Chapter IV: Part 4

An important improvement has been made in the construction of hand-blocks, by the application of a stereotype plate as the printing surface. A small mould is produced from a model of the pattern, and the stereotype copies are then made by pouring mixed metal into it. A number of the stereotype plates are then formed into a printing block, by being arranged in a stout piece of wood.

The greatest mechanical improvement in the art of calico printing was the invention of the _cylinder_ or _roller_ printing at the end of the last century. This style of printing has been generally adopted in Lancashire, and is the cause of the success of the English over the continental printers. One cylinder machine, attended by one man to regulate the rollers, is capable of printing as many pieces as one hundred men and one hundred girls could print with hand blocks in the same time. A mile length of calico can be printed off with four different colours in a single hour.

This cylinder machine consists of a hollow cylinder or roller of copper, about three feet long and three or four inches in diameter, the pattern on which has been produced by the pressure of a mill, on which the design has been originally stamped by the pressure of a hard steel roller which has been engraved.

The copper cylinders are mounted on a strong iron shaft with a toothed wheel at its end, in order to put it in train with the rotatory printing machine for one, two, or more colours. On a roller at the upper part of this apparatus are wound the calico webs stitched together, the end of which is brought between the engraved copper cylinder and a large centre roller covered with blankets, against which it is made to bear with a regular pressure.

The engraved cylinder turns on the top of another cylinder covered with woollen cloth, which revolves at the same time as the former, while its under part dips in an oblong trough containing the dyeing matter, which is of a pasty consistence. The engraved cylinder is in this way supplied with plenty of printing colour, and is cleared from the superfluity by the thin edge of a blade made of bronze, called the _doctor_, which is applied to it as it turns, and gently scrapes the surface. After this the cylinder acts upon the calico, which receives the impression of the pattern in colour, and rolls onward at a great rate of speed.

There are various kinds of colours or dye stuffs used in calico printing, some of which impart fast colours by themselves, and others which require the web to be first prepared in order that they may become fixed.

In almost all the modes of calico printing the processes are very numerous to ensure the beauty and permanence of the colours. In what is called the _steam colour_ printing, the agency of steam is applied to aid in fixing the colours to the cloth. The cloth is first steeped in a mordant or fixing liquor, then printed by the cylinder in various colours, called steam colours. It is then hung up to dry, and is afterwards exposed to the action of steam by means of various apparatus, which are adapted to the particular effect intended, to be produced in fixing the dye.

The designs for calico printing are very expensive, and such a constant succession of new patterns are demanded, that some of the Lancashire printers expend several thousands a year on designing and engraving alone.

THE TINMAN.

Tin is never found existing in an uncombined or native state. Tin ore occurs most abundantly in Cornwall and Devon, the mines of these counties having been celebrated for this metal from very ancient times. The district in Cornwall where tin mines are most abundant is termed the “Stannaries.” The Prince of Wales for the time being derives a large income from the mines, and is termed Lord Warden of the Stannaries. The word “Stannaries” is derived from the Latin _stannum_, tin. The amount of tin ore annually obtained from the Cornwall and Devon mines amounts to 11,000 tons, which, at the average value of £63 per ton, is worth £693,000. This ore yields about 7,000 tons of the metal, having an average value of £119 per ton. About four-fifths of all the tin raised in the world is produced in these mines. The ore is a heavy, hard, brittle, and usually dark brown mineral, which occurs chiefly in granular masses of various sizes. These grains are obtained in mines, where they occur in veins mixed with other minerals, and also from the beds of streams, where they have been washed out of the soil by the action of running water. In the former case they are termed tin stone; in the latter stream-tin.

Tin is obtained from the ore by first breaking up the latter, whilst a current of water flows over it and carries off the impurities, which are lighter, and therefore more readily borne away than the heavier tin ore. After being thus freed from the admixture of other minerals, the ore is usually roasted or burned, to drive off any traces of sulphur it may contain; it is afterwards heated to redness with blind coal or culm, and a small portion of lime, when the melted metal separates from the dross, and runs into cavities prepared for its reception. It is afterwards refined by being remelted, and other impurities separated, which either sink or float on the surface. The purest metal is yielded by the ore called stream-tin, which is smelted with charcoal instead of coal. If a block of tin thus obtained is heated slightly, and then allowed to fall from a height, it separates into a number of prisms which adhere together in pyramidal masses. In this state it is termed grain-tin. Tin is a silvery-white metal possessed of a high degree of metallic lustre. It is sufficiently soft to be cut with a knife, and may be readily bent, when it gives out a peculiar crackling noise; if repeatedly bent and straightened, it becomes hot from the friction of its particles with one another, and ultimately breaks. It is inelastic and moderately ductile, but very malleable, the thickness of tin-foil being about one thousandth part of an inch. It has but little tenacity, a wire of one-tenth of an inch in diameter not being able to support a heavier weight than 49 lbs.

