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Show FAST MATCH MAKINC. A Maohluo that Cull Out Tun Millions or Tliim Krcry Uay. Tho oporation of making matches from a pinu log may bo divided into four heads, namely. Preparing tho splints, dipping thu matches, box making, anil filling. When tho timber is brought into tho cutting room of tho factory it is seized upon by a gang of men who place It hoforo a circular saw, wliero it Is cut into blocks fifteen inches long, which is the length of sovcu matches. It is thon freed of its bark and taken to tho turning lathe, where, by means of a special form of fixed cutting band running run-ning its on tiro length, a continuous tool, tho thickness of the match is cut off. As the block revolves and decreases in diameter tho knife advances aud a baud of veneer of uniform thickness is obtained. As the veneer rolls off tho knlfo it Is mot by eight small knives, which cut it into sevou separato bands, each tho size of a match. By this ono oporation sevou long ribbons of wood, each the length aud thickness of a match, aro obtained. Thcso nro then broken into pieces six feet long, tho knotty parts removed, and they nro thon feu into :i machine which looks nnd acts llko a straw chopper, which cuts them into single matches. Thu machine cats 150 bands at tho samo time, aud a mechanical devico pushes them forward the thickness of n match nt caclt stroko of the cutter. This Ilttlo machine, with its ono sharp knife, can cut over 10,000,000 matches a da. From the cutting room the splints nro taken to the dry room, wliero thoy aro placed iu revolving drums, which absorb all tho moisture tho splints may contain. They aro thon prepared for the dipping process, which is a very important operation, as each splint must have stilllciauninJfa aud yttHH tho others aflH clot tho headsorvTreT?TrrHBkV do this they nro placed under an ingeniously in-geniously constructed machino which seoins to'work with human intelligence, and arc caught up und placed closely, but at regular intervals, in a dipping frame. Thcso frames contain forty-four forty-four movcablo laths, and betwoon each lath tho machino placo, witli clockwork clock-work regularity, fifty splints, making ; over 2,000 iu each frame. Tho heads of the splints ara all of the I samo level, and n single attendnnt at each machino can placo ovor 1,000,000 splints iu tho frame per da'. Tho dipping dip-ping vat is a stovo of masonry which contains threo squnro pans. The first pan is for beating the splints, so they will absorb tho mixture; the second contains moltun parafllno, iu which tho points aro dipped, and in tho third they nro coated with igniting composition. Over 8,000 matches can bo dipped by a skilful workman in ono day. Aftor tho dipping process tho matches aro dried whilo still in the frames, and aro then takon to the packing room, whero they are put Into thu boxes by hand. The Woodworker. |
