ENGLISH OF LEATHER MAKING FOR ADULT ENGLISH CLASS KLES ■■'■■■■'■■■■■•■ ST FOREWORD This series of lessons in "The English of Leather Making" has a two-fold purpose : 1. To meet the need for special lessons showing the processes in making leather and giving enough technical vocabulary so that the pupils may understand work instructions and safety precautions. 2. To teach each worker enough about every step in the process of manufacture, from raw materials to finished article, so that he will have a thorough understanding of the relation of his job to the work of the plant as a whole. These lessons cover hide and sheep-skin tanning. They were com- piled by George F. Quimby, Industrial Service Secretary of the Associated Industries of Massachusetts and Charles H. Paull, of the Bureau of Vocational Guidance at Harvard University, with the constant aid and generous co-operation of executives, foremen and other employees of the A. C. Lawrence Leather Company of Peabody, Massachusetts. That Company unhesitatingly opened its plant for the work and furnished not only every possible assistance but also provided the photographs from which the cuts for the lessons were made. Each lesson has been carefully reviewed by those familiar with tanning and by the teachers who have charge of instruction in English classes of adult aliens at the A. C. Lawrence plant. We hope these lessons will be found practical, both as to technical material and as to requirements for English Classes. Undoubtedly the need for improvements will develop as the lessons are used. We earnestly solicit suggestions for improvements which can be made in future issues. Industrial Service Department Associated Industries of Massachusetts 1034 Kimball Building Boston, Massachusetts November, 1919. C1&562330 TANNERY ENGLISH LESSONS IN LEATHER MAKING RAWSTOCK LESSON 1 UNLOADING HIDES FROM A FREIGHT CAR OPENING BUNDLES AND TRIMMING 1. work 2. make 3. make 4. come 5. come 6. get 7. get 8. call — come 9. is — will will not spoil 10. come 11. unload 12. open 13. cut off will make 14. are 15. call 16. do know lived UNLOADING AND OPENING I work in a tannery. A tannery is a factory where we make leather. We make leather from hides and skins. Hides come from cows and steers. Skins come from sheep, goats and pigs. Tanneries get hides and skins from the United States. Tanneries get hides and skins from many other countries. We call hides and skins raw stock when they come to the tannery. Raw stock is greensalted, dried or pickled. It will not spoil. The hides come to the tannery. I unload them from the freight car. My partners open the bundles of raw stock. They cut off the parts that will not make leather. Some of these parts are the ears and tail. I call this trimming. Do you know what hides and skins come from the country where you lived? Copyright, 1919, by Associated Industries of Massachusetts HIDE TANNING ENGLISH LESSONS IN LEATHER MAKING BEAMHOUSE LESSON 2 PINWHEEL SOAKING AND WASHING 1. unload I unload hides from the freight car. 2. have They have salt and dirt on them. 3. must clean off I must clean off the dirt and salt. 4. put — to soak I put the hides into vats of water to soak them. 5. are The vats are below the floor. 6. takes out The water takes out most of the salt and dirt. 7. pull Then my partner and I pull the liides from the vat with tong's. 8. put — to wash 9. push 10. turns 11. are clean pull back 12. must lock 13. stops 14. put — take out 15. do not lock — may start 10. may be killed My partner and I put the liides into the pin- wheel to wash them. I push the shipper. The pinwheel turns. When the hides are clean, I pull back the shipper. I must lock the shipper. The pinwheel stops. I put my head and shoulders into the pinwheel. I take out the hides. If I do not lock the shipper, the pinwheel may start. I may be killed. Copyright, 1919, by Associated Industries of Massachusetts HIDE TANNING ENGLISH LESSONS IN LEATHER MAKING BEAMHOUSE LESSON 3 FLESHING MACHINE PADDLE WHEELS 1. must take 2. soak — -soften 