Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1883-02-21
Clothes Pins.

Probably very few realize the extent
of the mat ufacture of clothes pins, and
the amount of capital employed in the
business. Their manufacture is mostly
confined to New England, and the
State of Maine produces its share of
the commodity.
According to the Bangor Industrial
Journal, one of the most complete and
extensive clothes pin factories is locat-
ed at Vanceboro, Me. From the same
source the process OF manufacturing
the pins, as carried on at the Vance
boro Wooden Ware Company,s factory,
is given.
The wood used is mainly white
birch and beech. The logs are cut
and hauled to the shores of the lake or
the streams emptying into it, whence
they are floated down to the mill A
fast as required they are hauled into
the mill by a windlass and chain work
ed by steam power, and sawed into
lengths of Is or % inches-the former
to be made into pins, and the latter
into boards for the boxes required in
packing. The 16-;nch lengths are next
sawed into boards of the requisite
thickness by q shingle machine, then
into strips of the proper size by gang
of IL circular saws, and finally into
5-inch lengths by gang Of 3 saws.
The logs have now been cut up into
blocks about five inches long and three
fourths of an inch square. Falling. as
they leave the saws, on an elevator
belt, they are carried into an upper
story, and returning to the first floor
are deposited in troughs, whence they
are fed to the turning lathes, of which
there are several-each being capable
of turning so pins per minute. They
are then passed to the slotting machines,
in which a peculiar arrangement Of
knives inserted in circular saw gives
the slot the proper hange, after which
they are automatically carried by
elevator belts to the drying bins on the
second floor, where they are subjected
to high temperature. generated by
steam pipes, until thoroughly seasoned.
There are several of these bins, the
largest Of which has a capacity Of 100
boxes. 10000 pins, and the smaller
ones so
The pins are now ready for polishing
and packing. The polishing is accom-
plished by means Of perforated cylinders
or drums, each capable of holding forty
bushels, in which the pins are placed
and kept constantly revolving until
they become as smooth as If polished
by hand WI h the finest sand paper. A
few minutes before this process is COM
pleted, a small amount OF tallow is
thrown in the drums with the pins.
after which a few more revolutions
gives them beautiful glossy appear
ance These polished drums are sus-
pended directly over the packing
counter on the first floor of the mill,
and being thus Immediately beneath
the ceiling of the floor above. are read
lily filed through scuttles from the dry
ing bins on the second floor. and as
easily emptied upon the counter below.
where they are sorted into first and
second grades, and packed in boxes Of
five gross each The sorting and pack
ing are done by girls Two hundred
and fifty boxes are packed per day.
The market for clothes pins is not
confined to any special locality. but il
found nearly all over the world. Ten
thousand boxes have been shipped 20
Melbourne, Australia, within too past
four months Ten firms London
carry a stock of ten thou sand boxes
each, and two firms in Boston carry
like amount. One thousand boxes
constitute a load