Tin is the most easily melted of all the common metals, and it possesses the valuable property of not rusting when exposed at ordinary temperatures to the conjoined action of air and water, or even to weak vegetable acids. Tin, in a pure state, is seldom employed; but in combination with other metals it is a substance of great value. Its most important uses depend on its power of resisting the action of air and moisture; it is therefore largely employed for protecting the surfaces of copper and iron, that rust so readily.

Tin plate, or more properly tinned plate, which is so largely employed in the manufacture of saucepans, coffee-pots, tea-kettles, &c. by the tinman is not, as its ordinary name seems to imply, made of tin, but is formed of the best sheet iron, rolled out to the required thickness, and coated on each side with a layer of tin. Copper vessels ought to be invariably tinned inside, to prevent the rusting of the copper by the action of acids. Tinfoil is largely employed for the purpose of preserving moist articles from becoming dry, and is used instead of paper for enclosing fancy soap, chocolate, and other substances of a similar nature. It is also extensively used in the manufacture of looking-glasses, and is sometimes placed behind paper-hangings to exclude the damp of the walls. The most important alloys into the composition of which tin enters are bronze, pewter, bell-metal, and solder. Tin dissolved in acids is largely employed by dyers in fixing or rendering permanent various colours used in dyeing. The preparation termed putty powder is a rust of tin, obtained by exposing the melted metal to the air; it is employed in polishing metals and other articles.

The tinning of the inner surfaces of cooking utensils and other vessels of capacity is effected by scouring the surface until it is perfectly bright and clean; then heating the vessel, pouring in some melted tin and rolling it about, and rubbing the tin all over the surface with a piece of cloth or a handful of tow; powdered rosin is used to prevent the formation of oxide. Bridle bits, stirrups, and many other small articles, are tinned by immersing them in fluid tin. Tin-plate working, or the forming sheets of tinned iron into a variety of useful vessels and utensils, is carried on by means of bench and hand _shears_, _mallets_, and _hammers_, _steel heads_ and _wooden blocks_, _soldering irons_ and _swages_. In the formation of a vessel, the first operation is to cut the plate to the proper size and form with shears, and, when the dimensions of the article require it, to join them together, which is done either by simply laying the edge of one plate over that of the other, and then soldering them together, or by folding the edges together with laps and then soldering them. Similar joints are required when gores or other pieces are to be inserted, and also at the junction by which a cylinder is closed in. The usual method of forming laps, bends, or folds, for this or other purposes, is to lay the plate over the edge of the bench and to bend it by repeated strokes with a hammer; but a machine is sometimes used for this purpose.

After a tin vessel has been rounded upon a block or mandril by striking it with a wooden mallet, and the seams finished, all its exterior edges are strengthened by bending a thick iron wire into the proper form, applying it to what would otherwise be the raw edges of the metal, and dexterously folding them over it with a hammer.

A superior kind of tin ware, commonly known as block tin ware, is carefully finished by beating or planishing with a polished steel hammer upon a _metal stake_. The process of swaging is resorted to as a ready means of producing grooved or ridged borders, or other embossed ornaments. This process consists in striking the metal between two steel dies or swages, the faces of which bear the desired pattern, and are made counterparts of each other. Many ornamental articles are produced by embossing or stamping tin plate, in the same manner as other metallic sheets, with a fly-press or other machinery. Cheap coffin-plates are manufactured at Birmingham in this way; and these and similar articles are sometimes lacquered, painted, or japanned. Tin forms the principal ingredients in various kinds of pewter and other white-metal alloys, which are manufactured into domestic utensils by casting, stamping, and other processes.

Britannia metal is a mixture of tin, antimony, copper, and brass, which is melted, cast into slabs, and rolled into sheets. The principal use of this metal is for candlesticks, teapots, coffee-biggins, and other vessels for containing liquids. The feet of candlesticks, the bodies of teapots, and other articles containing embossed work, are stamped between dies; while articles of a more globular shape are stamped in two or more pieces, and afterwards soldered together. The sheet metal has a ductility which enables it to be bent into various curved forms by pressure on a model or core: this process is called _spinning_.

Many small vessels, spoons, and other articles, are cast in an alloy somewhat harder than that which is rolled into sheets. Most of the tools employed by the Tinman are the _irons_, _stakes_, and _bickers_, on which the tin is hammered into proper shape, with _shears_ for cutting, the _punches_ for piercing holes, and the _soldering iron_ and _charcoal stove_ for making joints.

THE FARRIER.

When we remember how usefully horses are employed for our advantage, how generously and willingly they work, and how docile and obedient they are when properly treated, we shall begin to see that the trade of the Farrier is one which should be studied very carefully, and that nobody should follow the business who has not become tolerably skilful. The Farrier who shoes the horses, is very often consulted when those animals are ill, so that he should have some knowledge of simple remedies in cases when the veterinary surgeon lives at a distance, or is out of the way. Especially the Farrier should thoroughly understand the construction of the horse’s hoof, which, hard and simple as it may look, is very delicate, and is composed of several important parts.

