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In Vulcan's Workshop

Accession number: 
1922.0029
Production Years: 
1922

Languages:

Film Properties: 
Length (feet): 
988 (28mm); 1012 (35mm)
Holding Institutions: 

Library and Archives Canada: 28mm, 35mm, VHS.
"A picture describing manufacture of steel. It covers from the treatment in the furnace to the finished steel rail but is not about the manufacture of steel plate or structural steel. The film begins with two inter-titles: 'Fire and iron have served Man's sterner purposes since early ages - steel - their offspring - is the most widely used metal in our present civilization'. 'In the splendidly equipped plants of this province the romance of manufacture is continually enacted'. Panorama shot of active industrial smokestacks. Intertitle: 'An invaluable instrument called a 'skull-cracker' crushes slag iron which is charged into the open hearth furnace'. Shots of the 'skull-cracker' dropping a steel ball using a magnetic hoist. Intertitle: 'Eight hundred tons of steel are produced in each open hearth furnace at one time'. Long shot of the plant and rail cars moving into position. An operator loads a furnace. Shots of slag being poured into moulds. Intertitle: 'The resulting ingots are loaded onto rail cars and dropped onto conveyor belts'. Intertitle: 'The steel is now rolled into 'blooms'.' Ingots roll past the camera on rollers. Intertitle: 'The camera-man has 'speeded up' to show the action more clearly'. High speed camera shot of the blooms going through rollers. Shots of the blooms being loaded into a furnace, heated and then placed on rails. Intertitle: 'The rails pass from the rollers to hot saws where they are cut to desired lengths'. Shots of sparks as the saw cuts through the metal. Intertitle: 'In the finishing mill the rails are straightened and bolt holes are bored before inspection and shipment'. The film ends with shots of men drilling holes and stacking the rails for shipment."