Part 8

These convenient matches, which have completely superseded the old apparatus of flint, steel, and tinder-box, may be looked upon as one of the improvements derived from chemistry, for phosphorus--the necessary ingredient--till lately sold at half-a-crown an ounce; such a price would, of course, prevent its being used for so general a purpose as match-making. But when chemistry devised means of preparing it on a large scale, and at a low price, then its application was soon perceived.

Illustration: CUTTING THE MATCHES.

Illustration: FRAME.

Some years ago a kind of match was used, made of chlorate of potash and sulphuret of antimony, and ignited by drawing through a folded piece of glass-paper. Another sort was also for a time in use called “Prometheans,” but far too expensive for general use. They consisted of strips of paper rolled up, with a little glass cylinder full of sulphuric acid sealed up in the end of each, surrounded by chlorate of potash in powder; the end of the match had to be crushed by a small pair of nippers, and the glass being broken, the sulphuric acid came in contact with the chlorate of potash, causing it to take fire.

Illustration: FILLING THE FRAME.

Illustration: DIPPING THE MATCHES.

For making lucifer-matches the wood is sometimes split by hand, and sometimes by machinery. For those the wood of which is rounded, a peculiar apparatus is used; it consists of a plate having small steel cylinders let into it, so that their cutting edges are raised above the plate, and the wood is struck upon this, and not only divided, but each piece forced through the cylinders and so rounded. When cut, the wood is dipped in bundles into melted sulphur, and afterwards into a composition variously made, but usually consisting of phosphorus ground up with gum arabic and water, colored either with red-lead or Prussian blue, and in some cases chlorate of potash is added. This composition is spread out on a board to about the tenth of an inch in thickness, and the matches which have been dipped in sulphur are packed into a frame to the number of about 3000, and dipped by pressing them on the board spread with the composition, so that a little is attached to the ends of each match. This is a most unwholesome and dangerous employment, and water is always at hand, in case of fire, which is chiefly to be feared in the process of separating them and filling the boxes when the composition has dried.

CANDLES.

Illustration: CANDLE MANUFACTORY.

Illustration: CUTTING THE WICKS.

Candles are made of either wax, spermaceti, stearine, or tallow, or some compound or modification of these; but of whatever they may be made, they are formed either by dipping or casting, and hence the names “dips” and “moulds.”

Illustration: HORSE’S HEAD.

Illustration: COOLING FRAME.

When dips are to be made, a quantity of wicks of spun cotton are prepared by a machine, and doubled so as to form a loop at the top, through which a stick is passed. A number of wicks are arranged in a line on each stick, and several sticks placed side by side on a frame, which is attached to one end of a balance beam (called by the workmen the “Horse’s Head”), with weights at the other end, according to the weight of the candles to be made. The frame, with the wicks upon it, is suspended over a cistern of melted tallow (kept warm by a small fire or flue), into which it is lowered, so that the wicks dip into the tallow; this is repeated two or three times, till a coating of tallow is formed on the wicks, which are then placed aside to cool while others are served in the same way, and so on, over and over again, till each frame weighs enough to exactly counterpoise the weight at the other end of the beam.

Illustration: CANDLE-MOULDS.

Mould candles are made by pouring melted tallow into a wooden trough in the bottom of which pewter moulds, of the size of the candles required, are fixed in such a way that they open into the trough by the ends which correspond to the bottoms of the candles to be cast in them. The other end of the mould is brought to a point, with a small hole in it, through which the wick is passed and fastened to a stick running along the moulds; and as the moulds are placed in two lines, two sticks are sufficient for the trough. Melted tallow or spermaceti is poured into the trough, and when cold the superfluous quantity removed, and the candles drawn out of the moulds.

Wax candles are made by pouring melted wax down the wick till sufficient has adhered to it, then rolling the candle on a marble slab till it is even, and afterwards polishing with a cloth.

ROPE.

Illustration: SPINNING THE YARN.

Illustration: SPINNING-WHEEL.

