Sidor som bilder
PDF
ePub

Retrospective

SANDVIKENS JERNVERKS

AKTIEBOLAG

(THE SANDVIK STEEL WORKS Co., LTD.)

[blocks in formation]

The history of Sandviken, perhaps one of the best known steel works in the world in its special line, coincides with the period of the tremendous expansion of the world's steel and engineering industry from the middle of the last century onward. The carburization and puddling methods were known, but the increased demands on the iron

[graphic]

and steel industry at the commencement of that period made them too slow and costly. It was then that Henry Bessemer conceived his revolutionizing idea of »steel-blowing». The first to make his discovery useful for practical steel-making was G. F. Göransson, the founder of the Sandvik Steel Works.

[ocr errors]

above all The new process was more rapid, cheaper, more dependable, and produced larger ingots. The success was unique. To meet the demand for the new product the Sandvik works were erected by G. F. Göransson in 1862 at Sandviken on the Gefle Dala railway about 14 miles from the Baltic seaport Gefle.

Thanks to the excellent raw materials, and great skill and care in their treatment, the Sandvik steel very early acquired a high reputation both in Sweden and abroad for superior quality. Bessemer steel nowadays does not, of course, occupy the prominent position it once did, and most of the Sandvik steel is produced in Siemens Martin furnaces, and also to some extent in electric furnaces, but the position of the Sandvik production at the very top has remained unchanged.

The Sandvik company is now one of the largest steel works in Sweden, and the largest devoted exclusively to high quality steel products. In normal times 75% of the Sandvik products are exported to other countries.

The town of Sandviken is a prettily situated community, really a garden city of about 10,000 inhabitants.

The Sandvik iron and steel works comprise the following departments, viz.:

Blast furnace department with 4

blast furnaces.

Steel works department with 6 open hearth furnaces, 1 electric furnace and 2 Bessemer converters.

Rolling mill for hot rolling with blooming mill, finishing mill, strip mill, wire mill, tube mill, hollow drill steel mill, and shops for finishing tubes, etc.

Forging department with steam hammers from 15 tons downward and a 2,000-ton hydraulic forging press.

Cold rolling mill and cold drawing mill with hardening plant.

Silver steel factory; Saw factory: Spring factory.

Research department with chemical

and physical sections.

In addition there are complemen- First successful blow of Bessemer steel in the world, July 18th, 1858. tary departments, such as machine.

This achievement of G. F. Göransson led to the establishment of the
Sandviken Steel Works

Present standing

Works departments

[graphic]
[graphic]

Metallurgical

shops, plate-working

shop, carpentershop, etc.

The company has late

laboratory ly erected and equipped a new Laboratory which is strictly up to the latest requirements in this line. The engineers and metallurgists of the company have here every facility to exercise the rigid control demanded by the management, and to pursue researches in regard to treatments and processes.

[blocks in formation]

Blowing a Bessemer charge at the modern Sandvik works. High-grade Bessemer steel is still made there, and for many uses the Sandvik Bessemer steel

The Sandvik works are unique in regard to the great range of their products; from the largest forgings

is the best obtainable material

hearth steel. The Sandvik Bessemer steel is still produced, however, in very large quantities for Swedish conditions. There is a good reason for this. For certain purposes the users of Sandvik steel will have no other, claiming that no other process will produce steel with such superior cutting qualities. It must be borne in mind, too, that there is a great difference between the Swedish Bessemer steel and the product of the gigantic Bessemer converters used elsewhere as between fine quality steel and >>tonnage steel».

[graphic]
[graphic][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][graphic]
[graphic]

Brands

Casting pig iron. All the Sandvik steel is made from charcoal pig iron produced at the works

[blocks in formation]

Drill steels

Hollow blooms for cold drawing of seamless boiler tubes, bicycle, motor car, aeroplane and other tubes.

Seamless rolled boiler tubes, steam tubes, bake oven tubes, chrome-steel tubes for ball bearing races.

Hollow rock drill steel, in round, hexagon, octagon, quarter-octagon, and wing sections. Solid rock drill steel, in round, hexagon, octagon, quarter-octagon, cruciform, wing and rhombic sections.

Tool steel, etc.

Tool steel, File steel, Keg steel, Magnet steel, Stainless steel, Construction steel for the motor car, aeroplane, and allied trades.

Bar steel and wire rods for wire ropes, ball bearing balls, etc.

« FöregåendeFortsätt »