Gold bat skin
Gold bat skin , also called intestinal serosa, is made from the outermost skin layer of cattle intestines . It is very thin (approx. 0.05 to 0.1 mm), elastic and tear-resistant.
production
To make gold bat skin, the beef intestine is first washed and soaked. Then the top layer of skin is peeled off, stretched and dried. The skin is chemically treated for durability. The size of a piece is a maximum of about 100 × 25 cm.
Origin of the term
The name Goldschlägerhaut derives from its earlier use in gold striking , i.e. the production of gold leaf . Gold bat skins were placed between the individual layers of gold leaf so that the gold leaf layers do not stick to each other.
Further areas of application
Construction of airships
As early as 1883, the British military was experimenting with balloons whose envelope was made of gold bat skin. The US military also experimented with this material for use in balloons from 1893.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the need for gold club skins increased enormously due to airship travel. Since rubberized fabric quickly became brittle and tended to build up static electricity , the gas cells were sewn from gold bat skins, which were applied in up to seven layers to a carrier layer of fabric. The weight of this material was 136 g / m². The skins of around 50,000 cattle were required for a single gas cell, and for one type of airship, which was used in World War I, caeces from around 700,000 cattle were required. Later the gold bat skin could be reduced to four layers.
The production of the gas cells was complex and expensive. In England, beef caesarean intestines were first dipped in salt water and then scraped off. Then the pieces were put together and glued to canvas. The finished gas cell was finally inflated with air and checked for leaks. The workers (mostly female workers) inside wore soft felt slippers. Today synthetic materials are used for gastight cells.
At the beginning of the 20th century, special companies were also founded which specialized in the production of gold bat skin. Ballonhüllen GmbH, for example, was founded in Berlin-Schöneberg in 1909.
Sealing of oboe mouthpieces
Because of its good elasticity, oboists use gold bat skin to seal their mouthpieces so that no air escapes between the two reeds of the mouthpiece. Colloquially the oboists also refer to the gold bat skin as fish skin .
Ham production
Gold bat skin is also used as a coating for fine ham products, for example as a coating for salmon ham in the “Parisian style”. However, these skins are obtained from the skin of the pork belly felt (bacon).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Helmut Braun: The rise and fall of airship travel. An economic historical analysis. eurotrans-Verlag, Regensburg 2007, ISBN 3936400229 , p. 74.
- ↑ Helmut Braun: The rise and fall of airship travel. An economic historical analysis. eurotrans-Verlag, Regensburg 2007, ISBN 3936400229 , p. 185.
- ↑ Peter Kleinheins, Wolfgang Meighörner: The large zeppelins: The history of airship construction. Springer, Berlin / Heidelberg 2005, ISBN 3-540-21170-5 , p. 49.
- ^ Website of the University of Stuttgart for the exhibition 220 tons - lighter than air. Material history of the Hindenburg in Friedrichshafen 2010 , accessed on November 25, 2012.
- ↑ Helmut Braun: The rise and fall of airship travel. An economic historical analysis. eurotrans-Verlag, Regensburg 2007, ISBN 3936400229 , p. 201.
- ↑ Peter Kleinheins, Wolfgang Meighörner: The large zeppelins: The history of airship construction. Springer, Berlin / Heidelberg 2005, ISBN 3-540-21170-5 , p. 22.