One thing should never be forgotten in shoeing a horse,—first that, although the hoof is a hard horny covering, it has an inside portion which is very tender and liable to be hurt; and secondly, that the hoof itself expands as the weight of the horse presses upon it.

The Farrier’s shed is fitted with a forge, or furnace where the iron is heated, and in which the fire is blown to great heat by the huge bellows fastened above it; it also contains an _anvil_, on which the _horseshoes_ are made or shaped, a _stool_ on which the Farrier sometimes sits to examine a horse’s hoof, and _staples_ and _rings_, to which the horses’ heads are fastened by halters during the process of shoeing. When a horse is taken to be shod, the Farrier should begin by taking off one of the old shoes. He first raises the clenches with a tool called the _buffer_ and if the shoe does not then come off easily, loosens some of the nails with the _punch_, till it can be gently removed. When the shoe is off he rasps the edge of the hoof all round, and with the _nippers_ or pincers takes out any stubs that may be left in the hoof. He then pares the hard portions of the foot, and this is an operation which requires great care and skill as well as a good deal of practice in the use of the _drawing knife_. The Farrier must always remember the state of the roads when he is paring the horse’s feet, for if the roads are dry and stony he must take off very little of the horn, or the foot will be bruised.

The horseshoes are frequently purchased by the Farrier of the Blacksmith who makes them, but some Farriers are also Smiths, and both make and fit the horseshoes. In either case the Farrier keeps a stock of rough shoes which he alters at the time that they are wanted, so that they may fit the horse, and one of the first things to be done is to make the groove all round the shoe, and drill the holes in it for the nails. This groove, in which the heads of the nails sink, is called the “fuller,” and the tool with which it is made is also called the “_fuller_,” or “_fulter_.” Having cut off the ends or heels of the shoe, made the fuller, and opened the nail holes, the Farrier next makes what is called the “clip,” which means turning up the toe of the shoe, to prevent its being forced back on the hoof. In these parts of his work he has probably used the _chisel_, _turning hammer_, _swage_ and _pretchel_, while for the work at the forge he has had to employ the _poker_, the _tongs_ for holding the shoe on the _anvil_, the _slice_ for taking small things from the fire, and the _damper_, which is a wisp of wet straw held by wooden tongs for lessening the heat of the shoe during hammering. He next begins to fit the shoe, the horse being tied up to the staple in the wall of the shed. The fitting of the shoe is an operation requiring the greatest care and attention, and the good Farrier will spare no pains to do his work perfectly, as many a valuable horse has been ruined by an ill-fitting shoe. When the shoe is fitted it is “filed up,” by which all roughness is removed from the edges of the nail holes, and the sharp edges of the shoe itself are taken off.

The Farrier generally makes his own _nails_ since they are of a peculiar shape, and the heads should completely fill the nail holes, that they may not allow the shoe to shift on the horse’s hoof. They are made from long rods of iron called nail rods, and when finished are spread about the smithy to cool, because when they are allowed to cool gradually they become harder, and less liable to break.

If the nails are of a proper shape, the holes straight through the shoe, and the shoe fits the foot, very little skill is required to nail it on, and clench the ends of the nails to the hoof. Before the shoe is nailed on, however, it is usual, when the horse has tender feet, to cover the sole of the foot with leather, gutta-percha, or felt made waterproof, “felt” being made of woollen cloth torn to shreds which are then pressed together and formed into sheets. In any case the Farrier is expected to “stop the foot,” that is, to fill the hollow and tender portion of the foot within the shoe, with tow or oakum dipped in tar.

The shoe is now nailed on, and a good Farrier will often be able to secure it with only five nails.

The hind shoes are of course different in shape to those which are placed on the fore feet, and it is generally necessary to use seven nails to fix them on to the hoofs, since the hind foot expands less than the fore, and there is more drag upon it when the horse is in motion, so that the shoe is more easily shifted.

The time at which a horse’s shoes want removing depends on several causes. If a horse wear out his shoes in less than a month they had better not be removed, but whether the shoes are worn or not the horse’s hoofs should be looked to by the Farrier, every three or four weeks, as the hoofs sometimes outgrow the shoes, and the shoes require refitting.

From what has been said about the Farrier’s business it will be seen that it is a most important one, but besides the knowledge and experience required for the more mechanical part of his work, he should also know something of the diseases and ailments of horses, and be able to apply the proper remedies.

It is true that this part of the business belongs properly to the veterinary surgeon, but the Farrier should at all events understand what is proper to be done in any ordinary disorder or in cases of emergency. He will of course know how to use the _fleam_ when the animals require bleeding, as they frequently do. This instrument is a sort of knife, the sharp part of which is the small spade-shaped pieces at the ends of the blades. The _ladle_ for melting the ingredients of ointment, for sprains or swellings, and the _spatula_ for mixing it, or for spreading and mixing the drugs for boluses or the large pills frequently given to horses, are some of the instruments used in this part of the Farrier’s business.

