Many workers are still ignorant of modern glue methods. It is the duty of the employer to know what the correct practice is, and to see that it is employed in his glue-room.
CHAPTER V
MODERN GLUE-ROOM EQUIPMENT
With the increased knowledge of the nature of glue, and of proper methods of handling, has come a great improvement in apparatus used. The primitive way of melting glue was to heat it in an open pot over a fire. No heed was given to the loss through evaporation; nor to the scalding of glue; nor to the dirty condition of the glue-pot, and consequently contamination of fresh glue by the remains of former melts frequently occurred.
We say “primitive” methods advisedly in speaking of this old-time way of melting glue; for in the light of modern knowledge such methods belong to a day gone by. Yet some glue-rooms still use the old open glue-pot, and many others use apparatus which shows little, if any, improvement.
Modern glue-room appliances are now available for every glue-room, for every purpose. No glue user, large or small, can afford to use any but modern, scientific equipment. The saving in time, and in materials, and in improved quality of the completed work, and in the greater respect and increased efficiency of workers in the glue-room, all these things result in quickly repaying the increased outlay required.
ONLY COPPER, BRASS, ALUMINUM SHOULD COME INTO CONTACT WITH GLUE
The advantage of using copper, brass, and aluminum in glue-room appliances, due to their self-cleansing properties, already has been mentioned.
In apparatus designed for melting glue the use of copper, brass, and aluminum is absolutely required for economy and good results. Copper, brass, and aluminum are the only materials available that are not affected unfavorably by the action of acids in glue, steam and water; by boiler compounds, dirt, pipe-rust and sediment.
An iron agitator or stirrer in a glue-heater is corroded so quickly by the acids in glue, water and steam that in six months it is unfit for use.
A brass agitator, on the other hand, will last practically forever. So it is with every part of the glue-heater with which glue comes into direct contact.