The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1905-09-16
Fashioning A Cork.


TONERS through the extensive workshops,
and because his customers betrayed Symp-
toms of the interest they felt the cork
merchant offered to give a demonstration
OF the whole process of turning the rough
material into the finished article First OF
all, there was the cork cutter knife to be
Inspected formidable affair. with heavy
blade measuring about six inches across
and with a bcvel at least one inch wide
The center of the blade was very heavy.
and the reason for so much weight was At
once obvious as soon a. the cutter proceeded
to use the knife Picking mp a short
length of cork. he held it firmly againS, 4
metal knob set into the side Of table;
then, having introduced the sharp edge Of
the knife into the material he threw the
whole weight Of his body against The handle
and literally drove the blade through the
cork There was no saving backward or
forward. nothing but the steady pressure,
yet SO tremendously sharp was the blade
that the knife pushed increasingly forward.
and in a moment or two the piece of cork
lay in two fragments on the floor.
The wide beveled edge Is necessary in
order to prevent the cork from tearing,
while the knife has 10 be heavily weighted
TO stand the strain Of that amount Of pres
sure. This knife has small hole near the
back about halfway down the blade: this
is Tor the gauge. which Is fastened on by
means uf a nut. The gauge i SET accord
ius To the width ot strips required
width being the length Of the finished
cork and 50 inSure> each strip being cut
the exact measurement After the gauge
ha, been ,et the workmen can cut up length
after length Of cork without further meas
uring. fer the gauge, projecting over the
back Of the blade, runs along the freshly
cut edge and thus causes she next cut to
be parallel with the one las, made And
the au,lieucC was informed that the ganec
could be scs to the seventh part e an inch
When the cork had been cot into lunc
barrow strips the cu,tor took up one oi
thosc same STRIPS and, vi,hou, altering the
gauge on the knife, began dividing it into
a number of little cubes. The first cuts
10 rrsluce the hong STRIPS were done
acTuS, the grain. the others rau wish the
grain. these latter being the WAY ct the
finished oagk
The grain must run duwn the Article.
explained the self constituted lecturer.
-.uthcEwise the cork wuud break In half
- first We cut soTuss for the length at the
esTk then we cut With the eraia for the
vid,h Of the cork Now these hitls pieg,,s
ara ready 10 L. turned into the 6nish,-i
article
Picking ~ ore or two e the cutes the
cutter moved acres the ft-sv "a where oue
Of the msrbins- va. s;anjinc boo 6
pgs yoar 6asvrs near ihc blade. be- eau
toned hastily. There nothing sharper
than the blade u this knife Il made IL
The very best and hardest steel there i. ''
Thea. Just as she auditors wcrv about Co
u.urruur sheffield. be cout,nu,-l
Made in Francc. that blade was. The
very bc>i sseel ,hrrr i Carou-ly
enough. ,hi> is also the sA>e vlh Ihr hair
dressing trade. The ts,i scissors arr nau
aday, Frcneh ones
Twenty ,ix inches q sharp blade were
quite suf6cirnt tn ~carr away uniniliatsvl
finger. Nothing relaIrvs sharper
blade than cork cutting. II must b., All
-.,luicly perfect, cr the stuff /, torn, ami if
that blade soes Wroug It take- me one eom
rle,c day 10 grind Il into orirr again. 4
grTy hard day work 1t is SEQ.
How do yoa manaec to ke-Pit sharp
asked one % the party The uae laughed
1t Is gr,uui after each coEk j. cut.
be replied Il n0g The SECOND ss.rk wo,ill
j.e lcrevTtilly inferior to the 'r.i one
~ much Sharpening .ecmel Ca iuply
tasl amouui ii hbar until be pointed So
couple vf small dark wheel, 6xrJ in she
machine in such manner thar the hialr
passed. slon. thctn each iime it ws. drawn
back The-, >nsll Wheels weFe of the
finest possible emery aud automatically
ground the blade after every oofk in tuvu.
NJ "a Mas u-,-l at al 50 he explained.
aud he then prse,,ir,i a. dctnnn,trl rate the
working of the machine Pushing q Vsde
basket cI,sse to the ether silc 81 the ana
chine, he took up hts p>~ii;1o ou the ioit
hand side, drew 3 tray oi pleve> ei aTk 10
him aul. selecting short leaslh - Il
against a ,mau wheel which was placei al.
nlu>i against thc biade aud ai night angles
L. a. Then BE- pressed wi,b hi- l,.,1 ulon
aireajle and instantly -hort polul moved
irwsri, pressing on 30 the other end Of
Tie y,,,ce Of csrk and thus holding it against
lhr wheel
When secured between these two, be
removed his tioger., grasrei the upright
handle of the long blade aud pushed it
steadily forward. aud 10 the twinkliug Of
an eve the piece of rough cork had assumed
a familiar aspect The pressure Of the
blade against the cork caused the little
wheel and with it, Of course. the cork D
to reyolge, and in its turn this same spin
ming allowed the knife 10 cut evenly all the
way around the cork BY the time the
blade had been pushed TO the tarthest ex-
tremity Of the machine the cork had been
neatly pared all around. Then the treadle
was released and the cork rolled away with
a final spin into the basket awaiting it on
the other side. II was also shown that
the machine can be set to produce any
taper desired.
But the most curious part OF the trade
was explained when one Of the audience,
catching sight Of a basketful of old cOrks,
demanded the reason of their presence.
From the cork merchants : account it APP
peared that a large trade is done in re
modelling old corks-that Is to say. those
used for wine boG,les are bought in inn
meuse quantities, cut down by the machine
into smaller size and sold to the publieans
for stopping pint bottles Having once
had the corkscrew through them they are
useless for anything else, and, indeed,
there would be a heavy fine for selling
them to chemists. with whom large pro-
portion Of the cork trade is carried on, but
they are used for temporarily stopping the
pint bottles taken cut Of the public houses
by children under fourteen years of age.
The act requires these bottles to be Sc
eurely fastened do.n, and so sealed the
old corks are afforded new lease of life.
For this purpose not only is the old cork
nnt on he machine and re1nced all the