The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-12-01
A Curious Machine.

There are but four fishing hook manu-
factories in the United States, and of
these three are located in Brooklyn,
the fourth being in New Haven, Conn.
In the largest of the Brooklyn e>tab-
ilshments can be seen one OF the most
ingenious and complicated machines in
existence, which performs about ten
different operations, turning out COM
plete fish-hooks from plain cast-steel
wire in larger quantities daily than
twenty skillful workmen could make
by hand. There are only two machines
OF the kind in the world, and both are
owned by the house in question, for
which the machine was devised by the
inventor, DIR. Crosby, now deceased.
The firm paid very large sum for the
invention and for the patent rights,
which II now holds exclusively.
Until recently this machine was op-
Grated privately, and no one was al
lowed to see it work The machine
consists of two distinct divisions, each
operated independently of the other by
separate gear, yet which must work to-
gether in perfect harmony. The wire
is uncoiled from a large Wheel and at
the same time ST. aig htened by a series
OF revolving rollers, after passing
through which it is seized for second
by clutch which holds it in position to
DC cut off by another knife working at
right angles to the others. This
plows up with q clean cut small
spur of metal near the end, which is to
form the beard or barb of the hook.
Us yet the point remains perfectly
blunt and square, but passing on, it is
roughly pointed by sort OF punch
into the form of wedge. At this stage
it reaches the other machine, which is
at right angles with the first, and is
dropped into groove upon an endless
chain, which passes in front of the re-
volving files by which the hook is to be
hnlshed. At the same time the upper
end OF the wire is seized by an invisible
finger and bent into ling with the
rapidity of thought 1t isthen brought
in contact with the Elk files, one after
another These files are in the form of
wheels, each operated by q separate belt
from the shaft, and each is OF diff
ferent degree of fneness, graduated
from the rough burr which takes off the
wedge, to the little polishing wheel
coming last and leaving the point of
the hook almost perfectly round
When the hook, finished, but still
straight, leaves the last file, finger
pokes it down upon q ratchet, which
fits exactly into the balb Of the hook
and forces it to bend around a projeo-
lion on fiy-wheel, which gives the
hook its proper shape and throws it
into receptacle below.
By this machine about fifty. five hooks
q minute are turned out, all ready to be
tempered and blued or iapanned, or
about 50, 900 in day OF ten hours. If
it were allowed to run continually
more hooks would be turned out
than would supply the whole market
for year to come, and more than could
be conveniently finished and packed
The production could be increased to
over sixty a minute, but so high yun-
ming rate damages the files and the fin.
Ssh of the hooks is not as good. The
waste in defective hooks is only about
five per cent. Every hook, before being
tempered, is examined singly, aud Il
imperfect is rejected. Only the lar3 e
hooks, and those for which there is
rlost demand, are made by the machine,
which can be adjusted so as to make
three different sizes. There is most
demand for large trawl hooks for cod
fishing, which are sold to fisherm en- by
the barrel, as o good sized trawl con-
tains thousands Of hooks.