Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1924-02-28

gut Of the OK, double skins forming
the single leaf. Gold-beater's skin is
manufactured in England, being used
there to a small extent also as a court
plaster. We read further.
THE shoder, as it is called, of 500
skins with gold interleayed, about "a
inch thick, is then placed in the
bands and beaten for about one and
one-half hour The 1S-pound hammer
is also used for this operation at
Orange, altho many other artizans Of
The craft rrefafsa tighter TOO OF Il
rounds or so At the conclusion OF
this step in the process each leaf IS
divided into four pieces, making 1920
in al, sufficient for three mods or
books Of skin and gold-leaf, inches
square, each OF which is beaten, with
an s pound hammer, for about four
hours. This, the final stage of opera
tons, demands maximum OF skill
and experience. At first attention is
paid principally ito the central part of
the mold until thinness is reached.
From time to time the gold cracks
and separates, but the edges unite
with further beating and an, even
leaf results. Each Of ghem is thea re
moved trimmed to 8 3-S inches square
and placed in lots of twenty-five in
. paper book. This stage of the opera
tion is an exceedingly delicate one.
Owing TO the extreme fragility of the
leaf, the greatest care must be exer-
cised. Wooden pincers are used; but
the breath of the operator serves as
the most effective me thod of remov-
ing the leaf from the mold onto a
leather cushion, where the uneven ell
ges are trimmed with sharpened
reed set in tool known as wagon
After trimming, the gold is carefully
blow into place in the book, the
lea ves CT which have been treated
With rouge to prevent adhesion. This
the final stage of handling is tedious
work done by girls. The trimmings
ara renelted and again worked into
leaf
The 6elicacy of the various beat
inSs operations is due primarily to the
danger of damage to the gold or the
skins, ny reason OF undesirable humid
ity or Ugh temperature. Mention has
been made that no mechanica! appli-
ance Is likely to supplement the rand
beating methods now in vogue This
is because skill rather than strength
is required in the actual operation,
which must be accompanied by de-
gree of care that can not be insured
by the adoption Of any mechanical ap
paratus.
The reformation of gold by beat
ing IS accompanied by the evolution
of heat This is useful in maintaining
the softness of the metal, in permit
ting the reunion of adjacent edges or
preventing fracture; but if the tenn
perature of the .shoder' or the mold
be allowed to rise above a certain
point, the skins will be damaged. This
involves considerable loss; a mold Of
LOO skins costs about 500.
Mechanical beating would save no
time, it is ayerred; the process can
net be hurried Indeed, the heat pro
duced when manual labor is employed
is such thatSit is necessary frequently
to cool the tshoder' or the mold be
tween cold steel blocks The practise
at the Grecht plant in the final phase
of operations is to beat for one and
one-half hours, then close las the
cooling process is termed); beat again
for one hour, close again, and then
finish. All such precautions would
still be necessary if a mechanical con
trivance were used, and the labor re-
quired would not be reduced apprecia
bly,. Further the beating is not done
all in one spot; neither does the
point of application of the blow vary
with regularity. Judgment is neces-
sary If a machine could be designed
to achieve the results now being OBJ
tanned with Manufacturing, but without
personal attention, it would be a com
plicated and expensive piece of appar
atus, for which there would be little
demand.
The most important factor in gold
beating, however, is humidity The
skins and papers used to interleave
the gold absorb moisture in undesir-
able amount from air of average rela
tive humidity On the other hand, an
abnormally dry atmosphere is not de-
sirable; the metal becomes dull; it
is then less responsive to the blows
Of the hammer Under normal condi-
tons however, over-humidity occurs,
whereupOn the minute particles of
moisture present are forced through
the gold-leaf in the final phase of beat
ing, giving it sieve-like appearance
To prevent this, the 'shoder' or mosd'
is placed between the plates of a hot
press between each operation, the
book of leaves being 'thumbed over
afterward to allow the moisture to