Los Angeles herald., 1910-05-16
MAKES BR|QUETTES
OUT OF SAWDUST
Local Man PerfeCtS Invention
Which Will Provide New
Fuel for Nation
GOVERNMENT GRANTS PATENT
Fuel Is CIeanIy, Durable, mex
penSive and Burns Consider
ably Longer Than Coal
GOVERNMENT GRANTS PATENT

A new fuel, especially designed fe
the relief of householders, who wit
blackened hands and soot-smudge
faces have sought to construct chee
full fire in the CRATE with coal at $50
ton, has been invented by a Los Ans
Ian, David c. McCan, proprietor
the McCan Mechanical works on Lc
Beach avenue one of the largest pla
of its kind in the city.
The fuel is wood briquettes, made
from the reruse OF planning and saw
mills, and is the result of two years of
hard study by Mr.. McCan of a means
of compressing wood shavings into a
block of a size convenient for use in
stoves and CRATES, without the use of a
core or inhammable cement as a means
of holding the substance together.
The claim of discovery allowed to
Mr.. McCan by the United States pat
ent office on March II reads: AS an
article of manufacture, compressed,
elongated, cylindrical briquette, having
rounded ends and composed of wood
shavings and the like" There are now
pending twelve patents. on the auto
matte machinery designed to produce
the blocks. each covering many sepa-
rate claims.
For many years inventors have en-
deavored to produce block of com
pressed wood shavings which would
stand the handling necessary to trans
fer it from the factory to the point or
consumption," said Mr. McCan yes
terday. but they all have failed to
produce a commercially successful artl-
Gle because, either using block having
square corners or cylinder with
square ends, they could not prevent
them from crumbling when handled
either by using a core or an lnllahlfila-
BILE cement as binder.
"The success of my discovery hinges
on the law of physics which provides
that when loose mass is compressed
in a cylinder along lines concentrating
on the central point, the mass will CO.
here without the use of any foreign
substance as binder.
WILL, STOP BIG WASTE
"It has been estimated that $4,000
000,O 900 has been lost from the resources
of the United States by the destruction
of the waste products of the saWmllls
and wood working factories during tne
past forty years. Aside from Woou
waste, the briquettes can be maze from
any carbonaceous material, such as
weeds, roots and straw.
The machine with which Mr.. McCan
manufactured the briquettes on Wnicn
he secured his patent is masslNe
groun of cast metal, weighing 4O,Vuo
pounds. It can well be imagined tha'
such weight and strength are necess@-
ry, as the loose shavings fed INTO the
pressure chamber are eleven times the
huIl, of the completed briquette. The
pressure used is $4,000 pounds TO tht
square inch. The briquette being three
inches in diameter, makes 1t necessary
for the machinery to be constructed
'sufficiently massive to Withstand
nressure of more than quarter or
million pounds. In spite OF ltS weight
the press is we'll balanced ana is ope-
rated nv a 20-horsepoWer motor.
Tbe machine is entirely automatic
and will run without attention for an
indefinite period, turning out ton
of hriouettes per hour, The supply ol
the plants installed will be by means
of a belt conVeyor from the machlnes
to q bin. from which the shaVlngs Oh
sawdust will be removed by SUCTION
fan. which will allow all foreign mat
ter. such as nails, rocks or soma pieces
of wood to drop to one side. An auto
matte measuring device on the press
allows a certain quantity of the snaV'
ings to. fall into the supply chamber
where a plunger forces 1t into the man
pressure cylinder, the supply plungei
forming part of the wall of the malI
nressure chamber, dropping Dack oi
the return stroke and allowing tht
hriouette to fall out of the cylinder
Two plungers operate in the nam pres
sure cylinder the rear plungef peills
reinforced by heavy springs, Wnlcl
talFe I'M any overcharge of shavings ol
provide an escape if any foreign ma
terial finds it's way into the chamber
WILL SELL. AT 81 A TON
Mr.. McCan expects to be able to sci
| tho hriouette at retail at 81 per ton
zach one is seven inches long by thre'
| inches in diameter, with rounded ends
and weighs a pound and half NOR
than lignum vitae, the most dense o
natural woods. The inventor claims
| that it will burn for an hour, steadll.
and brightly, gradually disintegratlni
| from the expansion of the air incloset
in the fiber of the wood.
"The invention is past the expert
mental stage" said Mr.. McCan
"Hundreds of the blocks have beel
turned out by the machine, not one o
which has shown a tendency to crumbl
when handled. They burn bright,
with less smell and smoke than natura
wood and burn equally well IN ar
tight heaters or open CRATES They ar
absolutely clean and can be handle'
without soiling the most dellcate hanus
"The blocks have stood very rougl
handling without crumbling and eVel
when sawed into quarters have hel'
| their shape"