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New and G-reatly Enlarged Edition. "^ 



HANEY'S TRADE MANUALS. 

' AND 

JEWELEE; 

A CLEAR AND COMPLETE EXPOSITION 



OF ALL J 



THE LATEST AND MOST APPEOVED 



WITH A SERIES OF 



PLMI INSTRUCTIONS FOR BEGIMERS, 



ET.C, ETC. \ 



BY J. PARISH STELLE, 
A PRACTICAL V^ATCHMAKER, 



few farfe: 

JESSE HANEY & CO., PUBLISHERS, 

r~^ No. 119 NASSAU STREET. 

PJE^^IOE, FIFTY OEIVTS, 



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In Press.~To be ready in Octo1>er, 1873. 

HAIR ORNAMENTS 

FOE 

JEWELRY AND SOUVENIRS: 

A GUIDE FOB 

A tasteful ^creation for leisure hours, and a lucrative 
employment for Jewelers and others. 

Witli over 80 Illustrative X^nfj^ravlng^s. 

Price 50 cents. For sale by all booksellers,' or mailed, 
post-paid, on receipt of price, fifty cents, by 

JESSE HANEY & CO., 

No. 119 Nassau-st., New York. 



THE 



AMERICAN WATCHIAKEE 



AND 



JEWELEE, 

A FULL AND COMPREHENSIVE EXPOSITION 



or ALL THE ; '<^^ 



f dtst anJ^ most^pproki^ Bttxth of % Crak 



EMBRAOINa 

"WATCH AND CLOCK CLEANING AND EEPAIKING, TEMPERING 
IN ALL ITS GEADES, MAKING TOOLS, COMPOUND- 
ING METALS, SOLDERING, PLATING, ETC., 

WITH A SERIES OF PLAIN IKSTRUCTIOKS FOR BECIHHERS. 

ALSO, 

DIRECTIONS BY WHICH THOSE NOT FINDING IT CONYE- 

NIENT TO PATRONIZE A HOROLOGIST MAY KEEP 

THEIR CLOCKS IN ORDER. 

-7 

BY J. PARISH STELLE, 
A PRACTICAL WATCHMAKER. 



§nv forfe: i 

JESSE HANEY & CO., PUBLISHERS, 

119 NASSAU STREET. 



^e. 



HANEY'S TRADE MANUALS. 



PUBLISHERS' NOTICE. 



The American Watchmaker and Jeweler is tlie initial issue 
of a series of " Trade Manuals " which we propose publishing as 
fast as they can be properly prepared. The value of books treating of 
the processes, manipulations aad discoveries of the different trades and 
professions is recognized by every intelligent man. While no book 
can pretend to be a substitute for experience and natural ability, in 
the prosecution of any industry, there is unquestionably much informa- 
tion that can be told in a few moments, which might require years to 
arrive at by individual experiments. A guide of this kind should 
embrace the combined results of all discoveries and improvements in 
the art of which it treats, so as to keep pace with the progress con- 
stantly taking place. 

There are many good books relating to the different trades, and we 
consider that a liberal expenditure for such would prove profitable to 
every artisan. Such books are necessarilly higher priced than com- 
mon works. The main objection to most of them is that they contain 
much unimportant matter which swells them in both size and price, at 
the same time that it confuses the reader. We shall attempt to obviate 
this objection in Haney's Trade Manuals by giving in concise form 
all the really valuable information attainable on the subjects treated. 
Great care will be taken to make them reliable in every respect, and of 
real assistance to the reader. They will be almost w'holly original, 
written by practical and experienced men. In order that they may 
have a lar^e and general circulation, and be within reach of every per- 
son engaged in the occupation they treat of, Haney's Trade Man- 
UAfiS-M^ll be sold at the lowest prices, considering the original cost of 
preparation, manufacture of books, and the extent of the demand. 
Those which, from the limited extent of any trade, necessarilly have 
but a small circulation, must of course be charged somewhat higher 
than those appertaining to more extensive interests. We shall, how- 
ever, in every case content ourselves with a moderate and reasonable 
profit in our investment 



Entered according to act O"^ Congress, in the year 1868, by 

JESSE HANEY &, CO., 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the 
Southern District of New York. 



PREFACE 



I DO not expect all watcliinakers to praise me for having 
presented tliis exposition of the " secrets of the trade/^ no 
more than the physician who produces a work adapted to 
domestic practice could reasonably expect a blessing from 
every member of the medical profession. It is all the same 
to me. I did not write it for praise 5 nor did I write it 
under the conviction that I was doing anything deserving 
of blame. I expect to he blamed, however, and to have 
hard things said of me by a few who either feel that they 
know enough already to make out with, and would rather 
not have the secrets imparted to others lest they in conse- 
quence should come in for a share in the success j or who 
are making a good thing of it by selling " The Latest and 
Most Improved Processes" to the less fortunate, at the 
moderate price of from three to forty dollars each. I know 
just about what they will say of me : that I shall leave 
between them and their own consciences. I know, too, 
about how they will argue with a view to creating a founda- 
tion for blame : of that I may speak a word or two. They 
will intimate that there are too many ^' botches" in the 
business already, and that a work of this character is only 
calculated to augment their number. 

At first thought this thing may appear reasonable enough, , 
but a sober second reflection will convince any reasonable 
person of its inability to hold good. That there are 
" botches," and sad ones, following the vocation I must ad- 
mit J and what is still worse, many of them are men who 
have enjoyed excellent opportunities for gaining informa- 
tion. As a general thing, a lack of capacity rather than in- 
formation has made them " botches," and this very custom 
of husbanding the " secrets of the trade " from the public 



Viii. PEEFACE. 

is what enables them to curse the communities in which 
they are located, by holding positions which would other- 
wise be filled by better men. So long as horological informa- 
tion can only be obtained at a high price, a large number of 
unqualified persons, who happen^ to be financially favored, 
will buy it, and " botches " must be the result, of course. 
But not so when we place it within the reach of all. Men 
qualified for the business will then take hold of it, and such 
as are now imposing upon the people, simply because they 
happen to possess a few secrets too costly to be generally 
known, will find themselves under the necessity of falling 
back. France is said to be blessed with the most skillful 
watchmakers in the world, and the reason is plain — she is 
the only nation whose authors have attempted to produce a 
series of cheap and reliable books on the science of horology. 

This is my argument. It was what prompted me to 
write this book ; and though I might produce other argu- 
ments in favor of the move, I think it is enough. 

I shall not speak of the character or claims of the 
America^^ Watchmaker an-d Jeweler, preferrmg that the 
book should show for itself. A knowledge of the fact that 
superior opportunities for acquu^ing the latest and best infor- 
mation touching this, my favorite subject, have presented 
themselves and been eagerly embraced by me, both in 
Europe and America, emboldens me to send forth the work 
without a single misgiving. 

The Author. 



CONTENTS. 



INTEODUCTION. 



PAGE, 

Character of American watchmakers 13 

Necessary qualifications." ...-.- -. 13 

History of American Horology 14 

American \Yatch Company 14 

National Watch Company 16 

ON WATCH CLEANING. 

To clean 17 

The chemical process 18 

To prepare chalk for cleaning.. 18 

Pivot wood 18 

Pith for cleaning -; 19 

ON WATCH EEPAIRING. 

To pivot 20 

To diill into hardened steel 20 

To tell when the lever is of proper length 20 

To lengthen levers of an anchor escapement 21 

To change depth of lever escapement 21 

To tell when the lever pallete are of a proper size 21 

To put teeth into wheels 22 

To weaken the hair spring 22 

To prevent a chain from running oflfthe fusee 23 

To put watches in beat 23 

To tighten a cannon pinion 24 

To tighten a ruby pin 24 

ON MENDING WATCH TRAINS. 

To detennine the required diameter of a pinion 25. 

Tables of non-second watch trains 26 

Tables of fourth-wheel second watch trains 31 

A table of third-wheel and patent second trains 34 

Tables of American and National watch trains .' 34 

ON TEMPERING. 

To temper brass, or to draw its temper 35 

To temper drills 35 

To temper gravers T 35 

To temper case springs 36 

To temper clicks, ratchets, &c 86 

To draw temper from delicate steel pieces without springing them 36 



10 CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

To temper staffs, cylinders or pinions without springing them 37 

To draw the temper from part of a small steel article 37 

To blue screws evenly 37 

To remove bluing from steel 38 

To case-harden iron 38 

ON MILLS, BROACHES, FILES AND BURNISHERS. 

To make a diamond mill 38 

To make diamond broaches 39 

To make polishing broaches ^ 39 

To make diamond files - 39 

To make pivot files 39 

To make burnishers ', — 40 

To prepare a burnisher for polishing 40 

ON CLEANING AND REPAIRING CLOCKS. 

To clean a clock 42 

To bush 42 

To remedy a worn pinion 43 

To oil properly 43 

To make the clock strike correctly 43 

A defect to look after 43 

ON^ REFINING AND COMPOUNDING METALS. 

To refine gold 44 

To refine silver 44 

To refine copper 45 

To make coin gold f. 45 

Tc aaake eighteen carat gold - 45 

Tc nake sixteen carat gold 46 

To make twelve carat gold 46 

To make four carat gold 46 

To make green gold 46 

To make best counterfeit gold 46 

To make best oreide gold 47 

To make alloyed silver , 47 

To make best counterfeit silver - 48 

To make German silver 48 

To make gold solder -.. 48 

To make sil-^er solder 48 

To make brass or copper solder - 48 

To make soft solder .• 48 

ON SOLDERING. 

To hard solder, gold, silver, copper, brass, steel or platina 49 

To make soldering fluids 50 

To soft solder articles 50 

To cleanse gold tarnished in soldering 50 

To cleanse silver tarnished in soldering 51 



COOTENTS. 11 
ON PLATING, 

PAGE 

To make gold solution for electro-plating 51 

To make silver solution for electro-plating 52 

To plate with a battery .• , 52 

To plate without a battery..,,.. ,,,,,. ., 53 

To make gold amalgam . - , . - , 54 

To plate with gold amalgam , 54 

To make and apply a gold platingof solution... .,.. 54 

To make and apply gold plating powders 54 

•To make and apply silver plating solution 55 

To make and apply silver plating powders , . , , , 55 

To silver ivory 55 

To silver glass globes , r , 56 

MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES, 

To frost w^atcli movements 56 

To make cleaning solution for brass 56 

To make and apply solution for frosting silver articles „ 56 

Polishing powder for gold articles 57 

To remove tarnish from electro-plated goods ' 57 

To make red watch hands 1 . , 57 

To give plaster figures the appearance of bronze „ 57 

To etch on ivory , 58 

To enamel gold or silver , 58 

To destroy the effect of acid on clothes..., ».. ..r... 58 

To wash silver ware ^ » . . - . . 58 

To cleanse brushes ' r, 58 

To cut glass round or oval without a diamond. . . , , , - 59 

Tg re-black clockhands ,. . <..,. ,, 59 



THE A-MlERIOA-ISr 

WATCHMAKER AND JEWELER. 



4^' 
CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTION". 

The American watchmaker, so called, is not usually a 
manufacturer of watches, or even parts of watches, but 
simply an artist whose business it is to repair and keep 
watches in order. He is generally a man of rare mechani- 
cal genius, capable of turning his hand to almost anything, 
hence he is not unfrequently, especially in the country, also 
a clockmaker — in the same sense — a jeweler, and a repairer 
of musical instruments. In short the good watchmaker is 
aJmost invariably, if he is disposed to let himself out, a 
Jack-of-all-trades. He must possess a degree of ingenuity 
sufficient to quality him for almost any mechanical perform- 
ance without the benefit of a previous apprenticeship, or he 
cannot be a successful watchmaker, for it is a business in 
which there is no regular routine, as in other trades. Any 
industrious person, though endowed with nothmg above an 
ordinary capacity, may, in obedience to a long series of in- 
structions combined with practice, make a master carpenter, 
blacksmith or wheelwright of himself, but not a watchmaker. 
The watchmaker whose skill is to render him deservmg of 
the application, must be blessed with a natural gift above 
the generality. Like the painter, the sculptor or the poet, 
he must be born to the calling. Not only must he be what 



14 THE AMERICAN 

"is termed =a natural mechanic, but a philosopher as well, 
possessed of -a good reasoning power of his own 5 for in- 
stances are sure to occur, and often, in which he wiU be 
called upon to ferret out causes and effects never met with 
or thought of by his instructions. 

I throw in these hints, not with a view to the discourage- 
ment of any, but in the hope that they may be of ben- 
efit to some who are thinking of becoming watchmakers. 
If the true element is in them it has given evidence of the 
fact, and they may go ahead with confidence of success; if 
not, they had better abandon the idea at once and turn 
attention to something else ; bearing in mnnd that all were 
not made for the same vocation, and that he who would not 
make a useful watchmaker, might more than succeed at 
some other calling. True, a person might get along at the 
business without these extra qualifications named, but there 
would be no chances for him to excel, and unless one could 
be an excellent watchmaker he had far better be no watch- 
maker at all. Unfortunately for us, and for them, there are 
already too many second and thu'd class workmen of the 
kind in America. 

Parents who contemplate putting then- children to trades 
should bear in mind the important truths on which I have 
just been treating. The best years of a boy's life may be 
literally wasted in the acqukement of a vocation for which 
he has no natural qualifications. 

To within a few years back horology was at a low ebb in 
the United States. It is beginning to look up now, how- 
ever, with excellent prospects for a glorious future. I am 
of the opinion that the day is not far distant when she will 
^make not only all her own time-pieces, but will furnish a 
very large proportion of those used in other parts of the 
world. This conclusion I base upon what she has done and 
is doing already. It is truly astonishing when we take into 
consideration the fact that the business was a stranger to 
her shores up to the beginning of the urneteeuth century. 

The first attempt at producing machines on American 
soil for the measurement of time t^as made by Eli Terry of 
Plymouth Hollow, Conn., A. D. 1800, in the manufacture of 
the old fashioned wooden clocks. He went into the business 
on an exceedingly small scale at first, doing, I think, all the 



WATCHMAKER AND JEWELEE. 15 

work liimself, and acting as his own salesman and traveling 
agent. He would finish two or three clocks, it is said, and 
swinging them upon the back of a horse, would strike out into 
the country and peddle till the last one was sold ; tlien/ but 
not till then, he would return to his home and engage in the 
manufacture of a new cargo. 

•The excellence of Mr. Terry's clocks, and their cheapness 
when compared to that of the imported article, soon caused 
his business to grow until the erection of a large establish- 
ment became necessary. This continued m successful oper- 
ation until Mr. Terry's (Jeath a few years ago. 

When it becamxC known that the Plymouth Hollow clock 
factory was a paying institution, other establishments sprung 
up to rival it. Great improvements were made both in the 
materials worked and the manner of working them. Indeed, 
so rapid was the progress made that only a few brief years 
passed ere America was famed abroad fm* producing the 
best clocks in the world, and large exportations were con- 
stantly being made. 

An establishment for the manufacture of watches went 
into operation at Worcester, Mass., in 1812, but soon failed. 
In 1830, another was started at Hartford, Conn., but after 
turning out near one thousand watches it too went down, 
and the hope of competing successfully with English work 
seemed to die out for the present. 

In 1850, Mr. A. L. Dennison of Maine suggested the idea 
of manufacturing a watch entire in one establishment, by 
properly constructed machinery — a thing not yet thought of 
in Europe. Others took with the idea and soon joined>him 
m the erection of a manufactory at Roxbury, Mass. 

The plan worked to the satisfaction of all concerned, but 
the site was found, to be unsuitable on account of the dust; 
consequently, in 1854, the concern was removed to Waltham, 
in the same state, where it is still (1868) in successful 
operation, turning oufihe celebrated " American Watches '^ 
in lai'ge numbers. It is known as ^^ The American Watch 
Company of Waltham, Mass.," and its watches have ac- 
quired a good reputation. 

A second watch manufactory on Mr. Dennison's plan, 
was established at Nashua, New Hampshire, but want of 
capital soon caused it to fail, and the American Watch 



16 THE AMERICAN" » 

Company bought its machinery. A third is now in opera, 
tion at Elgin, Illinois, near Chicago, under style of " The 
National Watch Company." It was established in 1867, 
and its productions have a very excellent reputation. 



CHAPTER IL 

ON WATCH CLEAis^ma. 

It is hardly necessary to say that great caution must be 
observed in taMng the watch down — that is, m separating 
its parts. If you are new at the business think before you 
act, and then ac^ sl-owly. Take off the hands carefully so 
as not to bend the slender pivots upon which they work j 
this will be the first step. Second — loosen and lift the 
movement from the case. Thhd — remove the dial and dial 
wheels. Fourth — let down the main-spring by placing your 
bench key upon the arbor, or "windmg post," and turning 
as though you were going to wind the watch until the click 
rests lightly upon the ratchet ; then with your screw-driver 
press the point of the click away from the teeth, and ease 
down the springl. Fifth — draw the screws (or pins) and 
remove the bridges of the train, or the upper plate, as the 
case may be. Sixth — take out the balance. Great care 
must be observed in this or you will injure the hair-spring. 
The stud or little square post into which the hair-spring is 
fastened may be removed fi'om the bridge or plate of most 
modem watches, without unkeying the spring, by slipping a 
thin instrument, as the edge of a knife blade, under the' 
comer of it and prizing upward. This will save you a con- 
siderable amount of trouble, as you -will not have the hair 
spruig to adjust when you reset the balance. 

If the watch upon which you propose to work has an 
upper plate, as an American or an English lever for instance, 
loosen the lever before you have entirely separated the 
plates, otherwise it will hang and most likely be broken. 

Having the machine now down, brush the dust from its 



WATCHMAKER AXD JEWELER. 17 

different parts and subject them to a careful examination 
with your eye-glass. Assure yourself that the teeth of the 
wheels and leaves of the pinions are all perfect and smooth ; 
that the pivots are all straight, round and highly polished j 
that the holes through which they are to work, are not too 
large, and have not become oval in shape ; that every jewel 
is smooth and perfectly sound^ and that none of them are 
loose in then- settings. See, also, that the escapement is not 
too deep or too shallow ; that the lever or cylinder is per- 
fect ', that all the wheels have sufficient play to avoid fric- 
tion, but not enough to derange their coming together pro- 
perly ; that none of them work against the pillar-plate ; that 
the balance turns horizontally and does not rub j that the 
hair-spring is not bent or wrongly set so that the coils rub on 
each other, on tbte plate or on the balance 5 in short, that 
everything about the whole movement is just as' reason 
would teach you it should be. If you find it otherwise, pro- 
ceed to repair in accordance with a carefully weighed judg- 
ment, and the processes given in next chapter, after which 
clean — if not, the watch only needs to be cleaned, and there- 
fore you may go ahead with your Work at once. 

TO CLEAN. 

. Many watchmakers wet the pillar plates and bridges with 
saliva, and then dipping the brush mto pulverized chalk or 
Spanish whiting, rub vigorously until they appear bright." 
This is not a good plan, as it tends to remove the plating 
and roughen the parts, and the chalk gets into the holes and 
damages them, or sticks around the edges of the wheel-beds. 
The berst process is to simply blow your breath upon the 
plate or bridge to be cleaned, and then to use your brush 
with a little prepared chalk — (See recipe for preparing it.) 
The wheels and bridges should be held between the thumb 
and finger in a piece of soft paper while undergoing the pro- 
cess ; otherwise the oil from the skin will prevent their be- 
coming clean. The pinions may be cleaned by sinking them 
several times into a piece of pith, and the holes by turnings, 
a nicely shaped piece of pivot wood into them, first dry and' 
afterwards oiled a very little with watch oil. When the 
holes pass through jewels you must work gently to avoid 
breaking them. 



18 THE AMERICAN 

The oiling above named is all the watch will need. A 
great fault with many watchmakers lies in then* use of too 
much oil. 

THE " CHEMICAL PEOCESS." 

Some watchmakers employ what they call the " Chemical 
Process" to clean and remove discolorations from watch 
movements. It is as follows : — 

Remove the screws and other steel parts ; then dampen 
with a solution of oxalic acid and water. Let it remain a 
few moments, after which immerse in a solution made of one- 
fourth pound cyanuret potassa to one gallon rain water. Let 
remain about five minutes, and then rinse well with clean 
water, after which you may dry in sawdutii:, or with a brush 
and prepared chalk, as suits your convenience. This gives 
the work an excellent appearance, but I cannot say that it 
makes it any better than does the old process. 

TO PEEPARE CHALK FOE CLEANING. 

Pulverize your chalk thoroughly, and then mix it with 
clear rain water in the proportion of two pounds to the I 

gallon. Stir well and then let stand about two minutes. In ^ 

this time the gritty matter will have settled to the bottom. 
Pour the water into another vessel, slowly so as not to stir 
up the settlings. Let stand until entirely settled, and then 
pour off as before. The settlings in the second vessel will 
be your prepared chalk, ready for use as soon as dried. 

Spanish whiting treated in the same way makes a very 
good cleaning or polishing powder. Some operatives add a 
little jeweler's rouge, and I think it is an improvement ; it 
gives the powder a nice color at least, and therefore adds to 
its importance in the eyes of the uninitiated. In cases 
where a sharper polishing powder is required, it may be pre- 
pared in the same way from rotten stone. 

% PIVOT WOOD. 

Watchmakers usually buy this article of watch-material 
dealers. A small shrub known as Indian arrow-wood, to be 
met with in the northern and western states, makes an 



WATCHMAKER AND JEA^ELEK. 19 



excellent pivot wood. It must be cut when the sap is down^ 
and split into quarters so as to throw the pith outside of 
the rod. 

PITH FOE CLEANING. 

The stalk of the common muUen — verhascum thapsus — 
affords the best pith for cleaning pinions that I have ever 
yet tried. It may be found in old fields and by-places all 
over the country. Winter, when the stalk is dry, is the time 
to gather it. Some workmen use cork instead of pith, but 
it is not so good and far less safe. 



CHAPTER III. 

ON WATCH RBPAIRING. 

I SHALL not attempt to describe, and to prescribe for, 
every species of defect that has been known to occur in a 
watch, for two reasons : The first is, that it would make a 
work far too large to come within the scope of my present 
plans, or to be useful ; and the second, that many of the de- 
fects constantly to be met with are of a character so simple, 
and so plain, that any person with ordinary ingenuity will 
be able to note them at once and apply the remedy. Such, 
for instance, as putting in a m.ain-spring, a hau'-spring, or a 
jewel; a mere glance at thejuachine will be sufficient to 
satisfy the proposed operative with regard to the steps 
necessary to be taken, even though he may have never 
before seen the inside of a watch. 

