Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/733

 1869.] Ornamentation for Looking-Glass and Picture Frames. 591 smooth the coating ; and then scrapers, of reversed shape, of wood or iron, were used to remove the sediment made hy the pumice-stone. The moulding was then dried, and pumice-stone again ap- plied, with water, to make a still smoother surface. After this it was rubbed down with cotton or linen rags, saturated in water, and fine sand-paper applied to it. It follows, of course, that in propor- tion to the number of fine members on the moulding; greater difficulty was ex- perienced in making a proper finish. Some of them were worked out by moulding-planes ; and, in those of large size, it required two hands to work those planes. The whole operation necessary to complete the article was slow and tedious ; and required a care and precision, the least variation from which, would surely result in a " spoiled job." About the year 1849, a machine was invented and constructed, which was designed to supersede a great portion of handwork. It was a carriage, to which the moulding was fastened, and reciprocated — the planes holding fast the moulding in perpendicular action. This improvement proved to be a saving of about 75 per cent, over the old hand process. The inventor was thus enabled to supply the trade at cheaper rates than the}' could possibly be made ; and, in the course of two or three years, he built up an extensive business, because he was the first, and only one to sell fine picture and glass frame mouldings at . much reduced rates. Soon after this, another machine, known as the Woodworth Rotary Plane, which had been used a number of years for planing flooring-boards only, was so improved as to be adapted to working out mouldings. On this, 4,000 feet of moulding could be executed, in the same space of time that 150 feet could be finished by hand. This invention was so successful, that it soon came into general use, and entirely abolished all hand-work, as far as fine work was con- cerned. This new facility naturally disturbed the existing relations between employers and journeymen ; and left the latter, for a time, without work ; but many of them commenced business for themselves, by procuring the pine mould- ings from the factories, and finishing; the work; thus saving much labor, and the various costly planes, required to work out the different patterns then in use. This new turn of affairs allayed the wide-spread panic among the jour- neymen ; who now regarded what they at one time esteemed a misfortune, a blessing in disguise. But, too soon for them, they were destined to be jostled from this condi- tion of content by another improvement for finishing the work. In 1851, a ma- chine was invented for enameling mould- ings, which produced a most sudden and complete revolution in the manufacture of picture and looking-glass frames. The importance of this invention can scarcely be estimated. It required well- skilled labor, by hand, to accomplish, with the. closest application, but a mere fractional part of what this machine could finish in the same space of time. With this new facility a green hand, in the course of a few months, could exe- cute a wider range of patterns, and of far superior finish. In fact, it could turn out a greater varietj^ of work, with a neatness of execution that could not be approached by hand. The latter machine became more widely known to the trade during the years 1855-6 ; and its power and adapta- tion to the business produced a pro- found sensation. Capitalists, without the remotest knowledge of mechanism — certainly wholly ignorant of this branch of it — at once invested their capital, and started large establishments ; while those who had devoted a life-long servi- tude to the calling, and who were un- able to procure the means to purchase a machine, were forced to abandon it. Journeymen, who had prospered, and