The Newtown bee., 1880-08-04
Assacs.easa sass:ssa1ies.
THE MANUFACTURE OF vULcANIzEI
 RUBBER FABRICS.
From The Srieatifc American.l

ed in one of our views the rubber has it's different and particular compounds In
 the mixing machine, and in the ealender- l ing, is united with the fabrics suited to
 the different kinds of goods made here.
 The lengths and widths required, are
 cut much the same way as in the prepaf-
 ation of belting, and then-fitt over cyl l finders of 25 and 50 feet ill length, which
 are rolled against other cylinders to
 press together and make solid the laps
 and joints under 8 powerful pressare and
 the requisite degree of heat. These
 forming cylinders remain In the lengths
 of hose until the vulcanizing is complet-
 ed. 4 great many kinds of hose are
 made, two-ply being the thinnest, and | the sizes from half an inch to ten inches 1 internal diameter; hydrant hose is threo-
 ply and ordinary engine hose, to stand
 pressure of 100 to 150 lbs. to a square l iHch, is four-ply. Their "test' hose,
 made on carbolized duck for fire-engine
 service, will stand pressure of 400 lbs.
 per square inch. Tine advantage of rub
 Der hose over that made of leather, aside
 from it's much higher tensile strength,
 lies Tn the fact that it requires no care,
 only to be hung up to dry after use,
 while leather hose must frequently be
 ''stuiTed' with oil and tallow, etc., after l the manner a currier finishes leather,
 only the stuHing must be forced inside
 the hose, making the operation more
 difficult. For these reasons the use of
 leather hose is steady being relegated
 to the small country towns where only
 hand engines are used and where the
 volunteer firemen have ample time to
 devote to leather dressing.
 In addition to the above, the New
 York Betting and Packing Company
 manufacture suction hose, and steamer
 and brewers hose, on spiral wire, one
 variety of which has the wire entirely embedded in the rubber, 50 that the in
 terior is perfectly smooth.
 The illustration showing where the
 square packing is made ready for vulcan
 izimg gives only one of many different | operations connected with this branch | The rubber is furnished in sheets and plates of different sizes and shapes for
 regular articles, either pure or with -cloth insertion, but where irregular
 shapes and forms are wanted, which cau- not be cut out of the standard products, they must be made in moulds, not cast,
 as many suppose, and the rubber, after having been prepared by mixing and
 otherwise, as in the other operations must be pressed into the mouldo. in this way the corrugated mating, stair pads, car springs, etc, are made. The demand for this packing ill steam work, to pack around piston rods, and wher- ever there is joint where the metal is subjected to different degrees of temper ature, in valves, etc, is enormous, and l only an engineer who has had experi- ence with the materials formerly used | for this purpose can fully realize it's value 1 for such use.
 The making of gas tubes, shown in one of the views, presents no substantial difference in principle from hose making. This tubing is made either pure or with cloth insertion.
 An important specially of the business of the company is the making of solid vuicanite emery wheels, i'll which just enough rubber is used to firmly hold to- gcther the particles of emery. It re- quircs pow erful machinery to thoroughly work the compound into Q homogeneous mass, after which it is rolled into shoots, cut into wheels Of the desired size and  when it is ready for vul ulcanizing. These wheels are of the nature of stone through out, and nearly as hard as cast iron. They can be used either wet or dry, but by allowing water to drip on them while in use, their cutting properties will some times be improved, and dust will be avoided.
 The concluding operation of all the above proc ,Sses, however, is the vulcan- zing, a representation of two of the heaters which is given in one of the views. To leave off this portion of ths and this was the point which gave Charles Goodyear the most of his trouble-all the preceding labor would be thrown away. Each acticle made must have just 50 much heat and 10 more, and be subjected thereto for certain definite time, the amount of heat and the time varying according to the mineral compound with which the rubber Is incorporated. The heaters are, there fore, arranged with thermometers for yauging the temperature, and are made somewhat like steam boilers, some of them being 100 feet long; into these heaters run tracks on which long plat forms, laden with articles to be vulcan- zed, are rolled in, and the steam is let on to raise and keep the required tenn perature, The great length of these heaters arises from the necessity of making long stretches of belting, and { also from the amount of hose made in l lengths of fifty feet.
 In this connection considerable inter est attaches to an immense steam press, the largest of it's kind in the world which tle company have recently which is shown to the right at the bottom of the page. This press will take belt feet wide, and 15 feet of its length, 1t once; it weighs 85,000 pounds; the steam is let into the bed and platen so that the temperature can be readily reg ulated; the platen is stationary, and the bed is lifted by hydraulic pressure. The most novel feature of this great press, however. is that it is arranged with appliances at each end for stretch ing the belts, so that while the belt Is under the full tension of the heaviest strain that it may be desired to put upon it it may at the same t1nne be cnrnnressed l