With a view, then, to giving my reader the largest pos- 
sible amount of useful information for his money, I shall 
proceed at once to offer such modes employed in watch 
repairing as he could not easily acquire himself — in short, to 
present in the briefest possible manner a complete exposi- 
tion of those processes in use, known as " The Secrets of 
the Trade." Once they are mastered, he will find it no 
longer a diflQcult matter to carry on the watch-repahing busi- 



20 THE AMERICAN 

ness with credit and success ; provided, of course, he 
possesses a reasonable amount of ingenuity and patience. 

TO PIVOT. 

When you find a pivot broken, you will hardly be at a 
loss to understand that the easiest mode of repahmg the 
damage is to drill into the end of the pmion or staff, as the 
case may be, and having inserted a new pivot, turn it down 
to the proper proportions. This is by no means a difficult 
thing when the piece to be drilled is not too hard, or when 
the temper may be slightly drawn without injury to the 
other parts of the article. It will be difficult, however, in 
cases where you find it necessary. 

TO DRILL INTO HARDENED STEEL. 

For this purpose make your drill oval in form, instead of 
in the usual shape, and temper as hard as it will bear with- 
out crumbling. Eoughen the surface of the object into 
which you desire to drill ^with a little diluted nitric acid. 
Start your diill, and to prevent it from becoming heated use 
spirits of tm-pentine instead of oil. Some workmen use 
•'kerosene with gum camphor dissolved in it instead of tur- 
pentine. 

When your di'ill begins to run smooth in -consequence of 
the bottom of the holes becoming bm-nished, clean out the 
turpentine or kerosene and roughen again with acid ; then 
proceed as before. 

You will find this a somewhat tedious business, but with 
a little patient application you will finally be able to accom- 
plish your object. It is the only mode for di'illing into 
highly tempered steel that will work with any degree of 
certainty. 

TO TELL WHEN THE LEVER IS OF PROPER LENGTH. 

You may readily learn whether or not a lever is of proper 
length, by measuring from the guard point to the pallet 
staff, and then comparing with the roller or ruby-pin table j 
the diameter of the table should always be just half the 
length measured on the lever. The rule will work both 
ways, and may be useful in cases when a new ruby-pin table 
has to be supplied. 



WATCHMAKER AND JEWELEE. 21 

TO LENGTHEN LEVERS OF ANCHOR ESCAPEMENTS. 

Some do this by drawing the temper of the lever between 
the pallets and the fork and forging it out to the proper 
length 5 others by soldering a piece the requked thickness 
against the guard point just back of the fork. 

There is a new process advertised by dealers in the 
"Secrets of the Trade'' — price three dollars — as '^ The best 
and quickest means of bringing the point of the lever close 
to the roller^ without hammering the point, soldering a piece 
on or stretching the lever." It is as follows : — 

Cat across with a screw-head file, just back of the fork, 
as deeply as you can with safety. The thin point thus left 
standing to itself you wDl bend gently forward to the proper 
position. This is all that will be required. In the event 
you break the little point in your efforts to bend it — a thing 
not likely to happen — you can file down level, drill a hole 
and insert a pin American lever style. 

TO CHANGE DEPTH OF* LEVER ESCAPEMENT. 

If you are operating on a fine watch the best plan is to 
put a new staff into the lever, cutting its pivots a little to 
one side — just as far as you desire to change the escapement. 
Common watches will not, of course, justify so much 
trouble. The usual process in their case is to knock out 
the staff, and with a small file cut the hole oblong in a 
direction opposite to that in which you desu-e to move your 
pallets ; then replace the staff, wedge it to the required 
position, and secure by soft soldering. 

In instances where the staff is put in with a screw you will 
have to proceed diflerently. Take out the staff, prize the 
pallets from the lever, file the pin holes to slant in the direc- 
tion you would move the pallets, without changing their 
size on the other side of the lever. Connect the pieces as 
they were before, and with the lever resting on some solid 
substance you may strike lightly with your hanimer until 
the bending of the pins will allow the pallets to pass into 
position. 

TO TELL WHEN THE LEVER PALLETS ARE OF PROPER 

SIZE. ^ 

The clear space between the pallets should correspond 



22 THE AMEEICAN 

with the outside measure, on the points, of three teeth of 
the scape wheel. The usual mode of measuring for new 
pallets is to set the wheel as close as possible to free itself 
when in motion. You can arrange it in your depthing tool, 
after which a measurement between the pivot holes of the 
two pieces, on the pillar plate, will show you exactly what 
s required. 

TO PUT TEETH INTO WHEELS 

Most watchmakers solder or dovetail their teeth in, but 
there is a new mode which I consider far better, and I know 
it is easier : Make a hole through the plate of the wheel 
immediately below the point from which the tooth has been 
broken. Let its diameter be a little greater than the width 
of a tooth. Next, with your tooth- saw cut down where the 
tooth should stand till you come into the hole. You then 
.dress out with a head upon it, a piece of brass wire, till it 
fits nicely into the cut of the^aw, with its head in the hole. 
With a fine graver you then cut a crease into the wheel- 
plate above and below, on either side of the newly -fitted 
wire ; after which, with your hammer, you cautiously spread 
the face of the wire until it fills the creases, and is securely 
clinched or rineted into the wheeL This makes a strong 
job, and one that dresses up to look as well as any other. 

TO WEAEIEN THE HAIR-SPEING. 

This is often effected by grinding the spring down. You 
remove the spring from the collet, and place it upon a piece 
of pivot wood cut to fit the centre coil. A piece of soft 
steel wire, flattened so as to pass freely between the coils, 
and armed with a little pulverized oil-stone and oil, will 
serve as your grinder, and with it you may soon reduce the 
strength of the spring. Your operations will, of course, be 
confined to the centre coil, for no other part of the spring 
will rest sufiiciently against the wood to enable you to gi'ind 
it, but this will generally suffice. The effect will be more 
rapid than one would suppose, therefore it will stand you in 
hand to be careful or you may get the spring too weak before 
yoj^ suspect it. 

Another and perhaps later process is as follows : Fit the - 



- WATCHMAKER AND JEWELEE. 23 

collet; without removing the spring, upon a stick of pivot- 
wood; and having prepared a little diluted nitric acid in a 
watch-glass, plunge the centre coils into it, keeping the 
other parts of the spring from contact by holding it in the 
shape of an inverted hoop skirt, with your tweezers. Expoee 
it a few seconds, governing the time of course by the degree 
of effect desire^ and then rinse off, first with clean water, 
and afterwards with alcohol. Dry in the sun or with tissue 
paper. 

TO PREVENT A CHAIN FROM RUNNING OFF THE FUSEE. 

In the first place you must look after and ascertain the 
cause of the difficulty. If it results from the chain's being 
too large, the only remedy is a new chain. If it is not too 
large, and yet runs off without any apparent cause, change 
it end for end — that will generally make it go all right. In 
cases where the channel in the fusee has been damaged, and 
is rough, you will be under. the necessity of dressing.it over 
with a file the proper size and shape. Sometimes you find 
the chain naturally inclined to work away from the body of 
the fusee. The best way to remedy a difficulty of this kind 
is to file off a very little from the outer lower edge of the 
chain the entire length — this, as you can see, will incline it 
to work on instead of off. Some -workmen, when they have 
a bad case, and a common watch, change the standing of the 
fusee so as to cause the winding end -of its arbor to incline a 
little from the barrel. This, of course, cannot do otherwise 
than make the cham run to its place. 

TO PUT WATCHES IN BEAT. 

If a cylinder escapement, or a detached bver, put the 
balance into position, then turn the regulator so that it will 
point directly to the pivot-hole of the pallet staff if a lever, 
or of the scape-wheel if a cylmder. Then lift out the balance 
with its bridge or clock, turn it over and set the ruby pin 
directly in line with the regulator, or the square cut of the 
cylinder at right angles with it. Your watch will then be 
in perfect beat. 

In case of an American or an English lever, when the re- 
gulator is placed upon the plate, you will have to proceed 



•24 THE AMERICAl? 

differently. Fix the balance into its place, cut off the con- 
nection of the train, if the mainspring is not entirely down, 
by slipping a fine broach into one of the wheels, then look 
between the plates and ascertain how the lever stands. If 
the end farthest from the balance is equi-distant between 
the two brass pins it is all right — if not, change the hair- 
spring till it becomes so. 

If dealing with a duplex watch, you must see that the 
roller notch, when tbe balance is at rest, is exactly between 
the locking tooth and the line of centr^— that is, a line drawn 
from the centre of the roller to the centre of the scape- 
wheel. The balance must start from its rest and move 
through an arc of about ten degrees before bringing the 
locking tooth into action. 

TO TIGHTEN A GOMMON^INION ON THE CENTRE ARBOE. 

The most common way is to put a hair into the cannon 
and force it down upon the arbor, but this is objectionable 
from the fact that it sets the pinion just the width of the 
hair to one side. Another way is to twist the arbor lightly 
into a pair of cutting plyers, raising a thread or burr upon 
iti I could not recommend this mode as there is too much 
danger of bending the arbor in the operation. I generally 
roll the arbor between two -files, letting the square part be to 
one side of them, of course. A very slight roll between 
two files will generally- tighten the cannon, and there can 
be no danger of bending the arbor or setting the pinions to 
one side. 

TO TIGHTEN A RUBY PIN. 

Set the ruby pin in asphaltum varnish. It will become 
hard in a few minutes, and be much firmer and better than 
gum shellac, as generally used. 



CHAPTER IV. 
ON I^IENDING WATCH TRAINS. 

When a wheel or a pinion is wanting in the train of a 
watch, it is usual to say the tram is broken; and the act of 
supplying that wheel or pinion, is generally termed mending 
the train. This, according to the old plan of working 
involved no small amount of labor, in the way of calcula- 
tions, to get the proper size of the new piece. A person 
was under the necessity of being a good algebra scholar to 
do it. The recent, or I might say the American system — 
for European watchmakers still hold to their old ways — 
makes it much easier. A few simple tables have been 
gotten up by which any person who knows how to count 
and to measure may select the piece he wants in a few 
minutes. 

TO DETERMINE THE EEQUIRED DIAMETE!^ OF A PimON. 



For size of Pinion 
with 


Measures on Wheel. 


Character of Measure. 


4 leaves, 


2 teeth, 


Very full from out to out. 


5 leaves, 


3 teeth, 


Exactly from centre to centre. 


6 leaves, 


3 teeth, 


Full from centre to centre. 


7 leaves, 


3 teeth, 


Scant from out to out. 


S leaves, 


4 teeth, 


Scant from centre to centre. 


9 leaves, 


4 teeth, 


Full from out to out. 


10 leaves, 


4 teeth, 


Exactly from out to out. 


12 leaves .... 


5 teeth, 


Exactly from centre to centre. 


14 leaves, . ^ . 


6 teeth, 


Scant from centre to centre. 


15 leaves. 


6 teeth, 


Scant from out to out. 


17 leaves, 


7 teeth, 


Full from centre to centre. 



26 



THE AMERICAN" 



TABLES OF N02^-SEC0ND WATCH TEAINS. 



Centre 
wheel. 


3d Wheel and 
Piuion. 


4th Wheel and 
Pinion. 


Scape Wheel 
and Pinion. 


Beats per 
minute. 


1 




1 
.S 

1 


a 

i 
1 


1 
i; 

"3 


i 

i 


> 


i 

.2 
1. 


•S 

i 
3 




o 


66 


63 


6 


63 


6 


31 


7 


6 


283 scant 


5 


66 


64 


6 


63 


6 


31 


7 


6 


287 full 


% 


66 


64 


6 


64 


6 


31 


7 


- 6 


292 full 


%% 


72 


66 


6 


58 


6 


27 


7 


6 


298 scant 




66 


63 


6 


62 


6 


31 


7 


6 


278 full 


^n 


66 


63 


6 


61 


6 


31 


7 


6 


274 scant 




66 


63 


6 


60 


6 


31 


7 


6 


267 full 


2 



60 


6 


56 


6 


34 


9 


6 


60 


6 


54 


6 


33 


9 


6 


60 


6 


57 


6 


34 


9 


6 


60 


6 


53 


6 


33 


9 


6 


60 


6 


55 


6 


34 


9 


6 


60 


6 


52 


6 


33 


9 


6 


60 


6 


54 


6 


34 


9 


6 


60 


6 


51 


6 


33 


9 


6 


60 


6 


53 


6 


34 


9 


6 


60 


6 


52 


6 


34 


9 


6 


60 


6 


50 


6 


33 


9 


6 



294 


297 


299 full 


291 full 


289 scant 


286 


283 full 


280 full 


278 full 


273 


275 



58 


56 


6 


53 


6 


40 




6 


292 full 


^ 


64 


52 


6 


52 


6 


30 




6 


294 scant 


« 

s 


60 


56 


6 


52 


6 


30 




6 


230 scant 


? 


60 


60 


6 


49 


6 


36 




6 


300 scant 


S 


60 


54 


6 


54 


6 


40 




6 


397 




60 


54 


6 


53 


6 


40 




6 


291 full 




62 


54 


6 


51 


6 


39 




6 


290^cant 




58 


54 


6 


54 


6 


41 




6 


287 full 


1 


58 


55 


6 


53 


6 


41 


11 


6 


287 


» 


59 


54: 


6 


53 


6 


41 




6 


286 full 


^ 


60 


54 


6 


52 


6 


40 




6 


286 


*f3 


61 


55 . 


6 


51 J 


6 


39 J 




6 


286 scant 1 


H 



ITATCHMAKER AND JEWELER. 



27 



TABLES OF NON-SECOI^^D WATCH TRAINS. 
(Continued.) 



Centre 
■R^heel. 


Sd Wheel and 
Pinion. 


4th Whee 
Pinion 


land 


Scape Wheel 
and Pinion. 


Beats jier 
minute. 


i 

1 

i 

o 


|1 


1 

c 


a 
.S 

1 


1 
.s 

1 


c 

.5 

i 

1 


i 
.s = 

8 ® 


1 

a 

1 


.s 

1 


1 

1 


56 


55 


6 


50 


6"" 


39 


11 


6 


285 scant 




GO 


55 


6 


48 


6 


38 


11 


6 


282 full 




62 


54 


6 


52 


6 


41 


11 


6 


281 scant 




63 


54 


6 


51 


6 


40 


11 


6 


281 full 




63 


54 


6 


50 


6 


39 


11 


6 


280 scant 




70 


54 


6 


54 


6 


43 


11 


6 


277 full 




70 


60 


6 


48 


6 


36 


11 


6 


293 full 




70 


54 


6 


52 


6 


39 


11 


6 


295 full 




GO 


54 


6 


50 


6 


38 


11 


6 


289 scant 




63 


48 


6 


56 


6 


43 


11 


6 


287 full 


•3 
2 


63 


70 


7 


56 


7^ 


36 


11 


7 


293 full 




SO 


,70 


7 


48 


7 


36 


11 


6 


293 full 


1 


80 


60 


7 


48 ^ 


6 


36 


11 


6 


293 full 


SO 


70 


6 


48 


>^ 


36 


11 


6 


293 full 


c 


80 


50 


6 


56 


7 


40 


11 


6 


287 full 


1 


SO 


63 


6 


50 


7 


38 


11 


6 


289 scant 




SO 


80 


8 


64 


8 


36 


11 


8 


293 full 


> 


70 


80 


8 


56 


8 


36 


11 


7 


293 full 


jO 


70 


80 


8 


48 


8 


36 


11 


6 


293 full 


£ 


63 


53 


6 


56 


7 


40 


11 


6 


287 full 


'1 


63 


64 


6 


56 


8 


40 


11 


6 


287 full 


c-" 


84 


48 


8 


56 


6 


40 


11 


6 


287 full 




S4 


56 


8 


56 


7 


40 


11 


6 


287 full 




64 


64 


8 


56 


8 


40 


11 


6 


287 full 




63 


63 


6 


50 


7 


38 


11 


6 


289 scant 




63 


72 


6 


50 


8 


38 


11 


6 


289 scant 




84 


54 


8 


50 


6 


38 


11 


6 


289 scant 


• 


S4 


63 


8 


50 


7 


38 


11 


6 


289 scant 




60 


72 


8 


50 


8 


38 


11 


6- 


289 scant 




ro 


80 


6 


48 


8 


36 


11 


6 


293 fall ' 





28 



THE AMERICAN 



TABLES OP XOIs'-SECOND WATCH TRAIN'S. 
iContimied.) 



Centre 


3d Wheel and 


4th Wheel and 


Scare 


Wheel 


Beats per 




wheel. 


Pin 


on. 




Pinion. 




and Pinion. 


minute. 




o 2 

'A ■ 


1 
a 


■ft 
c 

i 

1 


.S 
■1 


.S 

.s 

1 


> 

<-< 

8 ® 


2 
.S 

1 


s 

i 

1 

B 


o 

■ 1 


s 


70 


80 


7 


48 


8 


36 


293 full 


§S. 


80 


80 


7 


5Q 


8 


36 




7 


293 full 


£ o 


80 


60 


8 


48 


6 


36 




6 


293 full 


^.s_. 


80 


70 


8 


48 


7 


36 




6 


293 full 


25 S 


80 


70 


8 


.56 


7 


36 




7 


293 full 





52 


52 


6- 


51 


6 


48 


13 


6 


277 scant 




57 


51 


6 - 


48 


6 


44 


13 


6 


280 scant 




56 


51 


6 


49 


6 


45 


13 


6 


281 scant 




54 


52 


6 


50 


6 


46 


13 


6 


282 scant 




50 


51 


6 


50 


6 


45 


13 


6 


284 full 




54 


43 


6 


50 


6 


45 


13 


6 


287 full 




54 


52 


6 


51 


6 


46 


13 


6 


287 full 


» 


57 


53 


6 


48 


6 


43 


13 


6 


291 scant 


§ 


5Q 


54 


6 


48 


6 


44 


15 


6 


291 full 


^ 


5Q 


53 


6 


^49 


6 


44 


13 


6 


292 scant 


t 


54 


53 


6 


51 


6 


45 


13 


6 


293 scant 


g 


60 


51 


6 


48 


6. 


42 


13 


6 


294 full 


"Z 


59 


51 


6 


49 


6 


43 


13 


6 


296 scant 


s 


5Q 


53 


6 


50 


6 


44 


13 


6 


29 8 scant 


i 


54 


53 


6 


52 


6 


45 


13 


6 


298 full 




53 


52 


6 


50 


6 


46 


13 


6 


276 full 


= 


52 


52 


6 


52 


6 


46 


13 


6 


293 scant 




55 


51 


6 


51 


6 


46 


13 


6 


287 


'B 


56 


50 


6 


51 


6 


46 


13 


6 


286 full 


H 


56 


52 


6 


48 


6 


44 


13 


6 


280 full 




56 


52 


6 


50 


6 


44 


13 


6 


292 full 




60 


48 


6 


48 


6 


45 


13 


6 


277 full 




60 


50 


6 


48 


6 


43 


13 


6 


289 scant 




60 


54 


6 


60 


8 


53 


13 


6 


292 full 




60 


58 


7 


56 


7 


51 


13 


6 


287 full 





WATCHMAKER AND JEWELER. 



29 



TABLES OF NON-SECOND WATCH TRAINS. 

* ' [Continued ) 



4th NViieeluud 
wiieei. x'lnioiT. Pinion. 



3awii 


.-el audi 


PinioiT. 1 


0) 

% 


1 


60 


8 


5Q> 


7 


52 


7 


60 


7 


60 


7 


70 


8 


68 


8 



54 

56 
51 

60 
60 

68 
68 



44 
47 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 



Scape W heel Beats per 

and Pillion. minute. 



.3 
'^ 

13 
13 
13 
13 
13 
13 
13 



300 ... . 
396 full 

285 

290 

285 .. . . 
280 



6 
6 
6 
6 

6 
6 
6 I 286 full 



45 


6 


45 


6 


45 


6 


45 


6 


48 


6 


50 


6 


48 


6 


5Q 


7 


56 


8 


60 


8 


64 


8 


64 


. 8 


64 


8 


-50 


6 


48 


6 


64 


8 


80 


8 


80 


. 8 


80 


8 


80 


7 


80 


7 


80 


7 




■ 



56 
57 
58 
59 
46 
48 
46 

58 
60 
50 
5Q 
64 
48 
48 
48 
64 

48 
64 

48 



6 
6 
6 
6 

6 
6 
6 

7 

7 

.8 

8 

8 

8 

6 

6 

8 

10 

10 

10 

10 

10 

10 



50 


15 


62 


15 


62 


15 


60 


15 


50 


15 


48 


15 


50 


15 


50 


15 


50 


15 


50 


15 


50 


15 


50 


15 


50 


15 


50 


15 


50 


15 


50 


15 


50 


15 


50 


15 


50 


15 


50 


15 


50 


15 


50 


15 


- - 


• 



288 

288 

sao 

291 scant 
290 

286 

289 scant 

288 

288 

288 

288 

288 

288 

288 

288 

288 ...... 

288 

288 

288...... 

288 

288 ■ 

288 



so 



THE AMEEICAN 



TABLES OF NON-SECOND WATCH TRAINS. 
(Continued.) 



Centre 


3d Wheel and 


4th Wheel and 


Scape Wheel 


Beats per 




wheel. 


Pinion. 




Pinion. 




and Pinion. 


minute. 










• ■ 






. 












q 


Q 


s 


>• 


13 


ri 






5 • 


% 


•ft 


% 


S 


2 


2 


'S, 


la 




of 


.9 


.5 

i 




,2 


1= H 

li 


.S 


> 


1 




d fl 




5 


% 


rt 


8 ® 


S 




c 




^- 




^ 




^ 


cc 




^ 


'A 




12 


64 


8 


5Q 


8 


50 


17 


8 


286 scant. 




64 


64 


8 


64 


8 


50 


17 


8 


290 full. 




48 


48 


6 


45 


6 


53 


17 


6 


272 




48 


48 


6 


46 


6 


53 


17 


6 


278 




64 


80 


8 


48 


10 


53 


17 


6 


299 full. 


^ 


54 


48 


6 


44 


6 


50 


17 


6 


299 full. 


1 


51 


48 


6 


45 


6 


53 


17 


6 


295 full. 


