Mould candles are made by pouring melted tallow into a wooden trough in the bottom of which pewter moulds, of the size of the candles required, are fixed in such a way that they open into the trough by the ends which correspond to the bottoms of the candles to be cast in them. The other end of the mould is brought to a point, with a small hole in it, through which the wick is passed and fastened to a stick running along the moulds; and as the moulds are placed in two lines, two sticks are sufficient for the trough. Melted tallow or spermaceti is poured into the trough, and when cold the superfluous quantity removed, and the candles drawn out of the moulds.
Wax candles are made by pouring melted wax down the wick till sufficient has adhered to it, then rolling the candle on a marble slab till it is even, and afterwards polishing with a cloth.
ROPE.
SPINNING THE YARN.
SPINNING-WHEEL.
Is a combination of the fibres of hemp or other material, so arranged as to form a tenacious cord or band, retaining, as far as possible, their collective strength. The first process in rope-making consists in twisting the hemp into thick threads, called rope-yarns. This, which resembles ordinary spinning, is commonly performed by hand, in a rope-ground or rope-walk, an enclosed level piece of ground, about six hundred feet in length, at one end of which a spinning-wheel is set up, that gives motion by a band to several small rollers or “whirls,” each of them furnished with a hook on the end of its axis next the walk. The rope spinner carries a bundle of hemp about three feet long round his waist, with the fibres all laid even, and having their ends in front of him, and from these he pulls out sufficient for the thickness of the “yarn” he is spinning, and after slightly twisting it with his fingers, attaches it to the hook of a “whirl,” which is set in motion by the wheel, and as the fibres are twisted he walks backward, gradually adding more and more, a little at a time, so as to keep the yarn of the same thickness throughout. When the spinner has traversed the whole length of the rope-walk, he stops, and another spinner detaches the yarn from the whirl, and it is then wound on a reel or bobbin. The yarns being spun, they are next “tarred” (if they are to be much exposed to wet, as for the rigging of ships), which is done by drawing them through a kettle full of melted tar, being wound off from one reel on to another, and the superfluous tar wiped away by means of tow (rough hemp) fixed in a hole through which they are drawn.