Is a combination of the fibres of hemp or other material, so arranged as to form a tenacious cord or band, retaining, as far as possible, their collective strength. The first process in rope-making consists in twisting the hemp into thick threads, called rope-yarns. This, which resembles ordinary spinning, is commonly performed by hand, in a rope-ground or rope-walk, an enclosed level piece of ground, about six hundred feet in length, at one end of which a spinning-wheel is set up, that gives motion by a band to several small rollers or “whirls,” each of them furnished with a hook on the end of its axis next the walk. The rope spinner carries a bundle of hemp about three feet long round his waist, with the fibres all laid even, and having their ends in front of him, and from these he pulls out sufficient for the thickness of the “yarn” he is spinning, and after slightly twisting it with his fingers, attaches it to the hook of a “whirl,” which is set in motion by the wheel, and as the fibres are twisted he walks backward, gradually adding more and more, a little at a time, so as to keep the yarn of the same thickness throughout. When the spinner has traversed the whole length of the rope-walk, he stops, and another spinner detaches the yarn from the whirl, and it is then wound on a reel or bobbin. The yarns being spun, they are next “tarred” (if they are to be much exposed to wet, as for the rigging of ships), which is done by drawing them through a kettle full of melted tar, being wound off from one reel on to another, and the superfluous tar wiped away by means of tow (rough hemp) fixed in a hole through which they are drawn.

Illustration: HAWSER-LAID ROPE.

Illustration: CABLE-LAID ROPE.

What is called “laying” the rope consists in twisting a certain number of yarns together, so as to form a strand, and these strands into a rope. Large ropes are chiefly of two kinds, called respectively “hawser-laid” and “cable-laid,” the latter including only the very largest ropes. “Hawser-laid” ropes consist of a certain number of yarns (according to the size of the rope) twisted into a strand, and then three of these strands twisted together. The “cable-laid” rope is composed of nine strands, that is to say, three strands each composed of three others, and these composed of yarns, so that three “hawser-laid” ropes, twisted together, would make one “cable-laid” rope.

Illustration: ROPE-MAKING BY MACHINERY.

Laying the ropes and twisting the yarns into strands are both accomplished by the same process. The yarns are attached--in sufficient quantity for the strands--to three hooks, each turning in the same direction, while the other ends are collected together and turned in the opposite direction; the three hooks twist the yarns into strands, and a hook at the other end twists the strands into rope.

Of course, machinery of various descriptions has been applied to rope-making, and ropes are frequently made entirely by machinery with great rapidity. The annexed cut represents one mode of rope-making by machinery, in which the yarn is shown being twisted into cord or rope from the reels or bobbins on which it was wound after spinning.

WIRE.

Illustration: COARSE WIRE DRAWING.

Illustration: FIG. 1. (‡ METAL INGOT, SHEET, STRIPS.)

Illustration: FIG. 2. (‡ LARGE ROLLERS.)

Illustration: FIG. 3. (‡ CUTTING ROLLERS.)

Illustration: FIG. 4. (‡ CLOSE-UP OF CUTTING ROLLERS.)

In the manufacture of wire, the metal from which it is to be made is first cast or wrought into an ingot (A, fig. 1); it is then passed between rollers (fig. 2) which flatten it into a sheet (B, fig. 1), which is next carried between other rollers (fig. 3) having their surfaces so cut that the projections on one of them fit into the hollows of the other, forming so many cutting edges or shears (fig. 4), from which the sheet of metal comes forth at A, fig. 3, cut into strips or square rods (C, fig. 1). These rods are then drawn with great force through a plate of hardened steel having a series of holes, gradually diminishing in size, bored through it, which is called the “draw-plate;” the wire (of whatever metal it be) has to be heated red-hot from time to time, to soften or “anneal” it, for the compression produced by the drawing so hardens it that it becomes brittle. A pair of nippers holds the end of the wire, and these are moved along a sort of bench by a “rack and pinion” (fig. 5). When all has passed the first hole, it is drawn through the second, and so on to the size required. When the wire is pretty fine, it is attached to a “cylinder,” which on turning round winds off the wire and at the same time draws it through the plate, as shown in the engraving, the wire being made to pass over a small charcoal fire previous to entering the draw-plate.