THE NEEDLE MAKER.

There is perhaps no implement of greater importance than that smallest of all tools, the needle, and in all civilized countries the number of needles consumed is so great, and such an enormous supply is required for the sewing of the clothes of mankind, that the manufacture is one of the most remarkable in this country, whence by far the greater part of the whole supply is derived.

It will only be proper in this place for the author to acknowledge his obligations to Mr. W. B. Tegetmeier, whose most useful little work on “Common Objects” affords brief and reliable information on this as well as on many other interesting subjects.

The material from which needles are made is soft steel wire of the requisite degree of fineness. This is obtained from the manufacturer in large coils, each containing sufficient wire to form several thousand needles. These coils are first cut up into pieces of the length required to make two needles, usually about three inches, large _shears_ being used, capable of cutting a coil of one hundred wires.

Five or six thousands of these lengths are made into a bundle kept together by a ring of steel at each end. They are then heated to redness in a furnace, and afterwards laid upon a flat iron plate, and rubbed backwards and forwards with a steel bar until each wire is perfectly straight.

The next stage is to grind a point at each end of the wire. This is done by the aid of grindstones about eighteen inches in diameter and four inches thick; they are made to revolve so rapidly that they are liable to fly into pieces, and are therefore partially enclosed in iron plates to avoid injury to the grinder, should such an accident occur. The grinder takes from fifty to sixty wires between the thumb and forefinger of his right hand; and as he presses them against the stone, he causes all the wires to roll round, and thus each is ground to a point. So expert do the grinders become by practice, that they point a handful of these wires, usually about sixty, in half a minute, or about seven thousand in an hour. During the grinding every wire gives out a stream of sparks, and these together form a bright glare of light.

Pointing these wires is the most unhealthy part of the manufacture; the fine dust is carried into the lungs of the workmen, and destroys them in a few years, very few living beyond the age of forty. Wet grindstones cannot be used, as the points of the needles would be rapidly rusted.

The wires thus pointed at each end are stamped by a heavy hammer, raised by a lever moved by the workman’s foot. The under surface of this hammer is so formed, that when it falls on the wire midway between the two ends it stamps on one side the gutters, or grooves, in which the eye is afterwards made; and the anvil on which the wire rests when the hammer strikes it forms the two grooves on the opposite side. This stamping also makes a slight depression or pit on each side at the spot intended for the eye. The wires are then passed to a boy, who takes a number of them in his left hand, whilst with his right he works a press, moving two hard steel points or piercers. These come down upon the wire as it is placed beneath them, and pierce the eyes for the two needles. Each wire now resembles two rough unpolished needles united together by their heads; and as it would require much trouble to divide them separately into two needles, a number are threaded upon two very thin wires, and are separated by filing and bending.

Any needles which may have been bent in the several processes are straightened by rolling under a steel bar, and are hardened by heating in a furnace, and suddenly cooled in cold water or oil. After hardening they are tempered by being slightly heated, and if any are bent during hardening, they are straightened by being hammered on anvils with small hammers; finally, the whole are polished by laying twenty or thirty thousand side by side upon a piece of thick canvas, smearing them with oil and emery, rolling up the canvas, and rubbing them under a press for several hours or even days.

Drilled-eyed needles undergo another operation—a fine _drill_ is made to revolve rapidly in the eye of each, to take off the rough edge and to prevent their cutting the thread when used; finally, the points are finished on a revolving stone, and polished on a wheel covered with leather, and enclosed in a paper for sale.

Simple as the construction of a needle may appear, it has to pass through the hands of 120 workmen, from the time it leaves the iron mine until the manufacture is completed.

The chief seat of the needle manufacture in this country is Redditch, in Worcestershire, where upwards of seventy millions are made weekly. English needles are far superior to those of foreign manufacture.

THE CALENDERER AND HOTPRESSER.

The business of the Calenderer and Hotpresser in so many respects resembles part of that already described as preceding the printing of calico, that only a brief notice of it will be necessary. The singeing and bleaching of the cotton has been explained, and calendering is the name generally applied in the manufacturing districts to the processes of smoothing, dressing, and glazing cotton and linen goods; the object being either to prepare them for the operations of the calico printer, or to impart the last finish to the goods before they are folded and packed for the market. The earlier calenders, or calendering machines, closely resembled a common mangle in their action, but were very large and heavy, and worked by a horse-wheel or other sufficient power, but the process was greatly improved by the invention of a machine in which the pressure is produced between rollers, instead of between rollers and flat surfaces, and in which consequently the alternating movement is got rid of, and also it is easier to give a uniform and equal pressure.

