Abrasive material and method of making same

Claim 1

A PROCESS OF MAKING STEEL SHOT COMPRISING MELTING A QUANTITY OF GREY IRON IN A CUPOLA, FORMING THE MELTED IRON IN A POURING STREAM, DISPERSING THE STREAM TO SEPERATE IT INTO PELLETS, CATCHING THE PELLETS IN A QUENCHING TANK, SORTING THE PELLETS BY SIZE INTO GROUPS, PLACING THE PELLETS OF ONE GROUP INTO A BIN HAVING THE TUBULAR FEED SPOUT CONNECTING TO BIN TO THE INLET END OF A FIRST TUBE, CONTINUOUSLY INTRODUCING PELLETS INTO THE INLET END OF SAID FIRST TUBE, ANNEALING THE PELLETS BY HEATING THEM WHILE IN SAID FIRST TUBE TO A TEMPERATURE OF FROM ABOUT 900* F. TO ABOUT 1200*F., SIMULTANEOUSLY CONTINUOUSLY MOVING THE PELLETS THROUGH SAID FIRST TUBE BY DIRECTING A FLOW OF HOT HAS AXIALLY THERETHROUGH FROM THE INLET TO THE OUTLET ENDS, GRAVITY CONVEYING THE PELLETS FROM THE OUTLET END OF SAID FIRST TUBE TO THE INLET END OF A SECOND TUBE FORMED OF HEAT RESISTANT, CARBON-FREE MATERIAL, HEATING THE PELLETS WHILE IN SAID SECOND TUBE TO AT LEAST 1650* F. AND LESS THAN 2200*F. WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY CONTINUOUSLY MOVING THE PELLETS THROUGH SAID SECOND TUBE BY A FLOW OF HOT OXYGEN-LADEN GAS, MAINTAINING THE PELLETS IN SAID SECOND TUBE UNTIL THE CARBON CONTENT THEREOF IS LESS THAN ABOUT 1.7% BY WEIGHT, AND ROTATING BOTH THE FIRST AND SECOND TUBES CONSTANTLY TO AGITATE THE PELLETS THEREIN.