SIDE-SET PAPER BOXES.
If a single piece of box-board were to be used for the making of
a large-size set-up paper box, (a hat box, for example) it would
necessitate the cutting out of four corner pieces which would be as
large in size as the two side walls of the box, therefore the reader
can readily understand that it would not be economical to cut out
corners of stock which is to be used for the larger-sized boxes.
Another advantage of the side-set paper box is in the ends being
stronger than the ends of a one-piece box. While this strong feature
of construction would not been needed in a small-size box--a pound
size candy box, for instance--it is an advantage for a larger size
box such as is used for holding 500 No. 10 envelopes.
For this kind of a box, the chip-board, news-board, or straw-board
is cut and scored to the size required on either a single or double
scoring and cutting machine. This refers to the body-piece of the
box. The side pieces may be cut to the desired size, in stacks of
fifty or more sheets at a time, on an ordinary power paper cutter,
or of course, the side pieces may be cut from large-size sheets of
box-board on a scoring and cutting machine, or on a rotary board
cutter. In many of the big paper box plants the rotary board cutter
is being used for neck-pieces, side-pieces for side-set boxes, and
for other plain cutting where no scoring is to be done in connection
with it. The main advantage of the rotary board cutter is in the
smooth, clean edges left on the box-board after it has been cut into
the various sizes. The smooth, clean edges could not be procured on
an ordinary paper cutting machine, but in the case of common paper
boxes, the rough edges of end-pieces would not be a serious matter.
For the better grade of boxes the edges of the end-pieces should be
smooth and free from small particles of the board, especially when
the box is to be covered, as the rough edges would show plainly from
under the covering.
[Illustration: Fig. 5. Showing the construction of the flange style
of paper box. Note the mitered corners of the flanges. Fig. 6. Shows
the end-pieces glued to the flanges.]
Mitering for stock that is to form the body-pieces for side-set
boxes is done on a machine such as the Hobbs Duplex Corner Cutting
and Mitering Machine which is also used for cutting the corners for
one-piece set-up boxes. The Hobbs machine is so constructed that two
corners may be cut from box-board on one side, and two miters cut
from box-board on the other side. In other words, it is a quadruple
machine which will permit two operators to work upon it at the same
time, the operator on one side doing corner cutting, and the operator
on the other side doing mitering. Either side of the machine may be
used independently of the other, and all sizes of corners up to 3
inches, and all sizes of miters up to 1 inch in depth, can be done by
making the necessary adjustments of the dies, sub-presses, and gages.
The two miters may be spaced as wide apart as 22 inches, and the two
corners as wide as 20 inches.
Some of the paper box manufacturers are making the side-set boxes by
hand, but the majority of box-makers are using Ending Machines for
this kind of work. The hand method of construction is very simple:
The operators are seated on each side of a long table; one operator
“turns in” the flanges of the body-pieces, and shapes them ready
for receiving the end-pieces; another operator applies glue to the
end-pieces and keeps a supply of the glued end-pieces, arranged in
rows, ready for the next operator who places the body of each box on
a form, and then applies the end-pieces. It requires care for the
operator to place the end-pieces in true register with the bottom
and sides of the box. The scoring lines made for the flanges are
followed as guides for putting on the end-pieces squarely. The form
is simply a smooth block of wood, the size of the interior of the box
that is being fashioned. The amount of work which a force of skilled
hand-workers can turn out during the course of a day is really
surprising.
HOW EFFICIENCY IS ACCOMPLISHED.
Efficiency in the production of hand-made paper boxes, as well as
efficiency in the production of machine-made boxes, is accomplished
by keeping the workers, or the machines, abundantly supplied with
material, and by having boys or girls carry the material to and from
the tables or machines, instead of having experienced operators
attend to such work. When a force of operators start work at a table,
or at a group of machines, there should be a steady flow of material
to keep them constantly employed. This is the system now being
followed in the leading box-making factories, and it is a system
which should be adopted by every box manufacturer, no matter how
small his shop may be. _Keep your skilled help plentifully supplied
with material._ Do not allow your best operators to waste time in
carrying stock from place to place when boys or girls, with the aid
of light trucks, can do this class of work just as well.
This leads up to still another important suggestion which we will
offer to the manufacturers in general: Do not keep your apprentices
working for long periods at menial tasks, such as carrying stock,
sweeping floors, running errands, etc. Push the apprentices ahead as
rapidly as possible. Train them to become first-class box-makers.
