Adhesive and Sealant Applications & Tools

   Why do people use their fingers to tool a joint?  Professionals use tooling knives or spatulas to smooth sealants after dispensing.  And they don't do it just to make the joint look good.
   Tooling is a critical step in the sealing of a joint.  Sealant manufacturers require that their products be pressed down into the void to ensure adhesion on both side and to smooth out all gaps and bumps from the surface..  Only after tooling is complete do you have an effective weatherseal: Air, Vapor and Water.
   You can't accomplish all that with your finger!

Labels: joints, tooling knives

In 1929 our family purchased a machine shop that build elliptical gears and keg washers for a local brewery. We also rented space to a family who operated a business that made paint and was beginning to make basic caulk. And at that time there really wasn't a good caulking gun that could apply a smooth bead of caulk. In 1936, Albion Engineering Company, that small machine shop on the second floor of an historic site in Philadelphia, patented the first smooth rod caulking gun which dramatically improved the ability to apply caulk. This has set our family on the trail to solve dispensing tool problems.
Every owner, operator, and family member who has owned Albion Engineering Company since 1929 has been a Mechanical Engineer by training and has focused this organization on that training to build solutions that work, some quite simple, other unique, and others quite sophisticated. We are now in our second building which houses a solid team of engineers and professionals who have well over 250 years cumulative experience in dispensing tools and applications.

The purpose of this blog is to provide readers and participants the ability to post problems and solutions which help people with their application. Our purpose in all this is to insure that the information provided we agree with and/or it challenges us to a debate which in tern may change either our perspective or improve even our knowledge in the industry. I want you to help us as much as we help you. Lets have fun with this, but seriously it is an exchange of information meant to help people solve problems, improve their productivity, and feel more confident in what they are doing.

Thank you.

Labels: Albion, introduction, purpose