Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-10-28
HOW CORKS ARE CUT
TURNING THE PLIABLE BARK INTO
BOTTLE SHOPPERS.
Keen Machine KNIVES That shape,
Turn, shave and Taper the slabs
Stripped From the Tree-The Way
the Waste Product Is Utilized.

1 thc W astc frOuuct ttfIAXeu.
| Cork, as most persons know, is the
outer bark of an evergreen oak tree
\ which grows in Spain, Portugal. Al
] geria, Morocco and TO some extent in
! Italy. Its peculiar properties. especial
I ~ its lightness and its compensatory,
make il valuable for scores of pur-
poses, but its original use, in the man
ufacture of corks, or shoppers for bot
ties, still consumes the greater part OF
all that is brought To market
The cork oak varies in diameter
! from six inches To three feet BY .
| generous provision of nature the tree
may be periodically stripped of its
outer bark without losing its life.
Twenty years is the usual age at
which the first cutting is made. After
that the cork may bc harvested about
every ten years The first cut, which
is called virgin bark. is of little value.
as II is coarse in texture and deeply
scanned. The tree may be expected 10
| live ana yield csvk until il is 100 years
| old.
In Spain and some other European
| countries COrkS are still made 10y hand,
each one being pared from a square
| block by 4 common knife. In this
country, where are made the finest
| corks in the world. the work j. done by
machinery. all of which il of American
! invention and manufacture. Every boy
| who has ever whitfield a cork for a
| fishing bob or a popgun pellet knows
how difficult the material is TO cut
] smoothly. TO do ii well his knife must
| be as sharp as razor and must be
used with drawing motion, not a
mere pressure. and if the cork he wet
| 50 much the better. The same Difficult
ties confront the manufacturer by ma
chinery and are met in the same way.
The bark. after having been wet and
| then allowed to remain for a time in
| damp cellars to soften. goes first to
the stripping machines, which reduce
1t 10 slabs of a size proportionlte Ia
the corls To Ice made. These machines
are merely small iron tables, through
which appear very thin steel disks,
like circular saws. except that they
have no teeth. They are really keen
edged steel knives. as thin as paper
and running ut Il high rate of speed.
but so smoothly that they seem To the
spectator IL be standing still.
The little slabs or strips of cork g
next TO the "blOckers." The cutters
here are cylindrical steel punches. or
tubes, with razor edges. They are ar
ranged I'm rows. or gangs" and in
stead of being simply pressed through
the cork are also revolving ut high
speed ana 30 cut their way through.
Having perforated the slab, the cut
tiers back away automatically while
plungcrs like pistonS working in the
cylinders come forward and punch out
the cores, which for some purposes are
already finished corks.
They are. of course. perfectly Cylin-
drical-that is, witaout taper-aud in
! that form they are preferred 10y boz
! tiers of eflerveScent liquids. because
! their shape enables them the better 10
/ resist the pressure of the restrained
/ gases.
! But FOR the use Of druggists, who are
/ the great users of corks ana need the
| very finest. Il tapering stopper is pre-
| ferred. and this necessitates another
1 operation. The taperinS machines are
run mostly 10y young women. Each
machine consists of Il little lathe,
which ccuterS the cylindrical cork au.
tomatically and then brings il into con.
| tact with the edge of the cutting knife,
| which. like the cutter of the slicing
machine. is II very thin steel disk. As
| the cork touches this knife thin
| shaving rises and curlS away, like as
puff OF smoke.
one who knows nothing of the ma
| chinery could see no reason for il. but
during the second that the cork las
been i'll contact with the apparently
| motionIcSS disk some dozen yards of
| flying. razor edged steel have been
| nj work. and the cork is now perfect
truncated cone, with fine satln-ike
surface and an even and regular taper.
| By hand n very rapid and Skiliful cut
| ter can turn out twelve or fourteen
gross in day With these machines
one girl will produce 43O gross
There are few businesses in which
the quantity Of waste material is so
large as In the manufacture of corlls.
In the best managed factories IL ranges
| from 90 10 40 per cent. but American
ingenuity and industrial development
have succeeded in transforming il INTO
source Of profit by grinding the
waste 20 various degrees of hneness
and pressing il with glue or shellac in
TO various shapes il is made useful for
the inner soles Of shoes. for bathroom
mats. for insulation in refrigerating
plants and the deadening of sound in
apartment houses, the making Of bicy
Gle handles and the grips of tennis
rackets, ny rods and golf clubs. and
there are dozens Of other uses for the
waste which are quite as interesting.
Some years ago one manufacturer OF
corks was paying a teamster a dollar
load To cart away his waste and
dump IL on refuse heap Today he
receives $50 a ton for the very cheap