GRINDING MACHINES REPLACE TORCHES.

The Central Alloy District of Republic Steel at Canton, Ohio, is now using huge grinding machines to remove the surface skin and the surface defects on rolled alloy steel billets in a single processing operation, thus making it possible to eliminate a more cumbersome procedure involving the use of a scarfing torch and a pickling operation. The development of the high-speed grinding wheel provided the technical breakthrough to make the new technique possible. Hard, sharp zirconium grit is held by a strong binder in tough grinding wheels, 24 in. dia multiplied by 3 in. wide, which are capable of removing 15 lb per hp-hr of metal.