Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1848-09-15
Instances Of Manual Dexterity in
Manufactures.


The "body " Of a hat (beavei) is general
ly made of one part Of "red wool, three
parts Saxony, and eight pats rabbits fur
The mixing or working up Of these materials
is an operation which depends very much on
the dexterity Of the workman, and years Of
long practice are required 10 render a man
proficient. The wool and fur are laid on a
bench, first separately, and then together
The workman takes a machine somewhat
like a large violin bow; this is suspended
from the ceiling by the middle, a few inches
aboxe the bench. The workman, by means
of ,tsmall piece Of wood, causes the end of
his show" to vibrate quickly against the
PARTICLES Of wool and fur. This operation,
continued for some time, effectlally opens
the clotted masses, and lays open all the f.
bres: these flying upward by the action of
the string, are, by the manual and wonderful
deXteriIy Of the workman, caught in their de-
scent in a peculiar manner, and laid in a soft
layer Of equable thickness. This operation,
apparently so simple and easy to be effected,
is in reality very difficult, and only TO be
learned by constant practice.
The curved shell Of metal buttons is pre-
pared by means of a stamping-press; but in
stead Of a punch, a curved polished surface is
used. The workwomen employed TO stamp
the little bits OF copper acquire such dexteri-
ty, that they frequently stamp nearly thirty
in a minute. This dexterity is truly Won
derful, when il is considered that each bit Of
copper is put into the die separately, TO he
stamped with a press, moved by the hand,
and finally removed from the die. The
~quickness with which The hands and fingers
must be moved to do LIES in the hour, must
be very great.
In type-founding, when the melted metal
has been poured into the mould, the work.
man, by a peculiar turn Of his hand, or rather
jerk, causes the metal TO be shaken into all
the minuts interstices of the mould.
In manufacturing initiative pearls, the glass
bead forming the pearl has two holes in its
exterior; the liquid made from a pearl-like
powder, is inserted into the hollow of the
bead by a tube, and by a peculiar twist of
the hand, the single drop introduced is caused
10 spread itself over the whole surface of the
interior, without any superluity or d%eficien-
CIV being occasioned.
In waxing The corks of blacking-bottles
much cleverness is displayed. The wax is
melted in an open dish, and without brush,
ladle, or any other appliance, the workman
wakes each cork neatly and expeditiously,
simply by turning the bottle upside down,
and dipping the cork into the melted wax
Practice has enabled the men to do this so
neatly, that scarcely any wax is allowed 10
touch the bottle. Again, to turn the bottle
TO its proper position, without splitting any
Of the wax, is apparently an exceedingly
simple matter; but it is only by a peculiar
of the wrist and hand, impossible
10 describe, and difficult TO initiate, that it is
properly effected One man can seal one
hundred dozen in an hour!
In FASTING and afixing the labels on the
backing. bottles much dexterity is also dis
played. AS one man can paste as many la
bells as two can afix, groups of three are en-
Gloyed in this department. In FASTING. the
dexierity is shown by the final touch of the
brush, which jerks the label off the heap,
and which is caught in the left hand Of the
workman, and laid aside. This is done so
rapidly, that the three-fold operation of past
ing, jerking, and laying aside is repeated no
less than two thousand times in an hour
The afixing Of The labels is a very neat and
dexterous operation; 10 the watchful specta-
tor the bottle is scarcely taken up in the
hand ere il is set down labelled. In pack
ing the bottles into casks much neatness is
displayed.
The heads of certain kinds of pins are
formed by a coil or two of fine wires placed
al one end. This is cut off from a long coil
fixed in a lathe the workman cuts off one
or two turns of the coil, guided entirely by
his eve; and such is the manual deXterity
displayed in the operation, that a workman
will cut of 10000 or 10000 heads without
making a single mistake as to the number of
turns in each. An expert workman can fast
en- on from 10000 to $4,000 Of these heads
in a day.
The reader will frequently have seen the
papers in which pins are stuck for the conve-
nience of sale children can paper from 3d.
900 to 10000 in a day, although each pin in
wolves a separate and distinct operation!
The pointing of pins and needles is lone
solely by hand. The workman holds thirty
or forty pin lengths in his hand, spread out
like a fan; and wonderful dexterity is shown
in bringing each part TO the stone, and pre-
senting every point of its circumference to
its grinding action.
In stamping the grooves in the heads Of
needles, the operative can finish 5000 nee.
dies in an hour, although he has 10 adjust
each separate wire at every blow. In punch
ing the eye-holes of needles by hand, chill,
dren, who are the operators, acquire such
dexterity, as to be able to punch one human
hair and thread il with another, for the amuss
ment of visitors
In finally "papering" needles for sale
the females employed can count and pape
5000 in an hour!
P~OliteneSS.