The Encyclopedia of Founding

Twelve hundred entries from the golden age of cast metal — how bells are founded, why brass is not bronze, what a cupola melts and a core withstands — by Simpson Bolland, the trade's great teacher.

D

38 entries in this part of The Encyclopedia of Founding.

Dam

A reservoir or tank used for collecting or gathering a large quantity of metal to cast heavy castings. Whilst constructed in various ways…

Damascus Steel

A steel originally made in Damascus. It is composed of layers of very pure iron and steel, worked with great care by heating and…

Damper

A very useful and profitable device in a foundry oven, when intelligently managed. A right knowledge of its use saves both time and money…

Dampness

The requisite degree of dampness in moulding-sand is a matter of great importance to the moulder. If too moist, steam is generated by the…

Daubing

The clay mixture usually made by the cupola-man for repairing bad spots in the cupola and for lining the inside of ladles. Too frequently…

Dead-metal

Metal that has lost heat to such extent as to have become too sluggish to flow smoothly and give a sharp impression of the mould. See…

Decarbonize

To deprive any substance of its carbon. This word is synonymous with decarburize, and means to take the carbon from--as decarbonizing steel…

Decarbonizing Processes

The process of decarbonizing takes place in puddling and boiling furnaces when cast iron is, by heating, deprived of its carbon, and thus…

Deliver

This term applies to the withdrawal of a pattern from the sand. It is said to deliver ill or well according to the condition of the mould…

Delta-metal

A gun-metal of great density and strength. Its composition is: copper 56, tin 1, zinc 41, iron 2. The wrought iron must be alloyed with the…

Deoxidized Bronze

The claims made by the Deoxidized Metal Company, Bridgeport, Conn., for their special manufacture of bronze is as follows: Deoxidized…

Deoxidized Copper

The following is a statement by the Bridgeport Deoxidized Metal Company in regard to their processes with copper: Deoxidized copper is…

Diameter

A line, which passing through the centre of a circle or other curvilinear figure, divides it or its ordinates in two equal parts. Also, the…

Diamond

The purest form of carbon known. It is a crystal of the greatest purity and hardness known. Several localities in India, the island of…

Diamond and Brilliant Imitations

To make metal imitations of these precious stones, procure a glass rod and grind the end to the form of whatever it is intended to imitate…

Dipping

A process by which a bright surface is imparted to the alloy or metal after it has undergone the process of pickling, scouring, and…

Distillation

Is vaporizing a liquid by heat in one vessel, and condensing it by cold in another; the object being to separate a liquid from non-volatile…

Dog

A double-ended hold-fast, made by pointing the turned ends of an ordinary wrought-iron clamp. Useful for drawing the halves of core-boxes…

Dolomite

Magnesian limestone, a mineral consisting of carbonate of lime and carbonate of magnesia in somewhat varied proportions, the former usually…

Double-hook

Sometimes termed a change-hook and ram's-horn. The latter name is suggestive of its shape, which consist of two hooks, turned outwards…

Draft

An allowance of taper on a pattern, or the parting of a joint; the object being to obtain a free separation of mould and pattern-surfaces…

Drain

A hole sunk beneath a mould in the pit when there is danger of water accumulating there. A well can be sunk some distance away, into which…

Draw

A term synonymous with shrink, and used by some to express certain conditions connected with the phenomenon of shrinkage. Holes or…

Draw-back

A portion of mould, which owing to some peculiarity of form in the pattern, or because of some difficulty presented in closing or finishing…

Drawback Plate

See DRAWBACK. Draw-gates are so called because they are set between the pattern and a down-gate, a slight taper permitting of their being…

Drawing Air

A common but incorrect term for the violent commotion occurring at the down-gate, when, because of the too limited area of basin-runner…

Drawing-down

When the cope part of a casting shows an unevenly buckled surface, with shell-scabs in parts, it is technically spoken of as "drawn-down,"…

Dressing

The preparatory finishing and fashioning which a loam-mould receives before the final blackening takes place. The mould is moistened with…

Drill

A tool provided for boring vents and gates through hard dry sand and loam. An ordinary brace and bit, or an ancient bow-drill, are suitable…

Drop

When a portion of mould falls from an over-hanging surface, it is spoken of as a "drop." Drop-gates are gates which connect with the…

Drying-kettles

Perforated iron pans for drying moulds with. Another description of kettles for drying pan-copes that are struck in casings, and other…

Dry-sand Facing

Sand prepared exclusively for facing the surface of a dry-sand mould. Whilst there are, no doubt, many good mixtures for this purpose, the…

Dry-sand Moulding

The art of preparing dried moulds, either in flasks, to be subsequently dried in the oven, or in the floor, when the drying must then be…

Ductility

That property or texture of bodies which renders it practicable to draw them out in length while their thickness is diminished without any…

Dulled-brass

The dead appearance, by the French styled "mat," is obtained on brass by observing the following: Immerse in nitric acid 200, sulphuric…

Dumb-vent

A vent from a hollow core led to some distance by means of an underground flue, where there will be no possibility of sparks igniting the…

Dummy-block

A brick and loam model around which to form a jacket or other core by means of the spindle and sweep-board, the latter being the means for…

Dabbers – Dusting-bag

A foundry name for the projections or prickers cast on covering plates for loam-work. See PRICKERS. See SAFETY-LAMP.

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