Illustration: FIG. 5. (‡ RACK AND PINION.)

Illustration: FINE WIRE DRAWING.

Different metals have different powers of “ductility,” that is to say, some can be drawn much finer than others. Dr. Turner says, “The only metals remarkable in this respect are gold, silver, platinum, iron, and copper. Walliston devised a method by which gold wire may be obtained so fine that its diameter shall be only the 5000th part of an inch, and 550 feet of it are required to weigh one grain; he obtained a platinum wire so small that its diameter did not exceed the 30,000th of an inch. It is singular that the ductility and malleability of the same metal are not always in proportion to each other. Iron, for example, cannot be made into thin leaves, but it may be drawn into very small wires.”

Illustration: FIG. 6. (‡ WIRE GAUGE.)

The sizes of wires are ascertained by a small instrument called a “gauge,” which is a plate of steel with an opening diminishing to a point in it, and marks on the sides corresponding to the distance the wire will pass down the notch (fig. 6).

CUTLERY.

Illustration: FIG. 1. (‡ KNIFE BLADE.)

Table cutlery is made in the following way. The blade is first rudely fashioned from a flat bar of steel by the hammer and anvil, and this is then welded to a bar of soft iron half-an-inch square, and cut off, leaving sufficient to form the “shoulder” or “bolster,” A, and the “tang,” B, fig. 1, which is first made by the hammer and then beaten into a sort of mould or die. The blade is finished as far as can be done with the hammer, made red-hot, and thrown into cold water, which hardens the steel, and then “tempered” to a full blue color (see “Steel”) after which it is fit for grinding. Razors and penknife-blades are made of fine steel, and are forged and hardened as above, but the tempering is effected by arranging them in rows with their backs downwards on a plate of hot iron till the color appears on their surface indicating the temper they have received, which for razors is a pale straw color.

Cutlery is ground upon stones of different sizes, according to the kind of article; for saws, and table-knives, which are to be ground to a flat surface, very large stones are used, while razors, which have a curved surface, and penknives, whose blades are very narrow, are ground upon very small stones. These stones are driven by machinery with great rapidity, and are arranged over a trough of water, so that their lower parts dip into it, by which plan the stone is kept wet; if it were used dry, the steel would get too hot to hold, and the temper of it be injured. The article to be ground is held at the top of the stone. When ground, the goods are “glazed” by means of a wooden wheel the edge of which is smeared with emery-powder, and finally, if they are to be polished (which is only in the case of the finest steel instruments), they are held to the edge of a wooden wheel covered with buff-leather, and charged with “crocus”--this crocus is a red oxide of iron much used for polishing all sorts of things, as it is both fine, free from grit, and sufficiently hard.

Illustration: FIG. 2. (‡ BALANCE-HANDLE KNIFE.)

What are called “balance-handle” table-knives are those which when laid on the table, will rest with the blade elevated so as not to touch the cloth (fig. 2). The object sought in this arrangement, is to keep the cloth from being soiled, and the manner of attaining it is simply by making the shoulder project a little and running a small quantity of lead into the hole of the handle before the “tang” of the knife is introduced. The blade and handle or “haft” are united by means of rosin, which is put in powder into the hollow of the handle, and the tang, being made hot, is forced in, melting the rosin, and fixing when cool.

NAILS.

Illustration: CUTTING THE METAL INTO SLIPS.

Illustration: FIG. 1. (‡ NAIL WITH SHOULDER.)

Illustration: FIG. 2. (‡ TACK.)

Illustration: FIG. 3. (‡ CLASP NAIL.)

Illustration: FIG. 4. (‡ BRADS.)

Illustration: FIG. 5. (‡ MACHINED BRADS.)