A brief description of the Hobbs Automatic Ending Machine will
doubtless give the reader an idea of how end-pieces are attached to
the flanges of boxes mechanically: This machine is equipped with a
form, pasters, a hopper and a feeder, all being adjustable to provide
for paper boxes of various sizes. The machine is designed to apply
end-pieces to the bottom and sides of a box, causing the ends to
adhere to the in-turned flanges at either end of the box. The body
of the box is placed upon the form by the operator with the flanges
lying flat upon the surface. The end-pieces are placed in a hopper,
and the machine automatically feeds the undermost end-piece forward,
applies paste to three edges as it is being fed, registers the end
accurately with the box-body upon the form, and then presses the
end-piece firmly to the flanges. This completes the ending operation.
VARIOUS KINDS OF ADHESIVES.
Various kinds of paste and glue are used for ending work. White
Dextrine is recommended for this purpose by many box-makers. Stein,
Hall & Company, of New York City, make a Dry Ending Gum, as well as
Dry Gums for all classes of paper box work. The “Mikah Cold Glues,”
manufactured by the National Glue and Gelatine Works, of New York
City, are also well recommended. There are other good glues and
pastes on the market.
In addition to the Hobbs Automatic Ending Machines there are several
other ending machines in general use which are rendering first class
service. The Kingsbury & Davis Double Ending and Quadruple Staying
Machine is another “wonder-worker” which is worthy of special
mention. It is said that one of these machines will do the same
amount of work that can be done on five single enders or stayers.
Some of the larger-size paper boxes which are constructed with
flanges and end-pieces, have a strong linen thread running around the
sides of the box, near the top, for the purpose of strengthening the
corners, the paper covering of the box concealing the thread. Other
paper boxes with flanges and end-pieces, have the corners stayed on
the outside with Kraft paper in the same way as the smaller-size
set-up boxes. Others still have the four top edges and the four
corners of the lid stayed with Kraft paper, also the four bottom
edges and the four corners of the box stayed with the same material.
This makes a box and lid of very strong construction, and as a rule,
a box and lid of this kind are not covered with glazed paper, or in
fact, paper of any kind, the box-board being allowed to show in its
natural color. Many of the larger-size envelope boxes are made in
this manner, the corners and edges stayed, but no covering paper
applied to either the inside or the outside of the box or lid.
Shoe boxes, in nearly all instances, are stayed at the corners, and
afterwards are covered with white glazed paper of an inexpensive
grade.
MANY TWO-PIECE BOXES.
Although the great majority of paper boxes of the larger sizes seem
to be made on the plan of the flange construction with separate
end-pieces, there are also many boxes made from _two_ pieces of
box-board--one continuous side-piece, folded and joined at one
corner, and a “set-in” bottom-piece. A square-shaped box containing a
“neck”, such as is used by manufacturing chemists for magnesia, etc.,
is often made on this pattern. Writing paper boxes, and other boxes
which are high and square in form, are also made in this way.
When a paper box is made on this plan--with one continuous side-piece
and a set-in bottom-piece--there is practically no wastage of
box-board, for the reason that no corner-pieces are cut out of
the stock as would be the case with a one-piece set-up box. The
continuous side-piece is scored at three corners, and is joined and
stayed at one corner. The body is then set on a form, of the same
size as the interior of the box, and while the body remains on the
form, the bottom-piece is set in. Strips of stay paper are then
pasted to the four edges of the bottom-piece, and to the four bottom
edges of the box, so as to hold the body and bottom-piece together.
When an extra strong box of this design is wanted, gummed linen tape
is used instead of stay paper for holding the body and bottom-piece
together. Sometimes the stay paper, or linen tape, is pasted on
both the inside and the outside of the box, along the edges of the
bottom-piece and body, for the purpose of making an exceptionally
strong box.
Paper boxes of the kind which have been described in the last few
paragraphs are usually covered, after the staying material has been
applied to the corner and at the bottom of the box, with cheviot
paper, or with glazed paper in white or color. A large-size, high
and square box of this type looks particularly handsome when covered
with light gray cheviot paper. The high, oblong box also makes a nice
appearance when covered with the cheviot. Trimming of white glazed
paper, at the top edges of the lid, and at the bottom edges of the
box, forms a good “color scheme” with the cheviot paper, and the
trimming enhances the general appearance of the box.
When large-size paper boxes are made with either flanges and
side-pieces, or with continuous side-pieces and set-in bottoms, the
lid is made on the same pattern as a lid for a plain set-up box,
that is with cut-out corners, and with the corners joined together
with staying material. In the case of a large-size “telescope” box,
however, the lid is made in the same way as the box, the size of
the lid being large enough, of course, for the lid to fit over the
sides of the box. A “telescope” box is the kind generally used for
holding suits, coats, shirt waists, men’s underwear, etc. Boxes of
this class are usually low in depth, say about three inches, and are
therefore made with cut-out corners, or with folding corners. Some
telescope boxes, in the larger sizes, are made as high as 12 inches,
both the box and the lid being formed of two separate pieces. We
shall endeavor to explain how folding suit boxes are made in another
chapter.