3. truck 4. cut off 5. truck 6. look 7. loosens 8. truck 9. take off 10. put 11. turns around 12. loosens 13. must wear 14. must wash 15. leave — burn 16. must g'o — 17. makes 18. am not careful FLESHING AND LIMING We must take the pieces of flesh from the rawstock. When we soak the rawstock, we soften the flesh. We truck the hides from the pinwheel to the fleshing* machine. We cut off the flesh in a fleshing' machine. Now we truck part of the hides to the lime pits. Lime pits look like soaking* vats. The lime liquor in the lime pit loosens the hair. We also truck part of the hides to the paddle wheels. Why do we take off the flesh from the hides? I put the hides in the vat of the paddle wheel. The paddle turns around in the lime liquor. The lime liquor in the paddle wheel loosens the hair. I must wear clean rubber gloves. I must wasli my hands and gloves often. If I leave lime on my hands, it will burn them. I must go to our doctor at once if the lime burns me. Handling wet hides makes the floor wet and slippery. If I am not careful, I may slip and fall. Copyright, 1919, by Associated Industries of Massachusetts HIDE TANNING ENGLISH LESSONS IN LEATHER MAKING BEAMHOUSE UNHAIKIXU MACHINE SORTING HIDES 1. pull 2. truck 3. must use 4. pulls out 5. pulls out 6. look to see is left 7. must scrape 8. make 9. make 10. look 11. put 12. call 13. to go 14. trim 15. is 1G. be careful UNHAIRING, SORTING AND TRIMMING We pull the hides from the lime. We truck the hides to the uuhairiug machines. We must use two unhairing machines. One pulls out the coarse hair. The other pulls out the fine hair. We look carefully to see if any hair is left on the hide. If any hair is left, we must scrape it off with a knife. We make different kinds of leather from hides. Hides which do not have grub holes, brands or scratches, make the best leather. I look at the hides carefully for grub holes, brands and scratches. I put each kind of leather into a different pile. I call this sorting. Some parts of the hide are too thick to go through the splitting machine. I trim them off while I sort the hides. The floor in the beamhouse is wet and slippery. I must be careful not to slip and fall. Copyright, 1019, by Associated Industries of Massachusetts HIDE TANNING ENGLISH LESSONS IN LEATHER MAKING LESSON 6 TANNERY DANGER! THE SHIPPER IS NOT LOCKED A CAREFUL WORKMAN 1. truck 2. to make- last 3. was 4. soaked 5. takes 6. call 7. put 8. put 9. tan 10. takes 11. put 12. has 13. close 14. turns 15. throws 16. is 17. is TANNING We truck the hides from the beamhouse to the tannery. -We tan the hides to make the leather last a long time. Twenty-five years ago all hides were tanned with bark from trees. They soaked the hides in water with bark from oak and hemlock trees (in it). Bark tanning takes about three weeks. Sometimes we call bark tanning extract tanning. We put the hides into vats for bark tanning. We put splits into tanning wheels for bark tanning. We now tan many hides by chrome tanning. Chrome tanning takes only about three days. I put the hides into the tanning wheel. The tanning wheel has chrome liquor in it. I close the door and pull the shipper. The tanning wheel turns. It throws the liquor over the hides. Is there a lock for the shipper? What is the lock for? Copyright, 1919, by Associated Industries of Massachusetts HIDE TANNING ENGLISH LESSONS IN LEATHER MAKING CHROME TANNING LESSON 7 SHAVING 1. take 2. put 3. shaves off 4. haul 5. put 6. makes 7. is 8. take 9. haul 10. is colored 11. is 12. take 13. is locked — may turn 14. may he caught 1 5. slip MACHINE TRUCKING HIDES SHAVING AND COLORING We take chrome hides from the tanning' wheel. We put them in the shaving machine. The shaving machine shaves off the rough parts of the hide. The truckers haul the hides to the color department. I put the hides into fat-liquor. The fat-liquor makes the leather soft. The fat-liquor is in a wheel like a tanning wheel. I take the leather from the fat-liquor wheel. I haul the leather to the color wheel. Leather is colored