How Paper Boxes Are Made / A practical and instructive book telling how the beginner may manufacture all kinds of paper boxes, with special chapters on the printing department for paper box plants, embossing, gold-leafing, label work, etc.

by Robert F. Salade

CUTTING AND CREASING FOLDING BOXES.

ONE of the most important branches of the paper box industry is that devoted exclusively to the making of all kinds of folding boxes and cartons, and this branch of the business has been growing wonderfully during the last few decades. The manufacturers of folding boxes are in a class by themselves, and as a general rule, they have nothing to do with the making of set-up paper boxes, although some of the larger plants are producing both folding boxes and set-up boxes.

There are good reasons why it would not be advisable for the average box maker to handle both folding boxes and set-up boxes in his factory, and the principal reason is the matter of mechanical equipment. The folding box plant must be equipped with machinery which cannot be used for the production of set-up boxes, and in a like manner, the set-up paper box plant calls for machines that cannot be used for the manufacture of folding boxes. Another fact to consider is that operators on folding boxes are usually skilled only in that line of work, while operators on set-up boxes know but little about the work on folding boxes.

Henry Ford, the automobile king, declares that specializing is the main reason for his great success in business. Says Mr. Ford:

“Any manufacturer or merchant, to be successful, must specialize. Do one thing. Do it well. Sell at one standard price—and you’re just bound to succeed.”

Tooth Pick Carton.
No gluing required. Holds together when folded.
Plain lines represent steel cutting rules.
Dotted lines represent steel creasing rules.

There should be a “tip” here for many a box manufacturer.

Folding boxes are now being used for holding a great variety of merchandise such as, for example, bottles containing medicines, cakes of soap, toothpicks, tubes of tooth paste, bottles of perfume, many different kinds of drugs, brushes, cough drops, cakes and crackers, safety razor blades, powders of various kinds, tools, grass seed, herbs, dried raisins, butter, spices, rice, sugar, absorbent cotton, bandages, etc. This list gives merely an idea of the many different uses for folding boxes, and it would be possible to add to this list hundreds of other articles which are packed in paper cartons. The drug trade alone uses great quantities of the smaller-size folding boxes for holding pills, tablets, medical goods, etc. Countless numbers of the larger size cartons are used for holding cereals, cake, tea, dozen lots of cigarette packages, dry goods, etc.

A folding box, or carton, is made from a single piece of cardboard, cut and scored in such a manner that it may easily be folded and glued together so as to form a complete box. The cutting and creasing dies are made by the box maker, from steel cutting and creasing rules. The blank sheets of stock are cut and creased, with the steel dies, on either platen presses or cylinder presses. The cut out sheets are then glued together at two ends on a gluing machine.

EQUIPMENT REQUIRED FOR A SMALL CUTTING AND
CREASING PLANT.

One Cutting and Creasing Press, size of platen, 14 × 22 inches.
One Cutting and Creasing Press, size of platen, 21 × 30 inches.
One Steel Rule Bending Machine.
One Steel Rule Cutter.
One Power Circular Saw.
One Power Jig Saw.
One Imposing Table.
One Power Gluing Machine.
Supply of Cherry and Black Walnut Board, in strips of various widths for blanking out large steel dies.
Supply of Laminated Wood for holding Steel Cutting Rules in Odd-Shaped Dies, such as Circles, Ovals, Hearts, etc.
Supply of Labor-saving Wood, Lead, Steel and Iron Furniture, in assorted sizes, for blanking out space in Steel Dies.
Supply of Steel (Hard) Cutting Rule, in full-length strips.
Supply of Steel (Soft) Cutting Rule, in full-length strips.
Supply of Steel Scoring Rule, in full-length strips.
Cabinets for holding Furniture.
Work Table, fitted with vise for bending Soft Steel Cutting Rule.
Supply of Corks in assorted sizes.
Supply of Cork in strips.
LePage (or fish) Glue for make-ready on presses.
Box-Makers’ Glue for gluing Folding Boxes on Gluing Machine.
Set of tools, including Pliers, Files, Hammer, Mallet, T-Square, L-Square and Steel Straight-Edge.

With this equipment, the box maker would be in a position to make all kinds of steel cutting and creasing dies for every variety of folding boxes, also all shapes of steel cutting dies for cut-outs of advertising novelties, cardboard fans, odd shapes for fancy boxes, etc. With this equipment, the box maker could also manufacture all sizes and all styles of folding boxes up to those requiring blanks of cardboard as large as 20 × 28 inches. It is the writer’s purpose to explain all the technical work necessary in the making of the steel dies, made-ready on the presses, and other practical work relating to the making of folding boxes, cartons, advertising novelties and so forth, and if this information is carefully studied and followed, the apprentice in box making should have no difficulty in producing all of the work in question.