Shrapnel shell manufacture : A comprehensive treatise on the forging,…
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"Shrapnel shell manufacture" by Douglas T. Hamilton is a technical treatise written in the early 20th century. It presents a comprehensive, practice-focused guide to forging, machining, heat-treatment, tooling, and inspection for producing shrapnel shells, cartridge cases, and fuses, supplemented by government specifications from several nations. Aimed at manufacturers, engineers, and toolmakers responding to wartime demand, it covers everything from shop setups and machine methods to materials, propellants, and quality control. The opening
of this treatise sets the urgent wartime context and explains that the work expands earlier Machinery magazine articles with added data and official specifications. It first surveys shell types and shrapnel’s evolution (from spherical forms to modern forged bodies), outlines present-day construction (shell, rifling band, fuse, brass case), distinguishes common and high‑explosive variants, and compares propellants and primers used by different armies. It then explains the design and operation of combination time-and-percussion fuses—American, Russian, and French patterns—how timing rings are set, and how trajectory and burn trains coordinate to burst in air. Next, it classifies explosives (low, high, and fulminates) and concisely describes how black powder, smokeless nitrocellulose/cordite, and high explosives (notably picric‑acid derivatives, TNT, and ammonal) are made and applied. The forging section introduces multiple production methods—Caley and Holinger hydraulic processes, newer single‑heat piercing/drawing, heavy hydraulic presses, and power forging/press work—notes output rates and cost advantages over bar stock, and explains metal flow during piercing, plus forging of heads and diaphragms. At the start of the machining and heat-treatment coverage, it outlines billet cutting, trimming, rough turning (including the rifling-band groove and undercuts), boring and facing operations, followed by heat treatment via salt-bath heating and oil quenching, hardness checks with the Shore scleroscope, and practical guidance on quench media and temperatures tied to steel composition, closing with notes on organizing a high-throughput heat-treating department. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Hamilton, Douglas T. (Douglas Thomas), 1885-1956 |
|---|---|
| LoC No. | 15025475 |
| Title | Shrapnel shell manufacture : A comprehensive treatise on the forging, machining, and heat-treatment of shells, and the manufacture of cartridge cases and fuses for shrapnel used in field and mountain artillery, giving complete direction for tool equipment and methods of setting up machines, together with government specifications for this class of munitions |
| Edition | First edition. |
| Original Publication | New York: The Industrial Press, 1915. |
| Credits | deaurider and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | UF: Military science: Artillery |
| Subject | Projectiles |
| Category | Text |
| eBook-No. | 78213 |
| ISBN (HTML) | 979-8-238-78213-3 |
| Release Date | Mar 15, 2026 |
| Copyright | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 370 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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