54 


48 


6 


43 


6 


50 


17 


6 


292 full. 


rt 


48 


48 


6 


48 


6 


53 


17 


6 


290 full. 


■a 


51 


48 


& 


45 


6 


53 


17 


6 


289 


i 


54 


48 


6 


42 


6 


53 


17 


6 


286 scant. 


-2 


48 


48 


6 


47 


Q 


53 


17 


6 


284 full. 


1 


51 


48 


6 


44 


6" 


53 


17 


6 


283 scant. 


09 


64 


64 


8 


60 


8 


53 


17 


8 


289 scant. 


'M 


5Q 


56 


7 


dQ> 


7 


53 


17 


7 


290 full. 


'§ 


63 


56 


7 


49 


7 


53 


17 


7 


286 scant. 


H 


64 


5Q 


8 


48 


7 


53 


17 


6 


290 full. 




80 


80 


10 


64 


10 


53 


17* 


8 


290 full. 




80 


64 


10 


64 


8 


53 


17 


8 


290 full. 




80 


64 


10 


56 


8 


53 


17 


7 


290 full. 




80 


64 


10 


48 


8 


53 


17 


6 


290 full. 




80 


5Q 


10 


56 


7 


.53 


17 


7 


290 full. 




80 


5Q 


10 


48 


7 


53 


17 


6 


290 full. 




64 


80 


8 


64 


10 


53 


17 


8 


290 full. 




64 


80 


8 


56 


10 


53 


17 


7 • 


290 full. 





WATCHMAKER AND JEWELER 



31 



TABLES OF FOURTH WHEEL SECOI^D WATCH TRAINS. 



Centre 


3d Wheel and 


4th Wheel and 


Scape Wheel 


Beats per 




wheel. 


Pinion. 




Pinion. 


and Pinion. 


minute. 




ii 

1- 


.s 

i 

45 


c 
.S 

i 
1 

1-1 

6 


1 


q . 
a 

i 


» .2 

11 


1 

.9 


"Si 


"c5 
o 


1 


48 


76 


6 


60 


11 


6 


279 scant. 


1 


48 


45 


6 


74 


6 


60 


11 


6 


271 full. 


48 


45 


6 


71 


6 


60 


11 


6 


260 full. 


o ■ 


56 


60 


7 


.74 


8 


60 


11 


6 


271 full. 


■B 


48 


75 


6 


78 


6 


60 


11 


6 


286 


^ 


60 


79 


7 


74 


7 


60 


11 


6 


271 full. 




60 


79 


7 


76 


7 


60 


11 


6 


279 scant. 




60 


79 


7 


78 


7 


60 


11 


6 


286 


■B 


45 


56 


6 


74 


7 


60 


11 


6 


271 full. 


^ 
£ 


45 


56 


6 


76 


7 


60 


11 


6 


279 scant. 




45 


56 


6 


78 


7 


60 


11 


6 


286 


1 


64 


60 


8 


74 


8 


60 


11 


6 


271 full. 


^ 


64 


60 


8 


76 


8 


60 


11 


6 


279 scant. 


i 


64 


60 


8 


78 


8 


60 


11 


6 


286 


5 


60 


56 


8 


74 


7 


60 


11 


6 


271 full. 


;S 


60 


56 


8 


78 


7 


60 


11 


6 


286 




60 


78 


8 


74 


6 


60 


11 


6 


271 full. 




48 


78 


8 


78 


6 


60 


11 


6 


286...... 




48 


60 


6 


74 


8 


60 


11 


6 


271 full. 




48 


60 


6 


78 


8 


60 


11 


6 


286 .. 




60 


56 


8 


76 


7 


60 


11 


6 


279 scant. 




Wl 


' 60 


8 


66 


8 


00 


13 


6 


286 


^1. 


^64 


60 


8 


67 


8 


60 


13 


6 


290 full. 


I21 


56 


75 


7 


68 


10 


60 


13 


6 


295 scant. 


^5 2, 


45 


56 


6 


66 


7 


60 


13 


6 


286 


- ^ S 


60 


49 


7 


66 


7 


60 


13 


6 


286 


Ir 



32 



THE AMERICAN 



TABLES OF EOUETH WHEEL SECOND WATCH TRAINS. 
{Continued.) 



Centre 


SdWl 


eel and 


4tla V/heel and 


Scape 


Wheel 


Beats per 




wheel. 


Pin 


ion. 


Piiuon 




and] 


Pinion. 


minute. 






1 


.S 

1 


.5 


.s 

1 

H-1 


> 

"S 1 
11 


1 

a 

13 
a; 


'i 

1 


■ J 

d 
1^ 


1 


60 


49 


7 


77 


7 


60 


13 


7 , 


286 


1 


64 


60 


8 


69 


8 


60 


13 


6 


299 


i 


64 


60 


8 


68 


8 


60 


13 


6 •■ 295 scant. 


."S 


60 


49 


7 


67 


7 


60 


13 


6 


290 full. 


^ - 


48 


45 


6 


QQ 


6 


60 


13 


6 


286 . .--. . 


5 


48 


45 


6 


67 


6 


60 


13 


6 


290 full. 


•^ 


48 


45 


6 


68 


6 


60 


13 


6 


2-04 scant. 


o 


48 


45 


6 


69. 


6 


60 


13 


6 


299 


z 


60 


56 


8 


66 


7 


60 


13 


6 


286 


rS 


80 


60 


10 


66 


8 


60 


13 


6 


286 


^ 


64 


75 


8 


66 


10 


60 


13 


6 


286 


o 


48 


60 


6 


66 


8 


60 


13 


6 


286 


hR 


48 


75 


6 


m 


10 


60 


13 


6 


286 





45 


8 


60 


6 


60 


15 


6 


60 


8 


60 


8 


60 


15 


6 


64 


8 


70 


10 


60 


15 


7 


60 


8 


70 


8 


• 60 


15 


7 


56 


8 


60 


7 


60 


15 


6 


60 


6 


60 


8 


60 


15 


6 


70 


. 7 


70 


7 


60 


15 


7 


49 


^ 7 


60 


7 


60 


15 


6 


49 


6 


60 


6 


60 


15 


6 


45 


10 


70 


8 


60 


15 


7 


60 


10 


60 


8 


60 


15 


6 


75 


7 


60 


10 


60 


15 


6 



300 
300 
300 
300 
300 
300 
300 
300 
300 
300 
300 
300 






WATCHMAKER AND JEWELER. 



TABLES OF FOURTH WHEEL SECOXD WATCH TRAILS. 
(Continued.) 



CentrP 

wheel. 


3,1 Wheel and 
Pillion. 


4th Wheel and 
Pinion. 


Scape Wheel 
and Pinion. 


Beats per 

minute. 




i 1 


o 

Xi 
0) 


1 


1 
a 


a 

s 

a 

I 


>- 

.s s 

s ^ 
8 o 

eg 


1 
xs 

.S 


i 


'o 

d 


t 


56 


75 


7 


70 


10 


60 


15 


7 


300-.... 


i 


56 


75 


8 


60 


10 


60 


15 


6 


300." 


■ "Z 


64 


7o 


8 


54 


8 


60 


15 


6 


270 


o 


60 


60 


8 


54 


7 


60 


15 


6 


270 


C 


64 


56 


8 


54 


6 


60 


15 


6 


270 




48 


45 


6 


54 


8 


60 


15 


6 


270 




60 


60 


7 


63 


" 7 


60 


15 


7 


270 


f: 


60 


56 


8 


48 


7 


60 


15 


6 


240 


c 


CO 


49 


7 


54 


7 


60 


15 


6 


270 


8 


48 


49 


6 


54 


6 


60 


15 


6 


270 




64 


45 


8 


48 


8 


60 


15 


6 


240...... 


,3 


60 


60 


8 


48 


7 


60 


15 


6 


240 


i^ 


48 


50 


6 


48 


8 


60 


15 


6 


240 


O 


64 


60 


8 


48 


6 


60 


15 


6 


240 




60 


45 


7 


56 


7 


60 


15 


7 


240 




60 


49 


7 


48 


7 


60 


15 


6 


240...... 




48 


45 1 


6 


48 


6 


60 


15 


6 


240 





60 


56 


8 


64 


60 


8 


64 


60 


8 


P5 


56 


10 


^80 


60 


10 


75 


64 


10 


75 


68 


10 


80 


75 


10 



51 
50 
51 

68 
50 
50 
68 
68 



7 
8 
8 
8 
10 



60 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 



17 
17 
17 
17 
17 
17 
17 
17 



289 

283 ML 

289 

289 

283 full. 
283 full. 

289 

289 



34 



THE AMERICAN 



TABLES OF FOFETH WHEEL SECOND WATCH TRAINS. 
^ (Continued.) 



Centre 
wheel. 


3d Wheel and 
Pinion. 


4tli Wheel and 
Pinion. 


Scape Whee 
and Pinion 


li 

d e 


1 
.2 

1 


a 
■ft 

a 

>• 


a 

1 


a" 
S 
a 

1 

t-3 


> 

U 

8 * 


1 

a 


d 
a 

i 
1 


60 


72 


6 


60 


12 


60 




6 


60 


60 


6 


60 


10 


60 




6 


60 


48 


6 


60 


8 


60 




6 


48 


60 


6 


60 


8 


60 




6 


48 


60 


6 


54 


8 


60 




6 


60 


72 


6 


54 


12 


60 




6 


48 


60 


6 


48 


8 


60 




6 


60 


60 


6 


54 


10 


60 




6 


60 


72 


6 


48 


12 


60 




6 


48 


60 


6 


48 


10 


60 




6 



Beats per 
minute. 



300 
300 
300 
300 
270 
270 
240 
270 
240 
240 











American Watch. 




64 


60 


8 


64 


8 1 60 1 15 1 


7 1 300 I 










Trial Watch. 




80 


( 75 


10 


80 


10 1 60 1 15 1 


8 i 300 



CHAPTER y. 

02^ TEMPERING. 

No part of his trade gives the self-instructed watchmaker 
more trouble than the acquirement of an ability to temper, 
as they should be, his various tools and pieces of machinery ; 
in fact a whole life devoted to experiments and study touch- 
hag this department, would not be liljely to attain the 
desired end. And yet all the processes employed are so 
amazingly simple as to lead one to wonder, when he under- 
stands them, w/iy he did not know all about* them before. 

TO TEMPER BRASS, OR TO DRAW ITS TEMPER. 

Brass is rendered hard by hammering or rolling, therefore 
when you make a thing of brass, necessary to be in temper, 
you must prepare the material before shaping the article. 
Temper may be drawn from brass by heating it to a cherry 
red, and then simply plunging it into water the same as 
though you were going to temper steel. 

TO TEMPER DRILLS. 

Select none but the finest and best steel for your drills. 
In making them never heat higher than a cherry red, and 
al way # hammer till nearly cold. Do all your hammering in 
one way, for if, after you have flattened your piece out, you 
attempt to hammer it back to a square or a rojmd you spoil 
it. When your drill is m proper shape heat it to a cherry 
red, and thrust it into a piece of resin, or into quicksilver. 

Some use a solution of cyanuret potassa and rain-water 
for tempermg tneir drills, but for my part I have always 
found the resin or quicksilver to work best. 

TO TEMPER GRAVERS. 

G-ravers and other instruments larger than drills, may be 
tempered in quicksilver as above 5 or you may use lead 



36 THE AMEKICAN 

• 

instead of quicksilyeii Cut down into the lead, say half an 
inch ; then, having heated your instrument to a light cherry 
red, press it firmly into the cut. The lead will melt around 
it; and an excellent temper will be imparted. ^ 

TO TEMPER CASE SPIUXGS. 

Having fitted the spring into the case according to your 
liking, temper it hard by heating and plunging into water, 
Next polish the small end so that you may be able to see 
when the color changes j lay it on a piece of copper or brass 
plate, and hold the plate over your lamp, with the blaze 
directly under the •largest part of the spring. Watch the 
polished part of the steel closely, and when you see it turn 
blue remove the .plate from the lamp, letting all cool gradu- 
ally together. Y\^hen cool enough to handle polish the end 
of the spring again, place it on the plate and hold over the 
lamp as before. The third bluing of the polished end will 
leave the spring in proper temper. Any steel article to 
which you desire to give a spring temper may be treated in 
the same way. 

Another process said to be good^ — I have never tried it — 
is to temper the spring as in the first instance ; then put it 
into a small iron ladle, cover it with linseed oil and hold 
over a lamp till -the oil takes fire. Remove the ladle, but 
let the oil continue to burn until nearly all consumed, when 
blow out, re-cover with oil and hold ov^ the lamp as 
before. The third burning out of the oil will leave the 
spring in the right temper. ^ 

TO TEMPER CLICKS, EATCHETS, ETC. 

' Clicks, ratchets or other steel articles requiring a similar 
degree of hardness should be tempered in mercurial oint- 
ment. The process consists in simply heating to a cherry 
red and plunging into the ointment. No other mode v^lil 
combine toughness and hardness to such an extent. 

TO DRAW TPIE TEMPER FROM DELICATE STEEL PIECES 
WITHOUT SPRINGING THEM. 

Place the articles from which you desire to draw thg 
temper into a common iron clock key. Fill around it with 



WATCHMAKER AND JEYTELEE. 37 

brass or iron filings, and then plug up the open end with a 
steel, iron or brass plug, made to fit closely. Take the 
handle of the hey \Yith your ply ers and hold its pipe into the 
blaze of a lamp till red hot, then let it cool gradually. 
When suificiently cold to handle, remove the ^lug, and you 
will find the article Avith its temper fully drawn, but in all 
other respects just as it was before. 

You will understand the reason for having the article 
thus plugged up while passing it through the heating and 
cooling process, when I tell you that springing always 
results from the action of changeable currents of atmosphere. 
The temper may be drawn from cylinders, staffs, pinions, or 
any other delicate pieces by this mode with perfect safety. 

TO TEMPER STAFFS, CYLINDERS OR PINIONS, 
WITHOUT SPRINGING THEM. 

Prepare the articles as in preceding process, using a steel 
plug. Having heated the key-pipe to a cherry red, plunge 
it into water; then polish the end of your steel plug, place 
the key upon a plate of brass or copper, and hold it over 
your lamp with the blaze immediately under the pipe till 
the polished part becomes blue. Let cool gradually, then 
polish again. Blue and cool a second time, and the work 
will be done. 

TO DRAW THE TEMPER FROM PART OF A SMALL STEEL 
ARTICLE. 

Hold the part from which you wish to draw the temxper, 
with a pair of tweezers, and with your blow-pipe direct the 
llame upon them — ^not the article — till sufficient heat is 
communicated to the article to produce the desired effect. 

TO BLUE SCREWS EVENLY. 

Take an old watch barrel and drill as many holes mto the 
head of it as you desire to blue screws at. a time. Fill it 
about one-fourth full of brass or iron filings, put in the head, 
and then fit a wire, long enough to bend over for a handle, 
iyto the arbor holes — head of the barrel upwards. Brighten 
the heads of your screws, set them, poiftt downwards, into 
the holes already drilled, and expose the bottom of the 



38 THE AMERICAN 

barrel to your lamp till the screws assume the color you 
wish 

TO REMOVE BLUING FROM STEEL. 

Immerse in* a pickle composed of equal parts muriatic 
acid and elixir vitriol. Binse in pure water and dry in 
tissue paper. 

TO CASE-HARDEN IRON. 

Heat to a bright red in a crucible or ladle j pour in enough 
powdered cyanid of potash to cover it ; let remain five or six 
seconds, and then turn out into rain water. The piece treated 
in this way will polish up equal to steel, and be almost quite 
as hard. 



-oojO^oo- 



CHAPTEK VI. 



ON MILLS, BROACHES, FILES AND BURNISHERS. 

YoiTR diamond mills, diamond broaches and diamond 
files you can generally buy ready m.ade to suit, though 
instances may occur in which you will require them of a 
peculiar size and shape, not to be had of the dealers. It is, 
therefore, best to know how to prepare them. I make all 
my own for two reasons — they are better than those I can 
buy, and they do not cost me anything like as much. 

To make these articles diamond dust is necessary. This 
you can buy in most of the large cities ready prepared. It 
is not a costly article j one dollar's worth will last you a 
long time. 

TO MAKE A DIAMOND MILL. 

Make a plain brass wheel about two inches in diameter, and 
arrange it to work to your foot-lathe. Place it flat on 
some solid substance, and having oiled its face, sprinkle it 
thinly with coarse diamond dust. With a smoothe hammQr 
then tap it lightly till the diamond dust is thoroughly driven 
into the brass. The brass will bur around it and hold it 



WATCHMAKER AND JEWELER, 39 

securely in place. We use the oil to prevent the dust from 
boundiig off while undergoing the process of hammering. 

A mm prepared in this way will last for years. I have 
one now in my shop, upon which I have ground watch, specta- 
cle and breastpin glasses for five years, and yet it appears as 
sharp, and cuts as well as it did at first. As the wheel 
wears off the diamond grains seem to sink into the brass 
fi-om the effect of the grinding. 

TO MAKE DIAMOND BROACHES. 

Make your broaches of brass the size and shape you 
desire 5 then, having oiled them slightly, roll their points 
into fine diamond dust till entirely covered. Hold them 
then on the face of your anvil and tap with a light hammer 
till the grains disappear in the brass. Great caution will 
be necessary in this operation. Do not tap heavy enough 
to flatten the broach. Very, light blows are all that will be 
required; the grains will be driven in much sooner than 
one would imagine. 

Some roll the broach between two smoothe pieces of steel 
to imbed the diamond dust. It is a very good way, but 
somewhat more wasteful of the dust. 

Broaches made on this plan are used for dressing out 
jewels. 

TO MAKE POLISHING BROACHES. 

These are usually made of ivory, and used with diamond 
dust, loose, instead of having been driven in. You oil the 
broach lightly, dip it into the finest diamond dust and pro- 
ceed to work it into the jewel the same as you do the brass 
broach. Unfortunately too many watchmakers fail to attach 
sufficient importance to the polishing broach. The sluggish 
motion of watches now-a-days, is more often attributable to 
rough jewels than to any other cause. 

TO MAKE DIAMOND FILES. 

Shape your file of brass, and charge with diamond dust, 
as in case of the mill. G-rade the dust in accordance with 
the coarse or fine character of the file desired. 

TO MAKE PIVOT FILES. 
Dress up a piece of wood file fashion, about an inch 



40 THE AMERICAN 

broad^ and glue a piece of fine emery paper upon it. Shape 
your file then, as you wish it^_of the, best cast-stfel, and 
before tempering pass your emery paper heavily across 
it several times^ diagonally. Temper by heating to a 
. cherry red, and, plunging, into linseed oil. Old \YOin pivot 
files may be dressed over and made new by this process. 
At first thought one would be led to regctrd them too 
slightly cut to work well, but not so. They dress a pivot 
more rapidly than any other file. 

TO MAKE BURNISHERS. 

Proceed the same as in making pivot files, with the excep- 
tion that you are to use fine flour of emery on a slip of oiled 
brass or copper, instead of the emery paper'. Bin-nishers 
which have become too smouthe may be improved vastly 
with the flour of emery as above without drawing the tem.per. 

TO PREPARE A BURNISHER FOR POLISHING. 

Melt a little beeswax ou the face of your burnisher. Its 
effect then, an brass or other finer metals, will be equal to 
the best blifi. A small burnisher prepared in this way is 
the very thing with which to polish up watch wheels. Rest 
them on a piece of pith while polishing. 



CHAPTER VII. 

ON CLEANING AND REPAIRING CLOCKS. 

The clocks now generally in use among our people are 
so simple in their construction, and the processes employed 
to keep them in order are so few and plain, that a lengthy 
treatise on the subject_as indicated by the above heading, 
could hardly be profitable. Almost any person endowed 
with commoiB sense and a taste for working at light ma- 
chinery, may, with a little practice, clean and repair clocks 
successfully. 

With all its simplicity, however, there are many persons 
following the business of cleaniug and repairing clocks who 



WATCHMAKER AND JEWELER. 41 

do not give satisfaction j or^ in other words, who do not 
seem to possess all the necessary requisites. As an illustra- 
tion — a man will come to your house, perhaps, take down 
your clock, clean it properly, repair it all right, put it up 
as it should be, and then— spoil the job by oiling all the 
pivots and probably the pinions. The requisite lacking in 
this case is good common sense. If he had possessed this 
he would have seen that to oil the pivots or pinions would be 
to cause their accumulation of dust ; that this dust mixing 
with the oil, must increase the friction by causingMhe parts 
to grind together, to say nothing of a gum sure to result 
— either ot v/hich, without the other, could not do otherwise 
than stop the machine sooner or later, 

We often hear p.ersons complaining of their clocks stop- 
ping in cold weather — in nine cases out of ten the cause 
may be attributed to this very injudicious use of oil. A gum 
has formed on the pivots or pinions, or both, which stiffens 
under the influence of the cold, and, of course, stops the 
movement. But this is not the only bad result. A clock 
grinding along in consequence of having been improperly 
oiled, will wear oiit in less than half the time tha.t it would 
under other circumstances. The reason in this must be 
apparent to all — each pivot or each pinion leaf has been 
converted, as it were, into a grindstone. 

I am sorry to say that a large per cent, of the professed 
clock-tinkerers straggling over our country do work on the 
plan just named. They are generally men vi^hq are too lazy 
to earn an honest living by hard labor, and too dull to do it 
in any other way. ^ If a man is disposed to work at clocks, 
and possesses the requirements that will enable him to do 
it well, a necessity for much " tramping'^ will never spring 
up. A community can easily be found that will give him a 
permanent business. And unless the person applying fur a 
'^ job 'Ms known, or can furnish satisfactory evidence that 
he understands his business, and is honest enough to do 
well what hQ understands, my advice is to keep him and the 
clock as far apart as possible. Better ten to one that the 
owner- go to work and put it in repair himself ; for certain 
it is that he will not willfully injure his own properly. 

Under the im]n-Pssion then that this book may possibly 
fall mto the hands of some who, in consequence of not 



42 THE AMERICAN 

being convenient to the establishment of a regular watch 
or clock repairer, would like to keep' their own, clocks in 
order, I shall proceed to give a few simple directions, which, 
if followed, will enable them to do so without trouble. 

