The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1906-01-10
J THIMBLE OF GOLD
IT'S MADE or METAL ALLOYeO DOWN
TO FOURTEEN CARATs.

The Process OF Manufacture, From
the InEo;s of Pure Gold Fresh From
the subtrcasury to the Finished
Shining Product.
Out of whatever part Of the earth it
may originally have been dug. the gold
from which thimbles are made in Phil
adelpA.a was bought at the United
States subtreasuIy in the city in the
form Of snug little ing5ts. brick shaped
and about two and half inches long,
aH Inch and a quarter wide and about
IA inch thick.
These little ingOts would be of u con-
ycnient size for paperweights. But
they would be rather heavy for such
use ana probably too expensive for
most people, Tor each one contains, of
pure gold. - carats fine metal Of the
value Of about 5000.
Gold Of this iineness would be much
too soft for thiubles. and it IS alleged
down 10 II carats, In which condi-
ton ii is rolled into sheets Of suitable
thickness. In the first process Of man
ufaeture 4 sheet OF this gold is run
into u machine which cuts out Of it a
disk in size sufficient to form Thin
Bile, the same machine stamping this
disk also into the form of & straight
sided capsule with irregular edges
Then the thmble blank goes into an
other machine, in which n die stamps 1t
into its conical shape. out of this ma
chine it goes into an annealing fur
nace for tenpering and from that into
an acid bath for cleaning and the re-
movnl Of the fire coating.
Then the thimble Is put into lathe
to be turned down to its final shape
and Dimensions. 1t is dull colored
when it goes into the lathe, but at the
first touch of the keen edged cutting
tool il shows a glstening narrow band
of bright gold surface. which Is widen
ed in a moment to cover the whole
length of the thimble as the skillful
worker shifts the tool along.
With repeated application of the tool
the operator brings the crown of the
thimble into its perfect form and cuts
the walls of the thimblc to the requl-
site thickness. and he defines and I'm
ishes the smooth band that runs around
the lower part of the thlmble and
brings into relief the rounded rim that
eneifces the thlmble Mt Its opening at
once 10 give It finishing ornamental
grace there and to suffen it. The glis-
tening little gold shaVings that he cuts
off in these various operations all fall
into n 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
maryelously more thimblc like In ap-
pcarance, but somehow 1t still lacks the
breath, so to speak. Of thlmblc life; 1t
lacks vet the familiar indentations in
ia surface that serve to support the
needle and to hold II In place. These
the thimble maker now proceeds to
make. and the making Of these Is nice
work indeed
It Is done with tool called knurle.
There Is an end knurlc and n side
kuurle IN end llnurle Is simply han
die having set in ii tiny thin revoly-
ing wheel Of steel. upon whose periph-
cry is II continuous eneireling row OF
little bosses or knobs corresponding In
size To the indentatims to be made.
The side knurie has in place of such II
wheel little steel cylinder of Il length
sufficient To cover that section of the
thimble that Is to be indentcd on its
sides, this cylinder having knobs all
over its surface Ms the end knurle
wheel has around Its edges. and turn
Ing. like the wheel. on its axis.
The thimble Ia the lathe is turning
with 900 revolutions minute. and II
seems us though the application 10 its
surface of any sort of tool with pro
tuberances on it must leave there only
tangled and mixed up lot of irregular
marks But now with the end knurle
the thimhle maker makes an indenta-
ti0n In the center of the top of the thin
BILE and then he proceeds rapidly and
with perfect certainty with the end
knurle to describe around that center
conceutrie rings of indentatlons. with
the indentatiaus all perfectly made and
the rings all perfectly spaced, from the
center 10 the circumference Of the top.
You may sec him do this, but you
can't tell how he Is able to do IT, And
then with the side l5nurlc he makes the
lndentatioH5 in the sides Of the thin
bile. milking there as we'll. as he deity
presses the tool against It, indenations
that run absolutely uniform and true
ana that end at their lower edge in a
perfectly true aueircllug line
Il is astonishing and pleasant thing
to see how t develops and comes to
itself with tbe making OF these ia
miliar iuaruHtiauS. and now there re-
mains 10 br dome u IL only the polish
Ing inside anl out ana You have the
finished g1i1 thimble- Philadelphia
Pres