Steel Ingot on the Table of the Blooming Mill, Pittsburgh, P.A.

After the iron has been melted in the blast furnace and carbon has been driven into it, it is tested to see that it has a certain degree of purity. Then it is dipped into a large ladle or pail, from which it is let into molds. In these it is covered with sand, until it has cooled to a proper temperature. These molds are taken to the blooming mill, where the ingots are lifted out by a large crane and placed upon the blooming table. It is one of these hot ingots that you see lying on the table in the center of the view. Just beyond the table is the blooming machine. The rollers on which the ingot is resting are set into motion, and drive the ingot into one of the five openings which you see in this machine. Here between great rollers, the hot steel is crushed to a smaller size. Then the table is lifted by its own machinery and the ingot is driven between another pair of rollers which make it still smaller. The action is repeated on a still higher plane between another pair of rollers. When the ingot comes from this third process, it has been made into the size desired. Briefly the whole process is that of rolling the hot steel until it is as small as it needs to be. You will observe the streams of water in the mill pouring down on the rolls. This is to keep them from becoming overheated from the ingot. By this method of blooming an ingot can be made into any desired shape. If steel rails are wanted, the block comes out about 6 inches square. It is then called a bloom. It may be rolled thin-only an inch or two in thickness. In that case it may be used as steel plating for vessels and for boilers. Explain what is done in the blooming mill of a steel factory. Keystone ID: 6420 Note: All titles, descriptions, and location coordinates are from the original Keystone Slide documentation as supplied by the Keystone View Company. No text has been edited or changed.