The Hickman courier., 1881-03-25
How On.Cloth is Made.


All the burlaps on and of which oil
cloth is made is manufactured IN Dun
dee. Scotland 1t is made from an India
grass. It is sized first, when it is ready
for painting 1t isn't painted with brush
es, but with knife. A great long knife
The end of the burlaps is passed under
the blade. When paint is labeled ON the
burlaps by the gallon. machinery takes
hold of it and draws it between n roller
and the knife, and the blade scrapes off
all the superfiuous paint as it passes
through. No brush could lay the color
on so evenly. They paint sixty yards of
burlaps in minute. Then when it is
dry it is sand-papered by machinery and
other coats of paint go on. From four
to nine coats of paint are put on, accord
ing to the quality of the oll-cloth. All
the blocks from which oil cloth Is printed
i'm these-aud. with few exceptions, all
the manufactures in the United States
are made in Hallowell, Me. The block
is about eighteen inches square, and Is
made of three pieces, the laside block Is
pine and outside blocks are maple. The
printing surface is sawed across Mt right
angles with very fine saws, which works
automatically. and don't need any super
iutendencc after they have been started.
When it reaches the factory the surface
of the blocks look like box of matches;
the designer then paints his design ON
paper lined ont III tiny squares, per
feet duplicate of the block. In copying
the design on the block, the operator
works one block for each color, and the
copving is done with n chisel, the oper-
ntor cutting away all the little squares
made hy the saws, except those covered
by the pattern. 1t Is like worsted work,
1 -four squares to the right, three straight
mp. five to the right, three down, and
| four to the left The same old three
| greens and then n brown business The
designer is limited to few colors, and has
10 make the most of his combinations.
/ These blocks are then fitted with han
| dies, and the printers go to work. The
/ palette IS u great revolving table with
/ pads of the different paints laid upon 1t.
/ Two men work mt each table, and the
I operation of printing is like stamping
/ letters at the mailing table in the post
/ office. The printer slaps the black on
/ pad, then strikes it on the Oil-cloth.
/ First the white, saw. And there is a
/ scattering meaningless picture of little
white squares. Then the red Is struck
/ on, more little white dots that look like
nothing. Then the green, and you think
You can see something like leaf. Then
/ another shade, and another, until you see
a cluster of leaves and birds in a figure,
/ outlined by a very distinct color, and the
printing Is ready for the ''masher,
which is a block just like the others, only
all the squares left on, not one struck
out This Is pressed down on the figures
by q hand press, and the printing Is
/ pressed down evenly and smoothly. If
+ the printer wants to give square or
'peCged' appearance to the finish of the
oil-cloth, the masher is sawed both ways,
in the bunch of matches style. If he
wants to Zine the finish, the ''masher
he uses has only been sawed one way,
and the oil-cloth has lined appear
ance on the surface This work Is all
done by hand, guided only by guages,
but so perfectly is it done that the fig
ures never lap, and you will have hard
work finding where the blocks join on
your oil-cloth They print each day at
each table, l20 yards of oil-cloth. Then
the cloth goes into the 'ice house" to
dry. The ice house is frozen by steam.
superintendent Dun very kindly told me
to put on my OvercOat before l went III.
l put in on, and when L got in there the
thermometer marked 175 degrees above,
and still going. / took off my oyercoat.
The cloth Is then ready to varnish. This
is done with brushes, fourteen brushes.
which a man works with a crank. Here
in these works they varnish fourteen
thousand yards week. And if you want
to know any more about oil-cloth, write
to Salem I can makeit myself, but |
haven't time to write any more about it.
BlTliHQtOn HdlCkeHe