Many of the methods employed are the result of special investigation made by competent men who visited various plants throughout the country, but it will usually be found that these methods are considerably and advantageously elaborated.

To the main shops we must now retrace our steps. The general processes in the manufacture of the various parts. are completed, although we have observed but a very few of them.

Inspection.

With work of the character described, it will readily be understood that a rigid system of inspection is imperative. In the first place all raw material, on arrival at the factory, is rigorously tested for electrical, magnetic and mechanical requirements, and is examined again on receipt by the department where the process of manufacture begins.

Every Employe an Inspector.

At the time he is engaged, every employe is made to understand by his foreman that he is expected to become an inspector of all work that passes through his hands-in other words, he is given the most positive instructions not to accept or pass any piece which does not come up to the standard of his gauges. If a discrepancy is found, it must be reported to the foreman, who will cause the imperfect