where they are tramped for two or three hours to work in the oil. The kicker is a machine such as shown in Fig. 8 consisting of a receptacle for the skins, and two wooden hammers which work up and down mechanically, turning and pounding the skins. (As many as 10001500 skins of the size of musk-rats can be worked at one time in such a machine.) The pelts are then taken out and hung up in a warm room for several hours, considerable oxidation taking place. Another coat of oil is then applied, which is again tramped in, and the skins are hung up once more and exposed to the air to cause the oil to oxidize. After the skins are sufficiently tanned they are rinsed in a weak soda solution to remove the excess oil, washed and dried. When skins with fine hair such as marten, sable, mink, etc., receive a chamois tan, they are not tramped in kickers as the delicate top-hair will be broken, and the value of the skin thereby reduced.

Instead they are placed in small drums, together with metal b.a.l.l.s of varying sizes and weights depending on the particular fur treated, and the oil is worked in by rotating the drum. Such a ball-drum, as it is called, is shown in Fig. 9.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 9. BALL DRUM.

(_F. Blattner, Brooklyn, New York._)]

In conjunction with the chamois tan may be discussed the process of oiling, inasmuch as the method of application and the effect are both similar to the chamois tan up to a certain point. It is customary to treat skins tanned by any other method but the chamois process, with some oil in order to render them more impervious to water. The greatest variety of oils and fats can be used, the action in most cases being simply the mechanical isolation of the skin fibres by such a substance, thus corresponding to the first or physical phase of the chamois tan.

The chemical phase, if it takes place at all, is usually slight, and is merely incidental. Oiling is generally applied either before drying after tanning, or after drying, the oiled skins being placed in a kicker and tramped to cause the oil to penetrate. In some instances the oiling material is put in the same mixture as the tanning chemicals, and the tanning and oiling are effected simultaneously.

Among fatty substances used for oiling are mineral oils, such as paraffine oil, and vaseline; animal fats, like train oils, b.u.t.ter, egg-yolk, glycerine, neats-foot oil; vegetable oils, like olive oil, castor oil, cottonseed oil; also sulphonated castor oil and sulphonated neats-foot oil. These may be used singly or in various mixtures, an emulsion of an oil and a soft soap also being frequently employed.

4. FORMALDEHYDE TANS

Formaldehyde has proven to be of great value in the tanning of furs, usually in conjunction with other processes. Formaldehyde is a gas with a strong, irritating odor, and its 40% solution, which is the customary commercial form, also possesses this quality. When skins are treated for several hours with a very dilute solution of the commercial product, a leather is obtained which combines the properties of the alum tan and the chamois tan. Moreover, in the majority of observed cases, where furs have been tanned with formaldehyde, the skins seem to acquire a certain immunity to the attacks of vermin and moths. Although the skins do not in any way retain the odor of the formaldehyde, nevertheless these destructive agents seem to be repelled.

Numerous processes have been devised which use formaldehyde in connection with other substances for tanning. Thus in a German patent is described a method involving the alternate or simultaneous treatment of pelts with solutions of formaldehyde and alpha or beta naphthol. Both the formaldehyde and the naphthol exercise tanning actions, but the process is not used in practise.

In 1911, Stiasny, a well-known leather chemist produced a synthetic substance by the condensation of formaldehyde with a sulphonated phenol, forming an artificial tannin. This chemical, called "Neradol D," exhibits many of the properties characteristic of true tannins, although in no way related by structure and composition. By the use of "Neradol D" a soft, white and flexible leather is obtained, and it is therefore a suitable tanning material for furs.

5. COMBINATION TANS

In many instances more than one method is employed in tanning the furs, and in this way what is known as a combination tan is produced. While the various individual processes described give more or less satisfactory results by themselves, they generally possess some features, which for certain purposes may be undesirable, and which can be eliminated or considerably reduced by using other processes at the same time or subsequently. Some of the combination methods are, pickle with chrome tan, alum tan with chrome tan, and formaldehyde tan with pickle, mineral tan or chamois tan. By means of such combinations various qualities of tanned furs can be obtained, and if it is desired to produce a pelt having certain special characteristics, this can be brought about by combining two or more standard methods.

