Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1902-10-31
COUNTERFEIT GOLD.
GLIDING POWDERS ARE MADE or
COPPER AND SPeLTeR.


How the Material That Gives the
shining. Metallic Finish To Mirror
and Picture Frames L. Produced.
Gold Leaf without Gold.
How many persons who see the shin
ing gold in colorcd printing and on
mirror and picture frames know that
gold does not enter at all into the com
position Of the stuff that produces these
golden effectsf
The shining 0sfAuie effect In pro-
duced by IA line powder made from a
mixture OF bronze and spelter. This
offers the cheapest and best means OF
giving the rich surface demanded in
wall papers printing. photography. fires
Going and in a vast range of manufac.
tured articles of wood, paper and iron.
The material used is so called Dutch
metal, an alloy OF copper and spelter.
The relative proportions ure varied 10
produce different colors. The larger
the percentage OF spelter the lighter or
more yellowish will be the tint OF the
alloy.
The copper and spelter are smelted In
graphite crucibles containing about 400
pounds of metal. which. when com
pletely fused. IL run off into molds,
forming half round ingots two feet
long by half an inch In thickness. Aft
er cooling these are bound into bundles
and sent to the rolling mill. where they
are passed cold nine times through
double set OF steel rolls under enor-
nous pressure. This flattens them and
draws them out into thin ribbons from
/ 90 TO 60 feet long and something more
/ than one inch wide. Cold rolling I'M
der such extreme pressure makes the
metal brittle. so It passes to the an
healing furnace. which Is heated by
wood fire. as the sulphur In coal or
coke would be Injurious to the hbbons.
Having bees ssftsps1 ead wandered
. .'lle by annealing. they are cleansed
IN 49, acid bath. cut into lengths OF
abouj rec feet and collected In bun
dies oil 0r 30 strips each. They are
laid betN % sheets Of zinc and passed
under ham ."rS which boa the metal
strips 10 the mess OF tissue paper.
This requires .ucccssive beatings.
and great skill be exercised 10
produce Uniform unbroken foil.
After the third bea Ne metal strips
are taken from between the sheets OF
zinc. loosened from each other and
cleauSed by immersion in a bath OF
tartrate OF potassium The cleaning II
repeated after the last beating. and tho
sheets are hung on lines TO dry. In the
beginning the rolled strips are a dull
gray metallic color. at the fourth beat
Ing the yellowish color begins TO show,
and after the sixth they are clear ana
bright as gold
The defective leaves are then thrown
out and the perfect ones cut into small
squares which are laid together by
hand in packets OF several hundred
each and inclosed within an envelope
OF sheet brass. The packets return TO
the annealng furnace. where they are
softened 10y heating and slow cooling,
and then 20 10 the heaters where they
are reduced under 6attening hammers
10 the thnness OF real gold leaf, so thin
that IL can be blown away by the
breath.
The manufacture OF bronze powder
eussfses s2 es1s2sS s2yysax nj DxS
verizing the various bronze fofls ~ an
even. lmpalpable powder and is an In
dustry OF comparatively recent date
IL began as a means Of using up ana
utilizing the imperfect leaves which
came as waste from the heaters OF
gold. silver and bronze These were
cut by hand into fine clippings and
then ground 10 powder In hand mills o;
simple construction. With the lapse %
time and the spread OF artistic indus
tries the uses OF bronze powder In
creased until the demand far outrah
the supply OF waste, and the leaf metal
Is now made on large scale.
The beating process fattens out
pound Of copper and spelter alloy to all
area OF about 500 square feet and ia
this condition the square sheets as they
come from the brass envelopes are
sheared into small fragments and rub
bed with olive oil through a steel sieve
having ten meshes to the inch and then
passed TO the stamping and grinding
machines, where they are pulverized bS
steam or water power TO the bronze
I pONutI Ol fOlllutlNt. ue EIluhlIh
occupies from one TO four hours az
cordlng 10 the grade or quality OF thu
powder 10 be produced, which Is Of
four grades. from coarse to supertne
The super6uous oil is removed by heat
Ing under pressure, and the powdel
Is then carried into centrifugal ciari
fers, or grading machines, which, turn
Ing at high speed, expel the powder
through fine orllces In the form OF
dust, which settles on Enclosed shelves
according to weight and iineness, the
finer particles at the top. the coarset
below, and In this way the powder it
DIVIDED into - V1sss9e gseGD&S-sssE
York Press.
How Customs Vary.
She-In some parts Of Australia
n man r,urrfoc ooqb ~ tho hrfdafa