Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-14
HOW CELLULoID is MADE.
Process is Secret - Injurious to the
Health of the Workmen

From Fabrics Fancy Goods and Notions.
Celluloid is a chemical substance. made
mainly of paper and crude camphor TO imi-
tate, ivory, tortoise shell, coral amber
glass. &c. Considerable secrecy is main
tanned by the makers of celluloid as 10
their respective methods Of manufacture,
but apart from dystuffs and acid 1t may be
said to consist of about equal quantities OF
paper and camphor
The process of its making is not COM
plicated one, although it is one that IS
highly injurious to the health Of those en-
ployed in handling the ingredients. The
workingmen are compelled to wear clio; hing
OF rubber, and invariably bear traces Of
the strong action of the chemicals used,
their faces appearing corpselike and CHASTITY.
Inc frSt operation in the manufacture or
celluloId is the preparation of the paper,
which is composed Of cotton and birch
wood
This made, it is wound upon a hollow
spindle holding several hundred yards in
length a roll of the paper is slowly un-
wound, being saturated with a mixture OF
five parts of sulphuric acid and two parts
of nitric acid, which falls upon il in fine
spray. This changes the cellulose of the
paper into propylin guncotton. The excess
of the acid Is expelled by pressure and the
paper washed. 1t is then ground to a pulp
and bleached
After thoroughly drying the pulp there Is
added TO 1t due proportion Of camphor.
This is done by carefully weighing, mixing
the two ingredients thoroughly and press
ing in canvas Jackets between plates 1t Is
a this point that the dye matter is added
to make the celluloid any desired color. In
the next operation the mixture is subjected
to the grinding and pressure of mastica-
tors. These machines are simply heavy
iron rollers about four feet long. geared to-
gether to run Inward. As the grinding
continues the mass becomes more and more
homogeneous and nearer to the finished ap-
pearance of celluloid.
1t is then taken from the masticators I'm
the form Of huge sheets, eight feet by four
feet In size and one inch thick These
sheets are piled one on top of the other
until they I'll a heavy iron box. which lat
ter Is run under steam-heated hydraulic
press, where it remains under enormous
pressure for about two hours. This is done
for the purpose of welding the superim-
posed sheets together in the form of solid
cake.
On removal the big celluloid cake IS cut
into sheets of the desired thickness. This
may vary from one-thousandth of an inch
to a full inch or more, according to the va
ricty of goods into which the material is to
be worked. After cutting the sheets are
hung up in the drying rooms six or seven
months to season" celluloid having the
peculiar warping qualities Of wood II
worked UP with due regard to this fact.
From the seasoning rooms the sheets go
to the various departments of tie factory.
Those taken TO the novelty department are
cut. turned and pressed into any number OF
fancy articles. The smaller articles are cut
out of the sheets of celluloid while cold.
then dipped into hot water, bent and shaped
and plunged into cold water again to re-
tain their shape. The comb manufacture IS
simpler than with hard rubber. The teeth
are stamped out with dies either by hand
machinery. and are then polished with
cold water and pumice stone. Combs are
cut from sheets of amber" tortoise SHELF
and ivory" eelluloid. All three of these
compositions are carefully made, and the
limitations of the genuine substance are
faithful as frequently to pass through the
hands or experts undetected