The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1879-09-04
The Manufacture of Spools.

1t may have occurred to some of our
lady friends, while using the common
sewing thread, that vast number of
spools are required annually by the
manufacturers of that article, but it may
not be generally known that the Prov.
ince of Quebec furnishes its quota of
spools to the English and Scotch thread
manufacturers. Such, however, is the
case, and while on flying visit to the
romantic village Of Drummondville re-
Gently, we had the pleasure of visiting
the spool factories there in operation.
Drummondville is situated on the st.
Francis river, and the Northern Division
of the Southeastern Railway passes
through it. Several years ago the pre-
vailing wood which grew in the vicinity
was white birch, which does not, we be-
lieve, make first class firewood, but which
appears to be the best for the manufac-
ture of spools. This probably was the
reason why Drummondville was selected
as the place in which to locate these fac
tories, and The farmers in the vicinity
can always find ready market for this
kind of wood at about 81 so to 50 per
cord. The wood, after being delivered
to the factories, is first Sawed into pieces
about four feet long and from an inch to
an inch and half square, according to
the size of the spool it is destined to
make. These pieces are put into dry
house and thoroughly dryed, from whence
they are taken into the factory and
given to the 'roughers who IN anincredi-
bly, short space of time bore hole in the
center a couple Of inches deep, turn
about the same space round, and then
cut off the length required for a spool.
The machines used for this purpose are
revolvingplaners, in thecentre of which is
:. revolving gimlet orbit, and Immediately
to the right small circular saw with Il
gauge set to the proper size for the spools.
The ''roughers" receive a cent and half
per gross for their work, and experienced
men can turn out from 100 to 1870 gross
per day. The round blocks pass from
them to the 'tinishers," who place them
in machines which give them the shape
of spools and make them quite smooth.
1t is quite interesting here to notice the
men at work. A man stands wish his
left hand upon small lever, and with
the right he places the blocks, one at a
time, in the lathe, then draws the lever
toward him for an instant, and the work
is done; the lever is pushed back and the
spool drops down into a box below, while
the right hand is ready with another
block. These blocks are handled at the
rate of % or 30 per minute. The ''tin.
ishers" also receive one cent and half
per gross, and they can each turn out
from 100 to 1870 gross per day. The
spools are then thrown loosely into a
large cylinder, which revolves slowly so
that the spools are polished by the con-
slant rubbing upon each other for some
time. On being taken out of the cylin-
der they are placed in hopper with an
opening at the bottom through which
they pass down a slide for inspection.
Here the inspector sits and watches close
ly to see that no imperfect spools are al
lowed to pass, and Il very small knot or
scratch is sufficient to condemn them.
The spools then pass into the hands of the
packers, who handle them very lively.
They are packed in large boxes made the
proper size, SO that the layers of spools
exactly fill the box and no additional
packing is needed. These boys receive
a quarter Of cent per gross for packing,
and smart boy who is accustomed to
the work can pack about 200 gross per
day. One proprietor ships from -
900 to $4,000 gross Tor over two million
spools) per month to England, and an
other firm ships from 5000 to 5000
gross Tor over one million spools) to glas-
cow. Scotland Toronto Globe.