Daily camera., 1899-03-24
RUBBER FROM OILS.
New Substitute for the Do9easinR
0eauine Article.
An nAg1AsA Enessprtss VIVA 80
UaAF - supply the IA0roAAA6
DaAAaA f0R . ReailAsoR
Material.

A new industry which has just been
established upon an apparently firm
basis in England uses for its raw mate
rial linseed OF! or any of the other vege-
table oils Of similar properties. It
promises TO become Of wide impor-
s,nce because its products partAke Of
AAny of the qualities of india rubber
and gutta persha, the supplies of which
ahow . constant tendency to fall below
the growing demands. That oils Of this
sort have in ,hem qualities of high use
fulness was discovered ages ago, when
they were first used for paints, and the
new industry takes advantage Of the
same quality Of hardening by oIidiza-
ton.
Linseed oil has been used for paints
and varnishes for generations. 1t is
well known that when the oil is spread
out in thin layer exposed to the air
it absorbs oxygen and becomes very
hard. When the oil is left in bulk ex-
posed TO the air it gradually becomes
fatty" as it is called technically, or Of
a gummy consistency. Exposures of
different periods will give any grade
of hardness between these two. Other
vegetable oils act in the same way, and
many attempts have been made TO take
commercial advantage of these quail
ties. Some, like the man ufacture Of OIL
cloths and Nnoleum, have been very
successful. The difficulty experienced
heretofore in attempting TO use the
oSidized oils for other purposes has
. ha hos ok~r ~ I1,-
impossible to accomplish the perfect
and graded combin alton Of the oxygen
with the oil, as nigh, be needed for the
different purposes. The general meth
cd adopted WAS to allow the oil TO drip
from the top to the bottom OF wide,
suspended sheet of scrim, An spen-
meshed textile fabric. while current Of
air was driven upon it By this method
the surface of the oil was solidifed, but
it and there was, therefore, q portion of
unaffected cal held within. which it WAS
known might be made of more perfect
product
Mr.. Charles Grist, Of England. has
perfected q system by which it is az
serted that this trouble is entirely over
come. and large factory has been
built where many articles are manu-
factured from the oils solidified by his
process His method of treating the
oil ia 10 saturate quantity Of tow with
1t. and then, in q centrifugal machine,
throw out every particle of the oil ex-
cept that which clings in minute
globules to the fiber o[ the tow itself.
The punches OF tow are then put on
grids OF metal in chamber where
warm air is forced through them and in
"a hours the OIL is thoroughly oxidized.
The material is then ground up. mixed
with any desired coloring matter and
finally rolled out into sheets, in which
condition it resembles india rubber and
possesses many Of the qualities OF rub
Der and gutta perchA 1t is as resilient
as rubber, but not as elastic. is i'm
pervioua to chemical action, and with
stands heat up to 2&0 degrees Febren-
heit, and 4 can be vulcanized BY the
same processes used for rubber I'd
gutta percha. 1t has high electrical IN.
shating qualities and can be used for
cable wire coverings and other forms of
electrical insulators, and IL is made in TO
wheel tires, which are said to be equal
TO those Of rubber. 1t can be dissolved
in ethereal spirits Of all kinds and
from these solutions il can be applied a.
waterproofing coverings for fabrics OF
any sost-N. Y. Sun.