The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1899-02-14
SUBSTITUTE FOR RUBBER.
New Process for OaidiIing Vegetable
Oils said TO be Successful.

A new industry which has just been es-
uses for its raw material linseed oil or
any of the other vegetable oils Of similar
properties. 1t promises to become Of wide
Importance because its products partake
of many of the qualities of india rubber
and gutta percha. the supplies of which
somehow have a constant tendency to fall
below the growing demands. That oils OF
this sort have In them qualities of high
usefulness was discovered ages ago, when
they were first used for paints, and the
new industry takes advantage of the
same quality of hardening by oxidiza-
ton. Linseei oil has been used for pal q is
and varnishes for generations. 1t Is
well known that when the oil is spread
out in thin layer exposed to the air 1t
absorbs oxygen and becomes very hard.
When the oil is left in bulk exposed to
the air it gradually becomes "pasty," as
il is called technically, or OF a gummy
consistency. Exposures OF different
periods will give any grade of hardness
bewteen the Sc two. Other vegetable oils
act In the same way. and many attempts
have been made to take mmercial nd
vantage of these qualities Some, like
the manufacture of oilcloths and linoleum
have been very successful. The difficulty
experienced heretofore in attempting to
us the oxidized oils for other purposes
has been the fact that IL was mechap cally
impossible to accomplish the perfect and
graded combination of the oxygen with
the oil, as might be needed for the iner-
ba a.
ed was to ALLOW the oil to drip from the
top to the bottom of wide, suspended
sheet of scrim, an open meshed textile
fabri , while "a current of air WAS driv en-
upon 1t By this method the surface OF
the oil was solidified, but the action did
not extend all through 1t and there was,
therefore, a portion OF Unaffected oil held
within. which was fatal TO many OF the
uses which it was known might be made
OF more perfect product.
Mr. Charles Grist of England has per.
fected II system by which IL Is asserted
that this trouble is entirely overcome.
and a large factory has been built where
many articles are manufactured from the
oils solidiiied by his process. His
methods OF treating the oil Is to saturate
a quantity Of tow with 1t. and then. In
n centrifugal machine, throw out every
particle al the oil except that which
clings in minute globules to the fibre of
the tow itseIf. The punches OF tow are
then put on girls Of metal in cham Der
where warm air is forcd through them
add in twenty -four hours the oil Is
thoroughly oxidized The material is then
ground mp, mixed with any desired COL
orinc matter and finally rolled out into
sheets, in which condition it resembles
india rubber and possesses many OF the
qualities Of rubber and gutta peroha. II
is rs resilient as rubber, hut NOS rs elastic,
Is impervious to chemical action, and
Wristbands heat up to $40 degrees Fahren
heit, and 1t can be vuloanized by the
same processes used for rubber and gutt'
percha 1t has high electrical insulating
qualities and can be used for cable wire
coverings and other forms OF electrical
insulators, and IL is made into wheel tires
which are said to lie equal to those OF
rubber. 1t can be dissolved In ethereal
spirits Of all kinds, and from these solu.
tons it can be applied as waterproofng
coverings for fabrics of any sort