The rollers or cylinders were formerly made of wood; they are now usually of paper or cast iron. The paper cylinders are formed by packing a great number of circular pieces of stout pasteboard upon an iron axis, and compressing them very tightly by means of iron bolts passed through them, acting upon circular end-plates of cast iron. The surface is brought to a perfectly even and polished state by turning in a lathe. Iron rollers are made hollow and when necessary heated from the inside. When a glazed or polished surface is required on the goods to be calendered, mechanism is employed to cause two adjacent rollers to revolve with different velocities, so as to produce a rubbing action.

The _furnace_ for heating the _rollers_, the _chair with rollers_, the _presses_ and _tin blocks_ for hotpressing, and the _windlass_ for turning, are easily understood in relation to this trade. The _printing press_ and _embossed cylinder_ have been mentioned in the trade of calico printing. The _mill_, turned by a horse, is used where steam power is not employed to put the machinery in motion.

THE CUTLER AND FILE-CUTTER.

Amongst all the trades that occupy the attention of mankind, that of the Cutler, which also includes the tool maker, is certainly one of the most essential, since without tools no other manufactures could be carried on. Cutting instruments of various kinds have been in use from the earliest ages, if for no other purposes, for cutting food, slaughtering animals, and making war upon each other. In ancient times, as well as amongst some barbarous tribes at the present day, these implements were frequently made of shells, edged flints, or hardened wood, fashioned into sharp weapons; at a late period, cutting as well as warlike instruments were formed of brass or bronze; but at the present time, in all civilized nations they are formed exclusively of steel or iron.

Steel is formed from the purest bar iron—that which comes from the Swedish mines being preferred. This is buried in powdered charcoal and heated to whiteness for several days, without exposure to the air; during this time the metal becomes much harder, whiter in colour, crystalline in texture, and blistered on the surface. The blistered steel so produced is prepared for use, either by binding several bars together and hammering them into one, or by melting them in earthenware pots, called crucibles, and pouring the melted metal into moulds of the size required. In the latter state it is called cast steel.

Cutlery is generally understood to comprise all kinds of knives, razors, lancets, and edge tools, including scythes, saws, scissors, shears, spades, and many others; and the manufacture of forks, files, and some other instruments not possessing cutting edges, is frequently included in the business. It will be impossible to give a detailed description of how all these are made, so only two or three must be selected. In a Cutler’s factory knife blades are forged from steel bars in a number of small rooms, each containing a fireplace or hearth, a trough to hold water, and another trough for coke, which is specially prepared for this kind of work; there are also an _anvil_, _hammers_, and some other tools.

Two persons are engaged in each room, one being called the maker or forger, the other the striker. The forger buries the end of the steel bar in the fire to the extent required; and to determine when it should be removed requires some judgment, since if it be overheated or “burnt,” it will be quite unfit for cutting purposes. On the other hand, it must be sufficiently heated to acquire the proper degree of softness for the operation of shaping the blade from it. When the end of the bar has been properly heated it is brought to the anvil, where it is fashioned by the striker into the required shape by means of a few blows of the hammer. This roughly shaped blade is then cut off from the end of the bar, which is again heated for forming the next shape, and so on to the end.

The cutting part of the blade thus rudely formed is next welded to a piece of iron, which forms the bolster, or _shoulder_, that is, the part that rises round the handle of the knife. To make the shoulder of the size and shape required, and to give it neatness and finish, it is introduced into a _die_ by the side of the anvil, and a _swage_ (_see Blacksmith_) placed upon it, to which a few smart blows in the proper direction are given by the striker.

The die and swage are called _prints_ by the workpeople. Besides the bolster, the part which fastens into the handle, technically termed the _tang_, is also shaped from the piece of iron welded on to the cutting part of the blade. After the bolster and tang have been properly finished, the blade is heated again, and then well hammered on the anvil. This operation, which is termed _smithing_, requires particular care and attention. It is intended to consolidate the steel, and to render it brighter. The next process the blade has to undergo is that of _marking_. This is done with a broad punch made of the very best and hardest steel, and having the name and corporate or trade mark of the firm carved on the bottom end or point. The blade is heated to a dull red (worm-red, as it is termed by the workmen), and the mark cut in on one side of the blade with the punch by a single blow of the hammer. Now comes the most important process of all, viz. the hardening and tempering of the blades. Upon the effectual performance of these operations depends the practical value of the articles. The Sheffield workmen have justly and deservedly acquired the very highest reputation for peculiar skill in this most difficult department of the cutlery business. The hardening of the blade is effected by heating it to bright redness, then plunging it perpendicularly into cold water, which operation renders it extremely hard, but at the same time very brittle, which is an inconvenience, of course, requiring to be remedied. This is done by the process of tempering. To this end, the hardened blades are first rubbed with finely powdered sand, to remove scales, &c. from the surface; they are then placed on an oblong tray made of steel, and on this exposed to the fire until they acquire a bright blue tint. The workman judges of the proper degree of tempering entirely by the colour, and the utmost attention is bestowed upon this point to ensure the most perfect unanimity in this respect. The hardened and tempered blades are then submitted to the manager’s inspection, who applies various tests to them, and rejects any that may turn out imperfect in any one point.

