The Dressing-Knife is delineated at d in Plate 21. It is only a short piece of a Knife broken off about two Inches from the Sholder: But its Edge is Basil’d away from the back to the point pretty suddenly to make it the stronger: The Sprig or Pin of the Handle is commonly let into an Hole drilled into a piece of the Tip of an Harts-horn, as in the Figure and is fastned in with Rosen, as other Knives are into their Handles.
¶. 5. Of the Plow.
The Plow is delineated in Plate 21 at e: It is almost a common Plain (which I have already described in Vol. 1. Numb. 4. Plate 4. and §. 2 to 9.) only with this distinction, that through the length of the Sole runs such a Tongue, as does through the Male-Block to slide tight and yet easily through the Groove made on the top of the Male-block: Its Blade makes an Angle of 60 Degrees with the Sole of it.
§. 21. ¶. 1. Of Dressing of Letters.
The Letter-Dresser hath (as I told you before) his Letter Set up in Composing-sticks, with their Nicks upwards, and those Sticks set upon the Racks: Therefore he takes one Stick off the Racks, and placing the Handle of the Composing-stick in his left hand, he takes the contrary end of the Dressing-stick in his right-hand, and laying the Back of the Dressing-stick even upon or rather a little hanging over the Back of the Composing-stick, that the Feet of the Letter may fall within the Bottom-Ledge of the Dressing-stick; He at the same time fits the Side-Ledge of the Dressing-stick against the farther end of the Line of Letters in the Composing-stick: And holding then both Sticks together, his left hand at the Handle-end of the Composing-stick, and his right-Hand within about two Handfuls of the Handle-end of the Dressing-stick, He turns his Hands, Sticks and all, outward from his left hand, till the Composing-stick lies flat upon the Dressing-stick, and consequently the Letters in the Composing-stick is turned and laid upon the Dressing-stick.
Then he goes as near the Light as he can with the Letters in his Dressing-stick, and examins what Letters Come not well either in the Face or Shanck: So that then holding the Dressing-stick in his left hand, and tilting the Bottom-Ledge a little downward, that the Feet of the Letter may rest against the Bottom-Ledge, and laying the Ball of his Thumb upon any certain Number of Letters between his Body and the Letter to be Cast out, He with the Foot of a Space or some thin Letter, lifts up the Letter to be Cast out, and lets it fall upon the Dressing-Bench: and thus he does to all the Letters in that Stick that are to be Thrown out.
Then taking again the Dressing-Stick in his left hand at or near the handle of it, he takes the Dressing-Hook at the Knot, between the fore-Finger and Thumb of his right-Hand, and laying the Hook over the edge of the Quadrat at the farther end of the Dressing-stick, near the bottom-Ledge of it, he slips his right-Hand to the Handle of the Dressing-stick, and his left hand towards the middle of the Dressing-stick, so as the end of the Ball of his Thumb may draw by the farther end of the Knot on the Dressing-Hook the whole Dressing-Hook, and the Hook at the end of it the whole Stick of Letter close together towards him; While at the same time he with his Fingers clutched about the Stick and Letter, and the Thumb-ball of his hand presses the under flat of the Hooking-stick close against the Letter and Dressing-stick, that the Letter in the Stick may lie fast and manageable.
Then he takes the Handle of the Dressing-Knife in his right-Hand, and inclining the back of it towards his Body, that its Basil-edge may Cut or Scrap the smoother, He Scrapes twice or thrice upon so much of the whole Line of Letters as lies between the outer-side of the Dressing-Hook and the Face of the Letter.
But if twice or thrice Scraping, have not taken all the Bur or irregularities off so much of the Letter as he Scraped upon, he Scrapes yet longer and oftner till the whole number of Letters in the Dressing-stick from end to end seems but one intire piece of Mettal.
Thus is that side of the fore-part (viz. that part towards the Face) of the Shanck of the Body finisht.