PAPER CAR-WHEELS | AdventAI

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jul 20, 1904

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 30, No. 29.

PAPER CAR-WHEELS.

Just what a paper car-wheel is, and how it is made, is thus explained editorially in Railways and Locomotive Engineering (January):—

“The material of the paper-wheel is a calendared rye-straw board or thick paper made specially for the purpose at the company’s paper-mills. This is sent to the works in various sizes suitable for the dimensions of the wheel center to be made. The first operation is for two men standing beside a pile of the boards to brush over each sheet a coating of flour paste, until a dozen are pasted into a layer. A third man transfers this layer to a hydraulic press, where a pressure of five hundred tons or more is applied. After solidifying under this pressure for two hours, the 12-sheet layers are kept in a drying-room heated to a temperature of 120° F. Several of these layers are in turn pasted together, dressed, and given another drying. This is kept up until a circular block is formed, containing from 120 to 160 sheets, varying from four and one-half to five and one-half inches in thickness, and as compact as seasoned hickory.”

“The blocks are then turned in a lathe slightly larger than the tire, and the hole is bored for the cast-iron center. In turning, the paper blocks make a shaving that resembles strips of leather. The center and the tire are forced on under a powerful hydraulic press.”

“The average life of the tire of a paper wheel is about 300,000 miles. That represents about 1¼-inch wear. The centers do not seem to be affected by service, and they are always good for renewal of tires unless some accident happens to them.”