202 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[March i, 1904. 



FIQ. 4 

 Partly Felted Bat for Wool Boot. 



//. The Felt Boot. 

 The carded wool passes direct to the machine in which it is 

 formed into the " bat." The bat is a sheet of fluffy layers built 



up diagonally across un- 

 til it is about two inches 

 thick. It is then divid- 

 ed by hand into rough 

 squares each sufficient 

 for a single boot. One 

 of the illustrations (Fig. 

 4) shows such a square 

 of bat after the first ope- 

 ration upon it toward 

 forming the boot. This 

 first operation consists 

 of felting it across the 

 middle by a special ma- 

 chine. This machine 

 consists of a hollow 

 steam box with its upper 

 surface corrugated and 

 perforated. The bat is 

 placed upon this and 

 another finely corrugated iron plate of tongue shape is closed 

 down upon it, and caused to vibrate back and forth at a high 



speed. This steaming' 

 rubbing, and compress- 

 ing quickly brings about 

 the felting or interlock- 

 ing of the wool fibers. 



The next step is to 

 close and felt the bat in 

 the form of a seamless 

 bag (Fig. 5.) This is sim- 

 ilar to the first felting, 

 except that it is done 

 on a " horn " or machine 

 composed essentially of 

 a middle or tongue 

 shaped hollow iron, cor- 

 rugated and perforated 

 for the escape of steam. 

 Hinged at the back end 

 of this part are top and 

 bottom concave covers 

 which close over the bat 

 folded about the "horn." 



FIQ. 5. 

 Felt Boot Before and After Shrinkage 

 and Previous to'Shaping. 



By the action of the steam and rapid vibration of the upper 

 cover plate the frayed edges of the bat are thoroughly felted 

 into one body and the bat leaves the " horn " as a seamless 

 loosely felted bag. The extra thickness of material where the 

 bat is closed over forms a reinforcement for the sole and back 

 of the leg, and receives leather stays and straps as guards 

 against chafing or aids in removal of the boot by the wearer. 



The knit and felt boots being thus formed in the rough, are 

 subjected to the same process of shrinking, shaping, drying, 

 and finishing. These processes begin with fulling. The goods 

 are placed in the fulling mill, a wooden box in which they re- 

 ceive a thorough pounding in the hot fulling liquor by a huge 

 mallet swinging like a pendulum. When this treatment has 



FACTORY OF THE MISHAWAKA WOOLEN MANUFACTURING CO 



FIQ 6. 



Boot Tree Collapsed and Distended for Forming Shrunken 



Wool Bag into Boot Shape. 



removed the grease from the wool and reduced the huge baggy 

 shapes to slim thick walled tubes (see Fig. 5), the goods are 

 thoroughly washed to remove the fulling liquor. When dried 

 they are ready to receive their final shape. To effect this the 

 shrunken bag is placed for a moment over a vertical perforated 

 form or pipe and steamed. Thus rendered hot and pliable it 

 is slipped quickly over a collapsible boot tree (Fig. 6), which is 

 then carefully expanded and the narrow bag under the guidance 

 of the operator's hand expands to the size and shape of a boot. 

 Thus formed the boots are dried on the iron trees hung in 

 wheeled racks or cars. Once dried, the goods thereafter retain 



their shapes. The final finishing 

 consists in sewing on the front, 

 back and side stays of leather and 

 the straps for drawing the boots on 

 and off the feet. 



The knit boot is more expensive 

 than the felt, and much better, being 

 considerably more flexible and by 

 its knitted structure less liable to 

 crack in service, a wear of six or 

 seven winters not being unusual for 

 these goods. The wear of felt boots 

 is equally satisfactory, price being 

 considered. Wool boots are made 

 in a dozen or fifteen styles, includ- 

 ing some for women. 



The Mishawaka company also 

 make the knit German sock (Fig. 7), 



