THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



July 1, 1921 



stand the roughest usage. They are usually of red or black rub- 

 ber, are from 9 to 11 inches long, cloth-lined, and arc effective in 

 protecting the hands of cement and mortar workmen from the 

 corrosive alkali in moistened calcined clay and limestone. So 

 essential are rubber gloves regarded by cement workers, that 

 gangs laboring on concrete jobs have often struck rather than 

 work without some such protection for their hands. They are to- 

 day in general use by men spreading and finishing cement on roads, 

 bridges, mill dams, factories and nearly all large concrete jobs. 



Road and building construction companies buy cement- 

 workers' gloves in large lots and they often sustain severe losses 

 through misuse of the gloves, or because means of repairing them 

 are not often convenient. The gloves are usually scrapped as 

 soon as the cement liquid begins to seep through tlie cracks and 

 fissures. Yet up-to-date repair men know that there is no reason 

 why cement-workers' gloves should be cast aside when the breaks 

 in them are comparatively small. They can easily be put in good 

 condition — if not too far gone— by cither of two processes which 

 have proved practicable. 



METHODS OF REIPAIR 



One efficient method of repairing heavy gloves of the cement- 

 workers' type is that of vulcanizing on a piece of repair stock by 

 using short steel tubes with the ends rounded and attached to a 

 large steam pipe. Such tubes are made with varying diameters 

 to fit several sizes of fingers. The rent or a worn spot in a 

 glove is first buffed clean. A patch of 1/32-inch pure gum stock 

 of suitable size is cemented on and the hot tube taped to protect 

 the glove finger which is slipped over it. The patched finger is 

 also taped to give pressure for vulcanizing, and the patch is then 

 allowed to cure for five minutes. A second patch of similar gum 

 stock is next applied, again taped for pressure, and eight minutes 

 allowed for curing. The repaired glove is then rinsed in cold 

 ■water and finished. 



By another method, equally effective, the patch is placed inside, 

 instead of outside the glove finger, or the palm, or back, and 

 when the job is finished, little else is noticed on the exterior of 

 the glove other than a dark spot corresponding in size to the rent 

 ■or worn place. By this process the curing is done on an ordinary 

 steam-heated tube-vulcanizing plate equipped with screw, spring, 

 or weighted clamps. The glove is first turned inside out and the 

 repair spot is then buffed on an emery wheel to clean the edges 

 ■of the cut. A further buffing is given with a wire brush, widen- 

 ing the abraded surface and producing a more or less feathered 

 edge around the cut. A piece of 1/32-inch quick-curing (5 min- 

 •utes) tube repair gum is cut to little more than fit the buffed place 

 which is given a coat of cement. 



The patch is applied after the cement is thoroughly dry. Be- 

 fore being placed on the hot-plate, a piece of 1/16-inch felt is 

 laid on top of the patch to prevent bruising the rubber, and over 

 ;this a small block of wood is placed, care being taken that the 

 block docs not overlap the seam at either side of the finger. The 

 repair job is then put on the hot-plate and the clamp applied to 

 give the desired pressure. A temperature of 298 degrees (50 

 pounds pressure) is preferred, as at higher temperatures the rub- 

 ber is often over-cured. Practically no finishing is required on 

 the repaired glove. 



ELECTRIC VULCANIZER FOR RUBBER-GLOVE REPAIR 



A portable vulcanizer for repairing the finger tips of rubber 

 gloves utilizes an electrically-heated platen. This British inven- 

 tion is an oblong, low-set device with the platen set across the 

 center, and on the platen rest the forward ends of fourteen 

 hinged or pivoted wooden finger-trees, seven being placed at either 

 ■side, the part lying on the platen being flattened. When the torn 

 glove finger is stretched over a tree the rubber repair stock is 

 suitably applied and the covered tree is clamped to the platen 

 luntil the cure has "been effected. A thermometer on the platen 

 .indicates the degree of heat. The trees not needed can be thrown 



back out of the way, or all can be used together in the repair of 

 several gloves with the same heat. 



X-RAY GLOVES 



Rubber figures as an important factor in X-ray and radium 

 laboratories. Heavily compounded with lead, which is opaque to 

 the highly penetrating radiation from the Crookes-Roentgen 

 tubes as well as that of radium, rubber enters into the X-ray 

 protective cloth from which masks and aprons are made. The 

 latter are reported not only to save operators from more or less 

 harmful skin irritation, but to give long wear. Two kinds of 

 gloves are used, both made of rubber compounded with lead, one 

 of light weight used for handling patients, palpation, etc., and the 

 other very heavy and used while manipulating apparatus in large- 

 scale radiography. Of the latter little complaint is heard, but 

 of the lighter gloves, retailing at $15 a pair in most cases, it is 

 said that with only ordinary use they often give out in a month 

 or two. Splitting between the fingers and quickly wearing at the 

 tips seem to be the common troubles. It is believed that X-rays 

 do not exert any harmful effect on the gloves, and they are sel- 

 dom touched by injurious chemicals. 



The weightier gloves, probably the heaviest gloves made, are 

 worn when extensive radiography is done, as of the chest, abdo- 

 men, etc., and where exposure is considerable and long continued. 

 The heavy gloves are usually 12 inches long with a cuff to pro- 

 tect the wrist. In the event of repairing either type of glove, 

 the repairman would find it necessary to procure for patches, 

 stock of the same kind used in manufacturing X-ray gloves, name- 

 ly, lead-compounded, and the method of curing on patches would 

 be similar to that employed in repairing cement-workers' gloves. 



TANNERS' GLOVES 



Rubber gloves for tanners are made of a stout material com- 

 pounded to resist the action of most chemicals. There is an in- 

 creasing demand for the gloves which are lined with heavy net 

 as they are found much more durable than the unlined. Such 

 gloves afford an excellent protection for the hands, wrists, and 

 forearms of workers handling lime sulphite and caustic soda 

 solutions used for dehairing hides, sulphuric acid solutions used 

 for "pickling" pelts prior to tanning, and the powerful astringent 

 solutions of oak-bark, chrome-salts, or quebracho used in tanning. 



DRIVING GLOVES 



Rubber gloves for driving are of fairly strong compound, and 

 come in black, white, gray, and tan, in light, medium, and heavy 



Electric Vulcanizer 



A — Vulcanizing Platen; B — Finger Trees; C — Finger Rods; 

 D — Clamps. 



weights for men and women, and in sizes from 13 to IS, inclusive, 

 and short or with 5-inch gauntlets, lined with either net, wool or 

 fleece. Mending often can be done by curing patclies on the out- 

 side by means of the hot-pipe apparatus, slightly modifying the 

 process first mentioned for the repair of cement-workers' gloves. 



ACID GLOVES 



Gloves for acid-workers are made from a heavy acid-resisting 

 black compound and are often lined With heavy net to insure 