The blades that have been examined and passed by the manager are next taken to the grinding mill, or, as it is technically termed, the _wheel_. Each separate shop in the building in which the grinders work is called a _hull_. The grinding is done on stones of various qualities and sizes, according to the kind of articles to be ground. The rough grit stones come mostly from Wickersley, near Rotherham; the finer and smoother grained stones, and the so-called _whitning_ stones, come mostly from the more immediate neighbourhood of Sheffield. The blades of table-knives are ground on wet stones, the grinding stone being suspended, for that purpose, in an iron trough filled with water to a sufficient height to make the surface of the fluid just touch the face of the stone. The grinding stones, as well as the glazers and polishers, are turned by machinery worked by steam power. A _flat stick_ is used by the grinder to keep the blade pressed to the surface of the stone. The ground blades are then glazed, which simply means that a higher degree of lustre and smoothness is given them by grinding on a tool termed a _glazer_. This consists of a wheel made of a number of pieces of wood, put together in such a manner that the edge or face always presents the end way of the wood, which is done to preserve the circular shape by preventing contraction of the parts. The grinding face of the wheel is covered with so-called emery cake, which consists of a composition of beeswax, tallow, and emery. The glazing wheels have a diameter of four feet. The tang of the blade is stuck into a temporary handle to facilitate the operation.

The last process to which the blades of table-knives are subjected in the grinding mill is that of polishing; this is done on circular pieces of wood covered with buff leather, with a coat of finer emery (flour emery) composition upon it, which are made to revolve with much less velocity than the grinding stones and the glazers. The ground blades are again taken to the manager, who applies several very severe tests to them, to try their temper and edge.

Knife-handles are made of horn, ivory, ebony, silver, German silver, mother of pearl, &c. Two sorts of ivory are principally used, the Egyptian and the African; the latter is the more beautiful and transparent of the two, the Egyptian looking more like horn. The tusks are sawn in appropriate lengths, which are then cut by a small circular saw into handles of the required size. The handles are properly filed, and occasionally also carved or fluted in different patterns. A variety of files are used for these purposes, such as flat files, threading files, hollow files, half round files, &c. The handle is then bored to receive the tang. The bolster of the blade having been properly filed, the tang is inserted into the bore, and fixed in by cement in the usual way. It is afterwards farther secured by a German silver pin passing through the handle and tang.

The silver and German silver handles are stamped in dies. The mother of pearl handles are carved or fluted in different patterns.

The knives thus finished by the hafter are now taken once more to the manager, to undergo a final examination preparatory to their removal to the warehouse.

The forging of razors is performed by a foreman and striker in the same manner as in making the blades of table-knives. The bars or rods as they come from the tilt and rolling mill are about half an inch broad, and no thicker than is sufficient for the back of the razor. The anvil on which the razor-blades are forged is rounded at the sides; by dexterously working the blade on the rounded edge of the anvil, a concave surface is given to the sides, and the edge part thus made thinner, which saves the grinder a deal of labour. The blade having been cut off the bar, the tang is formed by drawing out the steel. The blade is then properly hardened and tempered. The last and most important process which the razor-blade has to undergo is that of grinding.

The difference in the prices of blades, make all of them of the same material, is owing entirely to the circumstance that stones of much smaller diameter are used for grinding the higher priced blades, and much more time and labour are given to the operation than is the case with the cheaper sorts.

In making a fork, the end of a steel bar is first made red-hot; it is hammered so as to give a rough approximation to the shape of the shank or tang; it is again heated, and a blow from a die or stamp gives the proper contour; the prongs are cut out by a powerful blow from a stamp of peculiar form, and the fork is finally annealed, hardened, ground, and polished. It is this process of fork grinding which has so often been made a subject for comment; the fork is ground _dry_ upon a stone wheel, and the particles of steel and grit are constantly entering the lungs of the workmen, thereby ruining the health and shortening the duration of life.

Many contrivances have been devised for obviating this evil, but the fork-grinders have not seconded these efforts so zealously as might have been expected.

In making pen and pocket-knives, a slender rod of steel is heated at the end, hammered to the form of a blade, and carried through many subsequent processes. But the putting together of these hinged knives requires more time than the making of the blades, and affords a curious example of minute detail. When the pieces of bone, ivory, pearl, tortoise-shell, horn, or other substances, which are to form the outer surface of the handle, are roughly cut to shape; when the blade has been forged and ground, and when the steel for the spring is procured, the whole are placed in the hand of a workman, who proceeds to build up a clasp-knife from the little fragments placed at his disposal. So many are the details to be attended to, that a common two-bladed knife has to pass through his hands seventy or eighty times before it is finished.