black, brown and many other colors. The color wheel is like the fat-liquor wheel. When I take the leather from the wheel, I must be careful. If the shipper is not locked, the wheel may turn. I may be caught and killed. I must be careful not to slip in the color department. Copyright, 1919, by Associated Industries of Massachusetts HIDE TANNING ENGLISH LESSONS IN LEATHER MAKING TANNERY LESSON 8 BUFFING WHEEL TACKING LEATHER 1. put 2. is covered 3. turns 4. is hard 5. takes off 6. stretch 7. drive 8. hold 9. dry 10. are pulled 11. call 12. have 13. hurt BUFFING AND TACKING I put the leather on the buffing- wheel. The buffing' wheel is covered with emery. The buffing wheel turns very fast. The grain of the leather is hard. The buffing wheel takes off the hard part of the grain. The tackers stretch a wet side of leather on a tacking board. They drive tacking nails around the edges of the leather. The tacking nails hold the leather on the tacking board. Tacking stretches the leather so that it can dry out smooth. When the leather is dry, the tacking nails are pulled out. We call this stripping. Tacking nails have sharp points. If we hurt our hands we must go to the doctor. Copyright. 1919, by Associated Industries of Massachusetts HIDE TANNING ENGLISH LESSONS IN LEATHER MAKING CURRY SHOP LESSON 9 JACKING MACHINE SPLITTING MACHINE (Back View Showing Grain and Split) JACKING AND SPLITTING take I take bark-tanned leather to the curry shop. put I put the leather into a tub of water. softens The water softens the leather. pull out I pull the leather out. throw over I throw it over to the jacking machine. makes The jacking machine makes the leather flat for the splitting machine, do not split We do not split bark-tanned leather in the beamhouse. skive — We must skive bark-tanned leather before split we split it. is skived Leather is slaved in a splitting machine, skive — When we skive the leather, we shave off shave the rough parts, split We split the leather in a splitting machine, puts into The feeder puts the leather into the splitting machine, splits The splitting machine splits the leather into two pieces of leather, is called One piece is called the "grain," the other is called the "split." is The grain is the hair side of the leather, is The split is the flesh side of the leather, take We take the "grain" and the "split" from the splitting machine. Copyright, 1919, by Associated Industries of Massachusetts 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 1G. 17. HIDE TANNING ENGLISH LESSONS IN LEATHER MAKING CURRY SHOP LESSON 10 SPRAYING LEATHER RETANNING AND MILLING OR STUFFING 1. tan We tan bark-tanned leather again in the curry shop. 2. call We call this retanning. 3. retan We retan leather in a pinwheel. 4. take We take the leather from the pinwheel. 5. hang — to dry We hang up the leather on sticks to dry. 6. take We take down the leather when it is dry. 7. is The leather is very dry and hard. 8. must dampen We must dampen it to make it soft. 9. dip I dip the leather in a tub of water. 10. hand Then I hand the leather to my partner. 11. sprays My partner sprays the leather with a hose. 12. spread We spread the leather out in piles. 13. pack We pack down these piles with damp burlap for two or three days. 14. put Then we put the leather into pinwheels with grease. 15. call We call this milling or stuffing. 16. is Grease is good for many kinds of leather. 17. watch — is Watch your step. The floor is slippery. Copyright, 1919, by Associated Industries of Massachusetts HIDE TANNING ENGLISH LESSONS IN LEATHER MAKING CURRY SHOP LESSON 11 PUTTING OUT MACHINE HAND SETTING OUT MACHINE AND HAND SETTING OUT 1. truck 2. put 3. pull 4. carries 5. is 6. scrape off 7. truck 8. lay 9. put 10. put out to make 11. hang 12. is 13. is called We truck the leather to the putting-out machine. I put the leather on the drum of the putting-out machine. I pull the shipper. The drum carries the leather to the rolls. There is too much grease on the leather. The rolls scrape off some of the