The furnace for heating the rollers, the chair with rollers, the presses and tin blocks for hotpressing, and the windlass for turning, are easily understood in relation to this trade. The printing press and embossed cylinder have been mentioned in the trade of calico printing. The mill, turned by a horse, is used where steam power is not employed to put the machinery in motion.
Furnace.
THE CUTLER AND FILE-CUTTER.
GRINDING.
Amongst all the trades that occupy the attention of mankind, that of the Cutler, which also includes the tool maker, is certainly one of the most essential, since without tools no other manufactures could be carried on. Cutting instruments of various kinds have been in use from the earliest ages, if for no other purposes, for cutting food, slaughtering animals, and making war upon each other. In ancient times, as well as amongst some barbarous tribes at the present day, these implements were frequently made of shells, edged flints, or hardened wood, fashioned into sharp weapons; at a late period, cutting as well as warlike instruments were formed of brass or bronze; but at the present time, in all civilized nations they are formed exclusively of steel or iron.
Steel is formed from the purest bar iron—that which comes from the Swedish mines being preferred. This is buried in powdered charcoal and heated to whiteness for several days, without exposure to the air; during this time the metal becomes much harder, whiter in colour, crystalline in texture, and blistered on the surface. The blistered steel so produced is prepared for use, either by binding several bars together and hammering them into one, or by melting them in earthenware pots, called crucibles, and pouring the melted metal into moulds of the size required. In the latter state it is called cast steel.
Cutlery is generally understood to comprise all kinds of knives, razors, lancets, and edge tools, including scythes, saws, scissors, shears, spades, and many others; and the manufacture of forks, files, and some other instruments not possessing cutting edges, is frequently included in the business. It will be impossible to give a detailed description of how all these are made, so only two or three must be selected. In a Cutler’s factory knife blades are forged from steel bars in a number of small rooms, each containing a fireplace or hearth, a trough to hold water, and another trough for coke, which is specially prepared for this kind of work; there are also an anvil, hammers, and some other tools.