We may also repeat what we have already said about securing competent advice from manufacturers. The glue user who takes a responsible manufacturer or glue house into his confidence will secure valuable counsel.
It is to the glue-maker’s and glue salesman’s interest to have you secure good results. They have a large experience to draw on, and when checked up by the results from actual practice in your glue-room their advice in regard to the selection of glues is usually worth heeding.
CHAPTER IV
CORRECT METHODS IN GLUE-ROOM
It is quite certain that glue-room methods in many factories are years behind the times. This is due to poor equipment, to ignorance and to carelessness. Many factories could not continue in business if the hit-and-miss methods of the glue-room prevailed in other departments.
It is possible to spoil the very best glue by improper methods of preparation; and not only is a vast amount of glue rendered totally unfit for satisfactory work, but a great deal is wasted; the total loss, through faulty methods, being about 25% of the entire amount used.
There is no reason why there should be such loss in the glue-room. The proper methods of procedure have been definitely established. Putting them into effect not only saves glue, but it enables better work; saves time of workmen, and increases greatly the general efficiency of glue-room operations. The following rules are a guide to correct practice.
ALWAYS SOAK GLUE IN COLD WATER BEFORE MELTING
The function of soaking is to get back into the glue the liquid it originally contained.
Soaking in cold water gets the glue into proper condition to dissolve readily when heat is applied. If glue is soaked in warm water, or if melted without soaking, the glue on the outside will dissolve at once, and this will coat the remainder with a film, so that it will not readily dissolve, except when heat is applied in a degree that is harmful.
Glue has an affinity for cold water. Good glue will absorb from 1½ times to 2½ times its weight of cold water.