January 1, 1920.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



205 



Making Arctics by Machinery. 



AFTER SEVERAL YEARS of experimemiiig a process of making 

 cloth arctics by machinery after the manner of manu- 

 facturing leather shoes, has been perfected. The advan- 

 tages of the machine over the hand method are a lower produc- 

 tion Cost per pair, sturdier and more nearly standard shoes, less 

 waste and greater output, all of which have been so satisfac- 

 torily demonstrated that rubber shoe factories are beginning 

 to change over to the machine method. 



In order that the difference between hand and machine manu- 

 facture may be clearly brought out, the lime-honored hand 

 system is briefly described. 



THE HAND METHOD. 



A prevailing type of one-buckle arctic consists of twenty 

 parts: the insole, rag sole, filler, outsole, heel lift, lining (usually 

 of wool or rteece) joining strip or piping, toe cap, rag heel, 

 cloth heel, fo.xing, gum inner vamp, friction inner vamp, quarter 

 and vamp facing, heel strip, bacl< stay, quarter stay, cord buckle 

 strap and buckles. A team of three men is the usual complement 

 for making this shoe although individual makers frequently 

 construct the arctic from start to finish. 



All of the inside pieces, such as the insole, rag sole, etc., are 

 coated with cement, the wool linings are joined at the seams 

 with "i-inch piping, the quarter is edged with cord and the 

 buckles put on by girls in the make-ready department or stock 

 cage for the team workers ; individual makers prepare their 

 own work. 



At the start of the operation the first maker "lasts over" the 

 lining to the insole, applies the heel lift, friction toe foxing, rag 

 filler and gum inner \amp. The shoe then passes to maker 

 number uvu, u l.u cun.pletes the construction of the upper by 



PREPARINf7 THE UpPER AND MoLMNG THE OUTSOLE. 

 Right to left: The (jirl i? rolling the foxinit on the assembled upper. 

 Machines on the bench are Singer se-ving machine, cementing machine for 

 the edges of the npper. "stitcher" for the foxing, and 



putting on the rag heel, cloth heel, and the facings, which are 

 applied separately, it will be noted, and joined at the sides. 



Maker number three finishes the .shoe by "stitching" (a term 

 used for running a serrated roller around the edges of the 

 foxing and outsole to bind them together) the foxing, putting 

 on the gum toe cap, and rolling on the outsole. After the shoes 

 are vulcanized, tliey are stripped from the lasts in the packing 

 room and the surplus lining trimmed oflf. 



THE MACHINE METHOD. 



The first difference in the machnie method which has been 

 developed by the United .Shoe Machinery Co. is that the upper 



instead of being built on tlie last, piece by piece, is made up 

 complete before lasting, the same as the upper of a leather 

 or tennis shoe. Thus the top is completely titled to the last. 



The construction of the upper is similar except that the lin- 

 ings follow the same lines as the facings and are made to fit 

 exactly, thus avoiding the waste of trimming after vulcaniza- 

 tion. The gum foxings are placed on the upper before lasting 

 as follows : the heel foxing is placed on the quarter and rolled 

 by machine ; ihe quarter is then stitched to the vamp on a Singer 

 sewing machine, after which the toe foxing is applied so 



Assembling and Lasting. 



king the 



nsole to the last. Next is the 



nsole at the heel. Directly in 



" "ggerheads" which 



Right to left: The man 

 machine which assembles I 

 front are two consolidated 

 nail the upper to the insole. 



that it overlaps the heel foxing at the sides. The edges of the 

 top are cemented by machine in one operation, and it is ready 

 for lasting. 



An insole of fiber board or composition material is generally 

 used, although the ordinary sole of "rag" and cloth answers 

 the purpose, provide 1 the rag is compounded with plenty of 

 fibrous material to make it stiff. A rag filler smaller than the 

 insole is cemented to it by an insole cementing machine and 

 molded to the shape of the last on a molding machine similar 

 to that used to mold oulsoles of leather shoes. 



Wooden lasts bottomed with a sheet of metal perforated with 

 holes at the ball, shank and heel are used, but any style of 

 wooden or metal last can be adapted to the method. A tacking 

 machine fastens the insole to the last by inserting a tack in each 

 of the three holes for temporary purposes. The insole and the 

 upper are then assembled on an assembling machine, which 

 tacks the upper to the last at a point just above the heel foxing 

 and lasts over the heel. Thus the upper is held firmly in place 

 on the last, and the large lining of the hand-made arctic be- 

 comes unnecessary. The small tack hole just above the foxing 

 in no way impairs the waterproof qualities of the shoe, as it 

 closes during vulcanization. 



The shoe then passes to the "pulling over" machine, which 

 pulls or lasts over the upper at the forepart after which the 

 hand-method lasting machine or "niggerhead" fastens the upper 

 securely to the insole by inserting a line of tacks about ^-inch 

 from the edge. The upper has previously been cementd along 

 the edge, so the machine arctic is both nailed and cemented. 

 The thickness of the upper corresponds to the gage of the filler, 

 consequently the bottom of the shoe is smooth. Even the most 

 experienced hand laslcrs cannot always avoid the bunches and 