Nails are made both by hand and machinery, the former being called “wrought,” and the latter “cut” nails. For making nails by hand, a hammer and an anvil only are used. The “nailor,” having put several rods of iron of the required size into the fire to get hot, that he may use one after the other, and so lose no time, takes one out and with the hammer beats it to a point, leaving a little shoulder (fig. 1). He then places it (at the part where the dotted line is in the figure) on a wedge fixed to the anvil, and with a blow of the hammer divides it; it is taken up by tongs, dropped into a hole in the anvil, and the shoulder beaten flat; this is called a “tack” (fig. 2), for a “clasp nail” the head is made of a different form by a particular way of striking it (fig. 3), and the form of the hole in the anvil determines whether they shall be square or round; wrought “brads” have the form of fig. 4. These are the principal forms of nails, but many others are made by soldering shanks to cast heads, as coffin-nails, and some (chiefly used by gardeners and plasterers for driving into brickwork) are made of cast-iron. Machine-made nails are cut by compression from a sheet of iron. Brads are cut out, simply, as in fig. 5, which uses up the whole of the iron without any waste, and requires no finishing; but other forms of nails are cut first into simple wedges, and have the heads finished afterwards either by the blows of a hammer or by compression.

Illustration: CUTTING BRADS.

Most nails are made flat or chisel-shaped at the point, that they may not split the wood. In driving a nail with a flat point, the length of the point should be placed across the grain of the wood, and then it will hardly ever split it, but if otherwise, the nail, acting as a wedge, opens the grain and splits the wood.

SCREWS.

Illustration: (‡ SCREW MOULD.)

The screws used by carpenters, smiths, and others, for fastening wood or metal-work together, are generally made by machinery. A piece of wire of the required thickness and length is first cut off, which is then placed in a hole or mould, with its upper orifice “countersunk” as in the annexed cut, and the head of the screw is formed by beating the upper part of the piece of wire into the counter-sinking of the mould. It is then called a “blank,” and a number of these blanks are dropped into holes bored round the periphery of a wheel which revolves slowly against a small circular saw driven with great rapidity, and cutting a “thread” or slit in the head of each blank in turn as it comes into contact with it; the wheel continuing to revolve, each screw when it gets to the bottom drops out, so that the holes when they again arrive upwards are ready to receive fresh blanks. The worm, if cut by hand, is made by means of a die of hard steel, having a hollow screw cut in it, which is screwed slowly by a backward and forward movement on to the blank, cutting it into a “worm;” when this is done by machinery, the die is held fast while the screw is worked by a rotatory movement into it. The best screws for wood are slightly tapered, which enables them to be driven much more easily, while they hold equally fast. Large screws for mechanical purposes are cut by a “lathe,” the bar revolving whilst a cutter is held to it, and moved onwards by a pattern screw. Small screws for various purposes can be easily cut by means of a “screw-plate,” having holes of graduated sizes cut inside into hollow screws, which is placed on the end of the wire, and gently turned round till it is sufficiently cut.

PINS.

Illustration: PIN-MAKING MACHINE.

Illustration: COIL FOR THE HEADS.

Pins are made from brass wire drawn out in the usual manner (see “Wire-drawing”). It is first straightened and then cut off into lengths sufficient for two pins; these are pointed at each end by holding them to a wheel, about two or three dozen at a time, turning them all round at once by means of the thumb and fingers. The wheel is not made of stone, but of steel, having the edge cut into fine notches like a file (see “File-cutting”). After the wires are pointed at each end, they are cut in the middle. The heads are made by coiling some brass wire round another piece of wire exactly the size of the pins for which they are intended, and with a sort of chisel cutting off two of these coils at a time. The accompanying figure represents the coil to be cut up into a string of heads, and one of them separate. These are fixed on to the pointed wires by a machine acting by means of a lever, by which they are compressed into the right shape and at the same time made to hold on tightly. The pins are then cleaned by boiling in some weak acid or a solution of tartar, and have next to be “tinned” or “whitened,” which is done by placing them in layers with grain-tin and cream of tartar, and boiling them for some time till they are coated with the tin; thus they are truly “electro-plated,” although at the time when this process was invented no knowledge of electro-plating existed, and the theory of the process was not understood. The pins are afterwards cleaned and brightened by shaking them in leather bags with bran, which is afterwards blown away by a blowing-machine; the pins are then placed in papers (folded by a sort of crimping-machine), which are put into a kind of vice, having a number of notches cut in it corresponding to the number of pins to be stuck in one row, and into these notches and through the paper ridges the pins are rapidly passed by children.

