The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1891-02-07
Manufacture of oilcloth.


From the American Analyst.
The body of oilcloth is what is called
burlaps, made of julie and imported from
Scotland. This coarsely woven fabric is
limp, and is stifened by being passed
through 4 mixture of starch and glue and
over hot rollers, coming out, it might be
said, lanndried 1t is then ready for the
paint machine, where it is given the body.
There are four qualities of oilcloth, depend
ing on the number of body coats of paint.
That which is to be the best quality re-
eeives five or six coats; The poorer grades,
a less number. The cloth, in pieces %
yards long by two yards wide, is dried in
racks which are constructed in tiers of 20.
The factory has rack capacity of 900
square yards The thickness of each coat
of paint is governed by a steel knife, in
manipulating which workman becomes so
proficient that he can tell nearly to the
pound what piece of cloth will weigh when
the coating process is completed. Three
men at paint machine can turn out in
day 100 pieces containing 80 square yards
each. The operation of coating the first
quality cloth occupies week, as each coat
requires "a hours in which to dry. 1t is
then sent to the rubbing machine, where
surfaces coated with glue and sand pass
rapidly over the side which is TO be printed,
Kidding it of all irregularities. The better
qualities are afterward given another coat
of paint, when they are ready for the prin-
ters This is the most interesting part of
the operation. For every color in the pat
tern to be transferred to the oilcloth there
must be block These blocks come from
Maine. They are about two inches thick,
two feet square, and are composed of sew
eral layers of wood The surface to be
used is of maple, crossed and recrossed by
narrow grooves which form surface of
small squares, IA of them to the square
inch These squares look like, and are in
reality, so many pegs.
Where the pattern is desired to show, the
pegs are left standing, those on the portion
of the surface which is not to be printed
from being cut away. The styles in pat
tern change twice year, Some are design
ed in Utica, and Others come from Phila-
delphia and New York. Some patterns
containing many colors require from % to
30 blocks, and consequently that number
of impressions to prodnce the design. Rug
patterns are the most difficult to make, as
it requires different blocks for the corners,
sides and the centre. The printing is done
on the top floor, SO that the oilcloth can
hang distance of fifty feet to dry. Each
printer has table with eight pads, on
which he smears his colors Pressing a
block to the pad containing the required
color, he transfers it to the surface of the
cloth, using hand pressure only. Having
done this with every block, as each trans
fers but one color, and consequently but
a small portion of the complete design, he
has finished about four feet square of print
ing, and goes about repeating the opera
ton on another portion of the cloth, and
so on. Two men generally work at table,
and cGn turn out fom 100 to $50 square
yards of oil cloth a day, when printing
seven or eight color patterns.
The paint used is similar to the ordinary
house paint When the printing is COM
pleted, another block is pressed on, which
gives the embossed surface, of which there
are two kinds, pin and line finish The
wet cloth then hangs from the loft for a
week, when by an ingenious mechanism it
is transferred to the drying room, where
for another week it remains in a tempera-
ture of 130 degrees. The door to this dry
room is fifty feet high, allowing that length
of oilcloth to be passed through without
rolling or bending. Coming out, it is var
nished, three men, with the aid of ma
chine, vanishing 5000 yards day. Next
it is trimmed and the cloth is ready to be
shipped.