grease. Then we truck the leather to the setters. The setters lay the leather on tables. They put out the leather with slickers. The setters put out the leather to make it flat and smooth. The setters hang up the leather on sticks. We put the leather in piles when it is dry. This is called packing down. Copyright, 1919, by Associated Industries of Massachusetts HIDE TANNING ENGLISH LESSONS IN LEATHER MAKING CURRY SHOP LESSON 12 WHITENING MACHINE BLACKING MACHINE 1. truck 2. shaves 3. call 4. have 5. must keep 6. trim 7. is 8. color 9. stand 10. push 11. spreads 12. must he 13. may crush 14. take 15. hang* WHITENING AND BLACKING We truck the leather to the whitening machine. The whitening machine shaves off the rough parts of the leather. We sometimes call whitening cutting-over. The rolls on the whitening machines have knives on them. I must keep my fingers away from the knives. We trim the edges of the leather with a knife. The leather is ready for coloring. We color it in a blacking machine. I stand in front of the machine. I push the leather to the rolls of the blacking machine. The brush in the blacking machine spreads the color on the leather. 1 must be careful. The rolls of the blacking machine may crush my fingers. My partners take the leather from the other side of the blacking machine. Then they hang the leather on sticks to dry. Copyright, 1919, by Associated Industries of Massachusetts HIDE TANNING ENGLISH LESSONS IN LEATHER MAKING CURRY SHOP LESSON 13 I 1 ' H^^M to » i < », ;M| - EMBOSSING MACHINE GRAINING LEATHER 1. is dry 2. season 3. put 4. makes 5. take 6. press 7. make 8. print ( .). must be careful 10. may crush FINISHING GUN-METAL OR SPLITS The leather is dry. We are ready to season the leather. We put seasoning- liquor on the leather with a brush. Seasoning makes the leather look better. We take the leather to the embossing machines. We press the leather in an embossing machine. Plain embossing plates make the leather smooth. Other embossing plates print designs on the leather. I must be careful. The embossing machine may crush my hands. 11. board grain We board or grain some leather. 12. has The grainer has an arm-board on his arm. 13. rubs He rubs the leather with the arm-board. 14. makes He makes the leather soft with the arm-board 15. cuts The trimmer cuts off the rough edges. Copyright, 1919, by Associated Industries of Massachusetts HIDE TANNING ENGLISH LESSONS IN LEATHER MAKING FINISHED LEATHER LESSON 14 SORTING AND BUNDLING MEASURING MACHINE SORTING, MEASURING, BUNDLING AND SHIPPING 1. is finished The leather is finished. We call it finished leather. We must sort the leather. The sorter puts the leather on horses. He puts the heaviest and best leather on one horse. 2. call 3. must sort 4. puts 5. puts 6. puts 7. sell 8. put 9. tells 10. tie 11. wrap 12. is ready 13. put 14. are made 15. know — are made He puts the rest on different horses. We sell leather by the square foot. I put the leather in the measuring- machine. The measuring* machine tells me how many square feet there are in a piece of leather. I tie the leather in bundles. I wrap the bundles in paper. The leather is ready to ship. We put it in a freight car. Many things are made from leather. Do you know some things that are made from leather? [ Note. This lesson should also be used as Lesson 25. ] Copyright, 1919, by Associated Industries of Massachusetts SHEEPSKIN TANNING ENGLISH LESSONS IN LEATHER MAKING PICKLE-HOUSE LESSON 15 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. BUNDLES. CASE AND CASK OF SHEEPSKINS SORTING AND COUNTING SHEEPSKINS COUNTING AND SORTING Sheepskins come in bundles, cases and casks. After we unload the sheepskins we count the bundles. Then we count the sheepskins in each bundle. There must be twelve sheepskins in a bundle. There are twelve sheepskins in a dozen. If there is not a dozen in a bundle, we tell the foreman. Sheepskins from the United States come in bundles. Sheepskins from other countries come in cases and casks. We keep different kinds of sheep skins in separate lots. The foreman says, " Keep the lots separate." 