EQUIPMENT REQUIRED FOR SMALL PLANT.
While holding an interview with a manufacturer of paper box making
machinery who has furnished complete plants for many box-makers
during the last two decades, the writer asked the manufacturer to
mention the equipment that would be required for a small paper box
factory just starting in business. The manufacturer answered that
it would be difficult for him to specify the kinds and sizes of the
machines necessary for a small new plant, without knowing exactly the
class of work which was to be produced. The manufacturer explained,
however, that for an ordinary plant where a general line of plain
set-up paper boxes were to be made, the following equipment would
probably be sufficient in the beginning of the venture:
One Single Scoring and Cutting Machine.
One Staying Machine.
Two 9-inch Covering Machines.
One 12-inch Covering Machine.
One 16-inch Covering Machine.
One 16-inch Topping Machine.
One Ending Machine.
One Single Corner Cutting Machine.
One Paper Slitter.
One 34-inch Paper Cutter.
Supplies of box-board, staying material, white and colored glazed
paper in 25-inch rolls, cheviot paper in 25-inch rolls, paste,
glue, etc.
The corner cutting machine may be equipped with interchangeable dies
for cutting round corners, miters for box-bodies with flanges, and
odd shapes of many kinds, such as for example, corners for wrappers
used on Stokes & Smith machines. All of this work may be done on the
single cornering machine in addition to the plain corner cutting for
set-up boxes, but it would be necessary to order the special dies as
“extras,” as they are not furnished with the regular equipment.
ECONOMY IN POWER EQUIPMENT.
The machines mentioned may be operated by either hand or foot
power, or they may be equipped for power fixtures. Power machines
are recommended as always being the most economical, as the amount
of work produced on power machines is far greater than the amount
of work produced by hand or foot power. In many of the big paper
box making factories practically all of the machines are driven by
individual electric motors, which means that there is no wastage of
electric current when all of the machines are not in motion. When
individual motors are being used in a plant, no overhead shafting
or belting is necessary. Overhead shafting and belting is often
responsible for dirt, dust or oil being thrown on expensive material.
When steam power, or a single large motor, is used in a plant, it
costs money for shafting and belting, and it also costs something
to operate the shafting and belting before the power reaches the
machines. Belts often break and must be repaired while the machines
are standing idle. All of this expense is eliminated by the
individual motor system; it helps in maintaining clean work-rooms,
and it saves the manufacturer a considerable sum of money on account
of the electric current being consumed only at points where the
machines are in operation. On occasions when all of the machines are
not running, there is a certain reduction in the amount of current
used. This is not the case when a single large motor is in service.
It spends its power in driving shafting and belting even when only
one of the machines is in operation.
With the mechanical equipment which has been suggested for the
establishment of a small paper box-making plant, and with a force
of experienced operators, the manufacturer would be in a position
to produce all kinds of plain set-up paper boxes such as are used
for confectionery, shoes, writing paper, collars, envelopes, and
so forth. As the business grows other machines of greater capacity
may be added to the plant. In due course of time the manufacturer
could have a double scoring machine, and perhaps an automatic
wrapping machine, installed, but it would not be advisable for the
box-maker to invest money in such machines unless he controlled
enough business to keep them constantly busy. It would be a mistake
for the manufacturer to buy an automatic wrapping machine, or other
extraordinary equipment, when he is not sure of having sufficient
work to provide for such equipment.
Practically all of the large and successful box-making concerns are
specializing in some particular line. For example, one large company
is specializing on druggists’ pill and powder boxes. Another firm
is making fine candy boxes of all kinds. Still another concern is
making nothing except folding boxes. The specialty line seems to
be “the thing” in these days, and one can easily understand why it
would not pay a manufacturer in attempting to make _every_ variety
of paper boxes and folding boxes. It would be almost impossible for
him to properly equip his plant with the machinery which would be
necessary to handle all classes of work. The folding box business
is one branch of the industry; the set-up box business is another
branch. Nevertheless, there are some cases where the manufacturer of
set-up boxes could add a cutting and creasing department to his plant
with advantage, and there are also some instances where the maker
of folding boxes could enter the set-up paper box field. But, in no
case would it pay the manufacturer to make _all_ kinds of folding and
set-up boxes. As a general rule the box-maker should specialize in
some particular line.