How Universal Clay Products Company makes insulators

Pottery Making New, Interesting Industry in City

16,000 Pieces Porcelain

Produced Daily At Plant

Universal Clay Products

An industry that turns out 16,000 pieces of porcelain daily and within a short time is expected to reach production of 50,000 pieces a day has been added to Sandusky's manufacturing district in the East End.

Pottery making is a new industry in the city and to those who have witnessed the process in the plant of the Universal Clay Products Co., on E. First st., it is most interesting.

Few Sanduskians have seen men hurrying back and forth with long trays of moulded clay balanced on their heads, while others carry them into the huge kilns and stack them, carefully packed in "saggers", that look like cheese boxes although they are made of fire clay, as high as the kilns which reach to the roof of the building.

This company holds leases on banks of clay near Perryville estimated to contain between three and five millions tons of clay of a particularly fine quality for porcelain making.

"There is enough clay in these beds to keep this plant in operation for years and years." Declared W. J. Frey, president and general manager.

The clay is shipped to Sandusky and dumped into bins in the factory from which it is taken and sifted through a machine containing a screen of 160 mesh, which is very fine. It is mixed with water and placed into presses from which it comes in large cakes. These are placed in the dry house and after being thoroughly dried they are taken out and crushed to dust form. Another mixing process and the clay is ready for the moulders.

On the west side of the building are twelve machines, operated by men who place the clay in moulds and it is put under pressure, coming out in the form that it retains as "buttons," "spools" or switch box parts. When finished, they are used as insulators for electrical work.

After leaving the machines in moulded form the future insulators are smoothed by girls and "dipped" by experts before being packed in the saggers, and placed in the kilns, of which there are three.

The clay is subjected to intense heat for about fifty hours and after cooling for several hours the finished insulators are packed in barrels for shipment. Much of the success of the process depends on the care taken that it does not remain heated too long or cooled too suddenly.

The company on Friday shipped its first car load lot. It has made many other shipments during the past few weeks, but the plant has just reached quantity production.

As an indication of the demand for these insulators, President Frey stated that the need is so great that hurried shipments were recently made of unglazed insulators, the purchasers agreeing to accept them in that state rather than wait longer that they might be dipped before being placed in the kilns.

According to the president, the company now has orders that will keep the plant in operation at capacity for fully one year.

At present forty-five persons are employed in the factory and this number will be increased and more kilns installed as rapidly as possible.

There is a machine shop in connection with the plant in which dies are made. The insulators are made to conform in specifications and it is necessary to work in one thousandth of an inch as the porcelain buttons and spools must fit into forms of certain sizes.

The product of this factory which is of dark brown color is claimed to be superior to the white porcelain in that it is harder and not so brittle, thus incurring more durable insulators.

President Frey says he has had unusual success in obtaining help in Sandusky.

"Only one man out of the number we have tried out on the machines has quit before learning to operate them," he declared, "while in other places ten of a dark brown color, is claimed to be their jobs before they are competent to be given charge of machines. These men average $5.50 and more a day."