Lebanon Daily News from Lebanon, Pennsylvania • Page 93

Centennial Edition, Lebanon. Saturday, Sept. 30,1972 Page Lebanon Steel Foundry Hometown Industry With Eye To Specialty The Lebanon Stool Foundry was established near the corner of Lehman Street and Kirst Avenue i December 1911, by two young foundrymen. the late William H. Worrilow and the late Thomas Quinn.

They made their start in a wooden shed with i mitive equipment, meager assets, a unlimited possibilities. Today, Lebanon Steel Foundry's ultra-modern plant and facilities cover a sixteen-acre site, and castings bearing the Circle-L trademark are in use around the globe. The foundry today continues to look ahead, as it did in its early days. In 1913, Worrilow and Quinn enlarged their plant by 15,000 square feet and shortly afterward installed an electric furnace. The change from crucible to electric melting suddenly made 'Lebanon one of the most progressive steel foundries in the country.

Other signs of progress were evident. In 1917 the foundry went on its first night shift. In the same year, the foundry purchased a group insurance policy on the lives of all employees. A new building for the pattern shop and pattern storage went up in 1920. A two-ton furnace was added.

Adjacent land was purchased for future expansion, and the foundry began reaching for new markets far afield. During these years, Worrilow, basically the salesman, was hunting new business. Quinn, basically the production man, was hunting new foundry methods and techniques. Both men traveled thousands of miles in the United States and Europe, The steel foundry knowledge of the world came to Lebanon, to be studied, learned and applied for the needs of American Industry. Growth And Maturity The decade of the Twenties brought maturity to the steel casting industry.

Kor Lebanor it marked a transition into ar era of great diversity and specialization. The impetus for the decade's technological breakthrough was the coming of high alloys tor temperature and corrosion service better known as "stainless steel." Characteristically, Lebanon was among the first of the American foundries to prepare for the age of "stainless." As early as 1922, the foundry hired its first research engineer. In 19H6, the new chemical and physical laboratory was opened. In 1929 the foundry purchased two one-thousand- pound induction furnaces for the production of high alloy steels. The following year, a separate high alloy department began operations.

Lebanon was first to use high frequency induction melting on a commercial basis, and therefore is one of the true pioneers among stainless steel foundries in America. The decade of the Thirties- brought more than depression to Lebanon. It brought a major breakthrough in American foundry technique. In Schaifhauson, Switzerland, The George Kischcr Steel and Iron Works had bo- come the foremost steel maker in Europe. New techniques developed at the Kischcr Works permitted the production of steel castings far more intricate, and with greater internal soundness, than had been achieved up In that time.

In 19311. Worrilow and Quinn investigated the i Method and obtained for Lebanon an exclusive American licensing agreement. Tho dramatic improvement in casting quality which followed advent of the Fischer Method created an entirely new market lor Lebanon Steel Foundry. Almost immediately, the Foundry became one of the largest producers of high pressure castings in America. Those castings included pump casings, turbine casings, and equipment for the oil drilling and refining industries.

Once again, Lebanon stood at Ihn forefront of Its Industry. Later in the Thirties, Lebanon Steel Foundry made an outstanding contribution to the Allied war effort in World War II. During Wartime During a visit to Germany in I'lliB, Worrilow observed German tanks that utilized cast armor plate for increased protection from a direct hit. Together with Quinn, he recommended to the War Department that American tank armor design should be modified to utilize the greater protective qualities in contoured, streamlined, high strength steel castings. Lebanon, at the request of the War and Navy Departments, embarked upon a crash program of experimentation and research ir.

the field of cast armor plate. Working in conjunction with the Army and Navy Proving Grounds, Lebanon developed cast steel armor which was used on literally thousands of tanks in the Allied war effort. With subsequent i i- cations and improvements, tank armor is a major item of Lebanon production today. The tank armor program was one of several defense projects Undertaken at Lebanon during World War II. In the summer of 1941 the foundry went into round-the- clock production, seven days a week.

Total employment grew to over 1750 and monthly shipments 'of steel castings for the war effort exceeded 1800 tons. The foundry's tremendous reductive accomplishment won recognition throughout the nation. The first Army- Navy award was received in 1943, followed by two subsequent awards in 1944. New Horizons World War II saw the coming of the Jet Age. At the war's end, prope 11 er-d riven aircraft for military purposes had become obsolete.