A file, as every one knows, is a steel instrument, having flat or curved surfaces so notched or serrated as to produce a series of fine teeth or cutting edges, which are employed for the abrasion of metal, ivory, wood, &c.

Steel for making files being required to be of unusual hardness, is more highly converted than for other purposes, and is sometimes said to be _double converted_. Small files are mostly made of cast steel. The very large files called _smiths’ rubbers_ are generally forged immediately from the converted bars. Smaller files are forged from bars which are wrought to the required form and size by the action of tilt-hammers, either from blistered bars or from ingots of cast steel. These bars are cut into pieces suitable for making one file each, which are heated in a forge-fire, and then wrought to the required shape on an anvil by two men, one of whom superintends the work while the other acts as general assistant.

The next operation upon the blanks which are to be converted into files is that of _softening_ or _lightening_, to render the steel capable of being cut with the toothing instruments. This is effected by a gradual heating and a gradual cooling. The surface is then rendered smooth, either by filing or grinding.

The cutting of the teeth is usually performed by workmen sitting astride upon a board or saddle-shaped seat in front of a bench, upon which is fixed a kind of small anvil. Laying the blank file across the anvil, the Cutler secures it from moving by a strap which passes over each end and under his feet, like the stirrup of the shoemaker. He then takes in his left hand a very carefully ground chisel made of the best steel, and in his right a peculiarly shaped hammer. If the file be flat, or have one or more flat surfaces, the operator places the steel chisel upon it at a particular angle or inclination, and with one blow of the hammer cuts an indentation or furrow completely across its face from side to side, and then moves the chisel to the requisite positions for making similar and parallel cuts. If it be a half round file, as a straight-edged chisel is used, a number of small cuts are necessary to extend across the file from edge to edge. So minute are these cuts in some kinds of files, that in one specimen about ten inches long, flat on one side and round on the other, there are more than 20,000 cuts, each made with a separate blow from the hammer, and the cutting tool being shifted after each blow. The range of manufactures afford few more striking examples of the peculiar manual skill acquired by long practice.

Several highly ingenious machines have been contrived for superseding the tedious operation of file cutting by hand; but suited as the process may appear to be for the use of machinery, it has been found to present such great difficulties, that we believe no file-cutting engine has been brought successfully or extensively into operation. One very serious difficulty arises from the fact that, if one part of the file be either a little softer than the adjacent parts, or a little narrower, so as to present less resistance to the blow of the hammer, a machine would, owing to the perfect uniformity of its stroke, make a deeper cut there than elsewhere.

After the files have been cut, the steel is brought to a state of great hardness; this is effected in various ways, according to the purpose to which the file is to be applied; they are generally coated with a sort of temporary varnish, then heated in a stove, and then suddenly quenched. After hardening, the files are scoured, washed, dried, and tested.

It will be seen that the tools employed by the Cutler are few, and consist mostly of the hammers, moulds, dies, anvils, grinding stones, and others already mentioned.

COTTON MANUFACTURER.

The extremely valuable substance, called Cotton, which is now raised in such abundance as to furnish the cheapest and most extensively-used clothing, is produced in the seed vessels of the cotton plant, of which there are many varieties; some are herbaceous annual plants, growing from eighteen to twenty-four inches high; others, shrubs about the size of our currant bushes, and of from two to ten years’ duration; whilst a third kind attain the growth of small trees, with a height of from twelve to twenty feet.

The leaves of the cotton plant are of a bright dark green colour, deeply divided into five lobes; the flowers are large and showy, of a bright sulphur or lemon colour, and closely resemble in appearance and botanical structure those of the single hollyhock; each flower is succeeded by a triangular three-celled seed vessel, which attains the size of a small walnut, and when ripe bursts open from the swelling of the cotton contained in the three cells; the seeds, which are rather larger than those of grapes, are inclosed in the cotton wool, which adheres very firmly to them. One variety of cotton, cultivated in China, and some parts of America, has a yellow tint; this tint it preserves when woven into the fabric called “nankeen.”

The cotton plant is largely cultivated in India, China, United States, West Indies, on the shores of the Mediterranean, and, in short, in almost all the warmer parts of the world; it flourishes readily in soils too poor for the growth of grain, and other crops, and succeeds perfectly well in dry seasons.

The cotton, when perfectly ripe, is gathered by women and children, the seeds and wool being picked out of the pod; it is dried in the sun, and is then ready for the removal of the seeds. In India this operation is performed by means of two parallel rollers, which are fixed in a frame at a small distance apart, so that when they are turned round the cotton is drawn through whilst the seeds, which from their size are unable to pass, are torn off and separated. With this simple machine a man can separate the seeds from about fifty pounds of cotton in a day.