TO CLEAN A CLOCK. - 

Take the movement of the clock "to pieces." Brush 
the wheels and pinions thoroughly with- a stiff, coarse brush-, 
also the plates into which the trains work. Clean the 
pivots well by turning in a piece of cotton cloth held tightly 
between your thumb and finger. The pivot holes in- the 
plates are generally cleansed by turning a piece of wood 
into them, but I have always found a strip of cloth or a 
soft cord drawn tightly through them to act the best.' If 
you use two cords, the first one slightly oiled, and the next 
dry to clean the oil out, all the better. Do not use salt or 
acid to clean your clock — it can do no good, but may do a 
great deal of harm. Boiling the movement in water, as 
some practice, is also foolishness 

TO BUSH. 

The holes through which the great arbors, or winding 
axles work, are the only ones that usually require bushing. 
When they have become too much worn the great wheel 
on the axle before named strikes too deeply into the pinions 
above it, -and stops the clock. To remedy this bushing is 
necessary, of course. The most common way of doing it is 
to drive a steel point or punch into the plate just above the 
axle hole, thus forcing the brass downward until the hole is 
reduced to its original size. Another mode is to solder a 
piece of brass upon the plate in such a position as to hold 
the axle down to its proper place. If you simply wish your 
clock to run, and have no ambition to produce a bush that 
will look workmanlike, about as good a way as any is to fit 
a piece of hard wood between the post which comes threugh 
the top of the plate and the axle. Make it long enough to 
hold the axle to its proper place, and so that the axle will 
run on the end of the grain. Cut notches where the pivots 
come through, and secure by wrapping around it and the 
plate a piece of small wire, or a thread. There is no post 
coming through above the axle on the striking side, but this 



■ WATCHMAKER AND JEWELER. ^3 

will rarely require DusMng. I have known clocks to run 
well on this kind of bushing, botchified as it may appear, 
for ten years. 

TO EESIEDY WORN PINIONS. 

Turn the leaves or rollers so the worn places upon them 
will be towards the arbor or shaft, and fasten them in that 
position. If they are " rolling pinions," and you cannot 
secure them otherwise, you had better do it with a little soft 
solder. * 

TO OIL PROPERLY. 

Oil only, and very lightly, the pallets of the verge, the 
steel pin upon which the verge works, and the point where 
the loop of the verge wire works over the pendulum wire. 
Use none but the best watch oil. Though you might be 
working constantly at the clock-repairing business, a bottle 
(t)sting you but twenty -five cents, would last you two years 
at least. You can buy it at any watch-furnishing establish- 
ment. 

TO MAKE THE CLOCK STRIKE CORRECTLY. 

If not very cautious in putting up your clock you will get 
some of the striking-train wheels in wrong, and thus produce 
a derangenient in the striking. If this should happen, prize 
the plates apart on the striking side, slip the pivots of the 
upper wheels out, and having disconnected them from the 
train, turn them part around and put them back. If still not 
right, repeat the experiment. A few efforts at most will 
get them to working properly. 

A DEFECT TO LOOK AFTER. 

Always examine the pendulum wire at the point where 
the loop of the verge wire works over it. You will generally 
fintl a small notch, or at least a rough place, worn there. 
Dress it out perfectly smooth, or your clock will not be 
likely to work well. Small as this defect may seem, it 
stops a large number of clocks. 



44. - TEE AilEIlICAN 

CHAPTER yill. 

ON EEFIXING AND COMPOUNDING METALS. 

Although it is not expected that tlie watchmaker and 
jeweler will be called upon to do a heavy business in the 
way of refining nietals, yet it is proper for him to know 
something of the modus ox^erancli, for cases may occur 4n 
which it will be necessary for him to separate the members 
of a compound, or to have a metal which he can rely upon 
as being pure. I shall, therefore, lay before him a few 
simple, recipes. They are not exactly the processes em- 
ployed when refinmg is done on a large scale, but they are 
perfectly reliable, and will answer his purpose ; in fact they 
are the only ones he could n:iake use of without extensive 
and expensive preparations. 

A thorough knowledge of the formula by which metals 
are compounded is of the utmost importance. 

TO EEFINE GOLD. 

If you aesire to refine your gold from the baser metals,, 
swedge or roll it out very thin, then cut into narrow strips 
and curl up so as to prevent its lying flatly. Drop the 
pieces thus prej)ared into a vessel containing good nitric 
acid, in the proportion of acid two ounces, and* pure rain 
water half an ounce. Suffer to remain until thoroughly 
dissolved, which will be the case in from half an hour to 
one hour. Then pour off the liquid carefully and you will 
find the gold in the form of a yellow powder lying at the 
bottom of the vessel. Wash this with pure water till it 
ceases to have an acid* taste, after which you may melt and 
cast into any form you choose. Gold treated in this way 
may be relied on as perfectly pure. 

In melting gold use none other than a charcoal fire, and 
during the process sprinkle saltpetre and potash into the 
crucible occasionally. Do not attempt to melt with stone 
coal, as it renders the metal brittle and otherwise imperfect. 

TO EEFINE SILVEE. 
Dissolve in nitric acid as in the ca-se of the gold. When 



WATCHMAKER AND JEWELER. 45 

the silver has entirely disappeared, add to the two-and-a-half 
ounces of solution nearly one quart of pure rain water. 
Sink, then, a sheet .of clean copper into it — the silver will 
collect rapidly upon the copper, and you can scrape it off 
and melt into bulk at pleasure. 

In the event you were refining gold in accordance with 
the foregoing formula, and the impurity was silver, the only 
steps necessary to- save the latter would be to add the above 
named proportion of water to the solution poured from the 
gold, and then to proceed with your copper plate as just 
directed. 

TO REFINE COPPER. 

This process differs from the one employed to refine silver 
in no respects save the plate to be immersed — you use an 
iron instead of a copper plate to collect the metal. 

If the impurities of gold refined were both silver and cop- 
peF, you might, after saving the silver as above directed, 
sink your iron plate into the solution yet remaining, and 
take out the copper. The parts of alloyed gold may be 
separated by these processes, and leave each in a nerfectly 
pure state. 

TO MAKE COIN GOLD. 

The gold of American and English coin is twenty -two 
carat.fine. Copper alone usually forms the alloy, though a 
portion of silver is sometimes added. To make coin gold, 
you melt together with saltpetre and sal-ammoniac, the two 
metals in the proportion of twenty-two grains pure gold and 
two grains pure copper. When silver forms a part of the 
alloy it is usually about one- third silver to two-thirds cop- 
per. The lafest American coin is of that alloy. 

TO MAKE EIGHTEEN CARAT GOLD 

To make, the eighteen carat gold, generally in use, melt 
together as above, eighteen grains pure gold, four grains 
pure copper and two grains pure silver. In cases where 
you find it necessary to use gold coin, weigh out in the pro- 
portion of nineteen-and-a-half grains gold, three grams cop- 
p^er and one-and-a-half grains silver. 



46 THE AMERICAN 

TO MAKE SIXTEEN CARAT GOLD 
Compound sixteen grains pure gold with five-and-a-half 
grains pure copper and two-and-a-half grains pure silver. 
Or, if gold coin- is used, seventeen grains gold, five grains 
copper and two grains silver. 

TO MAKE TWELVE CARAT GOLD. 

Melt together, in the usual way, twenty-five grains gold 
—if coin — thirteen-and-a-half grains^ copper, and seven-and- 
a-third grains silver. This is a very good gold for rings, 
&c. — stands acids almost equal to the higher grades, and 
looks fully as well. Of course it is deficient in weight. 

TO MAKE FOUR CARAT GOLD. 

Four carat gold is used to a considerable extent for cheap 
rings, pin-tongues and the like. It is a very nice metal, 
wears well, does not black the finger, and presents some- 
what the appearanceof Guinea gold. You make it by melt- 
ing together eighteen parts copper, four parts gold, and two 
parts silver 

TO MAKE GREEN GOLD. 

Melt together nmeteen grains pure gold ana five grains 
pure silver. The metal thus prepared has a beautiful green 
shade. Some years o it was used pretty extensively by 
jewelers -in the formation of leaves but we do not meet with 
it so often now. 

TO MAKE BEST COUNTERFEIT GOLD, 

Fuse together with saltpetre, sal-ammoniac and powdered 
charcoal, four parts platina, two-and-a-half parts pure cop- 
per, one part pure zinc, two parts block tin and one-and-a- 
half parts pure lead. 

Another good recipe calls for two parts platina, one part 
silver and three parts copper. 

A metal compounded in accordance with either formula, 
as exhibited above, will so nearly resemble gold as to almost 
defy detection without a resort to thorough tests. The 
platina requires a high temperature to melt, but nothing 
could be substituted that would act so well, as it adds to 
the ring of the metal, and to a great extent fortifies it against 
the action of acids. 



WATCHMAKER AND JEWELER. 47 

If at any time you should find your metal too hard or 
brittle for practical use re-melt it with sal-ammoniac. It 
may in some cases be necessary to repeat this operation 
several times, but it will be sure to produce the desired 
effect eventually. 

TO MAKE BEST OEEIDE. GOLD. 

Oreide gold is figuring no little at this time in the way o? 
cheap jewehy. The best article is made by compounding 
four parts pure copper, one-and-three-fourth parts pure zinc, 
one-fourth part magnesia, one-tenth part sal-ammoniac, one- 
twelfth part quick-lime and one part cream tartar. Melt 
the copper first, then add as rapidly as possible the other 
articles in the order named. 

TO MAKE ALLOYED SILVER. 

Copper is the only less precious metal that alloys well 
with silver. Its addition is a decided improvement on the 
original, rendering it harder, finer in appearance and more 
sonorous ; and it is astonishing to note the quantity that 
may be added without otherwise changing the first appear- 
ance of the metal. An alloy of silver and copper in the 
prop^'tion of four-fifths silver to one of copper, is fully as 
white as the silver would be entirely pure. When the pro- 
portion of copper rises above one-fifth, it begins to have an 
influence in the color.* American coin silver is one-tenth 
copper. 

The baser white metals cannot be alloyed with silver to 
any great extent, owing to the fact that they impart to the 
compound too great a degree of brittleness. A small pro- 
portion of block tin virtually converts it into bell metal. 

The following is, perhaps, the l^est known composition 
for a cheap silver : Pure silver, say one ounce ; copper, one- 
sixth of an ounce ; brass, two-thirds of an ounce 5 bismuth, 
one-third of an ouijce ; clean salt, two-thirds of an ounce ; 
white arsenic, one-third of an ounce ; and potash, one-third 
of an ounce. Melt the silver, copper and brass first, then 
add the other articles in the order named. Sprinkle a very 
little borax into the crucible while melting — too much will 
have a tendency to render the metal umnalleable. 



48 ' THE AMERICAN 

TO MAKE BEST COUNTERFEIT SILVER. 

Combine by fusion one part pure copper, twenty-four parts 
block tin, one-and-a-lialf parts pure antimony, one-fourth 
part pure bismuth and two parts clear glass. The glass 
may be omitted save in cases where it is an object to have 
the metal sonorous. 

TO MAKE GERMAN SILVER. , 

The best German silver may be made by melting together 
twenty-five parts copper, fifteen parts zinc and ten parts 
nickel. 

TO :make gold solder. 

Melt together in a charcoal fire twenty -four grams gold 
coin, nine grains pure silver, six grains copper and three 
grains good brass. This makes a solder for gold ranging 
from twelve to sixteen carats in fineness. Where a finer 
grade is to be worked, the solder may be made to correspond 
by increasing the proportion of gold in its composition. A 
darker solder may be made, if desired, by lessening the pro- 
portion of silver, and increasing that of the copper in a cor 
responding degree. 

TO MAKE SILVER SOLDER. 

The usual method is to combine two parts of silver with 
one of brass. For my use I generally make the proportion 
of brass a little larger than one-thir.d! In the course of his 
work the jeweler invariably throws aside quite a number uf 
cheap pin-tongues as being too soft and too easily bent to 
be serviceable. Of these I often make my solder, combining 
them with silver in equal proportion. It seems to work 
better and more freely than any other I can prepare. 

TO MAKE BRASS OR COPPER SOLDER. 
^ Compound in the usual way two parts of brass with one 
of zinc. Such is the granulated solder sold in the shops 
under the name of sjjelter. 

TO MAKE SOFT SOLDER. 
The soft solder used by jewelers is generally a composi- 
tion of two parts tin and one part lead. A solder composed 



WATCHMAKER AND JEWELER. 49 

of two parts bismuth, one part tin and one part lead, flows 
at a much lower temperature than the above ,- but it is not 
so strong. 



CHAPTER IX. 



ON SOLDERING. 



The first thing to be sure of in making preparations for 
soldering, is that the compound to be used in uniting the 
parts is easier of fusion than the parts themselves. Let 
this be otherwise and the attempt must certainly result in 
failm-e. The next thing to look after is the uniformity in 
the color of the solder and the metal to be soldered ; and 
where such a thing is of importance, the uniformity in point 
of hardness. To have the color the same is often a matter 
of no little moment, especially in the case of rings, where 
the joint would otherwise be made to show. This last, 
though not least thing in point of consequence, is to see that 
the surfaces to be joined are perfectly bright and clean. 
Without this last-named precaution it is impossible to do 
good work. 

TO HARD SOLDER GOLD, SILVER, COPPER, BRASS, IRON, 
STEEL OR PLATINA. 

The solders to be used for gold, silver, copper and brass 
are given in the preceding chapter. You commence opera- 
tions by reducing your solder to small particles and mixing 
it with powdered sal-ammoniac and powdered borax in equal 
parts, moistened to make it hold together. Having fitted 
up the joint to be soldered, you secure the article upon a 
piece of soft charcoal, lay your soldering mixture imme- 
diately over the joint, and then with your blow pipe turn 
the flame of your lamp upon it untit fusion takes place. 
The job is then done and ready to be cooled and dressed up. 

Iron is usually soldered with copper or brass in accord- 
ance with the above process. The best solder for steel is 



50 THE AMERICAN 

pure gold or pure silver, though gold or silver solders are 

often used successfully. 

Platina can only be soldered well with gold 5 and the 
expense of it, therefore, contributes to the hinderance of a 
general use of platina vessels, even for chemical purposes, 
where they are of so much importance. 

TO MAKE SOLDERING FLUIDS. 

Clip into one ounce of best muriatic acid as much clear 
sheet zinc as it will dissolve 5 then add fifteen or twenty 
grains of sal-ammoniac and half an ounce of pure rain water. 

The above fluid is not suitable for iron or steel, on 
account of the corrosive character of the acid. A soldering 
fluid may be made for those metals by dissolving chloride 
of zyic in alcohol. It does not run the solder quite so freely 
as does the first-named fluid, though it answers a very good 
purpose. These fluids are only used in Soft soldering 

TO SOFT SOLDER ARTICLES. 

Moisten the parts to be united with soldering fluid ; then, 
having joined them together, lay a small piece of solder 
upon the joint and hold over your lamp,- or direct the blaze 
upon it with your blow-pipe until fusion is apparent. With- 
draw then from the blaze inamediately, as too much heat will 
render the solder brittle and unsatisfactory. When the 
parts to be joined can be made to spring or press against 
each other, it is best to place a thin piece of solder between 
them before exposing to the lamp. 

Where two smooth surfaces are to be soldered one upon 
the other, you may make an excellent job by moistening 
them with the fluid, and then, having placed a sheet of tin foil 
between them, holding them pressed firmly together over 
your lamp till the foil melts. If the surfaces fit nicely a 
joint may be made m this way so close as to be almost im- 
perceptibla. The brightest looking lead which comes as a 
lining to tin boxes works better in the same way than tin 
foil. 

TO CLEANSE GOLD TARNISHED IN SOLDERING. 

The old English mode was to expose all parts of the 
article to a uniform heat, allow it to cool and then boil until 
bright in urine and sal-ammoniac. It is now usually cleansed 



"WATCHMAKER AND JEWELER. 51 

with diluted sulphuric aci(? The pickle is made in about 
the proportion of one-eighth of an ounce acid to one ounce 
rain water. 

TO CLEANSE SILVER TARNISHED IN SOLDERING. 

Some expose to a uniform heat, as in the case of gold, 
and then boil in strong alum water. Others immerse for a 
considerable length of time in a liquid made of half an ounce 
of cyanuret potassa to one pint rain water, and then brush 
off with prepared chalk. 



CHAPTER X. 



ON PLATING. 

To plate, according to the original meaning, was to solder 
a thin layer of gold or silver upon a baser metal, and then 
roll out the two together. In later days a broader meaning 
has been given to the word, so that any method of laying a 
finer metal upon a coarser is known as plating. There are 
now various modes of doing this, all of which are more or 
less interesting and useful to the watchmaker and jeweler. 

TO MAKE GOLD SOLUTION FOR ELECTRO-PLATING. 

Dissolve five pennyweights gold coin, five grains pure 
copper and four grains pure silver in three ounces nitro- 
muriatic acid ; which is simply two parts muriatic acid and 
one part nitric acid. The silver .will not be taken into solu- 
tion as are the other two metals, but will gather at the 
bottom of the vessel. Add one ounce pulverized sulphate 
of iron, half an ounce pulverized borax, twenty -five grains 
pure table salt, and one quart hot rain water. Upon this 
the gold and . copper will be thrown to the bottom of the 
vessel with the silver. Let stand fill fully settled, then 
pour off the liquid carefully, and refill with boiling rain 
Water as before. Continue to repeat this operation until 
the precipitate is thoroughly washed ; or, in other words, 



52 - THE AMEKICAN 

fill up, let settle, and pour off so long as the accumulation 
at the bottom of the vessel is acid to the taste. 

You now have about an eighteen carat chloride of gold. 
Add to it an ounce and an eighth cyanuret potassa, and one 
quart rain water— the latter heated to the boiling point. 
Shake up well, then let stand about twenty-four hours and 
it Will be ready for use. 

Some use platina as an alloy instead of silver, under the 
impression that plating done with it is harder. I have used 
both, but never could see much difference. 

Solution for a darker colored plate to imitate Guinea gold 
may be made by adding to the above one ounce of dragon's 
blood and five grains iodide of iron. 

If you desire an alloyed plate, proceed as first directed, 
without the silver or copper, and with an ounce and a half 
of sulphuret potassa in place of the iron, borax and salt. 

TO MAKE SILVER SOLUTION FOE ELECTRO-PLATING. 

Put together into a glass vessel, one ounce good silver, 
made thin and cut into strips ; two ounces best nitric acid 
and half an ounce pure rain water. If solution does not 
begin at once, add a little more water — continue to add a vei-y 
little at a time till it does. In the event it starts off well, 
but stops before the silver is fully dissolved, you may 
generally start it up again all right by adding a little more 
water. 

When solution is entirely effected, add one quart of warm 
rain water and a large tablespoonful of table salt. Shake well 
and let settle, then proceed to pour off and wash through 
other waters as in the case of the gold preparation. When 
no longer acid to the taste, put in an ounce and an eighth 
cyanuret potassa and a quart pure rain water ; after stand- 
ing about twenty-four hours it will be ready for use. 

TO PLATE WITH A BATTERY. 

If the plate is to be gold use the gold solution for electro- 
plating; if silver, use the silver solution". Prepare the 
article to be plated by immersing it for several minutes in a 
strong ley made of potash and rain water, polishing off 
thoroughly at the end of the time with a soft brush and pre- 
pared chalk. Care should be taken not to let the fingers 



WATCHMAKER AND JEWELER. 53 

come in contact with the article while polishing, as that 
has a tendency to prevent the plate from adhering — it 
should be held m two or three thicknesses of tissue paper. 

Attach the article, when thoroughly cleansed, to the 
positive pole of your battery, then affix a piece of gold or 
silver, as the case may be, to the negative pole, and immerse 
both into the solution in such a way as not 'to hang in con- 
tact with each other. 

After the article has been exposed to the action of the 
battery about ten minutes, take it out and wash or polish 
over with a thick mixture of water and prepared chalk or 
jeweler's rouge. If, in the operation, you find places where 
the plating 'seems inclined to peel of, or when it has not 
taken well, mix a little of the plating solution with prepared 
chalk or rouge, and rub the defective part thoroiighly with 
it. This will be likely to set all right. 

Govern your time of exposing "the article to the battery 
by the desired thickness of the plate. During the time it 
should be taken out and polished up as just directed abcut 
every ten minutes, or as often at least as there is an indica- 
tion of a growing darkness on any part of its surface. 
When done, finish with the burnisher on prepared chalk and 
chamois skin, as best suits your taste and convenience. 

In case the article to be plated is iron, steel, lead, pewter^ 
or block tin, you must, after first cleansing with the ley and 
chalk, prepare it by applying with a soft brush — a camel's 
hair pencil is best suited — a solution made of the following 
articles in the proportion named : — Nitric acid, half (;n 
ounce ; muriatic acid, one third of an ounce ; sulphuric acid, 
one ninth of an ounce ; muriatic of potash, one seventh of 
an ounce ; sulphate of iron, one fourth of an ounce ; sul- 
phuric ether, one fifth of an ounce, and as much sheet zinc 
as it will dissolve. This prepares a foundation, without 
which the plate would fail to take well, if at all. 

TO PLATE WITHOUT A BATTEEY. 

Prepare the article same as to plate with a battery, then 
attach to a strip of sheet zinc and suspend in the gold or 
silver solution for electro-plating as the case may be. The 
zinc is usually passed around the object to be plated, though 
this is of no particular importance, all that is necessary islv) 
have the metals in actual contact. Observe the same rules is 



54 THE AMERICAN 

laid down in the directions, for plating witli a batteiy. If 
the article being plated has the strip of zinc touching much 
of its surface, it may be well to change the place of contact 
at every polishing. 

You will find this mode of platmg but little inferior to that 
of plating with a battery. It is more employed now, per- 
haps, than any other. 

TO MAKE GOLD AMALGAM. 

Eight parts of gold and one of mercury are formed into 
an amalgam for plating by rendering the gold into thin 
plates, making it red hot and then putting it into the mercury 
while the latter is also heated to ebullition. The gold 
immediately disappears in combination with the mercury, 
after which the mixture may be turned into water to cool. 
It is then ready for use; 

TO PLATE WITH GOLD AMALGAM. 

Gold amalgam is chiefly used as a plating for silver, cop- 
per or brass. The article to be plated is washed over with 
diluted nitric acid or potash ley and prepared chalk, to 
remove any tarnish or rust that might prevent the amg-lgam 
from adhering. After having been polished perfectly bright 
the amalgam is applied as evenly as possible, usually with a 
fine scratch brush. It is then set upon a grate over a charcoal 
fire, or placed into an oven and heated to that degree at 
which mercury exhales. The gold, when the mercury has 
evaporated, presents a dull yellow color. Cover it with a 
coating of pulverized nitre and alum in equal parts, mixed 
to a paste with water, and heat again till it is thoroughly 
melted, then plunge into water. Burnish up with a steel or 
bloodstone burnisher. 

