354 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[July 



1904. 



THE PRICE AND QUALITY OF RUBBER. 



FROM "THE ELECTRICAL REVIEW " (LONDON). 



IT has been said that general ignorance obtains on the im- 

 portant subject of rubber in its relation to the electrical 

 industry. The probability is that the comment is scarcely un- 

 warranted. Recollections of recent law cases bring back the 

 memory of how expert witness after expert witness hurriedly 

 disclaimed any desire to pose as the possessor of a knowledge 

 of rubber. In one case especially, where the whole point at 

 issue lay in the quality of the rubber used in the insulation, 

 every other point was argued but the main one, bringing about 

 a somewhat ludicrous state of affairs. If this lack of knowledge 

 obtains in this branch of the industry, how much greater must 

 it be in the others. It would be amusing were it not so seri- 

 ous, to hear the frequent stipulations as regards the use of the 

 best Para in insulation, when the price quoted must necessarily 

 forbid its use entirely, or only in a very attenuated form. The 

 price of Para rubber has for some time been well over 4.5. gd. 

 per lb. in its crude state, and on an average 15 per cent, of the 

 crude rubber is lost before it finishes its course through the 

 washing and drying processes. It may be taken, therefore, 

 that the material ready for manufacture costs at least 5.1. 6d. 

 per lb. It is fairly easy for any reader to calculate the weight 

 of the insulation, and the price he paid for the rubber in it, 

 apart from anything else. On the basis of the prices which too 

 generally obtain nowadays, the investigator will be forced to 

 the conclusion either that the manufacturer is a philanthropist, 

 or that the insulation is " very much mixed " rubber. 



Dismissing the first hypothesis (with regret), the investigator 

 is now face to face with the position into which his, and others', 

 keenness in buying has forced the manufacturer. Let us make 

 our views quite clear. There is as good insulated wire manu- 

 factured now as ever there was, but, unfortunately, much of 

 the stuff bought nowadays does not merit this description. 

 The manufacturer has been forced by his customers into mak- 

 ing an insulation which would have been scorned years ago. 

 It is true his more perfect knowledge has enabled him to use 

 his materials to better advantage, but the process of cheapen- 

 ing must have an end somewhere and at some time, and it is 

 time everyone in the electrical industry realized it ; manufac- 

 turers are only to be blamed in so far that they have given 

 way to a demand for an article at a certain price. The demand 

 has been made by those who should be in a position to know 

 the circumstances of the case, and to judge of what is neces- 

 sary. We incline to the opinion that a more adequate knowl- 

 edge of rubber and the price of it would, in a large measure, 

 bring about a better state of affairs. It is for the credit of the 

 industry that the work it does should at all times be work well 

 done. How is it possible to accomplish this, when the very 

 material that is relied upon for protection is attenuated to such 

 an extreme degree as to scarcely hold together, far less give 

 protection ? 



This may appear an exaggerated view, yet it is apparent at 

 times at the present moment, and is the inevitable goal to 

 which we are speeding. Rubber insulation is, and always 

 should be a non-conductor of electricity, able to withstand the 

 ravages of time, and the more or less accidental attacks of the 

 elements. Good rubber insulation can do all these things bet- 

 ter than any other practical material. Inferior rubber insula- 

 tion can only do these things in the ratio of its inferiority. 

 However skilfully chosen and skilfully prepared are the other 

 ingredients of a rubber-cum-something-else insulation, it must 

 always be remembered that none of these can supplant rubber 

 in its properties, and most of them tend to its earlier disinte- 



gration and the consequent loss of its properties. It lies with 

 the electrical industry to say how much further the cheapening 

 process on certain classes of work is to be carried. It is its 

 credit, and its credit alone, that is imperilled. It is nothing to 

 the public that the contractor may have had the fixing of the 

 price. The makers had the expert knowledge, and with them 

 rested (in the opinion of the public) the right to say what 

 quality of material should be used. 



We know, of course, that so long as any man has the power 

 (no matter whether he be the most ignorant on earth) to use 

 the title of electrician, so long will there be those to whom the 

 credit of the industry is as nothing. No appeals would touch 

 such a man, except an appeal to his pocket. It is to the more 

 responsible members of the industry that we put the question, 

 whether it is not time to cry a halt to this process of dangerous 

 cheapening ? 



THE "NEW METHOD" FOR WRINGER ROLLS. 



BY A WRITER IN THE " GUMMIZEITUNG." 



I WAS interested in reading the article in No. 12 of the 

 Gummi-Zeitung,* and admired the ingenuity of American 

 manufacturers. But, only the ingenuity, because the method 

 itself has, in my opinion, nothing in it to be admired, and the 

 poor consumers who have to use such rolls are to be pitied. 

 However, I will not neglect to make experiments with the new 

 method, as described, and satisfy myself by actual facts, but al- 

 ready I (eel the occasion to make the following comments on 

 this theme. 



First of all, I cannot see what " materially cheapening" this 

 method of manufacture possesses. The soft rubber of the roll 

 covering is drawn on a tubing machine, slipped onto hollow 

 mandrels and wrapped, tied, vulcanized, unwrapped, smoothed, 

 and cut to proper length. Now the iron core of the roll is 

 heated its whole length to a dull red and is thrust into the roll, 

 withdrawn, cooled in water, and again inserted. 



Rubber melted in this manner by heat has no exterior 

 smooth surface; drops of water will adhere in places from 

 whence they cannot be wiped away, because everything com- 

 ing in contact with this half-burnt bad smelling mass sticks to 

 it. The drops of water, therefore, would remain between the 

 covering and the axle, and are certainly not conducive to a 

 firm union. 



The total time required in this method is at all events no 

 less than that consumed in the manufacture of wringer rolls by 

 the method now in general use and approved, or in the 

 method which I will describe further on. 



It is very doubtful whether a roll cover made by the new 

 method would adhere firmly, and I believe that the majority of 

 the practically experienced rubber technologists are on my 

 side when I take the liberty to at least strongly doubt it. The 

 hard rubber is used in the manufacture of roll covers for the 

 purpose of making an " iron strong" attachment between the 

 axle and the soft rubber covering of the roll, and those who 

 have witnessed the extreme force used in squeezing the laun- 

 dry through the wringer rolls, or have examined worn out rolls 

 critically, must be convinced that only the strongest adhesion 

 is just good enough. It often occurs that the hard rubber 

 separates from the soft rubber, if — 



1. The qualities do not uniformly vulcanize ; 



2. The hard rubber or the inner layer of the soft rubber, or 

 both, were not entirely clean ; 



• " Attaching Wringer Rolls by Melting," translated from THE India Rubrkr 

 Wori.p. November i, 1903 - page 48. 