Some ill.u.s.trations of combined tannages are the following: Alum-chrome tan. The skins are tanned by the regular alum process, then the const.i.tuents of the chrome tan are dissolved directly in the same bath, and the chrome tan is effected as usual. Chrome-formaldehyde tan. To the regular chrome tan solution is added 1/2 lb. of formaldehyde for every 10 gallons of chrome liquor. The rest of the process is as ordinarily.

6. VEGETABLE TANS

In practise, the vegetable tanning matters are not used for furs, although in some special instances gambier cutch may be employed occasionally with some other tan. However, many of these tannins also have dyeing properties, and are used in dyeing the furs. In this connection it must be mentioned that furs dyed with these materials also receive a vegetable tan, which improves the quality of the leather to a considerable extent.

Comparison of The Various Tanning Methods

In choosing a method for tanning any particular kind of fur, several factors must be considered. The nature of the pelt, insofar as it is weak or strong; the time, labor and cost of materials required by the tanning process; the effect on the leather of the different dyes and chemicals used in dyeing, if the skin is to be dyed, are a few of the points requiring attention and consideration.

For furs which are only to be dressed, a simple tan like the pickle will suffice in most cases. Special instances, such as the rabbit and mole already mentioned, and a few other furs are tanned by the alum method. The pickle is undoubtedly the cheapest and simplest method of tanning skins, and yields a soft, white leather which is permanent as long as it is kept dry. If it is put into water, about 25% of the salt contained within the pelt dissolves out, and the acid present swells up the tissues. If the skin is dried in this condition, it will come out hard and brittle, tending to crack very easily. By treating the leather before drying with a strong salt solution, a good deal of the extracted salt will be replaced, and on drying and stretching, it will work out soft. Skins tanned by the "Schrot-beize" are affected by water in quite the same manner as the pickled skins.

The alum tan gives a leather similar to that produced by the pickle, but with the advantage that the skins possess greater stretch and flexibility.

In its resistance to water, the alum-tanned pelt is quite as susceptible as the other. As a general rule, the skin absorbs about 6% of its weight of alum from the tanning solution, but gives up three-quarters of this when it is soaked in water, producing on drying, a hard, stiff leather.

The chrome tan is especially impervious to water, easily resisting temperatures of 80 C., and even boiling water. It is employed to only a limited extent on account of the special effort and care required to obtain satisfactory results, also because the pelt acquires a pale blue-green color which is not desired on dressed skins. The chamois tan, and some of the combinations of the formaldehyde tan with the other methods, give very soft, flexible leathers which possess a sufficiently great resistance to the effects of water and heat.

In tests made to determine the best working temperatures for dyeing skins dressed by the salt-acid tan, and for skins dressed by the chamois process, some very interesting facts were brought out. These two tans were chosen because they represent opposite extremes, the salt-acid tan usually giving the poorest results, and the chamois tan giving the best results in practise in dyeing. Other methods, except the chrome, range between these two. The procedure in these experiments was to treat the skins at ordinary temperatures in water, or dilute solutions of the various chemicals and dyes usually employed in dyeing, and then heat these solutions until the leather just began to shrink and shrivel up. This point, called the shrinking point (S.P.), gave the temperature to which the skins could be subjected in the given solution without danger to the pelt. (The experiments and observations were made by Erich Schlottauer, while director of a large German fur dressing and dyeing plant).

The first observation made was that different furs tanned by the same process were affected differently in the same solutions. Thus in plain water, three furs, all tanned by the acid-salt tan, had shrinking points varying by several degrees; similarly with two different furs tanned by the chamois process, there was a variation in the shrinking point of two degrees. The explanation of this discrepancy among the different skins may be that there was a slight difference in the conditions under which they were tanned, experiments showing that a maximum difference of 4 C. may exist among skins tanned by the same process, but not under the same or identical circ.u.mstances. Another reason for the variation may be the fact, that some skins are more greasy than others, and are thus more resistant to the effects of water or of some chemicals. The furs with the higher shrinking points in water were those which naturally are more greasy than the others.

