Screen printing hoods and fine-tuning by hand
FELT SPECIAL
there is obviously not a lot of supply from that and the hair can’t be felted easily. It is more appropriate for yarns and knitted products.”
Innovation
A lot of the machines being used in the factory date back to the first half of the twentieth century. This doesn’t mean that Tonak doesn’t focus on innovation. “In this region there has always been a large leather industry specialised in the processing of animal skins,” says Ji í. “We have our own lab and technology department, but we also collaborate with other companies in the area and with a university that has a special department focused on the kind of industry we are all in.” One recent
development in the factory is the introduction of a plasma machine for the felting process. To turn fur into felt, the hair cuticles need to be opened first. Usually this is done by adding acids to the raw material, the skins. Next, the skins are heated in a furnace to about 70°C. The plasma machine replaces the first two steps of the production process without the use of acidity and heat. “We are testing the plasma machine at the moment and implementing it on a bigger scale. The machine helps to reduce energy, but is also in line with our desire to reduce the amount of chemicals in the production process. It is an ongoing challenge to come up with new solutions. In the past years, some of the old processes we replaced were reintroduced again as the old way turned out to work much better.”
Next steps
Because of the company’s long history, the space in which the factory is located is very large, with parts of the production process on different floors. This is impractical and the company would like to modernise, but, as Ji í says, this does bring some challenges. “Some of the
machines we are using do not comply with the most recent standards. They are tolerated by authorities because they were installed before the new regulations were in order. However, every part of the production process that we want to move to a different place in the building needs to comply with new regulations. We want to comply with these, of course, but it is simply not always possible as there are no modern versions of the machines available. Nevertheless, it is one of the topics we are focusing on in the next few years. Something else we want to pay more attention to is the end part of our finished products. What could be the next life for the hat?”
More information
www.tonak.cz
Free-hand stitched hats Spray moulds for stitch patterns
FEPSA
At the beginning of the 20th century the region of S. João da Madeira in Portugal had about 24 hat factories. Today, only three hat-related factories remain, and one of these is felt hat body manufacturer fepsa. Feltros Portugueses, SA (fepsa) was established in 1969 when the six hat factories that were then still operating in the region decided to join forces and have their felt manufactured under one roof. A good part of the fur that fepsa uses as a base material in the making of their felt hat bodies is supplied by one of the other two remaining factories that had kept active – sister company
>> november 2022 | 51
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102