1. come _. unload count 3. count 4. must be 5. are <;. is — tell 7. come 8. come 9. keep says must stamp I must stamp every sheepskin in a bundle take sort — to make makes must be careful Then the truckers take the bundles to the sorters. The sorters sort the skins to make different kinds of leather. The fat from the skins makes the floors slippery. I must be careful not to fall. Copyright, 1919, bj Associated Industries 'if Massachusetts SHEEPSKIN TANNING ENGLISH LESSONS IN LEATHER MAKING PRESS ROOM LESSON 16 FLESHING MACHINE BUILDING PACKS FOR SHEEPSKIN PRESSES 1. truck 2. truck 3. is 4. put 5. are 6. cut off 7. must keei) 8. need 9. have 10. build 11. put 12. presses 13. presses 14. call FLESHING AND PRESSING We truck the sheepskins from the sorters to the fleshing machines. Sometimes we truck them to the presses first. There is flesh on the raw stock. I put the skin into the fleshing machine. There are sharp knives on the cylinder of the fleshing machine. The knives cut off the flesh. I must keep my hands from between the rolls. I need both my arms. The skins have grease in them. I build them into a pack for the press. I put the pack into the press. The press presses out the grease. The press presses each pack into a solid bundle. We call the bundles "cakes." 15. must not slip I must not slip on the greasy floor. Copyright, I'.M'.I, l.y Associated Industries of Massachusetts SHEEPSKIN TANNING ENGLISH LESSONS IN LEATHER MAKING TANNING LESSON 17 1 1 ■ . 4 "J nB' 'jajSt TRUCKING SHEEPSKINS DANGER! THE SHIPPER IS NOT LOCKED! 1. truck 2. put 3. put 4. pull 5. turns 6. breaks 7. softens washes 8. are clean 9. pull 10. must lock 11. stops 12. put 13. take out 14. pile 15. did not lock 1G. was killed MILLING We truck the cakes from the presses to the tan cellar. I put the cakes of skins into a pirrwheel. I put salt water into the pinwheel. I pull the shipper. The pinwheel turns. The pinwheel breaks up the cakes. The pinwheel softens and washes the skins. The skins are clean and soft. I pull back the shipper. I must lock the shipper. The pinwheel stops. I put my head and shoulders into the pin- wheel. I take out the skins. I pile them on a truck. Joe did not lock the shipper. He was killed. Copyright, 1019, by Associated Industries of Massachusetts SHEEPSKIN TANNING ENGLISH LESSONS IN LEATHER MAKING TANNING LESSON 18 TANNING LIQUOR IS BOILING HOT 1. truck 2. is 3. says 4. says 5. mix 6. boil 7. says 8. has 9. am careful 10. put 11. pour 12. pull 13. turns 11. tans 15. take out 1(5. must be careful PUTTING LIQUOR INTO TANNING WHEEL TANNING I truck the skins to a tanning' wheel. A tanning wheel is a pinwheel. The foreman says, "Weigh the skins." Sometimes the foreman says, "Count the skins." I mix the tanning liquor. I boil some of the liquor. The foreman say s, " Do not burn yourself." Some tanning liquor has acid in it. I am careful not to spill acid on myself. I put the skins into the tanning wheel. I pour tanning liquor into the tanning wheel. I pull the skipper. The wheel turns. The tanning liquor tans the skins. I take out the skins. Why must I be careful when I take out the skins? Copyright, 1019, by Associated Industries of Massachusetts SHEEPSKIN TANNING ENGLISH LESSONS IN LEATHER MAKING TANNING CELLAR LESSON 19 MACHINE PUTTING OUT HAND PUTTING OUT 1. makes 2. must make 3. call 4. take 5. put 6. put 7. rolls 8. am careful !). will crush 10. take 11. lay 12. put 13. smooth 14. is 15. hang 16. 17. are scratch PUTTING OUT AND DRYING Tanning skins makes them wet and wrinkled. We must make the skins smooth. We call this putting out. We take some skins to the putting-out machine. I put a skin between the rolls. I put my foot on the treadle. The putting-out machine rolls out the wrinkles. 1 am careful not to get my hands between the rolls. The rolls will crush my hands and arms. We take some skins to the hand putters out. The hand putters out lay the leather on glass tables. They put out the leather with slickers. The slickers smooth out the wrinkles. The leather is smooth. AVe hang the leather on hooks to dry. The hooks are very sharp. If 1 scratch my finger 1 must tell foreman. 