Weak solutions of acids tend slightly to lower the shrinking point, while weak solutions of alkalies appreciably raise it, in both chamois-tanned and salt-acid-tanned skins. Solutions of dyes and mordants as a general rule increase the resistance of the skin to heat, varying quant.i.ties of these substances having no, or little different effects on the shrinking points. Previous treatment of the leather with some oil considerably raises the shrinking point of the pelt. Formaldehyde effects a great increase of the resistance of the skins to heat, especially with chamois-tanned furs. The experiments in this case were made by first treating the skins in the weak formaldehyde solution, and then determining the shrinking point in plain water.

Two skins, both dressed by the "Schrot-beize," a Persian lamb and an astrachan, after dyeing had shrinking points almost 10 degrees higher than when undyed. The extra tannage which the skins received from the tannins used in the dye mixtures for these furs, accounts for this increased resistance to heat.

The following tables give the observed figures in the different experiments:

TABLE I +-------------------+------+------+------+

A

B

C

S.P.

S.P.

S.P.

+-------------------+------+------+------+

_Salt-acid Tan_

C.

C.

C.

Australian Opossum

46

58

45

Marmot

45

50

42

Skunk

47

56

43

_Chamois Tan_

Mink

52

61

45

Muskrat

50

58

42

+-------------------+------+------+------+ A--Water B--Water plus 1% Ammonia (s.g. 0.910) C--Water plus 1% Sulphuric acid (66 Beaume)

TABLE II +-------------------+------+------+------+

A

B

C

S.P.

S.P.

S.P.

+-------------------+------+------+------+

_Salt-acid Tan_

C.

C.

C.

Australian Opossum

53

52

54

_Chamois Tan_

Mink

59

59

59

+-------------------+------+------+------+ A--1000 c.c. water plus 40 c.c.

Peroxide plus 5 c.c. ammonia B--500 c.c. water plus 2 grams Ursol D (Para-phenylene-diamine) C--500 c.c. water plus 5 grams Ursol D

TABLE III +-------------------+------+------+------+------+

A

B

C

D

S.P.

S.P.

S.P.

S.P.

+-------------------+------+------+------+------+

_Salt-acid Tan_

C.

C.

C.

C.

Australian Opossum

51

51

53

56

_Chamois_

Mink

59

59

61

62

+-------------------+------+------+------+------+ A--500 c.c. water plus 5 grams ground nut-galls B--300 c.c. water plus 2 grams pyrogallic acid C--500 c.c. water plus 2 grams pota.s.sium bichromate D--Water, after treating leather with rapeseed oil

TABLE IV +-------------------+------+------+------+------+

A

B

C

D

S.P.

S.P.

S.P.

S.P.

+-------------------+------+------+------+------+

_Salt-acid Tan_

C.

C.

C.

C.

Australian Opossum

49

49

55

50

_Chamois Tan_

Mink

59

67

69

70

+-------------------+------+------+------+------+ A--500 c.c. water plus 5 c.c. formaldehyde for 1 hour B--500 c.c. water plus 5 c.c. formaldehyde for 12 hours C--500 c.c. water plus 10 c.c. formaldehyde for 3 hours D--As in C, but treated with 500 c.c. water plus 5 c.c. ammonia, instead of water alone.

TABLE V +-------------+------+------+

A

B

S.P.

S.P.

+-------------+------+------+

C.

C.

Persian Lamb

44

54

Astrachan

47

55

+-------------+------+------+ A--Before dyeing B--After dyeing

As a result of these experiments it may be concluded that the maximum temperature for drying salt-acid tanned skins should be 40 C., while for chamois tanned skins the temperature may be permitted to reach 45 C.

without any danger of the leather being affected. Moreover, in the case of pickled skins, the matter of extraction of the tanning agent, as well as that of the leather becoming "burned" may be effectively counteracted by brushing some oil or fat on to the leather side before dyeing the pelt.

The shrinking points of skins dressed by the various tanning methods are constant within certain limits, depending on the nature of the skin and on the conditions of tanning, and it is possible by observing the shrinking point, in conjunction with other characteristics of a given pelt, to determine what method of tanning was used.

