Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1851-04-22
Manual Dexterity of Manufactures

Mahuai DCAttritt vi 2MdnuldcttlrtS
! The body of a hat (beaver) i.
generally made of one part of red
wool, three parts Saxony, and eight
parts rabbits fur. The mixing OF
working up Of these materials is al
operation which depends very much
on the dexterity of the workmen
and years Of long practice are re.
quired to render a man proficient
. The wool and far are laid ,on bench
first separately and then together
The workman takes a machine some
what like a large violin bow; this is
suspended from the ceiling by the
middle, a few inches above the bench.
The workman, by means of a small
piece Of wood, causes the end of his
bow to yibrate quickly against the
particles Of wool and fur. This op-
Grafton continued for some tim me effec-
tually opens the clotted masses, and
lays open all the fibres- these flying
upwards by the action of the string,
are by the manual and wonderful dex-
terity Of the workman, eau ght in
their descent in a peculiar manner,
and laid in soft layer Of equable
thickness. This operation, appar-
emily sp simple and easy to be eff
fected, lis in reality very dific pit, and
only to be learned by-constant prac-
tice.
In type-founding, when the melted
metal has been poured intoSthe mould,
the workman by peculiar turn of
his hand, or rather jerk, causes the
metal to be shaken into all the min
ute interstices of the mould.
In manufacturing initiative pearls,
the glass bead forming the pearl has
two holes inits exterior; the liquid,
made from a pearl-like powder, is IN
serted into the hollow of the bead by
a tube, and by a peculiar twist Of the
hand, the single drop introduced is
caused to spread itself over the whole
surface Of the interior, withou SUI
perauity or deficiency being occa-
stoned. -
In waxing the corks Of backing
bottles much cleverness is displayed.
The wax is melted in an open dish,
and without brush, ladle, or other ap-
pliance, the workman wakes each
cork neatly and expeditiously, simply
by turning the bottle upside down,
and dipping the cork into the m melted
wax. Practice has enabled the men
to do this so neatly, that sea arcely
any wax is allowed to touch the
bottle. Again, to turn the bottle to
its proper position, without spilling
any of the wax, is apparently an ex-
ceedingIy simple matter; but it is on
ly by a peculiar movement Of the
wrist and hand, impossible to de-
scribe, and difficult to initiate, that /
it is properly effected. One man
can seal one hundred in an hour.
In pasting and af1ixing the labels
on the backing bottles, much de4-
terity is also displayed As one
man can paste as many labels as two
can aflix, groups of three are en-
ployed in this department. In paste
ing, the dexterity is shown by the
final touch of the brush, which Jerks !
the. label eff the heap, and which is
caught in the left hand Of the work
man. and thrown aside. This is
doneIso rapidly, that the three-fold
operation of pasting, jerking, and
laying aside, is repeated no less han
two Thousand times in an hour.
The 3flixing of the labels isa very
heat and dextcrous operation; to the
watchfal spectator, the bottle is |
scarcely taken up in the hand, ere it I
is set down labelled In packing the
bottles into casks, much neatness is /
|
The heads of certain kinds Of pins
are formed by coil or two of fine
wire placed at one end This is cut
off from long coil fixed in a lathe;
the workman cuts off enc or ItWoI
turns of the coil, guided entirely by /
his eye; and such is the manual dex-
terity displayed in the operation, that
a workman will cut off 10000 toll
10000. heads without making a SIN
Gle mistake as to the number of turns
to each. An expert workman can
fasten on from 10000 to 10000 of
these heads il day.
The pointing Of pins and needles
is done solely by hand. The work
man holds thirty or forty pin lengths F
in his hand, spread open like q fan;