FINISHING ROOM.
Here are two departments. In one the plates are shaved and trimmed down to fit the wood blocks, which are made in the other department. Some of these operations are done by hand, but it is very interesting to see self-working machines planing the sheets of metal to precisely the required thinness with mathematical exactness. A pointed tool is set to a certain pitch, and the plate of metal is made to revolve in such a way that one continuous curl shaving falls until the whole surface (back) has been planed perfectly true. The wood blocks are treated in the same way, after being sawn into the required sizes by a number of circular saws. Another set of workmen fit and join the metal to the wood, trim the edges, and turn the blocks out type-high and ready for working on the printing press.