CHAPTER VI

FUR DRESSING

DRYING AND FINISHING

One of the most important operations of all the fur dressing processes is the drying of the skins. For even when all the previous steps have been successfully completed, there is still a great possibility of the skin being injured if the drying is not properly and carefully carried out.

The essential requirements for good drying are proper temperature, uniformity and rapidity. The leather part of the fur cannot, in the moist state, resist temperatures exceeding about 45 centigrade, for when dried, the skin turns out hard and stiff, and cracks easily. The furs must therefore be dried at an initial temperature of 25 to 30 centigrade, and as the moisture is gradually removed, the temperature may be raised, for the less water that remains in the pelt, the less is the leather affected by the heat, and the more difficult is the removal of its aqueous content.

If the drying process is not a uniform one, that is, if all the skins in a lot are not subjected to the same drying conditions, then after the drying has proceeded for a certain time, some skins may be quite dry while others are not, or there may be as many different degrees of dryness as there are skins drying. There is also the possibility of great variation in the amount of moisture removed from different parts of the same skin.

Such a state of affairs requires an extra expenditure of time, labor and heat power in order to get the whole lot of furs into a more or less uniform condition. Moreover in some kinds of furs, especially those with thick skins, when the drying is not even, there is danger of the epidermal layer drying away from the corium, and subsequently peeling and cracking.

Uniformity of drying requires the maintenance of a reasonably constant temperature equally distributed throughout all parts of the s.p.a.ce where the drying is done, so that all the furs may be dried under the same conditions.

Rapidity of drying is desirable not only because it is beneficial to the condition of the pelt, but also from the point of view of practical business economy. The s.p.a.ce occupied by the drying should be as small as possible compatible with the volume of work, and with the efficiency of operation. Slow drying involves the use of much s.p.a.ce to take care of all the skins to be dried, or an acc.u.mulation of pelts ready to be dried, neither of which conditions is efficient or desirable.

It was formerly the general custom, still practised in some establishments, to dry the skins by hanging them up, leather-side out on lines in a large room or loft, the heat being usually supplied by steam pipes. Such a procedure occupied often as long as two or three days to get complete drying, involved a great deal of labor, and the results were far from uniform. In fact, in order to get the skins more nearly equable, it was necessary to subject them to an additional operation. This usually consisted of rotating the skins in a closed drum for several hours, the constant intermingling of the pelts in contact with each other causing any moisture left in them to be evenly distributed throughout the whole lot. The skins, by this process also are rendered somewhat softer and more flexible, but by drying under proper conditions the entire extra operation can be dispensed with, the furs coming out quite as soft and flexible without the drumming.

A great improvement was the adoption of large fans to circulate the heated air in the loft, thereby approaching more nearly an even temperature.

More modern devices have, however, been developed, whereby drying can be effected in the most uniform manner, with perfect control of temperature, and requiring the least possible consumption of s.p.a.ce, time, labor and power. A typical arrangement consists of a large closed chamber, generally constructed of steel, and divided into several compartments each of which may be operated independently of the others. Air, heated over suitably located steam pipes to the required temperature, is forced through the various compartments by means of fans operated by power. The conditions may be varied in each compartment, as to temperature or humidity, both of which can easily be regulated, or all the compartments may be used together as one unit. The skins are hung up on rods or lines in the compartments, or on special frames for the purpose, which are then entered into the compartments and the doors shut. The dry, heated air is forced to pa.s.s over the skins, and takes up their moisture. At the further end of the drying chamber is another fan which removes the moisture-laden air after it has done its work. The drying is effected in from 6 to 24 hours, and all skins are obtained in the same condition, for the process is quite uniform and regular.

Within recent years there has been evolved a highly efficient and economical drying equipment, based on a somewhat different principle than underlies any of the foregoing methods. The conveyor type of dryer, as it is called, is admirably suited to the needs of the fur dressing and dyeing industry, and is undoubtedly superior to any of the previous systems of drying furs, in that it affords an enormous saving of s.p.a.ce, time, labor and power, and gives greater uniformity and presents better working conditions.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 10. DIAGRAMMATIC VIEWS OF CONVEYOR DRYER. _a._ SIDE VIEW; _b._ END VIEW.

(_Proctor & Schwartz, Inc., Philadelphia._)]