The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1895-05-30
No.. 20.
WOOD PULP. MOSAIC.
Flooring Snid to be Superior. to Stono is
Now SIndo OF p;,pcr.

Flooring Snid to be Superior to Stono In
Now AIndo OF Papcr.
III thc latest reports of tho local
Ahoustr'nl unior, mention is made Of a.
process cl.",cd to DC entirely new, for
notwithstanding floor mosoics from wood
pulp, an innovation which is expected
10 produce important results. 1t ia
cAa'hcd that this process is distin-
gulShed from tho known processes Of
manufacturing sectional or mosaic
iioorS' by reason Of the fat that sec.
tiohs made according to it are not
llaolc TO ary change OF tcmperaturc,
anu are not like stone, but similar to
wood i'll all essential qualities Tho
process is us follows:
Small PARTICLES Of wood, such as saw
dust, wood -four, fine shavings, etc,
arc soaked in Il mixture Of shellac and
alcohol, SO that the pores Of the wood
arc penetrated and thoroughly dried.
cement, consisting of fresh cheese
whey icurO and Stacked lime, is then
prepared. The cement is thinned with
water and then mixed thoroughly with
the already dry wood PARTICLES in such
way that The consistency Of the mass
" uniform Particular care is taken to
ren"rr the cement as thin as possible,
so Ihat it will distribute itself easily
nNd uniformly, and inclosc each par
''r'c OF wood as perfectly us the shcllao
holhNion. The miNturc thus produced
Is allowed TO dry until it is moist-not
Ihr""%hiN dry, us before, for in tho
latter case thr curd would lose It's cohc-
SFc power. The moist pulp is then
put mo heated mosaic mOldS, Of tho
uC%hCd %hHpH and size. and, in these
1orn%, placed under the press. AS
result OF the heat, the :,hcllac Softcns,
rc%alnlnT its adhesive powers, and The
cnrd cement hardrnS rapidly, so that
oOih OF the SubS tanrcS, the Shcllac as
we'll as the cement, unite under tho
pressure SO perfectly with the wood
PARTICLES that the wood mass resulting
may, within Il few minutes, be taken
out Of the mods without losing
the t0rn' received. After the cooling
process and completes hardening these
mnSajcS, IL is claimed, are far less sus-
ccpl'hl" t" any change Of temperature
or moisture than amy natural wood. 1t
Is absolutely necessary that the uso
OF every other ingredient, especially If
Of an oily or fatty character, should DO
avoided in this process, as otherwise
the clos" union of the shcllnc with tho
curd cement would be retarded or even
prevented.
Wood pulp for the manufacture Of
vnri-colorcd mosaicS is prepared in tho
following manner:
The PARTICLES Of diiIrrcnt varieties Of
wood arc put through the process
separately, SO that the natural color Of
the wood itself is brought into promi-
nrncc. Dyes, dissolved in alcohol, uro
mixed with the ShcIiac solution before
the wood PARTICLES arc coated. The
wood PARTICLES arc first colored with
! dyes, dissolved in water, and allowed
! To dry we'll before the coating with the
shrllac solution. For simple floors it
Suilic"% 10 manufacture .nusaics Of diff
icrcnt colorS, changing them at pleas
nrc SO rs to form II variety Of patterns.
IN" manufacture of pattern or fancy
wood noSaics is proceeded with rs fol-
.owS: Pattern molds, of the required
design divided into fields and tirures),
hr" lifted into the plain mold; each
section OF the dcSi ign is filled with tho
wood pulp, dyed as before described,
and the pattern mold removed, after
which the whole, thus freely outlined,
is sub r2"ied to heat and pressure, MS
bcior" mentioned, the result being per-
feet vari-cnlorcd fancy mosaic. This
wood mosaic, in spite Of it's hardness
and resisting qualities, still retains all
the essential properties Of wood. being
thus particularly we'll adapted for uso
rs floor covers in living rooms and
similar purposcs.-N. Y. Engineer.