In America a still more rapid process is adopted: the cotton is placed in a box, one side of which is formed of stout parallel wires, placed about one-eighth of an inch apart; by the side of this box is a roller, carrying a number of circular saws with curved teeth, which project through the wires into the box. On the roller being made to revolve, the teeth of the saws drag the cotton through the wires, the seeds remaining behind; after being thus separated, the cotton is powerfully compressed into bags, and is ready for transport to this and other manufacturing countries.

The cotton is seldom unpacked until it arrives at the mill, the purchases being all managed by samples. When it is unpacked, the first thing to be done is the sorting, and in this much care and skill are required; for the different bags furnish different qualities of cotton, and it is necessary to produce yarn of uniform quality at the cheapest rate.

In order, therefore, to equalize the different qualities, the contents of all the bags are mixed together in the following manner. A space being cleared and marked out on the floor, the cotton contained in the first bag is scattered over this space, so as exactly to cover it; the contents of the second bag are in like manner spread over the first, and the cotton in all the other bags is disposed in a similar manner; men and boys tread down the heap, which is called a _bing_ or _bunker_, until at length it rises up in shape and dimensions very much like a haystack. Whenever a supply of cotton is taken from the bing it is torn down with a rake from top to bottom, by which means it is evident the contents of the different bags are collected together in a mass of uniform quality and colour. In mixing different qualities of cotton it is usual to bring together such only as have a similar length of staple. A portion of the waste cotton of the mill is also mixed in the bing, for making the lower qualities of yarn. For higher numbers, as well as for warps, a finer quality of cotton must be selected; and thus it will be seen that the formation of a bing is an important operation, the quality of the goods produced depending upon it.

In this state the cotton contains sand, dirt, and other impurities, and the fibres are matted together by the pressure they were subjected to in packing. To open the fibres and get rid of the sand, &c. the cotton is put into a machine called a _willow_. This consists of a box or case, containing a conical wooden beam, studded over with iron spikes; this beam is made to turn round five or six hundred times a minute. The cotton, as it is torn down from the bing, is put in at one end of the machine, where it is caught by the spikes, tossed about with great violence, and gradually driven forward to the other end. The sand and other impurities fall out of the machine through an open grating at the bottom; the dust and lighter matter pass off through a series of wire openings, and the cleaned cotton is sent down a shoot into the room below.

If the cotton is of fine quality it is beaten, or _batted_, with hazel or holly twigs. For this purpose, it is spread on a frame, the upper part of which is made of cords and is quite elastic. A woman, with a rod about three or four feet long in each hand, beats the cotton with great violence, and so entirely separates the fibre. Any loose impurities which remain fall out between the cords; seeds and fragments of seed-pods, which adhere to the cotton somewhat firmly, are picked out by hand. By this method the cotton is thoroughly opened, and made quite clean, without injuring the staple.

The coarser qualities are passed at once from the willow to the _scutching_ or _blowing machine_, which does the work of batting, only in a more violent manner, and is therefore not adapted for fine qualities; but in coarser spinning is in general use, to prepare the cotton for the carding engine.

The cotton, which is still in a confused and tangled state, has now to be carded, upon the regularity and perfection of which process depends much of the success of spinning, and also the durability and beauty of the stuff to be woven. A cotton card is a sort of brush, containing wires instead of bristles. The cards are made of bands or fillets of leather, or are formed of alternate layers of cotton, linen, and india-rubber pierced with numerous holes, in which are fixed bent pieces of iron wire, called dents or teeth.

The fibres of the cotton are not yet sufficiently level to be twisted into yarn; and it often happens that the teeth of the card lay hold of a fibre by the middle and thus double it together, in which state it is unfit for spinning.

The cardings are therefore doubled and drawn out by a machine called a _drawing frame_, the principle of which depends upon different pairs of rollers revolving with different degrees of rapidity. If, however, the riband, as it leaves the carding-engine, were simply extended in length by drawing it out, it would be liable to tear across, or to be of a different thickness at different parts of its length. To prevent the tearing and to equalize the thickness, a number of cardings are joined together and drawn out to a length equal to the sum of the length of all the separate cardings.

The effect produced is the same as taking a piece of cotton wool between the finger and thumb and drawing it out many times, laying the drawn filaments over each other, before each drawing. If the cotton be then examined it will be found that all the fibres are parallel and of equal length. This effect is accomplished very perfectly in the drawing frame, which consists of a number of rollers arranged in what are called _heads_, each head consisting of three pairs of rollers, of which the second pair moves with greater speed than the first, and the third moves quicker than the second.

By the process of doubling and drawing, the cotton is formed into a loose porous cord, the fibres of which are arranged side by side. This cord is still too thick for yarn, but it cannot be reduced in size by drawing merely, for if this were attempted it would break; a slight twist is therefore given, which by condensing the fibres allows the drawing to proceed. This is the commencement of the spinning process (which is, in fact, little more than a combination of drawing and twisting) and is called _roving_.