The Boot and Shoe Manufacturers' Assistant and Guide. / Containing a Brief History of the Trade. History of India-rubber and Gutta-percha, and Their Application to the Manufacture of Boots and Shoes. Full Instructions in the Art, With Diagrams and Scales, Etc., Etc. Vulcanization and Sulphurization, English and American Patents. With an Elaborate Treatise on Tanning.

by Unknown

Second. I protect in like manner the said pieces of leather, or other material, some or all of them, by covering the same, either on one or both sides, with a layer or layers of gutta-percha in the plastic state, or of gutta-percha combined in the said plastic state with a portion or portions of caoutchouc, or sulphur, or coloring matter, or of French chalk, or other soft powder, as directed in the aforesaid specification of the patent of Richard Archibald Brooman, applying the said layer or layers by the means and in the mode also described in the said specification.

Third. Instead of either coating or covering, as aforesaid, the materials of which the boots and other articles before mentioned are made, I sometimes interpose between the same or certain portions of the same, as for example, between the inner and outer soles, or between the upper leathers and linings, pieces of gutta-percha in any of the sheet states in which it is manufactured under the said patent of Richard Archibald Brooman.

Fourth. I manufacture boots, shoes, gaiters, overalls, and other like articles, in whole or in part, of a compound fabric, formed and described by the specification of the said Richard Archibald Brooman, by adding to the gutta-percha while in the kneading machine (whether previously combined, or not combined with caoutchouc or sulphur, or coloring matter, or French chalk, or other soft powder, as aforesaid) a portion of leather, dust, or hair, or bristles, or ground cork, or woolen shearings, or other membranous or fibrous substances, in a finely comminuted state.

Fifth. I also manufacture boots, shoes, gaiters, and other like articles, in whole or in part, of a certain other fabric which is directed in the specification of the said Richard Archibald Brooman to be formed by saturating a bat or fleece of cotton wool, or other fibrous material, with a solution of gutta-percha, or a mixed solution of gutta-percha and caoutchouc; preferring, however, for the purpose of this part of my invention, such bats or fleeces, as have been saturated with a solution containing in it a portion more or less of sulphur and of some coloring matter.

Sixth. I make boots and shoes, and the other articles aforesaid, of gutta-percha, or of a mixture of gutta-percha and caoutchouc, either sulphurized or not sulphurized, all in one piece, without sewing or stitching, as usual, by casting the same in cored moulds, made of the required form of the boot, shoe or other article. I either fill the mould with the material in a state of hot solution, and leave it to cool, or I fill it with the material in a granular state; heat the mould till its contents become in a pulpy state, and then set it to cool. I sometimes use a single matrix only, and cause the material in a sheet or in a plastic state, to assume the state of that matrix by forcing it into the recesses thereof, by means of the pressure of water or air, and sometimes in order to give greater springiness to the boot or shoe, or other article, instead of casting it all in one piece, I cast it in two or more pieces; as for example, I cast the front part in one piece, and the heel or back part in another piece, and unite the two parts by means of an interposed piece or pieces of leather or of gutta-percha in the sheet, and sulphurized state, or some other like flexible material.

Seventh. Instead of uniting the different parts of which boots and shoes, and other articles aforesaid are made, by stitching or sewing, as usual, whenever any two of these parts, or any one or two parts consists of gutta-percha, or of a mixture of gutta-percha and caoutchouc in any of the sheet states aforesaid, I pass a hot iron over the joint or joints, which causes the two surfaces to adhere firmly together.

Eighth. I take boots, shoes, gaiters, overalls, and other articles as they are now ordinarily made of unsulphurized caoutchouc, and greatly improve the same in point of smoothness of texture, and capability of resisting variations of temperature by exposing them for from thirty to sixty minutes to the fumes of sulphur, in a close vessel, heated to a temperature of 210 to 250 degrees more or less, or immersing them for the same length of time in a bath of melted sulphur. In either case, in order to prevent the articles from sticking to one another, they should be done over with a paste made of French chalk, flour and water, and that paste allowed to dry before subjecting them to the action of the sulphur. Boots, shoes, and other articles made in whole, or in part of unsulphurized gutta-percha, may be treated in the same way, but I prefer incorporating the sulphur in the first instance with the gutta-percha, when it is in the state of solution, or in the plastic state, or in any of the other states of preparation and combination aforesaid.

Lastly. I improve the shoes of horses by laying upon and securing to the upper part of the same, a sheet, or layer of sulphurized gutta-percha, or of sulphurized caoutchouc, or by making the same wholly of either of the said materials. In the former case, the sheet or layer of sulphurized gutta-percha, and sulphurized caoutchouc, may be either attached to the shoe by rivets, before it is applied to the foot, or it may be laid loosely between the shoe and foot when the horse is being shod, and be made fast by passing the shoe nails through it. It affords a soft and yet firm footing to the animal, and resists, without injury to its shape, very high degrees of heat and pressure.

The following described patent was taken out by Charles Hancock, of Grosvenor Place, for “certain improvements in the manufacture of gutta-percha, and its application alone, and its combination with other substances.” Patent dated Jan. 12, 1846.

In copying these patents our aim is to make perfectly plain and clear to all interested, certain chemical facts, compounds and the like, which produce desired results, and which have thus far been preserved, as profound secrets. For example, in selecting certain claims or descriptions in the Hancock Patent, we here describe the process of making and applying varnishes to India-rubber shoes, etc., which varnishes are perfectly sweet, “shutting in” all disagreeable odors, from sulphur and other combinations.