WAX 
883 
tear the threads. Be sure that there is no 
wad of burlap in any one place, and that 
the edges lie smooth. Put the follower 
over the burlap, screen side down, and 
quickly slide the can under the press. The 
can being hot, it slides almost as if it were 
on rollers, especially after a few drops of 
wax have dripped on to the platform, thor- 
oly lubricating every surface. The longer 
the can is used, the easier it slides back and 
forth. 
With the can in position, turn the screws 
down slowly. Especially at the start, do 
not make the fatal mistake of turning the 
screws down to the limit without stopping, 
for it is almost sure to burst the burlap. 
(Tf you burst the burlap just once you will 
always afterward be careful.) Turn the 
screws down only as fast as they turn easi¬ 
ly, therefore. As soon as they turn a lit¬ 
tle hard, wait until some of the wax and 
hot water has had a chance to ooze out. 
It is all right to apply considerable pres¬ 
sure when the screws have been turned 
down nearly to the limit, for then the 
“cheese” contains so little liquid that there 
is practically no danger of bursting the 
burlap. 
As soon as the can has been slid under 
the press, fill the empty boiler (No. 1) two- 
thirds full of hot water again from the 
bottom of the barrel and put it on the 
stove by the press. Put boiler No. 2 (which 
should now be full of partly melted comb) 
on the other stove to finish heating for the 
next pressing. 
In order to make the process continuous, 
start putting comb in boiler No. 1 again, 
now on the stove by the press. Two lots of 
comb are thus in the process of heating at 
the same time, the one to be pressed next 
being the nearest finished, while the other 
is just starting. 
As soon as the screws are down practi¬ 
cally as far as they will go, release the 
pressure, turning the screws up out of the 
way; lift boiler No. 1 temporarily off the 
stove and pull the press-can out on to it. 
Cover it with short boards cleated together 
and leave it in this position until it comes 
to a boil, then quickly slide back under the 
press and press again. Repeat this process 
Fig. 17.-—-While it sounds like a tedious process yet as a matter of fact it is pqssible to press a batch of 
40 combs every 45 minutes. Thirteen batches were pressed in a single day yielding in all 142 pounds of 
clean yellow wax. The small cake on top about % inch thick represents the amount of wax in a boiler 
after one batch is pressed—about 10 pounds. 