TO MAKE AND APPLY GOLD PLATING SOLUTION. 

Dissolve half an ounce of gold amalgam in one ounce of 
nitro-muriatic acid. Add two ounces of alcohol, and then, 
having brightened the article in the usual way, apply the 
solution with a soft brush. Rinse and dry in saw-dust, or 
with tissue paper, and polish up with chamois skin. 

TO MAKE AND APPLY GOLD PLATING POWDERS. 
Prepare a chloride of gold the same as for plating with a 



WATCHMAKER AND JEWELER. 55 

battery. Add to it when thoroughly washed out, cyanuret 
potassa in the proportion of two ounces to five pennyweights 
of gold. Pour in a pint of clean rain water, shake up well 
and then let stand till the chloride is dissolved. Add then 
one pound of prepared Spanish whiting and let evaporate in 
the open air till dry, after which put away in a tight vessel 
for use. To apply it you prepare the article in the usual 
way, and having made the powder into a paste with water, 
rub it upon the surface with a piece of chamois skin or 
cotton flannel. 

An old mode of making a gold plating powder was to dip 
clean linen rags into solution prepared as in the second 
article preceding this, and having dried, to fire and burn 
them into ashes. * The ashes formed the powder, and were 
to be applied as above. 

TO MAKE AND APPLY SILVEE PLATING SOLUTION. 

Put together in a glass vessel one ounce nitrate of silver, 
two ounces cyanuret potassa, four ounces prepared Spanish 
whiting and ten ounces pure rain water. Cleanse the article 
to be plated as per preceding dh-ections, and apply with a 
soft brush. Finish with the chamois skin or burnisher. 

TO MAKE AND APPLY SILVER PLATING POWDER. 

Dissolve silver in nitric acid by the aid of heat j put some 
pieces of copper into the solution to precipitate the silver ; 
wash the acid out in the usual way ; then with fifteen grains 
of it mix two drachms of tartar, two drachms of table salt 
and half a drachm of pulverized alum. Brighten the article 
to be plated with ley and prepared chalk, and rub on the 
mixture. When it has assumed a white appearance expose 
to heat as in the case of plating with gold amalgam, then 
polish up with the burnisher or soft leather. 

TO SILVER IVORY. 

Immerse the ivoiy in a weak solution of nitrate of silver 
till it takes upon itself a bright yellow color ,• take it then 
from the solution and expose, under water, to the rays of 
the sun. In two or three hours it will become black ; but 
on taking it out of the water and rubbing it, the blackness 
will change to *a beautiful silvering. 



56 THE AMERICAN" 

TO SILVER GLASS GLOBES. 

Take equal parts of tin and lead, and melt them together ; 
add while they are in fusion two parts of bismuth and two 
parts of mercury. Take from the fire, and so soon as cool 
enough for the glass to bear it, pour into the globe and 
move slowly so that the amalgam will pass over every part 
of its interior. A thin film will be left at every pomt of 
contact. 



CHAPTER XI. 

MISCELLANEOUS EECIPES. 

TO FEOST WATCH MOVEMENTS. , 

Sink that part of the article to be frosted for a short time 
in a compound of nitric acid, muriatic acid and table salt — 
one ounce of each. On removing from the acid, place it in 
a shallow vessel containing enough sour beer to merely cover 
it, then with a fine scratch brush scour thoroughly, letting it 
remain under the beer during the operation. Next wash off", 
first in pure water and then in alcohol. Gild or silver in 
accordance with any recipe in the chapter on plating. 

TO MAKE CLEANSING SOLUTION FOE BRASS. 

Put together two ounces sulphuric acid, an ounce and a 
half nitric acid, one dram saltpetre and two ounces rain 
water. Let stand for a few hours, and apply by passing 
the article in and out quickly, and then washing off thor- 
oughly with clean rain water. Old discolored brass chains 
treated in this way will look equally as well as- when new. 
The usual method of drying is in sawdust. 

TO MAKE AND APPLY SOLUTION FOR FROSTING SILVER 
ARTICLES. 

Put one dram of sulphuric acid into four ounces of rain 
water. Heat the solution and sink the silver in it till frosted 



WATCHMAKER AI^D JEWELER, 57 

as desired then wash clean and dry in sawdust. Half a dram 
of acid to four ounces water makes a good solution for 
whitening silver articles. 

POLISHING POWDER FOR GOLD ARTICLES. 

Dr. W. Hofman has analyzed a polishing powder sold by 
gold workers in Germany^ which always commands a very 
high price, and hence, it may be inferred, is well adapted 
for the purpose. He found it to be a very simple composi- 
tion, being a mixture of about 70 per cent, of sesquioxide of 
iron and 30 per cent, of sal-ammoniac. To prepare it, pro- 
tocMoride of iron, prepared by dissolving iron in hydro- 
chloric acid, is treated with liquid ammonia until a precipi- 
tate is no longer formed. The precipitate is collected on a 
filter, and without washing, is dried at such a temperature 
that the adhering sal-ammoniac shall n(Tt be volatilized. 
The peroxide of iron precipitate at first becomes charged 
with sesquioxide. 

TO REMOVE TARNISH FROM ELECTRO-PLATED GOODS. 

• Make a solution of half a pound cyanuret potassa in two 
gallons rain water. Immerse the article till the tarnish has 
disappeared, then rinse off carefully in three or four waters, 
and dry in sawdust. 

TO MAKE RED WATCH HANDS. ^ 

Mix together and hold over a lamp, until formed into a 
paste, one ounce carmine, one ounce muriate of silver and 
half an ounce tinner's japan. Apply to the watch hands, 
lay them on a copper plate, face up, and then hold the 
plate over your spirit lamp till they assume the color you 
desu'e. 

TO GIVE PLASTER FIGURES THE APPEARANCE OF 
BRONZE. 

Make a preparation of palm soap, five ounces 5 sulphate 
of copper, one and a half ounces, and sulphate of iron, one 
and a half ounces. * Dissolve the soap in rain water in one 
vessel and the sulphates in another. Put together and let 
settle, then pour off the water. Dry the precipitate, and 
apply to the figure by mixing as a paint with linseed oil and 
turpentine. 



58 THE AMERICAN 

TO ETCH ON IVORY, 

Cover the ivory to be etched with a thin coating of bees- 
wax, then trace the figure you desire to present through the 
wax. Pour over it a strong solution of nitrate of silver. 
Let remain a sufficient length of time, then remove it, with 
the wax, by washing in warm water. The design will be 
left in dark lines on the ivory. 

TO ENAMEL GOLD OR SILVER. 

Take half a pennyweight of silver, two pennyweights and 
a half of copper, three pennyweights and a half of lead 
and two pennyweights and a half of muriate of ammonia. 
Melt together and pour into a crucible with twice as much 
pulverized sulphur ; the crucible is then to be immediately 
covered that the sulphur may not take fire, and the mixture 
is to be calcmed over a smelting fire until the superfluous 
sulphur is burned away. The compound is then to be 
coarsely pounded, and with a solution of muriate of ammonia 
to be formed into a paste, which is to be placed upon the 
article it is designed to enamel. The article must then be 
held over a spirit lamp till the compound upon it melts and 
flows. After this it may be smoothed and polished up in 
safety. This makes the black enamel now so much used on ^ 
jewelry. 

* TO DESTROY THE EFFECT OF ACIDS ON CLOTHES. 

Dampen as soon as possible after exposure to the acid 
with spirits ammonia. It will destroy the effect immediately. 

TO WASH SILVER WARE. 

Never use a particle of soap on your silver ware, as it 
dulls the lustre, giving the article more the appearance of 
pewter than silver. When it wants cleaning rub it with 
a piece of soft leather and prepared chalk, the latter made 
into a land of paste with pure water. I say pure water, for 
the reason that water not pure might contain gritty par- 
ticles. 

TO CLEANSE BRUSHES. 

The best method of cleansing watchmakers' and jewelers' 
brushes is to wash them out in strong soda water. When 



WATCHMAKER AND JEWELER. 59 

the oacks are wood you must favor that part as much as 
possible, for being glued the water may injure them. 

TO CUT GLASS EOUND OR OVAL WITHOUT A DIAMOND. 

Scratch the glass around the Shape you desire with the 
comer of a file or graver; then, having bent a piece of wire 
to the same shape, heat it red hot and lay it upon the 
scratch, sink the glass into cold water just deep enough for 
the water to come almost on a level with its upper surface. 
It will rarely ever fail to break perfectly true. 

TO EE-BLACK CLOCK HANDS. 

Use asphaltum varnish. One coat will make old rusty 
hands look as good as new, and it dries in a very few 
minutes. 



G r. O S S A. R Y. 



AiiBOR. — ^An axle wMcli turns upon itself by means of its pivots. Some 
watchmakers apply the term only to the post on which the key is 
placed to wind the watch, and to the rod passing through the 
cannon. 

Anchor. — Apiece of the escapement used in clocks and lever watches. 

Anchor Escapement Watch. — A detached lever is often called an 
anchor escapement. 

Barrel. — That piece of the watch which contains the main spring. 

Bridge. — A piece secured to the plate, in which a pivot works, as in 
the case of skeleton levers. 

Balance. — A wheel which moves back and forth in obedience to the 
adverse action of the lever and hair spring. 

Beat. — Each "tick" of the watch is called a beat. 

Click. — A small lever which works into a ratchet and prevents the 
sudden recoil of the mainspring when the watch is wound up. 

Centre Wheel. — Tne large wheel immediately in the centre of the 
watch. 

Chick. — A small pin ; usually those which hold the bridges in position. 

Cylinder.— The hollow piece which checks the onward motion of the 
scape wheel in cylinder escapement watches. 

Cannon. — The steel piece which comes up through the dial, and 
around which the hour wheel revolves. In English aud American 
levers the minute hand is fastened upon it. 

Common Pinion. — The pinion at the lower' end of the cannon, which 
moves the minute wheel. 

Cock. — Bridge over the balance. 

Collet. — ^A small ring fitting on the balance staff or arbor, and hold- 
ing the inside end of the hair spring. The rings into which jewels 
are sometimes set are also called collets. 

Dial. — The face of the watch or clock. 

Dial Wheels. — Those working between the dial and pillar plate. 

Depthing Tool. — An instrument used for finding the proper location 
of pivot holes. 

Escapement. — Those pieces in the watch or clock which work to- 
gether and regulate the velocity of the time train. 

Electro P:^ating— Plating through the aid of electricity. Formerly 
it was only done with a battery, but recent discoveries enable us 
to make a very good electro-plate without a battery. 

Fusee. — The cone-shaped wheel upon which the chain works. 

Fourth Wheel. — The wheel which, in ordinary watches, works 
into the scape wheel. 

Fourth Wheel Second. — A watch carrying a second hand on the 
pivot of its fourth wheel. 

Fork. — That part of the lever into which the ruby pin plays. 



GLOSSARY. 61 

Fly. — An arbor carrying two wings for tlie purpose of meeting with 

atmospheric resistance, and thus regulating the motion of striking 

trains in clocks. 
Guard Point. — The wedge-sjjaped elevation immediately back of the 

fork in detached levers. 
Gearing. — The action of the teeth of one wheel upon those of an- 
other wheel or pinion. 
HoROtOGY. — That branch of science which treats of the principles 

and construction of machines for measuring time. 
HoROLOGiST. — One who interests himself in the science of horology. 

A constructar or repairer of machines for measuring time. Strictly 

applicable to the American watch maker, owing to the fact that 

he works on all manner of time machines. 
IIouii Wheel. — The wheel working around the cannon, and upon 

which tha hour hand is fastened. 
Index. — Hand. 
Jewel. — The stone or glass settings through which or against which 

the pivots work ; also the settings in the pallets and the roller. 
Leaves. — Teeth or cogs of a pinion. 
Lever. — A horizontal bar upon which the pallets are secured, and 

which conducts the effect of the motive power from the train to 

the balance. 
Minute Wheel. — A name generally given to that dial wheel which 

is driven by the cannon pinion. 
Movement. — The interior works of the clock or watch, independent 

of case. 
Pallets. — The jeweled piece of the lever watch which works into the 

teeth of the scape wheel. 
Pivot. — The end of an arbor turned very small to avoid friction. 
Pinion. — A small leaved wheel. 
Pillars. — Posts which in plate watches hold the plates the proper 

distance apart for the working of the train or trains between 

them. 
Pillar Plate. — ^Usually the bottom plate of a watch, but European 

watchmakers generally call both pillar plates, distinguishing them 

as the upper and lower. 
Putting Up. — Setting the different parts of a clock or watch into 

their proper places. 
Pivot Wood. — A tough wood employed by watchmakers in cleaning 

out pivot holes. It is sometimes called peg wood. A scape wheel 

is sometimes called a ratchet in Europe. 
'Eatchet. — A steel wheel into which the click works. 
Ruby Pin. — A small glass or stone pin which works in connection 

with the lever. 
Roller. — The circular plate into which the ruby pin is set. It is 

often called the ruby pin table. 
Roll Plate. — The best grade of plated jewelry. 
Stop Works. — A mechanism to prevent the watch from being wound 

up too far. 
Staff: — A name generally applied to the balance arbor of lever 

watches^ also to the arbor passing through the pallets. 
Scape Wheel.— The last wheel of the train. 



62 GLOSSARY. 

Second Watches.— Watch with a second hand. 

Scratch Brush. — A brush made of fine brass wire. 

Teeth — Cogs by which the motion of one wheel is communicated to 

another. 
Train. — A collection of wheels so arranged that the moving power 

applied to the first wheel is freely conxmunicated to them all. 
Third Wheel. — The wheel into whose pinion the centre wheel 

works. 
Taking Down.— Taking ^art the different pieces of a clock or 

watch. 
Wheel Bed. — A bed turned out in the plate of a watch to receive a 
. wheel. 



SUPPLEMENT 



TO THE 



AMERICAN WATCHMAKER AND JEWELER; 



CONTAINlIfG 



ADDITIONAL VALUABLE INFORMATION, 



INCLUDING i 

PRIVATE FORMULAS AND PROCESSES OF LEADING AMERICAN HOUSES, 

TOGETHER WITH 

A. CAEEFUL SELECTION OF THE BEST FRENCH AND 

ENGLISH METHODS, ADAPTED TO THE 

AMERICAN TRADE. 



o'i^c 



^rVtC 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by 

JESSE HANf Y & CO., 
in tlie office of tlie Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



PUBLISHERS' NOTE. 



Since its first publication, some five years ago, the fore- 
going work has passed through several editions and has 
received the very strong approval of practical watchmakers 
and jewelers. During this time we have sought among 
those best versed in the secrets of the trade, as well as in 
foreign publications, for any additional information which 
would add to the value of our book. Our labors have been 
rewarded by the matter which we present in the following 
supplemental pages. 

Therein will be found the private ^processes of leading 
bouses in this city, as well as secrets which have been sold 
at high prices by their inventors, discoverers, or lucky 
finders. For some of these we were obliged to pay amounts 

c 

which would seem extravagant did we not know their 
great value to the trade. From foreign sources we have 
also added a carefully revised selection of favorite standard 
recipes, adapted to the use of American workmen. 

With these additions we are confident our book will be 
found a complete and reliable guide, and to repay many 
times it cost, not only as an instructor in things which may 
not already be known, but as a convenient reminder from 
time to time. 



SUPPLEMENT. 



PRIVATE FORMULAS AND PROCESSES 

OF 

LEADING AMERICAN JEWELERS. 



TO MELT FROM ONE TO THIRTY DWTS. OF ANY K. GOLD 
WITHOUT THE USE OF A FORGE. 

Prepare a piece of charcoal about a foot long and two 
or three inches wide ; anneal it in order to remove the air 
from it, and prevent it snapping ; flatten one side by grind- 
ing on some flat surface. Dig a hole deep enough near 
one end, to hold the quantity you wish to melt. Now cut 
a strip of sheet iron, about an eighth of an inch wide and 
long enough to bend an ingot. Say you want to cast a bar. 
one inch wide. Bend the strip this shape c Take a piece 
of sheet iron and cover the ingot ; place both of them on the 
charcoal, the opening near the hole in the coal. Bind 
tightly with iron binding wire all together. Put the gold 
in the hole of coal, and fuse with the blow-pipe. Then in- 
clme the coal, which you hold in your left hand, the gold 
will pass in the ingot. This gold will be tough. By bend- 
ing a number of ingots and keeping them on hand, you will 
save much time. They can be used a number of times. 

TO MELT GOLD ALLOYS FOR JEWELERS' USE. 

Make a good fire, either in forge or furnace. Heat the 
ingot in which you wish to cast the gold a little hotter than 
boiling water J now put the alloy in the Hessian cruci^e, 
and after adding a small amount of pulverized borax, put 
in and leave in the fire until melted. Cast this in any 
ingot which is clean, and after breaking the bar in pieces 
small enough to put in the pot again, remelt the gold, do 

65 



66 SUPPLEMENT TO THE AMERICAN 

not add any borax this time, but when the gold looks clear 
and smooth on the top, add (for six ozs. gold) a piece of 
saltpetre about the size of a pea, and Id about half a minute 
pour the gold. Ee sure and keep up the heat after adding 
the saltpetre — then pour a few drops of oil into the iron 
ingot J shake it out, and pour the gold. If the gold, silver 
and copper were clean when you commenced, the gold will 
roll well. Much depends on the first rolling of the stock ; 
18 k. should be subjected to a very heavy strain, the first 
and second draughts. This gives a grain to the stock j 
light draughts stretch the gold on the surface and the 
middle portion remaining as cast, causes the gold to crack, 
many good bars have been condemned when the difficulty 
was in the rolling. After the 18 k. has been rolled to about 
twice its length, it must be annealed, then rolled to the size 
you need. 

When you melt 14 k, proceed as with 18 k. Give it as 
heavy strains in the mills, but do not roll as much before 
annealiog as the 18 k. 

The other carats, of lower grade do not require the use 
of saltpetre to toughen, instead of which, use a small amount 
of sal ammoniac, proceed then as in the other carats. 

When you anneal red gold, do not quench when red hot, 
as it will cause it to slit or seam ; allow the gold to blacken 
before quenching. 

Always melt new alloys twice, and do the same with 
solders, as the copper may not be thoroughly mixed the 
first melting ; and if it is not, it will show in streaks in the 
gold, and the solder will not flow. 

TO PREPARE GOLD SOLUTION FOR ELECTRO-PLATING 
WITHOUT THE USE OF ACIDS. 

Dissolve 4 ozs. cyanide of potassium in a gallon of soft 
water. Heat this solution, and after having placed a small 
porous cell in it, and filled the cell with the solution, put 
in the cell a plate of copper, to which is attached the wire' 
from the zinc plate of battery ; then fasten the wire running 
from the platina of battery, to a gold plate the size of the 
copper plate in the porous cell. Keep the solution hot and 
see that the battery is in good working order. The cur- 



WATCHMAKER AND JEWELER. 67 

rent will pass through the porous cup, but the gold will not 
adhere to it, but will be taken in the solution. Weigh 
your gold occasionally, and when the difference in weight 
shows 8 or 10 dwts., the solution is charged enough. 
N'ow add as much water as has evaporated, and add a 
little more cyanide ; filter through paper, by the aid of a 
glass funnel, and your solution is ready ; this is the best 
way to make it, and if properly used will last for years. 

The zinc plates of battery should be amalgamated with 
quicksilver. It preserves the zinc and makes the flow of 
galvanism more regular. This can be done by dipping the 
zinc in a weak pickle of vitriol and water, and then pour- 
ing a few drops of quicksilver on it. Eub with a piece of 
cotton batting until they are covered, then shake all the 
quicksilver off. Put the battery together, and see that 
there is no action unless the poles are connected. It is 
now ready to use. 

TO EEMOVE THE DEVIL OR TIN FEOM THE STOCK. 

Just before pouring the gol.d throw a small piece of 
corrosive sublimate in the pot, stir well with a long piece 
of pointed charcoal, and allow the pot to remaJin on the 
fire about half a minute afterward. This will take tin from 
the alloy ; while the tin is in, the gold will not roll without 
cracking. 

To remove emery or steel filings, &c., from gold, when 
melting, use a small piece of glass-gall, it will collect 
them in the flux. 

TOUCH STONE. 

Obtain a piece of silica or '' black stone," as it is called, 
from the lapidary and have it made smooth on one side. 
Solder on the ends of brass wire a small piece of 4, 5, 6, 7, 
8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 22, k. gold. 
You may not need all of these, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, k. 
will answer Be sure that these pieces are alloyed cor- 
rectly. Take the gold you wish to test, rub it on the 
stone, the same as you would rub a pencil on paper, it will 
leave a streak. Now after forming something of an 
estimate, by its looks, as to its quality, (suppose you think 
it 14 k.) rub point 16 k. on one side and 12 k. on the other. 



68 SUPPLEMENT TO THE AMERICAN 

and place the acid on each streak the same instant. If the 
]2k. streak disappears iirst, the object streak next, a^^d 16 
k. last, you may infer that the gold is better than 12 k. and 
poorer than 16 k. Try again with 13 k. and 15 k. and 
judge as before. 

TESTING. 

The acid to be used is nitric, slightly diluted, with the 
addition of a small quantity of salt. You should have two 
or three bottles containing fluid of different strength ; for 
22 to 18, use the above ; for lesser gr-ades dilute with more 
water. After a little practice a good observer can arrive 
within half a carat of the quality. 

CHARCOAL ASSAY. 

By this process an assay accurate enough for small 
quantities, can be made in a short time. Suppose you have 
melted and refined some gold filings, you now have the 
gold and silver, and wish to know the carat. Try it on the 
''touch-stone" and approximate its quality. Weigh very 
carefully 12 grains ; reduce this by means of fine silver to 
8 k , or a lit.le less j melt this into a shot and flatten on a 
clean piece of steel, then anneal and roll into a thin ribbon, 
coil it loosely like a watch spring, then anneal and put in a 
glass retort; cover with nitric add one-half, water one- 
half ; boil for 10 minutes, then pour off the solution, and 
use three-fourths acid and one-fourth water, boil as before 
10 minutes, pour off the solution again, rinse well and then 
boil for five minutes in pure nitric acid j rinse several 
times with hot water. Dry the gold and melt it into a shot, 
then weigh this shot. Twice the weight will be the carat of 
the metal. It is unnecessary to say that the utmost care 
must be taken as to weight and the manipulations to suc- 
ceed in arriving at accurate results by this process. 

