Cordite paste drying and pressing:

The paste sheets were dried with a current of warm air in special trucks designed for the purpose, which could be coupled into a hot-air system.

A typical paste drying stove is shown below:



After drying, the paste was installed in an incorporator, where any additives/solvents were included. The 'incorporator' was in fact, an adapted dough-making machine. During this process, the mixture became gelatinised.




Finally, the cordite was rolled and/or pressed into the required shape - some uses required the traditional long cords (from which the name arises), others required large blocks for assisted aircraft take-off systems for example. This required a number of hydraulic presses which of course differed greatly in size and shape. See two examples below:

 
             

Horizontal press for large-diameter cordite.                                                         Vertical press for traditional cordite.