The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1904-03-04
ING CLAY PIPES.
BUSINESS ABOUT WHICH MOST
PEOPLE KNOW VERY LITTLE.

80 Process of Manufacture q. SO,
sD himpis IN Might lie Imagined
"rcTI the Low Price OF the Finish
81 PrOduof-How They Are Made.
Among the little things seen In daily
life about which most people know
very little II the common, ordinary
cily pipe. In almost every cigar shop
window, In the mouth OF every third
labOrer met aud even In the nursery
this snow white little instrument OF
comfort and amusement may be seen,
yet few know. for instance, that most
Of the clay pipes sold in this city OF
domestic make are manufactured IN
New Jersey. Woodbridge Is the name
Of the queer little town given over 10
this odd manufacture. and trip
through one Of the factories Of that
settlement, 10 follow the pipe fron the
time II IL dug as clay 10 the time il
appci ~ rcauy for the market, is inter
csting.
Looking at the chunks and Jumps Of
clay as they are transported from the
banks 10 the factories, one would
hardly believe that the snowy, cheap
little article could have been manufac.
tured from material so different in
color The color Of this clay before it
Is burned is dark gray, like cement;
nor rs the process Of manufacturing
one Of these pipes as simple as might
be imagined from the absurdly low
price As the clay comes into the fac.
tory II is divided finely and put 10
soak in wat"r for ten 10 twelve hours.
This soaking Is to divide the clay 10
It's smallest possible particles so that
i'm the ensuing process il will not cake
or lump and will work smoothly and
evenly. This attained the clay Is put
into pug" mill. where it is stirred
by machinery until it gets stlffcr ana
stlfcr, hna becoming as stiff rs
dough. In this state the clay Is rough
~ nodded i"to Jumps and distributed
among the Tlpemakcrs, who begin the
first step in the life Of the humble Gro
alton.
Grasping small chunk Of clay I'm
each hand, the artist begins work to
fashion roughly two pipes at the same
time. Rolling the clay between table
and his palms, he quickly produces
two carrot shaped and pointed rolls
that bear little or no resemblance To
the article when it shall be finished
With incredible speed the fashioning
Of these rolls continues, for ahead of
the expert is the problem of manufac-
turing something like sevcnty-five
gross OF pipes within the week. Then
the rolls are put away TO dry some
what, and for ten or twelve hours they
stiffcn so that once shaped they will
not fall readily TO pieces. After that
the clay is ready for molding.
The ordinary mold consists of two
pieces Of iron hinged on the side and
opening like II sewing box. Most Of the
little factories have numerous molds,
from the common, unadorned sort that
comes in two pieces and is intended
for the ordinary plain pipe to all sorts
Of elaborate patterns that come in six
or eight pieces and are made of brass
and intended to fashion pipes In imi-
tatiOn of wooden models that happen
to be in vogue. The pipemalier grnsps
one of the shapclcss rolls, tilts the fat
end upward, which at once gives the
suggestion of pipe, and runs n wire
through the pointed end, out Of which
the stem is to be pressed.
This roughly fashioned clay IS then
put into the mold which is jammed
shut, while at the same time q plunger
is pressed To enter the mold ana TO
press out the clay so rs To form the
In
pressed out at the side of the mold is
shaved of with single lightning
stroke by the expert. and then once
more there must bc drying process,
this time in room heated to about 81
degrees, where. MS before, the pipe is
kept for twelve hours. Except that the
pipe is OF its original gray color and
soft and supplied with the "burs''
where the nodded ends are joined, it is
now practically finished.
Then comes the process of shaving
off the burS. At this stage the pipe
still retains considerable dampnCss. so
that the clay may be cut smoothly.
while at the same time wire is again
drawn through the stem, so as to i'm.
SURF IINllcl Nltll. MI II HOW ItIuN
FOR the pipe i'm its final state except
that il needs To he burned. Fer this
purpose ii is put into Il cylindrical YES.
sci twelve inches high and Ms much in
diameter. This is known rs Il Sag
ger" Set one against the other, the
pipes are adjusted Solidly i'm the sag.
ger. which will hold something like q
gross of pipes properly packed. II
the pipes consist OF the more fancy de-
signs that is, merely pipe bowls that
are To be provided with mouthpicccs
of wood or rubbcr-the saggerS will
hold as many MS two gross of pipes.
Nine of these saggcrs filled with pipes
are known rs Il stand, and medium
sized kiln will hold twenty-one stands
ana will hurn them all nj the same
timc. For five hours the heat in the
kiln is kept nt Il moderate tcmpera.
ture. After that il is allowed to run
mp until at the end Of twelve or four
teen hours il is driven to Il white heat
which gives the pipes their spotleSs
white tinish.-New York Times.