Since jet engines required high integrity steel components, the steel foundry industry again was presented with a new challenge and opportunity. Lebanon took up the challenge in a dramatic move which brought to America a revolutionary technique in the production of centrifugal castings. The acknowledged world leader in centrifugal casting production was Firth-Vickers Stainless Steels, Ltd. of Sheffield, England. If American military air craft were to bepre-eminent in the Jet Age, new technology must brought to this country and made available to our jet engine manufacturers.

In 1947 Lebanon became exclusive American licensee for secret Firth-Vickers processes to cast super-alloy steels by the centrifugal method. "Centri-Die" process, as it became known at Lebanon necessitated the construction of an entirely new department, producing 200 tons per month of cen- tritugally cast jet engine components. This was another significant breakthrough in American foundry techniques pioneered and developed at Lebanon The outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 brought about a return to large scale military production at Lebanon. This condition continued in 1954. With the resumption of more normal production for civilian needs, the foundry now sought new markets by offering an entirely different type of end product known as "specialty" castings.

Newest Processes Even while involved in the production race of World War II and the Korean conflict, Lebanon kept abreast of the newest foundry techniques throughout the world, and carried on a broad program of research and experimentation, with the production of specialty castings which far exceeded any thing previously attainable in complexity and tolerance control, Lebanon entered a new phase of development. The Specialty Foundry at Lebanon began with investigation of a British technique known as the Shaw process. This process used ceramic molds to produce small castings of highly com- ples design, in which precise tolerance and extremely good surfaces are prerequisite. Adapted and modified at Lebanon as the Ceramicast Process, it was ideally suited to the requirements of aircraft and missile component manufacturers whose highly specialized requirements exceeded the limitations of conventional sand castings. As the first American licensee of the Shaw process, Lebanon took a giant step into the Space Age.

Equally dramatic were the accomplishments 'in the technique of shell molding. After intense research during the middle Fifties, Lebanon achieved several refinements in the shell mold- process which permitted quantity production of extremely accurate castings in virtually all carbon and high alloy steels. The response to the Lebanon shell mold process was enthusiastic and immediate, causing many manufacturers to redesign their entire product line in order to utilize the advantages of the new techniques. During the height of the Vietnam War the steel foun dry continued its role principal supplier of defense oriented casting tor naval, in tantry. and artillcryforces the U.S.

With a payroll exceeding $6,000.000 for the 675 employes, and a gross volume estimate of $15,000,000 the local steel firm has kept pace of the steel industry by tooling up and adding new and improved facilities to fulfill new equipment needs in fields like petrochemical processing, food processing, fluid. handling, cryogenics and transportation. The plant today has. complete facilities tor conventional sand casting as well as shell molding, CO 2 molding, the Ceramicast process, and pressure pour casting. The local steel foundry's products bear the world famous Circle trademark.

As of the writing of this article, the Lebanon Steel Foundry and the Harsco Corp. had reached an agreement in principle for the acquisition of IN IT'S HARD ENOUGH JUST BEING A CAR, THE FIAT 124 IS USED AS A TAXI. To Bf Rome's narrow the Fiat 124S is as shor! ns VW Beetle, yet if seats 4 full-size Romans. And lo help a driver show a profit, it gets 30 miles lo a gallon and costs just $2,395 delivered. You know, if the Fiat 124S can make it in Rome as a taxi, it can make it anywhere as a car.

anna The biggest selling car in Europe. t.rvlc. Claud Ojl.n9 lo 5 Thundiy S.rvlc. Opin 'Til 9 Cleona Colonial Autos, COMPACT CAR CENTER Inc. Mei, Servict and Porlt en Premise; (Next to GinnrUh'j) Phone 273-7191 the steel foundry by the Harsco Corp.

The agreement is expected to be completed in early fall with no change in management at the steel foundry. Current officers of the local foundry include: John M. Quinn, president; Thomas S. Quinn, vice president-operations; Richard J. Gambcr, vice president-sales; Charles W.

Mellingcr, treasurer; John L. 'Worrilow, secretary; and Frank 0. Hill, director of industrial relations. A parade, led by a local fire apparatus, makes its turn at Seventh and Canal Streets. SINCE 1911...

We have been immensely proud of the economic contribution makes to the continued prosperity of the Lebanon Valley Area. We intend to do so for many years to come. Since our founding, Lebanon Steel Foundry has been foremost in the production of quality steel castings for many industries, especially electric power generators, chemical processing, fluid handling and national defense needs. Excellence of our plant facility, staffed by highly competent employee family has made this possible. This, too, will be preserved in the years ahead.

We congratulate the NEWS on their 100 years of outstanding service to our community. We join in wishing them continued success. LEBANON STEEL FOUNDRY SYMBOL OF SERVICE TRADEMARK OF QUALITY.