New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-03-31
roLsMING WHEEL. srppoRr AND cLAMr.

POLISHING WHEEL. SUPPORT AND CLAMP.
cutting establishment in God-st one Of the best
known in this country. is enough to convince
OF the faIacy OF this statement over nfty men
are cmploye ed. and they are a sleek we-feI. good
! natIrol-looking lot who sing quaint Dutch songs
over their work. eleven hours day and six days
q wc"t. Nobody ever hears of diamond cutters
paid hy the carat striking for ehsht-hour day.
The visitor TO a misunderstanding mil first sees
diamonds In n" rough Women would turn up their
pretty at these. FOR they FAR rom beautiful
They most resemble bits OF worn glass. semi
Opaque often a iine whit" diamond looks yellow
auI dirty ia the rough. ana would not impress the
uaintilteI as being Of any particular value. At
the Coolest. factory enough rough diamonds are
Oh hand 10 Til quart cup. The first process in
their development into things 90 beauty is
cleavage" An Expert who knows how to get the
hrs,-lookinE shape out OF the diamonds marks Il
accorIuGiy. and with a heavy steel knife with an
IRON back it is chopped roughly into that shape.
much a butcher cuts lamb chops. The operation
requires much skill and visitors are rarely al
lowed 70 see it,, The chips from the cleavage are
valuable. the best being themselves cut and when
finished. set in ma.Iuise rings. pendants. crayat
pins ct.
Then comes the cutting proper. The roughly
hcwn diamond is placed in the end Of a hand tool
in a setting of peculiarly tenacious WAX Diamond
wax and all held in a spirit lamp until the SET
ting can %. properly shaped and cooled. The cue
ter who works over llttlo brass box placed 50 as
- catch the diamond dust. then takes a precisely
similar tool Ia The end ~ which Is another dia
moud and. holding both the box. rubs the
diamond surfaces together removing the rough
edges from me diamond under treatment. Much
wax is mixed with the diamond dust hut a exc
the bottom Of the box separates IT. and il is
mixed with oil and used 10y the poli,hers their
wheels.
The polishing. final process Is lnost interest
ing Thc pol.shers ST in lon, rows a. their whec.s
Ike women AT sewing machines in a 'sWelt" sllp
The whccs set upright Ike those used by pot
ter and are lush with the workbench. The polish
ing yurfac" ~ the wheel is rlaie OF close-gra.nad
iron The shaft is Of stcc,. AMI the bearings are
square pee e.; lrnum yi;ae. upon which tho SHAFT
is pyo,eI after the fashion % the escapcmcn; wheel
in a watch When in operation the wheels make
100 revolutions Il minute. a?l ON account Of the
rrca. speed the sishte-; variation in the baence OF
one Of them viii cause the Woe bcn,n and chop
to vibratc intoerdb.y
Ordinarily. each poisher works a. four diamonds
al once. Four camps. or longs. are fastened al
iustab.y 20 the bench ana project over the rapidly
revolving wheel surface. In the end Of each camp
IA fastened the egs-shlpei "5oup' In wl'ch the
solder securely holds the OF the diamond 10 the
crlndstonc. The ioUr stonc' require the constant
attention OF one man. They have frequently II be-
removed and reset IN the solder To bring now facets
against tho vince, which requires constant appli'
tons OF the mixture OF diamond dust and o.. The
larger facets of the prospective gems are first pol
ishod and then the smaller ones. II takes about
Two days 20 transform a rough stone to 4 finished
and sparkling gem.
Heretofore diamonds OF enc carat ca greater weight
hly. bee. as general thing. the only ones handled
in The American shops but now many Of the shops
sre cutting smaller melee diamonds. Ii q
prc bable that the hard times have made the de
nand for small and less valuable stones greater
than that for the large and costly gems
There IS little Dishonesty among the opera
ives in the diamond nils The boss OF John
81 mill SAYS that IN the twenty years he has Deen
In the business he has never known poSltNey ~
an operative stealing SINGLE stone. Many are
lost he SAYS. "and the average workman will
spoil a stone in the cutting once In while but
have never known OF well authenticated case OF
theft"
The diamonds get lost in the mos; extraordinary
ways I'm Il TUlton-st. factory some time ago
large ard valuable uncut stone disappeared. \
maltese eat. the pet Of the establishment was the
finder II had fallen the n,or near a hot steam
pipe and some cutters had fallen IN the same
place The ho pipe heated the wax The eat lay
town in the warm corner and diamond. wax and all
stuck 10 her. The was discovered sparkling In
her fur the next day, and the finder pulled out fur
and ali. The Stones also fall through cracks In
the floor that seemingly too small for their
MASSAGE. factory recently diamonds dsap
pna-.d from time 10 time until i've were missing
Then one worth 500 lost and in the thorough
search that vas made the boards OF the floor were
all pulle! up and the five smaller ones We're found
They aggregated IN value =. 100 But the 500 gem
for which the search was made has not Set
turned up
Strange 1t may seem. diamond eating Is not