Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial. (Wilmington, Del.) 1878-1928, 1906-01-13
A THIMBLE OF GOLD
TITS MADE or METAL ALLOWED DOWN
TO FOURTEEN cARATs.

The Process OF Manufacture, From
the lnrots OF Pure Gold Fresh From,
the subtrensury to the Finished
shipiug Product. .,t...a.....
Out OF whatever part OF the earth Il
may originally have been dug, the gold
from which thlmblca are made Ia Phil
adelphia was bought at the United
States subueasury IN the city IN the
form OF snug little lngols. brick shaped
and about two nnd a half inches long.
an inch and a quarter wide and about
an inch thick.
These little ingots would be Of a con-
venient size for paperwelghts. But
they would be rather heavy for such
use and probably too expensive for
most people. for each one contains, Of
pure gold, "a carats fne, metal Of the
value OF about 5000
Gold OF this fncuess would be much
too soft for thimbes, and it ls alleged
down TO IA carats, in which condi-
ton e Is rolled into sheets of suitable
thickness. In the first process Of man
ufacture a sheet Of this gold rs run
into a machine which cuts out Of &c
disk IN size sufficient TO form a thin
bic, the salse machine stamping this
disk also into the form Of a straight
sided capsule with irregular edges.
Then the thlmble blank goes into an
other machine. IA which die stamps It
into its conlcal shape. Out Of this ma
chine Il goes into an anneallng fur
mace for tempering and from that into
an acid bath for cleaning and the re
moval OF the Ere coating.
Then the thimble IS put into a lathe
TO be turned down to it's final shape
and Dimensions. IL IS dull colored
when It goes into the lathe, but at the
hrst touch Of the keen edged cutting
tool It shows a glistening narrow band
Of bright gold surface, which Is widen
ed IN a moment 10 cover the whole
length Of the thimble as the sllillful
worker shifts the tool along.
With repeated application Of the tool
the operator brings the crown Of the
thlmble into it's perfect form and cuts
down along the thimbles sides 70 bring
the walls OF the tbinble TO the requl-
site thickness, and he defines and fin
ishes the smooth band that runs around
the lower part OF the thimble and
brings into relief the rounded rim that
encircles the thlmble at its opening at
once to give It a finishing ornamental
grace there and to stlffen It, The glis-
tening little gold shavings that he cuts
Off IN these various operations all fall
into a canvas trough suspended be-
tween him and the bench upon which
stands the lathe.
with that last touch to its rim IN this
stage Of making the former has grown
marvelously more thlmble-lilze In APP
pearance, but somehow It still lacks the
breath, so to speak, Of thlmble life; Il
/ lacks yet the familiar indentatlons IN
its surface that serve to support the
needle and 70 hold IL IN place. These
the thimble maker now proceeds to
make. and the making Of these IS nice
work indeed
Il IS done with a tool called a knurle.
There IS an end knurle and a side
knurle. An end knurle IS simply a ham
die having set in It a tiny, thin revolv-
ing wheel Of steel, upon whose periph-
cry is a continuous enclrcling row OF
little bosses or knobs corresponding IN
size to the lndentatlons TO be made
! The side lrnurle has IN place Of such
wheel a little steel cylinder OF a length
/ sufficient TO cover that section of the
thimhle that Is 20 be indentod on Its
sides, this cylinder having knobs all
over its surface, as the end knurle
wheel has around rs edges, and turn
ing, ike the wheel. on It's nvis.
The thimhle in the lathe is turning
with $500 revolutions n minute, and It
seems as though the application to It's
surface Of any sort OF tool with pro
/ tuberances on It must leave there only
a tangled and mixed up lot Of irregular
marks. But now with the end lInurie
the thlmble maker makes an indenta-
ton IN the center OF the top Of the thin
bic, and then he proceeds rapidly and
with perfect certainty with the end
knurle 70 describe around that center
concentric rings Of indentations with
the indentatious al perfectly made and
the rings all perfectly spaced, from the
center 10 the circumference Of the top.
You may see him do this, but you
can't tell how he IS able 10 do It. And
then with the side knurle he makes the
lndentations IN the sides Of the Thin
BILE. making there as well. as he deity
presses the tool against It. indentations