111V Copyright, 1919, by Associated Industries of Massachusetts SHEEPSKIN TANNING ENGLISH LESSONS IN LEATHER MAKING COLOR CELLAR LESSON 20 PADDLE WHEELS COLORING 1. color We color most sheepskins. 2. must sort We must sort the skins before we color them. 3. puts The sorter puts the skins in different piles. 4. must not mix I must not mix the piles. 5. tie I tie the skins in bundles. 6. take 7. put 8. is 9. turns 10. washes 11. truck 12. puts 13. pulls 14. turns 15. feeds 16. goes 17. stops 18. does We take the skins to the color cellar. We put the skins into the vat of the paddle wheel. There is water in the vat of the paddle wheel. The paddle turns around. The water washes the skins. We truck the skins to the pinwheel. The wheelman puts the skins into a pinwheel. He pulls the shipper. The piiiwheel turns. The foreman feeds the color into the wheel. The color goes into the skins. The wheelman stops the pinwheel. What does ;i careful wheelman do? Copyright, 1010. by Associated Industries "f Massachusetts SHEEPSKIN TANNING ENGLISH LESSONS IN LEATHER MAKING COLOR CELLAR AND TACKING LOFT LESSON 21 J2J1E TACKING SHEEPSKINS FAX USED IN DRYING ROOM 1. makes 2. must make 3. call 4. is 5. must keep 6. tack 7. dry 8. take 1). hurt 10. should go 11. may get 12. use PUTTING OUT AND TACKING Coloring skins makes them wet and wrinkled. We must make the skins smooth. We call this putting out. What is putting OUt? (See Lesson 19.) We must keep the skins smooth. The tackers tack the skins on hoards. The skins dry on the tacking boards. The strippers take the skins from the boards. Sometimes tackers hurt their hands. They should go to the doctor. They may get blood-poisoning from the skins. Some tanneries use fans in drying skins. 13. must not put I must not put my hands into the fan. Copyright, 1910. by Associated Industries of Massachusetts SHEEPSKIN TANNING ENGLISH LESSONS IN LEATHER MAKING 1. finish 2. buff 3. does take 4. is rough 5. takes FINISHING DEPARTMENT LESSON 22 BUFFING WHEEL BUFFING We finish sheepskin leather in many different ways. We buff the skins on a buffing- machine. The fleshing* machine does not take off all the flesh. The buffing wheel is rough. It takes off the rough pieces of flesh. 6. must be damp The skins must be damp. 7. put We put the skins into damp sawdust. Copyridit, 1010, by Associated Industries of Massachusetts SHEEPSKIN TANNING ENGLISH LESSONS IN LEATHER MAKING FINISHING DEPARTMENT LESSON 23 BAKER STAKING MACHINE SLOCUM STAKING MACHINE KNEE STAKING STAKING 1. must stake We must stake all the skins. 2. put I put the leather between the jaws of the staking machine. 3. makes The staking machine makes the leather soft. 4. must keep I must keep my fingers away from the jaws of the staking machine. 5. are* staked Some skins are staked by knee staking. 6. pull 7. pulls The knee staker pulls the skins over a knee stake. He pulls the skins with his hand and knee Copyright, 1919, by Associated Industries "f Massachusetts SHEEPSKIN TANNING ENGLISH LESSONS IN LEATHER MAKING FINISHING DEPARTMENT LESSON 24 SEASONING AND HANGING ROLLING JACK SEASONING, ROLLING AND GLAZING 1. season — to We season skins to make them look better. make — look 2. season We season most skins by hand. 3. dip I dip the swab into the seasoning. 4. rub I rub the seasoning over the skin. 5. hang I hang the skin on a hook. 6. season I season some skins two or three times. 7. roll I roll the skins on a rolling-jack. 8. put I put the skin under the arm of the rolling- jack. 9. rolls The rolling-jack rolls the skin smooth. 10. must nol let I must not let the roll catch my finger. catch 11. put 12. makes — shine 13. looks I put the skin under the arm of the glazing-jack. The glazing-jack makes the leather shine. The glazing-jack looks like a rolling-jack. Copyright, 1919, by Associated Industries of Massachusetts