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).
Visit from F.A. Hughes & Co. to discuss the latest developments, applications, and corrosion resistance of magnesium castings.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 142\4\ scan0003 | |
| Date | 1st July 1926 | |
| X.4412 Rg{Mr Rowledge}3/W2. 7. 26 MAGNESIUM CASTINGS. We received a visit today from Major Ball and Mr. Beielstein, representing Messrs. F.{Mr Friese} A.{Mr Adams} Hughes & Co. Ltd. Mr. Beielstein is a German, and has brought over their latest experience and modifications to the material, which very much improve it from the point of view of corrosion. They have left with us a casting of part of a differential used on a Maybach car, and we will send this down to you the next time a car comes to West WitteringHenry Royce's home town. They informed us that a number of firms on the Continent are using their material, including the Isotta Fraschini Co., who are using it for cars and for aero engines for the Italian Navy. When Sft.{Mr Swift} came back from his visit to the Isotta Works two years ago, he reported that the Isotta people were using Magnesium castings. The material they have been using for the Italian Navy is the old alloy, and not the alloy improved with regard to corrosion. They stated that our Air Ministry is interested. These people supply the material to Sterling Metals Ltd. of Coventry, who will now be able to supply the latest type of castings, but if we wished to make the castings in our own foundry, we should be able to do so. In Germany they are using forged Magnesium for pistons in considerable quantities. For ordinary castings they guarantee a strength of 10 to 11 tons in the casting itself. Chill test bars would of course have a considerably higher strength. They stated that generally the price of the material comes out the same price for piece when in quantity production, but that the machining is much cheaper. When you have seen the casting, part of which we are submitting to our standard spray test for corrosion, I think we should order from them half a dozen of our standard test pieces and carry out fatigue tests. Rg.{Mr Rowledge} | ||