A NEW INDUSTRY

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 254, 10 July 1926, Page 24

A NEW INDUSTRY

THE WONDERS OF PORCELAIN ENAMELLING TWO ACRES OF BUILDINGS AT PETONE TO EMPLOY 200 HANDS On a six-acre block of land at I’etouc, contiguous to the ticw railway line, and arterial Cuba Street, stands to-day a group of half-a-dozen new red brick buildings that look like business. It only needed a certain stock of curiosity and a modicum of self-assertion to ascertain that this colony of buildings not only looked like business, but sheltered an industry entirely new to New Zealand, and which represent a landmark in the industrial growth of New Zealand generally and Wellington in particular: This is the industry that is being established here by Standard Porcelains (N.Z.j, Ltd., a company which lias been founded with New Zealand capital exclusively- bv people who are convinced that the’ demands of the Dominion entitle it to this enterprise. Up to the present New Zealand has been under the necessity of importing the whole of its porcelain enamel goods cither from America. Europe, Or Australia, ar,d among them are to be found a wide variety in quality, which hare found a ready market at prices which, at times, were not reflected in the roods. This state of things Standard Porcelains, Ltd., is out to correct, and there are those in the country who have £lOO,OOO of faith in the company’s ability to do so. No Secrecy. In the Old Country the craft of porcelain enamelling is more or less a secret trade; that is to say, that people are not permitted to visit the works and watch the process in being. Standard Porcelains, Ltd., have other ideas. Such is the high efficiency of workmanship aimed at that it is the policy of the directors to take.the public by the hand, invite them to the works, and tell them all about it, feeling confident that, bv doing so, they will create faith in the local article as against importations Tn so doing the}' very rightly point out that freight, shinpine, and chitv charges will be wiped out, hands to the number of 200 will be employed, and the money invested in the wares produced will be retained in the country instead of being sent to America, Eurone, or Australia. Furthermore, the goods will be delivered promptly, as required, so that firms will not have to wait months for delivery, and stand out of their money for that time, as thev do when contnelled no at present to order on indent. Another noint stressed is that, as far as is possible. New Zealand material will be used. It is proposed to use iron and steel made from Onakaka pic as soon as supplies arc available from those works on the other side of the strait.

Only a sufficient staff of experts is being imnorted to get the indusfi-v going: for the rest the comnanv will depend on local labour, which thev are satisfied is possessed of the ner-ssnrv intelligence to absorb the intricacies involved hi the industry. Four-fifths of the local staff will be local peoplemen and girls —and yet these people with experienced supervisors will . he able to turn ont porcelain enamelled goods second to none in the world, Enamel and Enamel.

It is to be regretted that in the past enamelled goods have been marketed in New Zealand of a quality that will not withstand the action of free alkali salts and the hard water of this coun-

try-goods which, after a time, develop patches, nliich allows the water to get at and rust the iron beneath. That is known as the soft porcelain process, in the composition of which a good deal of lead is used. No lead will be used at the Pctone works, and the enamel will be perfectly insoluble, and entirely impervious to the action of salts and hard water. Soft enamel often contains elements of a poisonous character, such as arsenic, and that, together with the lend, causes lead colic, and places its manufacture in the list of dangerous trades, but such processes do not enter into the Standard Porcelains, Ltd.’s, field of endeavour. Its process is pre-eniinentl} a safe one to its employees as it is innocuous to those residing in the vicinity of the works. What is Porcelain Enamel? Possibly not 1 per cent, of the public could answer the question, common to all as is the product. Porcelain enamel is really an opaque glass (which is impervious to heat or cold), fused on to white-hot metal. The substance is composed of certain flints, sodium borate, oxide of tin and zinc, with certain chemicals, the whole of which are fused together in a furnace (built of carborundum bricks). When heated to a very high temperature the. elements fuse into a molten mass, and. reaching that stage, it is allowed to tun off into cold water. This forms a flint-like substance, resembling crystallised glass in the rough. This is then ground it' Ball mills, when it is ready, either to be dusted on to white-hot cast iron (in the case of baths, sinks, etc.), or liquefied for application by bath or air-brush on to sheet steel. The important part ill the process of enamelling cast-iron baths is to shake just the required quantity of the prepared dust on to the white hot iron. This melts the powder and fuses it into the iron, so that the two elements become indissolubly one. The dusting is done by experienced hands by means of a holder that is fitted with an automatic hammer, the continual tapping of which causes an even flow of the porcelain powder. This process is continued until the article is wholly and evenly coated. No polishing is needed after the process, which concludes with the application of the. powder. The heat alone is responsible for the hard glaze finish. Scope of Manufactures. Slandard Porcelains, Ltd., intend to manufacture practically anything .of everyday use to which the enamelling process lends itself. It will turn out aft., alt. Gin., and 6ft. baths of approved design, with rolls, or with lateral flanges to fit close into the corners of bathrooms, or shaped to fit in with tiled walls. Baths with “apron fronts’’ (an extension from the outer edge of the roll to the floor), a type of bath only obtainable from America in the past. All types of wash-hand basins, round or oval, straight or right-angle designs, will also be made; as well as sinks, fluted sink boards. Soil pipes (enamelled within, so as to be impervious to rust, or chemical action) will be a specialty. These are hygienic and practically everlasting In Rotorua trouble is caused through water and other pipes corroding through chemical action, but with porcelainenamelled pipes that trouble would be eliminated entirely. Other goods scheduled for manufacture are cisterns, and all manner of bathroom fittings and sanitary appliances, brackets, towel-rails, gas-stoves of nil designs and sizes, table tops, floor mats for stoves, electric stove plates, electric radiators fin tinted majolica enamels Io suit flic furnishings of a room), name plates and signs of any size, sbadowless (fluted) shades for street lights, and a vast variety of other goods of everyday ntilitv.

The Standard Porcelains AVorlts, for which Mr. William Page is the architect, have been erected in record time bv Messrs. McLean and Gray. They include all the latest and most ap-

proved designs in the various departments. A specialty is the ample and up-to-date provision’ for retiring rooms and lavatories provided for the workers of both sexes. . The company hope to be in a position to commence manufacturing early in September.—(Published by arrangc’tnent.)