TO REMOVE QUICKSILVER FROM RINGS, CHAINS, &c. 

Sometimes quicksilver will get on a piece of work and 
completely cover it, This, makes the article very brittle, 
as well as spoiling its appearance. Heat the article 
gradually and under the spot where quicksilver is on — 
avoid the fumes. It will entirely remove it. 



WATCHMAKER AND JEWELER. 69 

TO TAKE ENAMEL OUT OF WOEK WITHOUT ANNEAL- 
ING IT. 

Take fluor-spar, and pound it fine, use enough of thfe 
powder t© cover well the article, then take a lead cup and 
pour vitriol on sufficient to make a thin liquid. Boil the 
article in this, the enamel will be removed. Be very careful 
and let the fumes pass up chimney, as they are injurious. 

TO MAKE PLATED STOCK. 

Cast the bar of gold which you wish to plate, the width 
you desire and roll to the thickness of an eighth of an inch. 
Should you want to plate on silver, cast the silver the 
same width as the gold and roll a little longer than the 
gold Usually the lower grade metal is two or three 
times the thickness of the better, therefore use as much as 
will make the proportion desired. Planish as nearly flat and 
straight as possible, then file one face of silver and one face 
of gold until they are bright. 

Previous to this you have rolled a piece of plate solder 
very thin, say 36 in round size plate, and cut a strip a little 
wider and a little longer than your gold. Emery paper can 
be used to clean each side of this from dirt, &;c. Cover 
the surface with ground borax from the slate, on each sidej 
do the same on the bright faces of the gold and silver, place 
the solder, between them, the^ame as meat in a sandwich 
Have n piece of iron wire about three-eighths of an inch in 
thickness and three feet long, ready, place this lengthwise 
on the gold and squeeze the whole tightly together in a 
vice. Now bind, with heavy binding wire every inch or so, 
the whole together. Make a good charcoal fire in the forge, 
build it so as to be like an oven and then solder ; when the 
solder melts on each side the whole length, the thini? is done, 
then roll as other stock. If you are making gold plating, 
that is 18 k. or 16 k. on 14 k. and 12 k., you must use a 
gold solder about 5 or 6 kts., less than the inferior gold. 
If gold on silver or composition, use copper solder as per 
alloys. 

The clippings from above when the gold is on silver, may 
be placed in an enameled vessel and covered with nitric 
acid, 2 parts ; water, 1 part. The silver will be taken in 



70 SUPPLEMENT TO THE AMERICAN 

solution which must be saved in an earthen pot. The 
silver can be collected by precipitating with salt, or after 
.the solution has been diluted, a bar of copper placed in it 
will collect it, this must be well washed and dried, then 
melted. The gold after being well dried can be melted in 
a bar, a small amount of copper may be added. It will 
then be of the same quality as before. 

TO CLOSE CRACKS IN CORAL, &c. 

Warm coral very carefully, and with a pencil brush 
cover the crack with watch oil ; when cool the seam will 
not show. 

RULE FOR ALLOYING BY WHICH ANY K. CAN BE MADE 
FROM FINE GOLD. 

Tine or pure gold is 24 carats. 

Multiply the number of dwts. you wish to use of fine 
gold, by 24, the product will be the number of dwts. of 1 k. 
which it will make. Divide this product by the k. you 
want to make, then subtract the weight of gold from the 
dividend, the remainder will be the amount of alloy to be 
used. Should you want the gold to be yellow — make one- 
half of the alloy silver, the other half copper. If pale, a 
little less copper than silver. If red, so as to obtain a good 
color by the wet color process, make most of the alloy 
copper, as it is dissolved easier than the silver, by the color. 

Example. — Suppose you have 70 dwts. of fine gold and 
wish to make 14 k. to use for Etruscan work. 

70 dwts. the weight. 
24 k. the quality. 

1680 number of dwts. of 1 k. 

14)1680(120 number of dwts, of 1 k. - 
70 number of dwts of 24 k. 

50 alloy to be added. 

The alloy for 14 k. red, to be colored should be as 4 
copper to 1 silver; therefore we will take 40 dwts. copper, 
and 10 dwts. silver. [See 14 k. alloy.] 



WATCHMAKER AND JEWELER. 71 

Should you wish to make polished work cf 14 k. the 
copper should be as 3 to 2. If pale h copper and ^ silver. 
[See alloys. J 

Should you use American gold, multiply the weight by 

21 f k., or if you use sovereigns, multiply the weight by 

22 k. 

These alloys may be made in ozs., dwts., orgrs. 

18 k., French alloy and first rate color : 150 gold, 23 
sflver, 27 copper. 

18 k. — Red gold to color: 90 gold, 5 silver, 25 copper. 

16 k. — 64 gold, 15 silver, 17 copper. 

16 k- — Red gold to color : 64 gold, 7 silver, 25 copper. 

14 k. — 140 gold, 40 silver, 60 copper. 

14 k — Red gold to color : 70 dwts., 10 silver, 40 copper. 

12 k — 120 gold, 50 silver, 70 copper 

12 k — Red gold to color: 120 gold, 30 silver, 90 copper. 

10 £—100 gold, 60 silver, 80 copper. 
^ 10 k. — Red gold : 100 gold, 50 silver, 90 copper. 

SOLDERS FOR THE ABOVE. 

For 18 k. — 14 gis., gold, 6 grs., silver, 4. grs., copper. 

For 18k — Red gold to color; 14 grs., gold, 5 grs., sil- 
ver, 5 copper. 

Another. — Take 24 grs., of the 18 k., alloyed gold, 6 grs. 
silver. 

For 16 k — 12 grs. gold, 7 silver, 5 copper. 

For 16k — Red gold to color: 12 grs. gold, 7 silver, 5 
copper. 

Another. — Take of the 16 k. alloyed gold, 24 grs , 6 grs. 
silver 

For 14 k.— 10 grs., gold, 8 grs., silver, 6 grs , copper. 

For 14k — -Red gold to color: 10 grs. gold, 8 silver, 6 
coppper. 

Another. — Take 24 grs. of 14k alloyed gold. 6 grs. silver. 

Always melt solders twice ; break the first bar in pieces, 
and put in the pot while pot is hot. 



72 SUPPLEMENT TO THE AMERICAN 

Solders used on any quality of gold better than their 
•own carat : — 

7<|k Solder, usually called 8 k. — 7^ dwts. gold, 9| 
silver, 1 j copper. To make this flow very easy add 15 
grs. brass, (second melting). 

5 k. Solder. — 5 dwts., gold, 13 silver, 6 copper; add 15 
grs. brass second melting. 

3^ k. Solder usually called 2 k. — 1 dwt. gold, Icopper, 
I brass, 4 silver coin ; add brass on second melting. 

The above solder will flow easier than copper solder and 
is very useful for repairing, &c , &c. 

Copper solder. — 16 dwts coin silver, 3 copper, 1 brass. 
Should this solder be required to flow very easy, add a 
little arsenic on second melting. 

COLORING. 

Wet color for Etruscan-gold jewelry, French color. — 
8 ozs. saltpetre, 8 ozs. salt, 6 muriatic acid, 2 soft water. 

American color is almost alike : — 8 ozs. saltpetre, 4 ozs. 
salt, 2 ozs. sal am. 4 ozs. muriatic acid, 2 ozs. water. Same 
treatment as below. 

This is suflicient for 6 ozs. jewelry. The work which 
has been annealed, boiled in sulphuric or muriatic acid 
pickle, and washed with soda or pearl-ash water until it is 
thoroughly free from dirt or grease, etc., should be con- 
nected in five or six clusters loosely, by means of thin 
silver wire, then annealed and left black. Take a piece of 
strong silver wire, make a circle a little less in diameter 
than the top of the black lead crucible (which should hold 
about a quart,) and make a bail to it, about a foot high, 
suspend the clusters on the circle. The work is now ready 
to dip. 

Pound the saltpetre and salt fine ; mix them well together 
by means of the 2 ozs- water, and place the pot on the 
fire in the forge. When the mixture simmers add the acid, 
which will immediately commence to -boil. Now dip the 
work and move gently up and down for three minutes, then 
remove it from color, plunge it in a basin of hot water 
(the basins should be earthenware) ; plunge again in another 



WATCHMAKER AND JEWELER. 73 

basin of hot water, then dip again from half a minute to 
one minute in the color, then rinse until entirely free from 
acid. Should any black spots show on the soldered parts, 
add 2 ozs- hot water, and dip half a minute more, and 
rinse as before ; after this place the work in water suificient 
to cover it, and add to the water about an ounce of liquid 
ammonia ; let it remain about ten minutes. Then dip in 
alcohol and dry in boxwood saw-dust. The pot should be 
emptied in an earthenware vessel and saved for another 
time. 



BEST ENGLISH FORMULAS 

CAREFULLY REYISED AND ADAPTED TO 

THE AMERICAN TRADE. 



ALLOYS OF ONE OUNCE OR NEARLY, FOR JOBBING. 
Dry Colored Gold Alloys, 

In all these recipes, unless otherwise expressed, # the 
constituents named will always mean fine gold, fine silver, 
and refined copper, unless the contrary is stated. 

No. 1. 17 k. — Gold 15 dwts. ; silver 1 dwt., 10 grs.; cop- 
per 4 dwts,, 17 grs. 

No. 2. 18 k. — Grold 1 oz. ; silver 4 dwts., 10 grs. ; cop- 
per 2 dwts., 5 grs. 

No. 3. 18 k. — Gold 15 dwts.; silver 2 dwts., 4 grs.; cop- 
per 2 dwts., 19 grs. 

No. 4. 18k— Gold 18 dwts.; silver 2 dwts., 18 grs,; 
copper 3 dwts., 18 grs. ^ 

No. 5. 18 k.— Gold 1 oz., 1 dwt., 6 grs; silver 3 dwt., 10 
grs.; copper 4 dwts., 12 grs. 

No. 6. 19 k. — Gold 1 oz. ; silver 2 dwts., 6 grs. ; copper 
3 dwts., 12 grs. 

No. 7. 20 k. — Gold 1 oz. ; silver 2 dwts. ; copper 2 
dwts., 4 grs. 



74 SUPPLEMENT TO THE AMERICAN 

No. 8. 22 k. — Gold 18 dwts. j silver J 2 grs. ; copper 1 
dwt., 3 grs. 

Or, Take English sovereigns, whicb are 22 k. fine, but 
they have too*little copper to wear well. 

SOLDER FOR ABO^E ALLOYS. 

In making gold solder for the foregoing alloys, take of 
the alloyed gold which you are using 1 dwt. ; silver 6 grs. 
Or, Gold, alloyed as before, 1 dwt. ; silver 5 grs. ; cop- 
per 1 gr. 

ALLOY FOR DRY-COLOREP RINGS. 17 k. 

Gold 1 oz .; silver 4 dwts., 6 grs ; copper 4 dwts., 6 grs. 

SOLDER FOR THE ABOVE. 

Scrap gold 2 oz. ; silver 3 dwts. ,• copper 3 dwts. 

OF DRY COLORING THE FOREGOING ALLOYS. 

This is done as follows : — Having your work well 
polished, take of saltpetre, alum, and salt in proportioo to 
the work to be colored j say, for 2 oz. of work, as under, 
viz'. : — Saltpetre 8 oz ; alum 4 oz.j salt 4 oz. Procure 
also a blacklead pot, four or five inches high, or an iron pot 
cast from a blacklead pot ; one or two sizes will be 
useful. To perform the process of Dry-Coloring, you must 
have a thin iron bar to stir your '^ color '^ when dissolving. 
Your work cannot be too well polished ; it is then cleaned 
with soda, soap, and hot water, and dried in box sawdust. 
It must be afterward covered with a thin layer of borax; 
annealed and boiled out, and again dried in box-sawdust; 
and finally hung on platinum, or fine silver wire. When 
the ^^ color^^ is in the pot, it is placed in the fire on a forge, 
and blown with bellows ; it so4ir boils up. The heat can- 
not be too strong. When it assumes a brown-yellow flame, 
the work is dipped in for two or three seconds, and quenched 
in hot water diluted .with muriatic acid, which removes any 
^' color '^ that may adhere to the work. This ought to pro- 
duce the color required ; if it does not come, the same 
process must be followed again ; but the work must be well 
dried before going into , the ^' color," otherwise it will fly 



WATCHMAKER AND JEWELER. 75 

about, the burn or scald from which is very severe. Indeed, 
it is recommended to wear an old glove to save the hand. 
The color-pot must be emptied immediately upon the forge, 
so that it may be ready if required again. In this process 
of coloring it is necessary to be very quick, "whereas in 
Wet-Coloring it takes time. The waste ^^ color " may be 
thrown into the sweep, as the gold lost is trifling, 

WET COLORED OOLD ALLOYS. 

No. 1. 15 k — Gold 1 oz. j silver 3 dwts., 12 grs. j cop- 
per 9 dwts. 

No. 2. 14 k. — Gold 1 oz. j silver 4 dwts.; copper 9 
dwts., 12 grs. 

No. 3. 14 k. — Gold 1 oz.; silver 4 dwts., 12 grs.; cop- 
per 10 dwts. 

No. 4. 13 k — Gold 1 oz ; silver 4 dwts , 12 grs. ; cop- 
per 10 dwts., 12 grs. 

GREEN GOLD FOR FANCY WORK. 

No. 5. 18 k. — Gold 1 oz. ; silver 6 dwts., 16 grs. 

GREEN GOLD. 

No. 6. 20 k. — Gold 10 dwts. ; silver 2 dwts., 2 grs. 

GREEN GOLD. 

No. 7. 19 k.— Gold 5 dwts. ; silver 1 dwt , 12 grs. 

RED GOLD, FOR FANCY WORK. 

No. 8. 16 k. — Gold 5 dwts. ; copper 2 dwts , 12 grs 

RED GOLD. 

No. 9. 19 k. (20 k so called)— Gold 5 dwts. ; copper 1 
dwt., 6 grs. 

To make gold solder for the foregoing alloys, take of the 
alloyed gold" you are using, 1 dwt. ; silver 6 grs. Or, 5 
grs., of silver and 1 gr. of copper maybe used. 

ANOTHER SOLDER. 
Gold alloyed 1 dwt. ; silver 5 grs. ; pin-brass 1 gr. 



76 SUPPLEMENT TO THE AMERICAN 

This solder is good for repairing, and will not disturb the 
solder first mentioned. It will color well. 

ALLOY. 

No. 10. 15 k. — Grold 1 oz , 18 dwts. ; silver 12 dwts., 
12 grs. J copper 10 dwts. 

No, 11. 14 k. — Gold 1 oz ; silver 8 dwts. ; copper 4 dwts. 

No. 12. 13 k. — Grold ] oz. ; silver 6 dwts. ; copper 8 
dwts. 

No. 13. 13 k. — Gold 1 oz.; silver 4 dwts., 12 grs. ; cop- 
per 10 dwts., 12 grs. This is usually employed by the 
London jewelers for their 14 k. work. 

VERY FINE COLOR. 

No. 14. 16 k. — Gold 1 oz. ; silver 6 dwts.; copper 4 dwts. 

GOLD SOLDER FOR THE ABOVE; 

Gold scrap 1 oz. ; silver 5 dwts. 

METHODS OF REDUCING ENGLISH SOVEREIGNS TO 
LOWER FINENESS. 

No. 1. 14 k. — Coins 1 oz, ; gold 8 oz. ; silver 2 oz. j 
copper 4 oz., 14 dwts. 

No. 2. 14 k. — Coins 1 oz. ; gold 2 o*z. ; silver 13 dwts. ; 
copper 1 oz., 11 dwts. 

No. 3. 14 k.^Coins 2 oz. ; gold 5 oz.; silver 1 oz., 9 
dwts., 12 grs. ; copper 11 dwts., 12 grs. 

No 4. 15 k. — Coins 2 oz. ; gold 6 oz, ; silver 1 oz., 14 
dwts, ; copper 4 oz., 2 dwts. 

No. 5. 15 k.— Coins 2 oz. ; gold 8 oz. ; silver 2 oz,, 3 
dwts. ; copper 5 oz., 3 dwts. 

No. 6. 15 k. — Coins 4 oz ; gold 6 oz, ; silver 2 oz., 
2 dwts. ; copper 5 oz., 2 dwts 

LONDON METHOD OF WET-COLORING THE FOREGOMG 
ALLOYS. 

This is performed in the following manner : — Having 
annealed your work, and boiled it out so as to get it per- 
fectly clean, take of altpetre 15- oz., of alum 7 oz. and 



WATCHMAKER AND JEWELER. 77 

of salt 7 oz.; pound them all fine, and mix well together j 
then provide a black-lead pot about 12 inches high, put your 
ingredients into it, and dissolve gradually. It must be on 
no account hurried, for if it burns, the '^ color", will be 
spoiled. As the heat increases it will boil up; the nadd 
2 oz. of muriatic acid, when the '^ color" will sink in the 
pot. Take a wooden spoon and stir it well, when it will 
again boil up. Take your work, which you have made 
clean, and tied in small parcels with platinum or fine silver 
wire, and immerse it in the ^' color" for four minutes, keep- 
ing it on the move, so that the ^' color ^' may act upon all 
parts alike. At the end of that time take it out and rinse 
it well in boiling water, which you have ready in a kettle, 
with pint or quart basins, according to the quantity or size 
of your work. Next, place your work in the " color " for 
one minute and a half j take it out and rinse well in fresh 
hot water. Two fluid oz. of hot water must then be added, 
when the " color " will sink in the pot, but will rise again ; 
put in your work for one minute, again rinsing it in fresh 
hot water, when you will find it begin to brighten. Lastly, 
put your work in the ^' color " for half a minute longer, rins- 
ing it for the last time in clean hot water, aft^r which you 
will find it a beautiful color. This process, by a little 
attention, never fails. 

Note. — The mixture of ^' coloring " should be according 
to the weight of work. If a small quantity, say 2 oz. the 
proportions should be : — Saltpetre 8 oz., alum 4 oz., com- 
mon salt 4 oz., muriatic acid 1 oz. If 5 oz., of work, 
double the quantities, and so in proportion to the weight j 
but practice will make perfect. 

WET COLORING BY THE GERMAN PROCESS. 

Tie up your work in small bunches with fine silver or 
platinum wire ; then, for 3 oz , of work, take a blackl-ead 
pot, 6 or 7 inches high, and put it on the fire, for it to get 
thoroughly dry. As soon as the black-lead pot is quite dry 
( having previously placed your work in hot water,) put in- 
to the pot, of saltpetre 6 oz , and of common salt 3 oz. ; 
stir them well with a wooden spoon, and when thoroughly 
dried fine and hot, put into it 5 fluid oz. of muriatic acid. 



78 SUPPLEMENT TO THE AMERICAN" 

When boiling up, put in your bunch of work^ having pre- 
viously shaken the water from it, and keep it on the move 
for three minutes, care being taken to keep it well covered 
all this time. At the end of this time, take it out and 
plunge it into a vessel of clean hot water, and finally into a 
second vessel of the same. Add then to your ^^ color" in 
the pot 6 fluid oz. of hot water, and when it boils up again, 
after being thus diluted, put in your work for one minute 
longer, and again rinse it as before directed, when it will be 
found to be a beautiful color. 

Too much clean hot water cannot be used for plunging 
the work in each time through the '^ color." If the work is 
hollow-work and bulky, not quite so much as 3 oz. should 
be put, as it is not so effectually covered in the pot. 

In wet;Coloring it sometimes happens that the color is 
rather dead; or it may happen that the " color" burns, 
which causes tha work to look brown ; this is a precipita- 
tion which may be removed by scratching at the lathe with 
stale beer or ale, with a fine brass wire brush, similar to the 
round hair brushes used for polishing. 

In coloring, a large stone jar should be provided, into 
which should be emptied your " color " when done with, for 
the pot should be washed out each time, so as to be ready 
when required again. Into this stone jar should also be 
emptied the water in which you rinse your work, as it all 
contains gold to a great extent. 

All things connected with the process should be kept 
clean and free from grease of any kind. 

No Iron ought to be near this Wet-Color in the pot, as 
it is most injurious. 

TO COLLECT THE GOLD LOST IN COLORING. 

Where there is a large amount of work made and colored, 
the loss is estimated at 1 dwt. or more per oz. ; this in time 
becomes a serious matter. To collect that loss the follow- 
ing method is used :— Take one of the basins you use, and 
put into it a handful of Sulphate of Iron, and pour boiling 
water upon it to dissolve it. When dissolved pour it into 
your stone jar in which you keep your color water ; this 
precipitates the small particles of gold, and must be done 



WATCHMAKER AND JEWELER. 79 

each time you color. It should be collected every six 
months, if the amount of work colored be much, in the 
following manner : — 

With a syphon draw off the water from your jar, but in 
doing so, be careful not to disturb the sediment which is at 
the bottom, for it contains the gold. After you have* got 
off what water you can, it must be washed with three or 
four kettlefulls of boiling water, each kettlefull being done 
separately, and allowed to cool each time and the water 
carefully got off,- this is to clear the sediment of any acid. 
It is known to be sufficiently done by touching the water 
with the finger and tasting it. 

When freed from acid put it into an iron pan and dry 
gradually by the fire. When dried, put it into an iron 
ladle and make it red hot, stirring it carefully with a 
tobacco-pipe, care being taken not to. spill it. It will turn 
red in annealing. 

Having proceeded thus far, take of the sediment thus pre- 
pared 1 oz., of borax pounded fine 15 dwts., of common 
bottle-glass pounded fine 5 dwts., and of pearlash pounded 
fine 4 dwts. J mix all well together. Put this into a skittle- 
pot, which should have a cover, and in placing it in the 
furnace there should be a small pot reversed for the skittle- 
pot to stand on. You then lay your fire, which must be 
lighted at the top, so that the light particles of gold may 
be carried downward, After the fire is at its hight it is 
continued for forty minutes, then allowed to burn out, when 
the metal will be found at the bottom of the^ot. This you 
refine with saltpetre. 

Even if jewelers did not wish to collect for themselves, 
they would find the benefit of taking care of this sediment, 
and selling it to the refiners. 

Too much care cannot be taken in procuring the pure 
spirits of salts, or muriatic acid. 



