From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Letter from Wellworthy Piston Rings Ltd. discussing issues with porous bearings and casting policies.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 115\5\ scan0113 | |
| Date | 15th September 1938 | |
| bearing material / 256. WORKS TELEPHONE LYMINGTON 520 WORKS TELEGRAMS "WELLWORTHY" PRIVATE TELEPHONE LYMINGTON 232 MANAGING DIRECTOR'S OFFICE WELLWORTHY PISTON RINGS LTD., LYMINGTON HANTS 15th September, 1938. JH/CJR. W. Robotham Esq., Messrs. Rolls-Royce, Limited, Derby. Dear Mr. Robotham, Thanks for your letter of the 14th, and may I clear up the situation as I understand it. Let us take general lines for a start. I entirely agree with you that what we want to do is to take a number of firms and convince these firms by supplies, deliveries, and service, that this material is superior for the big end bearing problems that they have got to any other material, and that is the policy which we are working on. I am inclined to think that H.D.A. have rather got this picture of the necessity for an urgent meeting all wrong, owing to one point only. You will remember that they are fairly closely in contact with A.E.C. and A.E.C. asked us to supply them with some bearings which they wanted cast from tube: they had not time to wait until a proper die was made for the job, and insisted on 'delivery at once' sort of business if we wanted them to take any interest. With H.D.A. being also interested in A.E.C. we very foolishly acceded to their request, and cast them a tube of metal about 3/4" thick from which they machined the bearings. These bearings proved to be porous, and they got in touch with Robinson of H.D.A. immediately, without getting in touch with us, to come down and see them, and created a great deal of trouble because these bearings were porous. Immediately I saw them I said "Right, we do not cast any more tubes for anybody; if anybody wants any more bearings we will make a die for the bearing, we will cast it and etch it and machine it, so that we can guarantee that the material and the machining is satisfactory." That was our policy even before the A.E.C. job, but to meet their urgent requests we broke away from that policy with the result that High Duties think that we have | ||