An apparatus for shirring a tubular casing in which the compression of the shirred stick is produced by employing a tapered mandrel positioned between shirring wheels. The taper is carefully chosen to produce uniform shirring and compression. In the drawing (FIG. 3) is shown part of a shirring machine comprising a pair of shirring wheels 21.22 located on opposite sides of a mandrel 15. The mandrel 15 has a tapered section 27 which begins immediately upstream of the line 27B joining the centers 21A, 22A of the shirring wheels and continues a substantial distance downstream of the line 27B. Back pressure is generated by rolls 28, 29. A preferred rate of taper is about 1 in 5 but the rate of taper may be anywhere in the range 1 in 4 to 1 in 30.
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