In some manufactories pins are made entirely by machinery, and these are the “solid-headed pins,” or pins which have the head formed out of the same piece of wire as the body, which is chiefly effected by compression, and in order that this may be readily done, the wires are previously softened by heat, which is one of the principal objections to their general use, as, in consequence of this softening, they bend too readily.

NEEDLES.

Illustration: DRILLING THE EYES.

The manufacture of needles is one of those arts in which manual dexterity is acquired by minute subdivision of labour, each artisan performing only a small part of the process, but so often, that the most wonderful rapidity and accuracy are obtained, insomuch that although each needle has to pass through nearly 150 hands (together with expensive machinery) before finishing, yet they may be bought at an astonishingly low price.

Illustration: (‡ STRAIGHTENING PLATE.)

The following is an outline of the process of manufacture. The wire is first selected, of the best steel and of a proper size, then wound round a cylinder some fifty times, and the coil is cut in two places opposite to each other through all the wires. These wires are placed together in bundles several feet long, each containing about a hundred wires, which are then cut up into lengths sufficient for two needles by a pair of shears worked by powerful machinery. As the wires are crooked, they have to be straightened, which is done by packing them in bundles and enclosing them in two iron rings so that they may be rolled forcibly backwards and forwards between steel plates with grooves cut in them to receive the projecting rings, and this straightens them thoroughly. The wires are next ground to a point at each end by holding them, a dozen or two at a time, against a revolving stone, to which they are pressed with a piece of leather, at the same time turning or twirling them between the thumb and fingers; when pointed, they are cut in two by a gauge which divides them in the middle, and the blunt ends are spread out in the form of a fan on a small anvil by the thumb and finger of the left hand, several at one time, and flattened by the blow of a small hammer. This flattening makes the ends too hard for piercing, so that they have to be softened by being made red-hot and slowly cooled; they are then pierced by children, who lay each needle on a piece of lead and with a small punch and hammer strike out the eye, but in nearly all cases the eye is drilled, in which case the wire is held for an instant to the point of a small drill turned by machinery. The groove which leads to the eye is made either by the stroke of a small file or by compression, and the end is next rounded off. In some needles the eyes and grooves are made by punching two in the middle of a wire, which is afterwards divided. The needles are tempered, by placing some thousands of them on an iron plate which is made red-hot, and then throwing them suddenly into a vessel of cold water; they are by this means made too hard, and have again to be slightly heated to give the proper degree of temper and toughness (see “Steel”), which is done by putting them in boiling oil. They have next to be polished, and this is the most tedious part of their manufacture. The needles, to the number of about a hundred thousand, are packed, together with oil and emery-powder, in a strong sort of bag, so that they all lie side by side, and several of these bags or bundles are rolled backwards and forwards between wooden beams in such a way that every needle rubs against others, and the friction thus produced grinds them bright and smooth. After a time they are taken out, and the black paste formed by the emery-powder, oil, and steel, is cleaned off by putting them into saw-dust, and turning them in a barrel fixed in a frame for the purpose; the saw-dust and dirt are then blown away by a blowing-machine, and the needles again undergo the same process several times, using finer emery-powder each time, so as to polish them; after which they are scoured with soap and water and wiped dry by rolling them in dry wash-leather. They are now perfectly bright, every roughness rubbed off, and a finish being finally given to the points by hand on a hone which turns round, they are packed, twenty-five in each paper, for sale.

TUBING.

Tubes of lead and brass are cast in short and thick pieces, and then drawn through holes in a draw-plate, similarly to wire, but having a rod or “mandril” passed through the length of the tube to keep the hollow of the right calibre.

Illustration: TUBE DRAWING.

Iron tubing for gas and water pipes, if more than about two inches in diameter, is cast; but smaller, or “service-pipes,” are made of wrought iron plate rolled on a mandril, and welded at the edges by being drawn at a white heat through a draw-plate.

STEEL PENS.

Illustration: SPLITTING THE PEN.