216 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[April i, 1902. 



THE IDEAL PRESS ROOM FOR SMALL MOLD WORK. 



By a Former Super intendetit. 



IT is remarkable, yet true, that a number of our large rub- 

 ber manufacturers look upon mold work, as it is com- 

 monly termed, as only a necessary evil, to be tolerated 

 only because it brings to them other and more desir- 

 able work. The result is that the Mold room or Press roam is 

 often'hidden in some out of the way corner, and little if any 

 care is taken of it, in which circumstances it easily justifies 

 their opinion. The superintendent, however, who is up to date 

 and interested in mechanical construction, soon finds it not 

 only one of the most interesting, but, when properly conducted, 

 one of the most profitable of all rubber departments. Arranged 

 with system, and given ample working space for the men em- 

 ployed, so that the goods may be kept clean, the mold room 

 will soon return profits for all the care given to it. 



The most desirable way to fit up the room is to arrange the 

 presses on three sides of a square, placing in the center the 

 benches running parallel with the two sides of presses. At the 

 head of the benches nearest to the entrance to the mill room 

 should be placed racks for holding the various grades of stock, 

 in rolls. The stock should be run between sheeting, on shells 

 and not chalked, as this will greatly facilitate the operator in 

 drawing out on the bench preparatory to building up the re- 

 quired thickness or cutting into desired shapes. 



Where a great variety of work having a varying range of, 

 thickness is constantly being made, the four-plate press, 24 

 inches square, is the most satisfactory, hut some larger presses 

 will be found necessary to complete the room. It is also very 

 convenient to have a few small upright steam vulcanizeis 

 about 30 inches deep by 18 inches diameter, so arranged that 

 they can be used to relieve the presses from long heats. For 

 example, hard valves for steam purposes may be partly cured 

 jn the press and finished in the vulcanizer, or, where it is neces- 

 sary to shrink stock by boiling, these small vulcanizers will 

 be found extremely useful. 



It will be obvious to any one with mechanical knowledge 

 that the only satisfactory way to operate the presses is by an 

 accumulator of sufficient size to insure the desired pressure 

 and quick manipulation. Some fit the main feed pipe with a 

 reducing valve, set to the desired pressure, thus saving the ex- 

 pense of thermometers for each press, and gage the cure 

 of different compounds by time alone. 



Two machines that play an important part in a pr'ess room 

 are a disc cutter, for cutting values, diaphragms, and the like, 

 and a tubing machine, which can be used for making the first 

 form of a large variety of shapes. Two very desirable articles 

 of manufacture — billiard cushions and deckle straps — can be 

 arranged for by fastening to a bench a steam chest of the de- 

 sired length and width, having fastened to it a section cf the 

 desired mold, with the corresponding section placed directly 

 above it and hung with balance weights so that it may be easily 

 lowered into place. These two sections can be securely fast- 

 ened by bolts, or preferably by knuckle joint levers. These 

 plates will be found very sensitive to heat and cold, and care 

 should be exercised in heating and cooling before and after 

 vulcanization. As the designs in mold work change so often, 

 one will be constantly busy inventing small tools to facilitate 

 the work, and the value of the head of this department depends 

 upon his ability to meet these constant changes. 

 One of the most important points to be remembered in the 



press room is that cleanliness is profitable. All of the presses, 

 the tables, and the tools should be kept clean and, in fact, so 

 should the men. Molds should be inspected often, and when 

 they gather a sulphur, soap, or talc crust, should be at once 

 cleansed. This question of easily and quickly cleaning molds 

 has long been a serious problem with rubber men. Some have 

 skin coated the inner surface of certain molds with block tin, 

 and when it grew foul, have melted it out and retinned it; 

 others have invented liquids that were said to take out the 

 scale without injury to the metal. Perhaps, after all, the best 

 and cheapest method is the use of the sand blast. A smooth 

 talc like sand will do the trick, and it is no job at all to arrange 

 a box for this work that will protect the workman, and at the 

 same time collect the sand for further use. 



Of course money is saved by exercising care in fitting the rub- 

 ber parts so that they fit perfectly, in excluding all air, in cool- 

 ing down for stocks that will pufT, and in remembering that 

 cloth insertions are liable to burn. A thousand suggestions 

 could be made to fit any one line of mold work and a thou- 

 sand other for another line, and it is just this condition that 

 makes mold work both fascinating and profitable for the right 

 man. 



WATERPROOF CLOTH FROM INDIA. 



THERE has been manufactured in India, from time imme- 

 morial, a cotton fabric known as Afridi-wax cloth, by a 

 process the secret of which is just beginning to be understood 

 outside of the workshops where it is produced. This fabric, often 

 embossed in colors, is in great demand for the wearing apparel 

 of the native women, though too heavy for European tastes. 

 But in a report by the United States consul at Bombay, Mr. 

 William Thomas Fee, it is suggested that the Afridi cloth pos- 

 sesses value as a waterproof material, as a lubricant for leather, 

 and as a powerful cement for glass and stone ware. The fabric 

 is treated with oil from the seeds of the wild safliower (known 

 to botanists as Carihamus oxjacanta), which thrives inthearid 

 regions of northern India. Specimens of Afridi cloth, for cos- 

 tumes and curtains, have been received by the bureau of for- 

 eign commerce, in the department of state, at Washington. 



AMERICAN SAFES IN PARA. 



REFERRING to the recent fire in the rubber establishment 

 of Frank da Costa & Co. at Pard. mentioned in the last 

 India Rubber World, the United States consul at Pard. Mr. 

 K. K. Kenneday, says in an official report that there were six 

 safes in the offices of the company, including two of American 

 make. The contents of these two were found to be uninjured, 

 whereas the books, money, etc., in the other safes were de- 

 stroyed. In one of the latter safes was Brazilian currency 

 equal in amount to about $175,000, of which Consul Kenneday 

 writes: " There is little hope of recoveiing anything of the 

 money thus damaged by fire and water." The consul says that 

 there were 43 tons of rubber in the building, of which 28 

 tons were destroyed and 15 tons damaged. The Brazil- 

 ian Review reports the sale of 18 tons of sernamby rubber 

 from the da Costa establishment for account of one of the in- 

 urance companies. 



