Do not change adjustments every time something goes wrong. Be sure you know what is wrong before attempting to fix a trouble. Trace all troubles to their source before attempting a remedy.
One important point that should be watched is that in oiling any part of the machine which comes in contact with the matrices, no oil should be allowed to accumulate where it is liable to find its way on to the matrices.
Clean the machine whenever necessary—otherwise let it alone. Be sure that any new inventions of your own are good before applying them. Do not take off parts unnecessarily. The less you dismantle a machine, the more success you will have with it. But keep it clean.
A large number of matrices and spacebands are lost by being swept up with the metal around the machine, and thrown in the remelting furnace. Matrices should always be picked up when dropped. A good plan is to have the person who sweeps up the metal to throw it in a special pile. It is very easy then for someone to look through the pile carefully, under good light, and find the matrices and spacebands that have been overlooked while sweeping. Matrices which have gone through a remelting furnace are usually no good for further use.
Small job fonts can be used conveniently and economically on any class of job work where only a few lines of display are required or in recasting for duplicate forms. These small job fonts may be carried in special trays and they can be procured either to run pi or run in the regular or auxiliary magazine.
Brass hair spaces, very thin spaces, grading in .001 of an inch from .007 to .024 can be obtained. These spaces do not run in the magazine, but drop in the tray under the second elevator transfer. They are very handy for closely-spaced lines or for lines where it is desired to letterspace.
The machine may be driven from any shaft having a uniform speed of rotation or by individual motor. A machine requires one-fourth horse power but a motor slightly in excess of this should be used. These motors can be belt driven or connected directly to the machine by gear. The speed of the machine should be uniform at all times, for fluctuations will interfere with the operation and tend to reduce the output and cause machine troubles.
To ascertain the size of the pulley required on the driving shaft, multiply the diameter of the main driving pulley on the machine (14½”) by the number of revolutions desired and divide the product by the revolutions of the driving (or motor) shaft. The quotient will be the diameter of the pulley required.
MICROMETER CALIPER
The chief mechanical principle embodied in the construction of a micrometer is that of a screw free to move in a fixed nut. The spindle of the micrometer is attached to the thimble at the top point, and extends downward through the inside of the sleeve; the thimble extending downward on the outside of the sleeve. The part of the spindle, which is concealed within the sleeve and thimble, is threaded to fit a nut in the frame of the micrometer. The pitch of the screw threads on the concealed part of the spindle are 40 to the inch. Therefore one complete revolution of the spindle draws it back 1/40, or .025, of an inch.