80 SUPPLEMENT TO THE AMERICAN 



ALLOYS OF GOLD FOR EJ^AMELING, ETC. 



PALE GOLD FOR ENAMELING, OR LAPPING. 

No. 1. — Grold 1 oz. 5 silver 9 dwts. ; copper 2 dwts., 
12 grs. 

No. 2. — Gold 1 oz. ; silver 9 dwts. ; copper 3 dwts., 12 
grs. 

No. 3. — Gold 1 oz. ; silver 10 dwts.; copper 3 dwts., 12 
grs. 

DEEPER COLOR. 

No. 4 — Gold 1 oz. ; silver 1 dwt., 12 grs. ; copper 2 
dwts., 12 grs. 

No. 5. — Gold 1 oz. 5 silver 9 dwts., 12 grs. ; copper 7 
dwts., 12 grs. 

No. 6. — Gold 1 oz. ; silver 14 dwts. ; copper 8 dwts. 

No. 7. — Gold 2 oz., 5 dwts. ; silver 1 oz., 6 dwts. ; 
copper 5 dwts. j pin-brass 5 dwts. 

No. 8. — Gold 1 oz. ; silver 12 dwts. ; copper 6 dwts. 

ENAMELING GOLD, FOR TRANSPARENT ENAMELING. 

Gold 1 OZ. ; silver 14 dwts.; copper 6 dwts. 

GOLD SOLDER FOR ENAMELED WORK. 

Gold 1 oz. ; silver 1 oz. ; copper 10 dwts. ; silver 
solder 8 dwts., 8 grs. 

ANOTHER. 

Gold alloyed 1 dwt. ; silver 4 grs. 

ANOTHER SOLDER. 

Gold 12 dwts. ; silver 7 dwts., 3 grs. ; copper 6 dwts. 

PALE GOLD ALLOYS FOR POLISHING. 

No. 1. — Gold 1 oz. ; silver 8 dwts.; copper 3 dwts., 
12 grs. 

No. 2. — Gold 1 oz. ; silver 1 dwt., 20 grs. ; copper 1 
dwt., 4 grs. 



'watchmaker and jeweler. 81 

No. 3. — 18 k. pale gold 1 oz. ; silver 4 dwts. ; copper 
2 dwts., 15 grs. 

No. 4. — Another. — 18 k. gold 1 oz., 12 grs. ; silver 3 
dwts.y 8 grs. ; copper 3 dwts., 8 grs. 

PALE GOLD SOLDER. 
Gold alloyed 1 dwt., 6 grs. ; silver 1 dwt. 



ALLOYS FOR GOLD PENS. 
ALLOY FOR BEST PENS. 

Gold 1 oz. J silver 5 dwts. ; copper 7 dwts., 18 grs. ; 
spelter, 1 dwt , 6 grs. 

SOLDER FOR THE ABOVE. 

Gold 12 dwts. ; silver 7 dwts., 3 grs. ; copper 6 dwts. 

ALLOY FOR MEDIUM QUALITY PENS. 
Gold 1 oz. ; composition 1 oz,, 13 dwts. 

COMPOSITION No. 1. FOR THE ABOVE 

Silver 1 oz., 17 dwts. ; copper 5 oz., 1/5 dwts. j spelter 
18 dwts., 20 grs. 

SOLDER FOR THE FOREGOING. 

Gold 1 oz.; silver 1 oz. ; brass 1 oz. 

GOLD FOR COMMON PENS. 

Gold 1 oz. ; silver 2 oz. ; copper 1 oz. 

SOLDER FOR THE FOREGOING. 

Gold 1 OZ.; silver 2 oz. ; pin brass 1 oz. 

BRASS GOLD. 

No. 1. — Gold 1 oz. ; silver 5 dwts. 6 grs.; copper 3 dwts., 
12 grs. ; pin brass 18 dwts. 

No. 2 — Gold 1 oz.; silver 4 dwts.; copper 4 dwts.; 
pin brass 16 dwts. 

No. 3. — Gold 1 oz. ; silver ,5 dwts , 12 grs. ; copper 3 
dwts., 12 grs. ; pin brass 19 dwts., 6 grs. 



82 



SUPPLEMENT TO THE AMERICAN 



In melting the brass-gold it often happens that the gold, 
to the naked eye, seems all right, yet when it comes to be 
flattened at the mill, it is full of air and not fit for use ; 
this may be avoided by having a tobacco-pipe to stir the 
metal when it is in fusion. The nature of the alloys^ 
and the quantity of borax used as flux, is the cause; 
but acting on the advice given, and by applying sufficient 
heatj this may be avoided. 

No. 4. — Gold 1 oz. ; silver 3 dwts., 21 grs.j copper 9 
dwts., 3 grs. ; composition 5 dwts., 6 grs. 

No. 5. — Gold 15 dwts., 9 grs.; silver 5 dwts., 19 grs. j 
copper 3 dwts., 21 grs. j composition 15 dwts. 

COMPOSITION FOR THE ABOVE. 
Copper 1 oz. ; spelter 5 dwts. 

In making solder for the foregoing alloys, take of the 
alloyed gold you are using, 1 dwt. ; silver 12 grs. 

HANDY TABLE OF ALLOYS, 

FOR DIFFERENT QUALITIES OF GOLD, FOR JOBBING 
JEWELERS. 



Quality. 


FiME Gold. 


Co 


MPOSITION. 


Total. 




Oz. Dwts. Grs. 


Oz. 


Dwts. 


Grs. 


Oz. 


Dwts. 


Grs. 


9 Carat... 


7 12 





12 


12 










12 " .. 


10 





10 













15 " .. 


12 12 





7 


12 










18 ''- .. 


15 





5 













22 " .. 


18 18 





1 


6 











COMPOSITION FOR THE ABOVE. 
Silver 3 oz., 5 dwts., 12 grs. ; copper 8 oz., 12 dwts., 12 
grs. J spelter 1 oz., 18 dwts., 6 grs. 

ALLOY FOR GOLD CHAINS. 
No. 1. — Gold 11 dwts., 6 grs.; silver 2 dwts., 5 grs.; 
copper 6 dwts., 13 grs. 

No. 2.— Gold 1 oz. ; silver 9 dwts. ; copper 8 dwts. 



WATCHMAKER AND JEWELER. 83 

ALLOY FOR PINS.— 10 k. 

Gold 1 oz. ; silver 5 dwts. ; copper 1 oz. ; spelter 5 dwts. 

LONDON BRIGHT G0LD.-^9 k. 

Gold 1 oz. ; silver 7 dwts. ; x)omposition 1 oz., 6 dwts. 

GOLD 8 k. 

Gold 1 oz. ; silver 8 dwts. ; composition 1 oz., 12 dwts. 

COMPOSITION FOR MAKING 9 K. GOLD ACCORDING TO 
LONDON PRACTICE AS ABOVE. 

Copper, 44 oz. J spelter 8 oz. 

GOLD 8 k. 

Gold 5 dwts. ; silver 3 dwts., 6 grs. ; copper 6 dwts., 12 
grs. 

CALIFORNIA. 

Gold 11 oz. ; composition 15 oz., 10 dwts. 

COMPOSITION FOR CALIFORNIA. 
Silver 15 oz., 12 dwts. j copper 67 oz. j spelter 11 oz. 

SPELTFR ALLOY. 
8 k. gold -1 oz., 13 dwts , 6 grs. ; silver 1 oz., 12 dwts., 
12 grs. ; copper 1 oz., 16 dwts., 6 grs. ; spelter 4 dwts. 
Will stand the aquafortis very well. 

TO CLEAN OLD WOKK THAT IS TARNISHED. 

This is done by heating the articles gently with a blow- 
pipe, and boiling out in rather strong pickle of muriatic 
acid } it may be removed by boiling in chloride of lime 
and water in a pipkin, and touching the work at a lathe 
with a scratch-brush. 

TO REMOVE SOFT-SOLDER FROM WORK TO BE MENDED 
OR COLORED 

Remove what you can by the scraper, or otherwise gently 
heating it, so that you may shake all off that you can. 
Place it in spirits of salts for some time. This recipe is 
useful where hard-soldering is required, whether in colored 
or bright wor^. 



84 SUPPLEMENT TO THE AMERICAN 

SILVER ALLOYS. 
No. 1. — Silver 11 oz., 2 dwts. ; copper 18 dwts. 
No. 2. — Silver 1 oz. : copper 1 dwts., 12 grs. 
No. 3. — Silver 1 oz. j copper 5 dwts. 

ALLOY FOR PLATING. 
Silver 1 oz. j copper 10 dwts. 

SILVER SOLDER. 

No. 1. — Silver 1 oz. ; pin-brass 10 dwts. 

No. 2. — Silver 1 oz. ; pin-brass 10 dwts. ; pure spelter 2 
dwts. 

In fine silver filigree-work, fine silver is always used for 
the filigree. The framework is generally made of sterling 
silver. The solder for such work is as follows : — Silver 4 
dwts., 9 grs. ; pin -brass 1 dwt. 

COPPER SOLDER, FOR PLATING. 

Silver 10 dwts. ; copper 10 dwts. 

This is a useful solder for plating or soldering silver 
work ; it never eats as does silver solder. 

COMMON SILVER, FOR CHAINS. 
Silver 6 oz. ; copper 4 oz. 

SOLDER FOR THE ABOVE, 
Silver 16 dwts. ; copper 12 grs. ; pin-brass 3 dwts.^ 12 
grs. 

SILVER SOLDER, FOR ENAMELING. 
Silver 14 dwts. ; copper 8 dwts. 

COMMON SILVER SOLDER. 
Silver 20 oz. ; pin-brass 13 oz. j spelter 1 oz. 
SOLDER FOR FILLING SEAL RINGS. 
Silver 20 oz. ; copper 3 oz., 8 dwts. j pin-brass 13 oz. ; 
spelter 1 oz. 

QUICK SILVER SOLDER. 
Silver 1 oz. j pin brass 10 dwts. ; bar tin 2 dwts. 



SUPPLEMENT TO THE AMERICAN S5 

SILVER SOLDER, FOR GOLD PLATING, 
Silver 1 oz. 5 copper 5 dwts. ; pin brass 5 dwts. 

BISMUTH SOLDER. 
Bismuth 12 oz. j lead 15 oz. j tin 21 oz. 

IMITATIONS. 
IMITATION SILVER. 

Silver 1 oz. ; nickel 1 oz., 11 dwts. ; copper 2 oz., 9 
dwts. 

No. 2. — Silver 3 oz. ; nickel 1 oz,.ll dwts.; copper 2 
ozs., 9 dwts. ; spelter 10 dwts. 

IMITATION GOLD. 

Silver 2 ozs,, 5 dwts. ; copper 1 oz. ; composition (44 oz. 
copper to 8 oz. spelter,) 1 oz. 

The above will keep its color very well, and costs about 
$1 per. oz. 



ENAMELS. 



An Enamel is a species of vitreous varnish, colored with 
metallic oxides, applied in a thin stratum to brightly 
polished metallic surfaces (copper or gold), on which it is 
fused by the flame of a lamp urged by the blowpipe, or by 
the heat of a small furnace. 

FRITSj OR WHITE FLUX. 

The basis of all enamels is a highly transparent and 
fusible glass, called Frit, Flux, or Paste, which readily 
receives a color on the addition of metallic oxides. It may 
be made by one or other of the following formulse : 

No. 1. — Red lead, 16 parts; calcined bor^x, 3 parts; 
powdered flint glass, 12 parts; powdered flints, 4 parts; 
fuse in a Hessian crucible for 12 hours, then pour it out 
into water, and reduce it to a powder in a biscuit-ware 
mortar. 



86 WATCHMAKER AND JEWELER. 

No. 2. — Tin 3 parts ; lead 10 parts ; mix, calcine in an 
iron pot at a dull cherry-red heat, ^nd scrape off the oxide 
as it forms, observing to obtain it quite free from undecom- 
posed metal j then reduce it to fine power by grinding and 
elutriation In this state it is known among enamelers as 
Flux, or Calcine. 4 parts of this calcine are next mixed 
with an equal weight of pure sand or powdered flints, and 
1 part of sea salt, or other alkaline matter; the mixture is 
then partially fused in a Hessian crucible, by which it 
undergoes semi-vitrification. 

No. 3. (Ohaptal). — Lead and tin equal parts,- calcine 
as above, and take- of the mixed oxides or calcine and 
ground flints of each, 1 part ; pure carbonate of potash, 2 
parts ; and proceed as before. 

No. 4. (Wynn). — Flint glass 3 oz. ; red lead 1 oz. ; as 
last. 

No. 5. (Wynn) — Red lead 18 parts, borax (not cal- 
cined), 11 parts ; flint glass 16 parts ; as last. 

No 6. (Wynn). — Powdered flints 10 parts ; nitre and 
white arsenic, of each, 1 part; as last. 

The precise qualities of the products of the above pro- 
cesses depend greatly upon the duration and degree of heat 
employed. By increasing the quantity of sand, glass or 
flux, the enamel is rendered more fusible, and the opacity 
and whiteness is increased by the addition of oxide of tin. 
The use of borax should be avoided, or it should be used 
sparingly, as it is apt to make the enamel effloresce and lose 
color. 

BLACK ENAMEL. 

No. J. — Calcined iron (protoxide), 12 parts; oxide of 
cobalt 1 part ; mix, add an equal weight of white flux, and 
fuse as before. 

No. 2. (Clouet). — Pure clay 3 parts ; protoxid of iron 1 
part. A fine black. 

No. 3. — Peroxide of manganese 3 parts ; zaffre 1 part ; 
mix and add it, as required, to white flux.- 

BLUE ENAMEL 
No. 1. — White frTt or flux, colored with oxide of cobalt. 



SUPPLEMENT TO THE AMERICAN 87 

No. 2. — Sand, red lead and nitre, of each, 10 parts ; flint 
glass or ground flints, 20 parts; oxide of cobalt 1 part, 
more or less; depending on the desired depth of color. 

BROWN ENAMEL. 

No. 1. — Manganese 5 parts; red lead 16 parts; flint 
powder 8 parts ; as before. 

No. 2. (Wynn). — Manganese 9 parts; red lead 34 parts ; 
flint powder 16 parts. 

No. 3. — Red lead and calcined iron, of each Ipart; anti- 
mony, litharge and sand, of each 2 parts. To be added in 
any required proportion to white frit, according to the 
color desired. A little oxide of cobalt or zafi're is frequently 
added to alter the shade. 

GREEN ENAMEL. 

No. 1. — Flux or frit 2 lb. ; black oxide of copper 1 oz. ; 
as before. 

No. 2. — As the last, but adding red oxide of iron, J dr. 
Less decisive. 

No. 3. — Copper dust and litharge of each 2 oz.; nitre 1 
'oz.; sand 4 oz. ; flux or frit according to color wanted. 

No. 4 — From transparent frit, any quantity ; oxide of 
chormium enough to color. Color superb ; it will stand a 
great heat, in common hands however, it frequently turns 
on the dead-leaf tinge. 

No. 5 —Transparent flux 5 oz. ; black oxide of copper 
20 to 40 grs. ; oxide of chromium 2 grs. Resembles the 
emerald. 

No. 6.-- From blue and yellow enamel mixed in the 
required proportions. 

OLIVE ENAMEL. 

Blue enamel 2 parts ; black and yellow enamel, of each 
1 part. See brown enamel. 

ORANGE ENAMEL. 

]!q"o. 1 — Red lead 12 parts ; red sulphate of iron and 
oxide of antimony, of each 1 part ; flint powder 3 parts ; 
calcine together, powder, and melt with flux, 50 parts. 



88 WATCHMAKER AND JEWELER. 

No. 2. (Wynn).— Eed lead 12 parts; oxide-of antimony, 
4 parts; flint powder 3 parts ; red sulphate of iron 1 part j 
calcine, then add flux 5 parts, to every 2 parts of this mix- 
ture. 

PURPLE ENAMEL. 

No. 1. — Flux or frit, colored with oxide of gold, purple 
precipitate of cassius, or peroxide of manganese. 

No. 2. — Sulphur, nitre, green vitriol, antimony, and 
oxide of tin, of each 1 lb. ; red lead, 60 lbs. ; mix fuse, cool, 
powder, and add rose copper, (red oxide), 19 oz. ; zafl're 1 
oz.; crocus martis 1^ oz.; borax 3oz. ; and of a compound 
formed of gold, silver and mercury, 1 lb. ; fuse, stirring the 
melted mass with a copper rod all the time, then place it in 
crucibles, and submit them to the action of a reverberatory 
furnace for 24 hours. This is said to be the purple enamel 
used in the mosaic pictures in St. Peter's at Rome. 

EED ENAMEL. 

No. 1. — Paste or flux colored with the red oxide or 
protoxide of copper. Should the color pass into the green 
or brown from the partial peroxidation of the copper, from 
the heat being raised too high, the red color may be re- 
stored by the addition of any carbonaceous matter, as 
tallow or charcoal. 

No. 2. — By tinging the glass or flux with the oxide or 
salts of gold, or with the purple precipitate of cassius. 
These substances produce shades of red, inclining to crim- 
son or purple of the most exquisite hue. The enamel often 
comes from the fire quite colorless, and afterward receives 
its rich hue at the lamp. 

No. 3. (Wynn). — Sulphate of iron (calcined dark), 1 
part J a mixture of 6 parts of flux (No. 5), and 1 of 
colcothar, 3 parts. Dark red. 

No. 4. (Wynn). — Eed sulphate of iron 2 parts; flux 
(No. 1) 6 parts; white lead 3 parts. Light red. 

ROSE COLORED ENAMEL. 
Purple enamel (or its elements) 3 parts ; flux 90 parts ; 
mix and add silver leaf or oxide of silver 1 part, or less. 



SUPPLEMENT TO THE AMERICAN 89 

TRANSPARENT ENAMEL. 
The frit or flux described above, Without coloring matter. 
VIOLET ENAMEL. 

No. 1. — Purple enamel 2 parts ; red enamel (No. 2,) 3 
parts ; frit 6 parts. 

No. 2. — Saline or alkaline frit or flux, any quantity ; 
peroxide of manganese, enough to color. As the tint depends 
on the metal being at the maximum of oxidation, contact 
with oily or carbonaceous substances should be particularly 
avoided. 

WHITE ENAMEL. 

No. 1. — Calcine (from 2 parts of tin and 1 part of lead)? 
1 part ; fine crystal glass or frit 2 parts ; manganese, a few 
grains ; powder, mix, melt and pour the fused mass into 
clean water ; again powder, and fuse, and repeat the whole 
process 3 or 4 times, avoiding contamination with smoke, 
dirt, or oxide of iron A fine dead White. 

No. 2 — Washed diaphoretic antimony 1 part ; fine glass 
(free from lead) 3 parts ; mix, and proceed as before. 
Very fine. 

No. 3. — Lead 30 parts; tin 33 parts; calcine as before, 
then fuse 50 parts of this calcine with an equal weight of 
flints in powder, and 100 parts of salt of tartar. A fine 
dead white enamel. 

For white enamel, the articles must be perfectly free 
from foreign admixture, as this would impart a color. 
When well managed, either of the above forms will produce 
a paste that will rival the opal. 

YELLOW ENAMEL. 

Superior yellow enamels are less easily produced than 
those of most other colors ; they require very little flux, and 
that mostly of a metallic nature. The following come 
highly recommended by experienced artists : 

No. 1, — From frit or flux, fuse with oxide of lead,' and a 
little red oxide of iron. 

No. 2. — Lead, tin ashes, litharge, antimony, and sand 
of each, 1 oz. ; nitre 4 oz. ; mix, fuse and powder; and add 
the product to flux or frit, enough to reduce the color. 



90 WATCHMAKER AiN'D JEWELER. 

No. 3. — White oxide of antimony, alum, and sal 
ammoniac, of each 1 ptrt 5 pure carbonate of lead from 1 
to 3 parts, (all in powder) ; mix and expose them to a 
heat sufficiently high to decompose the sal ammoniac. 
Used as the last. Very bright colored. 

No. 4 (Wynn). — Red lead 8 oz. ; oxide of antimony and 
tin, calcined together, of each 1 oz. ; mix and add of flux 
(No. 5), 15 oz. ; mix well and fuse. 

No. 5. — Pure oxide of silver added to the metallic fluxes. 
The salts of silver are also used, but are are more difficult 
to manage. If a thin film of oxide of silver be spread over 
the surface of the enamel to be colored, exposed to a 
moderate heat, then withdrawn, and the film of reduced 
silver on the surface removed, the part under will be found 
tinged of a fine yellow. (Clouet.) 



AIT IMPORTAITT WAKT SUPPLIED. 



TiiKRE has long been an urgent want of a book of designs, suita- 
ble for Car, Coach, Fresco and ither Painters, and Jewelers, Litho' 
gniphers, Engravers, &,c., which should meet the varied wants of 
these professions, and be furnished at a moderate pricer Most books 
of ornamentation seem designed more for display than to afford assist- 
ance. Desirous of furnishing a book of fresh practical designs of 
beauty and utility, we secured the aid of Mr. J. H. Loudolphe, an 
eminent designer and practical painter, and now offer a 

BOOK OF SCROLLS AND ORNAMENTS 

FOR ONE DOLLAR PER COPY. 

Though we have desired to make this work moderate in price, our 
first aim has been to make it good. Mr. Loudolphe is a well-known 
practical man, whose work in t le shop speaks f. r itself He has 
endeavored, in preparing our designs, to give just what would be most 
useful and valuable in actual use, rather than to make a fine looking 
book. We believe examination and trial will prove them well adapted 
to the requirements of the trade, and to be satisfactory in every 
respeo^ It will be observed that each plate contains a large variety 
of designs, duplication being avoided, and by varying the combinations, 
as shown in several of the designs, a multitude of effective and beauti- 
ful figures may be devised. 

Besides many new designs, this work contains the principal ones 
given by Mr. Loudolphe in a former work, which was published at 
four dollars, and was regarded by experts as well worth the price. 
With the additional matter herewith given, we have no fears in pre- 
senting our book, as one of the best as well as by far the cheapest 
work of the kind yet published. 



The Amehican Bookseller's Guide, a cautious critic and the 
recognized authority in the book trade, says : 

Messrs. Jesse Haney & Co. have issued a Boole of Scrolls and Ornaments 
which will add to the very favorable reputation their Trade Manuals and Hand- 
books have given them. While the price, one dollar, is insignificant compared 
with the usual cost of books of ornataentation, this book for all practical purposes 
seems to be actually their superior. 



