Abbeville press. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1860-1869, 1868-10-09
BY w. A. LEE AND HUGH WILSON.

somewhat convex faces tho first o.
heaviest, called tho cutch hammer, il
: about four inches in diameter, ant
weighs from seventeen to twcnty-fv,
pounds; the second is callod tho sho
dcring hammer, and weighs abou
. twelve pounds, having tho samo di
r ameter; and the third, still nearly O
E tho same diameter, weighs about tor
, pounds. Tho square pieces of gold
ono hundred and fifty in number
abovo mentioned, arc interlaid with
leaves of vcllum, about three or foul
. inches square, one leaf laid between
every two, and about twenty more
arc laid on tho outside. Over these
is drawn parchment case, open at
both ends; aud over these another, in
u contrary direction, 80 that tho vel.
lum and plates Of gold are kcp. tight
and close. The whole is then beaten
alternately with the right and left
hands with the heaviest of tho three
hammers, which rebounds by the
elasticity cf the skin, and saves tho
labor Of lifting, till tho gold is cxtcn-
ded to tho breadth OF tho vellum.
Each leaf is thon talscr out by deli
ca.c pair Of whitewc pinccrs and
cut into four pieces will, . steel knife,
and put between the skins of "sho-
DER" four and half inches square,
and thrcc-quartcrs of an inch thick
containing about sovon hundred skins,
which have bccn worn out in tho fin
ishing process. Tho boating is then
repeated with the lighter hammer for
two hours. AS the gold will spread
uncqually, the "shoder" Is beaten up
on, after the larger leaves have reach
cd the edges. Tho effect Of this is,
tha: tho larger leaves como out of the
ed 5cs in q state of u 1st. This allows
time tor tho smaller leaves TO reach
the full size Of the "shodcr," thus pro.
ducins Il general cvcnncss Of the s.ze
of the leaves.
Each leaf is again cut into four nic.
ccs, and placed between tho leaves of
! a mould composed Of about nine hun
dred of tho finest skins, fve inches
square, and thrcc-quarters Of an inch
thick; this il tho last ard most diff
cult stage of the process and on tho
Encncss of the skin and judgment Of
tho workman, tho perfection and thin
ness of tho leaf of gold depend. Du-
ring tho first hour the hammer is al
lowed to fall principally upon the
centre of tho mould. This causes
gaping cracks upon tho edges Of tho
leaves, the sides OF which readily CO.
a!c~co anc unto without leaving any
trace of Tho union aftcr being beaten
upon. At tho second hour, when tho
gold is about tho ono hundred end
fifty thousandLh of an inch in thick
ness, it for the first timo permits the
transmission of the rays of light. In
puro gold, or gold but slightly alloycd
tho green rays arc transmitted; and
in gold highly aIloycd with silver, the
pale violet rays pass. The mould then
requires in all about four hours beat
ing with seven pound hammer, when
tho gold will have arrived at tho ordi-
nary thinness for tho gold leaf OF
commerce. 1t is then taken out of
the mould, and the rough edges are
cut off by slips of rattan fixed in par
allcl grooves Of IN Instrument called
"wagon," the leaf to be laid on a
leather cushion for that purpose. The
leaves thus prepared arc placed in a
bovk capable of holding twenty five
leaves each, which havo been rubbed
over with red ochre, to prevent tho
gold c!inging to tho paper.
The uryness of ths cutch, ehoder,
and mould is o matter of extreme i'm
portance. Thoy require to be hot
pressed evory time they are used, al
though they may be used daily, to
remove the moisture which they ae-
quire from tho mosphere, except in
extremely frosty weather, whom they
acquire SO little moisture that then
difficulty arises from their over-dry-
ness; the briIliancy of the gold is
diminished, and it spreads very slowly
under the hammer. On the contrary
if the cutch or shoder be damp, the
gold will become that which is techni-
cally termed hollow or sieve-like-
that is, it is pierced with innumerable
small holes, and in the moulds in it's
more attenuated state, it becomes re-
duced to pulverulent state. This
condition is more easily produced in
alloyed gold than in fine gold.
1t is necessary that each. skin Of the
mould should be rubbed over with
calcined gypsum each. time the mould.
NAV ha mad IN ordar IN proyant &ho