Suggest changes to: Dunlop (NZ) Ltd; Tube Section Rebuild; 1982

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This is part of a series of photos that were taken to document the rebuilding of the tube section of the Dunlop factory.

Joined tubes were stored on shelves in the racks, which can be seen behind the operator. As the tubes were very soft, they could not be piled up, or stored too long.

Just before being moulded, the tubes had to be preshaped on the former. This is a photograph of a former before it was redesigned as part of the rebuild of the section.

Each size tube had its own former. The first step was to dip the join of the tube into a chilled acetone bath, then to stretch it over the wooden former, and inflate it to size.

Three quality issues occurred here:

- The acetone baths were 1 bath to 4 moulds, so a lot of walking was involved to dip every join. This was ensured when someone was watching, but you could guarantee that when there was no one else around, the operators didn't bother with the extra walking.

-The inflation was completely manual using an air gun, and the operator had to inflate the tube until it touched a bolt head. It was easy to get that wrong.

- Finally, the lid was inconvenient to use as it swung around on its cables, and some formers didn't have lids, all of which added up to inconsistent product. It was also likely that the operators didn't use the lids at night when there was no one to enforce the rules.

The valve hole was sealed with a soft wax, which melted when the tube was put into the mould to allow the steam to inflate the tube into the mould. The tubes were cured by having steam injected under high pressure as well as the mould being internally heated.

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Description/NotesDunlop (NZ) Ltd Display Street View?

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Dunlop (NZ) Ltd; Tube Section Rebuild; 1982

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Suggest changes to: Dunlop (NZ) Ltd; Tube Section Rebuild; 1982

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