For sale by all booksellers, or mailed post-paid on receipt of price 
One Dollar, by ' 

JESSE HANEY & COMPANY, Publishers, 

No. 119 Nassau Street, New York. 



Good Books for Self-Improvement. 

— ♦ — 

SEI.P CURE of STAMMERING and STUTTERING, 
Gives a clear and full explanation of tlie most successful modes ot 
treatment, and enables the stammerer to cure himself without surgical 
operation or machinery, and without cost. 25 cents. 



Self-Cure of Deljility, Consximptioii, Oyspepsia, 
Nervous Diseases, &-€. 
This book is issued in response to an iirgent demand. It tells the 
real nature of many things which have been grosslj^ misrepresented by 
unpriucipled medical pietenders, enabling the patient himself to as- 
certain his real condition, to distinguish between the important and 
the unimportant "symptoms," and to escape the extortions of quasks, 
and to cure himself by simple means, within reach of all without any 
expense. The need of a reliable book of this kind, while lying and 
vulgar pamphlets are scattered in millions by quacks, is evident. Our 
book is simple in language, explicit in all directions, and founded on 
the very soundest medical science. The means of ti-eatment are always 
safft, avoiding all the dangers of empirical tauipering an-1 proprietary 
"nfistrums.'" and are the most approved and successful of the regular 
faculty. They are the surest, safest, speediest, simplest and most 
thorough means of cure that are known. 75 cents. 



RAPID RECKONING. 

A system of performing arithmetical calculations with almost instan- 
taneous quicknes':. This system was the key to the wonderful perfor- 
mances of the ''Lightning Calculator," whose exhibitions were the 
marvel of thousands. He sold the secret at $1 per copy. Our book is 
much enlarged, with many interesting additions. Any one can learn 
and practice. Valuable to bookkeepers, teachers, students and all 
businessmen. 35 cents. 

4 

IMPROVEMENT OF MEMORY. 

Shows bow to make a bad memory good and a good memory better; 
the system enabling all to strengthen tljeir memories and often display 
a power which is surprising. 1 5 cents. 



EMPL.OTMENT SEEKERS' GUIDE. 
Designed to present the advantages and disadvantages of various 
trades and professous, advice on investing money, starting in business, 
obtaining employment, qualifications necessary for diflFerent purposes, 
deceptive undertal<ings, comparative A^alue ot different schemes for 
money making, and much useful and interesting matter, especially 
valuable to the young and inexperienced, enabling them to make best' 
use of their abilities and avoid snares of sharpers and quicksands ol 
business. 35 cents. In press. 



A GREAT TREAT FOR THE BOYS. 



LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 

Houdin the Conjuror, 

WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. 



This book gives in mott charming style the wonderful, amusing an<? 
startling history of the most famous conjuror the world has ever known. 
Shows how the great French magician got his first lessons when a boy, 
his experiences as an amateur, his eventful life "on the road," his 
strange haps and mishaps, his marvelous feats, his expositions of the 
arts and secrets of other performers as well as his own candid laying, 
bare of his own affairs, his famous magical contests with the renowned. 
Arabian jugglers, how he defeated their arts and overpowered them 
with his own-astounding tricks, and avast fund of interesting matter, 
delightfully narrated, and holding the reader spell-bound from begin- 
ning to end. More fascinating than fiction — one of the few books which 
can be read over and over again with undiminishing interest. A book 
which no praise can give an adequate i<lea of — it must be read to be 
truly appreciated and every reader will be an enthusiastic admirer, 
not only of Houdin's wonderful exploits but also of his admirable 
manner of narrating them. A i-are treat which no one should miss. 

We are happy to announce an excellent translation from the French, 
in one large octavo volume, li1)erally illustrated with new and hand- 
some engravings, from designs by the favorite artist, Mr. Frank 
Beard. Price only Fifty cents. 



Let those now laugh who never laughed before, 
And those who always laughed now langh the more. 

FUN EVERLASTING. 

A mammoth collection of the very best original and Selected comic 
stories, jokes, witticisms, puns, funny yarns, laughable adventures, 
burlesques, and a general melange of jolly, rollicking good humor, 
with over one. hundred humorous illustrations by the best artists. 
Notwithstanding its large size and its very superior ch'aracter, we 
furnish it fur only 15 cents. 



SPIRIT iVIYSTlRIES EXPOSED. 

A full and clear exposition of all ihe marvel- ms feats of the Daven- 
port Brothers, Hume, and all 'mediums," secret history of "spirit 
rapping," how to produce all the " manifestat'ons," and a vast amount 
of remarkably curious, amusing and interesting matter. All so plainly 
told that any one may practice. The book is eagerly read, and edi- 
tion after edition is railed for to supply the demand. With illustrative 
engravings, only fifteen cents. 



THE TAXIDERMIST'S MANUAL. 



A NE'W AND IMPROVED EDITION AT GREATIiY 
REDUCED PRICE. 

The TAXiDFRMisi 's Manual has for many 
years been a standard guide for the Coi- 
lection, Preparation and l*i-eservation of 
specimens cf Birds, Animals, Reptiles, 
&C., not only in England, where it lias 
reached its 20tl* edition, but in this coun- 
try also, where imjiorted copies have 
sold largely at a high price. Frequent 
calls have induced us to prepare a care- 
fully revised edition, which, while con- 
taining all the matter of the English work 
excepting that of purely foreign interest, 
should also give such additional informa- 
tion as should adapt it specially to the 
requirements of this country- 
The TAXIDEPJnST's Manual, in our new and improved edition will be 
found a full and accurate guide to best methods and latest improvements 
in everything relating to collecting, preparing, mounting, and preserving 
specimens of Birds, Animals, Reptiles, Insects, adppted to the comprehen- 
sion and wants of Amateurs, however inexperienced, while also suflQciently 
elaborate to be a A'aluable assistant to even the most expert. Many inter- 
esting and valuable specimens are lost, which, by aid of this work might 
have been preserved. Any boy or girl could preserA'e deceased pets. 
Even specimens of little .«cie"ntifie value readily bring remunerative prices 
for parlor ornaments, affording instructive, interesting and profitable em- 
ployment for leisure hours. 

Kemember, our edition ofthe Taxidrumist's Manual contains much im- 
portant matter not to be found in the English work ; is lavishly illustrated 
with fine engravings and full page plates, and is issued in neat and attrac- 
tive form at less than one half the price of the English edition. 

PRICE ONLY FIFTY CENTS. 




NEW CHEAP BOOK OF ALPHABETS, 

FOR SIGN PAINTERS, DRAUGHTSMEN, &c. 

This volume is designed to meet the want of a cheap and handy collection 
of Alphabets suitable for all ordinary purj)oses. While confessedly inferior 
in some respects to the very expensive works, yet it has so?nc points of 
superiority over even these, and notwithstanding its low price has become 
a standard work of reference in tli3 trade. Encouraged by the favorable 
reception of our first edition we have issued a new, carefully revised, and 
greatly extended one which is pro zing even more popular. Accurate 
copies of all standard styles of lettering, and a great A'ariety of ornamental 
styles are included, embracing late novelties: jiist coming into notice. The 
book is designed as an aid in all classes of work from the simplest to the 
most elaborate. Some alphabets are inserted for special benefit of 
draughtsmen and designers. 

PRICE FIFTY CENTS. 



HANEY'S PAINTER'S MANUAL. 



A plain and concise guide for practical painters, and aims to gi^ e 
such information as will be useful to the general profession, emhracing 
the best methods and latest improvements in painting, graining, varnish- 
ing, polishing, staining, gilding, glazing, silvering, Grecian oil-painting, 
Chinese and Oriental painting, etc. Also principles of glass staining, 
harmony and contrast of colors, with philosophy, theories and practices 
«f color, etc. Includes also Practical Paper Hanging. 5 cts. 



'■fixtracit from Antlior's Preface. 

" It is not proposed in the following pages to compile a work of 
'valuable recipes,' which, if followed, would lead the learner into 
vague uncertainties instead of giving him any light on the subject. 
Works on decorative art are not generallj^ written by practical men, and 
consequently are of little practical utility. But this Painteb's MANU- 
AL., it is hoped, will be found to contain the veiy best methods of prac- 
tice in all that pertains-*o general painting, which methods are given 
in as plain and concise a manner as possible. It is proposed also, not 
to give coiTect instrnctions in the art, but, which is of quite as much 
importance, instruct the painter how to preserA-e his health, by pre- 
venting the deleterious effects of their poisonous colors. In describing 
work and preparation of colors, great brevity will be used; and the 
matter is as extensively classified as possiblg, the object being to make 
the work useful to learners. Such a book is much needed in this coun- 
try, for there is not in the countrj^ any work of the kind published 
which is of any practical use to the'novice." 



"Wlxat Practical Men Say: 

- The following are but samples of many approving words from pur- 
chasers and users of our Painter's Manual : 

" I consider the work invaluable and indispensable to the person en- 
gaged in painting, &c., and write from an experience of more than 
thirty years."— JOHN Salisbury, Newport, R. I. 

"I have one of your books, the Painter's Manual, which I find to 
contain much valuable information." — S. II. WASHBURN, A'"ergennes, 
Vermont. 

"Hike your Painter's Manual very much. I think that it is the 
most information for the money that I cA'er saw." — THOMAS E. WHIT- 
KEY, Camden, Ind. 



Price, Fifty Cents. 




HANEY'S AR T OF TRAININ G ANIMALS. 

This book is a complete guide, the only one fully aaci 
specially treacing the subject, and gives more informatiott 
about the training of auin als in sirigle chapters thau other 
entire books. Has the niust approved methods of the 
most celebrated and successful trainers, thoioughly in- 
itiating the reader into all the secrets of the profession, 
exposing various bogus "charms," <tc., sold to the cred- 
ulous at high prices, and telling, in fact, everytJnn g counected vith the art of 
breaking, taming, and training all aniinals. Besides containing a vast amount 
of information u'hich i^-ill be of real interest and value to farmers andothers, it is 
full of attraction foir boys. It not only explains liow all the marvelous feats dis- 
played by trained animals at public exhibitions are taught, but shows how 
many amusing and surprising tricks may be taught by any boy to dogs, ponies 
or other pets. One gentleman writes us that his boys have organized quite an 
interesting amateur circus with their pet animals, who have been taught many 
of the best tricks by following its instructions, and, he proposes getting them a 
isttle tent. . 

" Horses firing off pistols, answering questions by nodding or shaking their 
heads, dancing dogs and bears, performing canarj^ birds and tleas, and the like, 
are 'some pumpkins,' but bow about those wonderful dogs who play dominoes j . 
select from a heap any article therein they are ordered to, and giye it to any 
person named; dogs who spell words by selecting lettered cards, or answer 
questions, tell your age or your fortune by the same means? Or the monkej-g 
who enact little dramas, personating the characters in a manner to shame many 
of their human compeers? Or seals who play the hand-organ? Fortunately 
for the excited juvenile community, a certain Mr. Haney has come to the rescue 
with a full exposition of the Art of Training Animals, explaining these and 
hundreds of other feats, to the infinite joy of every boy who can now conv^ert 
his own i^ets into a ciicus troupe at arcost about equal to a single admission to 
the 'bigteut.'" — K. Y. Er'ving Erprcss. 

" There is scarcely an animal which has escaped our author's clutches, and 
he has certainly presented a vast amount of imeresting information touching 
their character and tuition. Kot only are the oi'dinary feats of the circus ex- 
plained, but the most intricate tricks exhibited bj- some few renowned 'stars ' 
among animal performers." — Turf, Field, and Farm. 

" The performances of trained animals have always been painful rather than 
interesting to us, from the thought of the amount of suflering necessary to bring 
it about. The author of this book, howev^er, tells us how to train or pet dogs, 
cats, horses etc., to very wonderful feats at only the expense of a little patience 
and skill." — Little Corporal, Chicago. 

" Even those who do not seek it for its information will find it agreeable to 
read." — Providence Press. 

" A large variety of information, truly, to be embodied in a single book at so 
email a price." — New England Farmer. 

" The raising and training of pets is a pleasurable occupation, and one that 
we would like to see encouraged among our farmers' boys.": — Prairie Farmer. 

"Mingles with its clear directions a number of pleasant incideatal fiacts, 
pleasanth- told." — N. T. Day Boole. 
," Furnishes very entertaining reading." — Phila Daily Ledger. 

"Will entertain both old and young." — Advance. 

" We have to thank Mr. Haney for many facts regarding animals beyond the 
mere trainer's province, which it is interesting to know." — Boston Am. Union. 

210 Pages, 60 Illustrations. Paper Covers 50 cfs.; Boards, 75 cts.; Cloth $!• 

For sale by booksellerf e-enerally, or sent by, mail, post-paid, on receipt <^ 
price. 



Slow Horses Made Fast and Fast Horses Made Faster.— 

System of increasing speed to which Dexter owes his 8upr«macy, with much useful 
information for all horsemen. Endorsed by Robert Bonner, Esq, SO ct« 

College Scrapes.— The best expose of college life and college fun ever 
Issued. A rare treat full of queer and amusing incidents, jolliest book out, with many 
comic illustrations, '^ *** 

Houdin the Conjuror.— His remarkable life, amusing and startling 

adventures and marvelous feats. Large octaro, illustrated. 60 ct» 

Taxidermist's Manual. — A complete and practical guide to coUect- 

iDfc', prepariag and preserving- all kinds of birds, animals, insects, reptiles (to. 50 ots. 

Fun Everlasting.— A mammoth collection of the very best original 
aud selected comic stories, jokes, witticisms,, puns, funny yarns, laughable adventures, 
burl e.sques, and a general melange of jolly rollicking good humor, with over one 
hundred humorous illustiations by celebrated artisis. We believe no one can fail to be 
well pleased and enjoy many a hearty laugh over its endless fund of amuse- 
ment. 15 cts 

Book of Advertised Wonders.— A collection of the various arts, 

seerets, money making schemes, " patent " rights, recipes, &c., of all Kinds and 
qualities sold by traveling speculators and by newspaper and circular adverisers, 
embracing much that is really valuable, much that is worthless^ and much tkat is 
frfiudulent; with notes explanatory of the real character of each, which will save 
oostlv fees to speculators and in many cases waste of time and material. C*llected a^ 
an expense of over $250. 100 pages. 60 ot«. 

Self .Cure of Stammering. — Not an advertising pamphlet but a 

concise and plain exposure of the most approved and successful method* ©f Self Treat- 
ments, with exposure of empirical and dangerous devices. ^6 ot». 

Self Cure of Debility, Consumption, Dyspepsia, Nervous- 
ness, (fcc. — Advertises no doctor or medicine, but gives plain, instructions for self cure 
by simp'.e means within reach of all which will c<>st nothing, and v« the surest, safest, 
Hnd quickest methods of cure. Dangers of advertised modes ol freatment, quack nos- 
trums, &c., are pointed out. ^5 ots 

Sign, Carriage and Decorative Painting. — An entirely new 

practical work, giving full and plain instructions in these and kindred branches ; only 
book treating FuESCO. This book is entirely distinct from our "Painter's Manual," by 
a different author, and is designed especially for those who wish a book treating speci- 
ally the subjects of Sign, Carriage and De jorative Painting. It is believed it will prove 
as popular and useful with those persons is has <»ur " Painter's Manual " with the pro- 
fession in general. Illustrated. 60 cts 

Soap-Makers' Manual.— Plain and practical guide for the manufac 

ture of plain and fancy soa';^, hard and soft soaps, washing fluids, medicinal soaps, etc. 
for the guidance of famiLes and mar afaoturers. Has exposures of the adulterations 
practiced, and illustrations of most approved machinery for those desiring to operate me- 
dium sized works. Has best American, English, French and German formulas. J26 ot» 

Handbook of Dominoes. — Gives full instructioD* in all game* with 

Dominoes, including new and popular Foreign ones. 15 cts. 

Horse Shoers' Manual. — Includes preparation of foot, choice of 

ihoes and their preparation, fitting, filing, nails and nailing, shoeing with leather, cut- 
ting, removing, etc. Plain and practical, with numerous engravings; also includes Yob- 
att's Treatise on Diseases of the Horse's Foot. S6 cts 

Home Recreations, or How to Amuse the Yo\mg Folks. — 

Designed to afford fresh and agreeable entertainment for juvenile parties, holidays, and 
the home circle. Illustrated. ,5 ,5 cts 

Spirit Mysteries Exposed, — A complete and plain exposition 

of all the marvelous feats of the "spirit rappers" and "mediums," Davenports, 
Hume, (fcc. So fully laid bare that any one can perform. Illustrated. 15 cts. 

Book of Alphabets. — For use of Painters, Sign-writers, Draughts- 
men, &c. so ctfl 
Watchmakers' and Jewelers' Manual. — Latest and most ap- 

pi-Qved methods and secrets of the trade, embracing watch and clock cleaning and repair, 
uig, tempering in all its grades, making tools, compounding metals, soldering, plating, 
etc, with plain instructions for beginners, etc. 60 oti 

^^ For sale by booksellers generally, or sent by mail, postage paid, ob receipt ©f 
marked price. 

JKSSK HANfiY A CO., 119 Nasfi^u Street, New York. 



$SOW ADVERTISED INFORMATION FOf 50 CSIltS 1 

By means of circulars and newspaper advertisements a thriving business is done 
in selling recipes, rights to make or use wonderful discoveries, ar d various secrets, 
&c. Some of them are good, some worthless, some fraudulent. Man j' invest a few 
shillings or dollars out of mere curiositj- or in hopes of money making or gaining 
knowledge. We have collected at cost of over $3.50 all the prominent of these ad- 
vertised things. Their se-lers we find have no exclusive right to them, so we pro- 
pose to give our $350 worth to the public in a neat little book which we call the 

BOOK OF ADVERTISED WONDERS 

This gives the good, bad and indifferent, but with comments explaining the rea) 
character of each. The following list will give an idea of the contents: 

It tells you how to make vinegar in ten hours from molasses, sorghum cider, &c., 
without drugs or chemicals; American gin without any distillation at 16 cts. )ier 
pint ; Premium mead ; Ale without malt or hops ; (.Jure for asthma ; Imitation cog 
niac brandy equal to finest French genuine ; (llycerine cement ; Chinese art of 
dwarfing trees; How to raise the vinegar plant; Bee-keeper's secret for secuiiug 
fertilization of young queens by a:.y drones desired ; How to secure nearly double 
the usual product in artificial fish rai.siug; Chemical paint, durable and odorless, 
of any color, without oil ; Great water-proof varnish for boots and shoes; Kapno- 
phyte, the new departure in fertilizers ; Great art of chemicalizing manure; Great 
vegetable remedy for burns, scalds, &c. ; Food for mocking birds; Death to the 
cotton worm ; India-rubber cement. 

Nickel plating withoiitabattery ; Art of saw-filing; Remedy for love of strong 
drink ; Hunters secrets and private guide to trappers ; '• Mad-stones, " how to find, 
how to prepare and how to use the great natuial remedy for bites of poisonnu.s or 
rabid animals ; Seltzer aperient ;^Excelsior axle grease; Art of sharpening saws ; 
Magical British washing powder; Printer's indispensable, improving and drying 
inks of all kinds and colors — greatest help to good iirinting ever invented ;' Im- 
perial fly paper, or "catch "em alive oh !" Soluble blues, or liquid bluing ; English 
harness blacking; Preserving grapes in their natural condition all winter; How 
to malie brandy from shavings ; Apple butter without apples ; Old orchards made 
new, Kainite, or tree medicine ; Safety gunpowder; lOU pouuds of soap for one dollar; 
How to keep apples fresh and sound all winter ; J yler's permeating powder , How 
torestore vitality of seeds; Hunter's Secret ; How to make honey from tomatoes ; 
Chinese art of catching fish; Infallible remedy for potato rot; liquid black lead 
polish ; " All farmers and horse owners ;" Barrel of soft soap for 75 cts. ; Dead 
shot for rose slugs; Scrofula ointment; Rat killing without traps or poison ; Baking 
powder; Maple sugar without maple trees. 

Fifty methods of making money; Fire-proof paint; Premium black writing 
ink ; Magic copying ; Vegetable salve ; Counterfeit detector ; Art of painting on 
glass; Celebrated chemical compound ; Hunter's secret. Soft soap ; Starch } olish 
Cider better than from apples and not intoxicating; Rheumatic liniment; Magnetic 
ointment; Indian pills; Red ink; Blue ink; Indelible ink, without prejiaraiion ; 
Luminous ink; Red ruling ink ; Yellow ink ; Invisible ink ; Water-proof Composi- 
tion ; Gunpowder; Shaving soap ; Hcird solder; Soft solder; Silver plating- fluid ; 
Great pain extractor; Matches; Horse taming; Oil-paste blacking; Metals pre- 
served from rust ; Sealing wax ; Cologne water ; Hair restorative ; Curling liquid 
for the hair; Excelsior hair oil ; Celebrated tooth powder ; Cough syrup ; Univer- 
sal liniment; Brick paint; Wood paint ; Best varnish ; Leather varnish ; Almond 
soap; Fancy soap ; Non-explosive burning fluid; Florida water; Macassar oil; 
Lavender perfumed water; Bufi'alo oil. 

Sun-light oil; Corassa compound ; Inmans cure for nervous weakness, ifcc. ; 
Clover vinegar; Curing pork without brine; Sure and safe remedy for warts; 
Electric blacking: How to add 50 jier cent, to yield of grain at trifling labor and 
expense; Hardening gloss for printer's inks; Whiskers in six weeks: Beautiful 
art of transferring any kind of pictures to glass ; Great American washing fluid; 
Liebig's great fertilizer ; Gilding without a battery ; Water witching, or art 
of finding hidden water, oil or other valuable fluids beneath the ground, with tlie 
forked switch ; Yeast from grape leaves ; How to soften hard water; Butter with- 
out milk or cream — artificial butter whi h cannot be told from genuine; Chinese 
cure for neuralgia ; Pain paint ; Artificial fruit sj-rups for soda water, and a secret 
for adding largely to profits; Meat preserving in hot weather; Bordeaux wine 
imitation ; Art of waterproofing cloth ; Phycometic fascination, or art of soul 
charming; Colored fires for theatrical and other purposes; Boiler incrustation pre- 
ventive; Vegetable cure for hydrophoDia; Egg preserving secret; Laundry secre's . 
Art of pickling meat in one day. 

1^ I-n neat 12mo volume of 100 pages, PRICE FIFTY CENTS. 












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