,4°.* C> * • « o v t »i^. ^ 4,9^ .;••- "> V *i^» <^ 4,9 •V #°+ * Y.* >», *• • » * A <* *«r. • ♦ .6* +j + 3 +, +, +, and — , — , — , — , — , — , — , — , giving 2 4 MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. the quantity ot eight cells and the voltage of one, which amounts to nearly the same thing as if a single battery having eight times the surface of the single cell were used. This is termed coupling in multiple, Fig. 6. Similarly, if they were coupled +, — , +, — , +, — , +. — and +, — , +, — , +, — , +, — . and those two were joined as in Fig. 7, we should have the equivalent of a battery possessing a voltage of four. c and elements twice the size of the single cell. This would be spoken of as a battery of eight cells in series of four. Also four multiples, in series of two, might be arranged to give a voltage of two and quantity due to cells of four times the size of a single cell, as shown in Fig. 8. As the amperes of current passing per sec- ond depends upon the voltage, divided by the number of ohms resistance, in the circuit, it will seen that the current can be controlled by coupling and by manipulating the resistance. Fig. To Amalgamate Zincs. This may be very well done by first immersing the zincs in a solution of dilute sulphuric acid and then in a bath of mercury. A brush MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. 2 5 or cloth may be used to rub them, so as to reach all points of the surface. Where a large quantity is to be amalgamated, the following will be found to be a good method: Dissolve eight ounces of mercury in a mixture consisting of two pounds of hydrochloric and one pound of nitric acid; when the solution is complete, add three pounds more of hydrochloric acid. The zinc is amalga- mated by immersing it in this solution for a few seconds, quickly removing to a vat of clear water and rubbing it, as in the first case, with a brush or cloth. If the solution is kept in a covered vessel it may be used a number of times. In all batteries in c ~ which acids are used the Fig. 8. zincs should be kept well amalgamated and should be removed from the solution when not in use. This is very important and should not be overlooked. Improved Electropoion Fluid* Add one part (by volume) of sulphuric acid to ten parts of water. Of 10 pounds (or pints) of the dilute acid, add from 1 to 2 pounds of chromic acid, according to the strength of cur- rent desired. Where constant action over a long time 26 MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. is desired rather than maximum energy, omit part or all of the sulphuric acid. Bichromate of potash is no longer used for batteries by intelligent workers. It owes its virtues to a small amount of chromic acid which can be obtained from it by reaction. Pure chromic acid is cheaper for the same work, and is free from many of the difficulties attendant on the use of the bichromate. Connections. Having a knowledge of the theoreti- cal action of the battery, the next question is the con- nections. Cleanliness cannot be too strongly insisted upon in making joints, etc. The plater should make it an invariable rule to see that all surfaces of wires, screws, etc., through which the current must pass, be kept bright on the surfaces through which electrical contact is made. When joining wires they should be brightened with a file, or with emery cloth, and then twisted firmly together with a pair of pliers; all perma- nent connections should be carefully soldered and the holes and the ends of screws in binding posts should be kept bright; and if for permanent use all conducting wires should be of pure copper, well insulated. The following table shows in the last column the loss of current in wires, carrying an economical amount of current; if the MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. 27 wire be too small this loss is rapidly quadrupled until the wire burns. The economy of using large and short connections will be apparent after a slight study of this table. Table showing the Weight, Carrying Capacity and Loss in Volts of different sizes Copper Wire. a 1- d S at g'JJ OOOO OOO 00 o I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 o a Ha 46 40964 •3648 •32495 .2893 •25763 .22942 .20431 .18194 .16202 .14428 .12849 •II443 .IOI89 .090742 .080808 .O7I96I .O64084 .057068 .05082 .045257 .040303 - ^ Z 3 cn o*o m*; CJ ? «> Oh < m 6l0.5 825 lbs. , 312. 508.5 610 lbs. 262. 402 8 458 lbs. 220. 319.6 385 lbs. 185. 2534 308 lbs. 156. 201.0 249 lbs. 131. 159-3 201 lbs. no. 126.4 163 lbs. 92.3 100.2 133 lbs. 77.6 79.46 109 lbs. 65.2 63.OI 90 lbs. 54.8 49.98 74 lbs. 46.1 39-64 62 lbs. 38.7 31-43 52 lbs. 32.5 24-93 43 lbs. 27.3 19.77 36 lbs. 23- 15.68 30 lbs. 19-3 12.43 25 lbs. 16.2 9.86 21 lbs. 13.O 7.82 18 lbs. 1 1.5 6.20 15 lbs. 9.6 4.92 13 lbs. 8.1 V o ft« £ .0098 .0123 .0155 .0196 .0247 .0311 .0392 .0495 .0624 .0787 .0992 .125 .158 .199 .251 .316 •399 •503 .634 •799 1.088 1. 271 CHAPTER II. DYNAMOS, CONNECTIONS AND TANKS. In the past, platers have been obliged to depend upon the battery in a great measure. This has often been found an unreliable source of energy. It is at the same time an expensive source of current, consuming valuable chemicals and costly metals, and giving a comparatively small return in current. Again, the battery for plating is objectionable on account of the mercury that is used to amalgate the zinc. Mercury is the worst enemy to the electro-plater, it always being ready, even in the smallest particles, to amalgamate with his finished work and make black spots that cannot be removed except by re-plating. Fumes of acids used in the battery fre- quently cause annoyance and damage. It has been due to the above difficulties that the chemical battery has never come into general use, only being used when no other source of electrical energy could be obtained. When batteries are used, and the work does not come MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. 2 9 out right there are several places to which the plater has to look for trouble. First, to the condition of the solu- tion; then the plates, and then the acid-destroyed con- nections and contacts. With the use of a dynamo the operator at once has a reliable current, costing nothing when in idleness, except interest upon investment, and when in operation but a little for power. The question of power is often one of the principal obstacles to the use of a dynamo. If you have no power in your shop, and no way of getting it, a dynamo can- not be used, and in this case batteries will have to be coupled together and enough of them used to take the place of a dynamo. If power is available, it would be a false economy to use anything but a dynamo. The original cost is more, but the facility for doing work is greatly increased; there is then no variation in current, and a dynamo requires practically no attention. A dynamo depends for its current upon the fact that a copper wire, passed between the poles of a magnet, will generate a current of electricity in the wire; this cur- rent bears a definite relation to the strength of the magnet and the number of times the wire is passed between the poles. From this it will be seen that the size of wire, the strength of the magnet and the speed of revolution 3Q MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. all have a bearing on the current produced and that by altering the various factors given above we can obtain the quantity and strength desired. Before dynamo building had attained its present state of advancement, great difficulty was experienced in producing currents of low voltage by this means, and the older dynamos were •i Modern Dynamo. very apt to burn the work; hence the notion, still held by many old platers, that the dynamo is unsuited to do really hard and durable plating. This is completely overcome in the modern dynamo and the much lower speed of the modern dynamo makes them at the same time less expensive to run and more durable and longer lived. Therefore the plater who is tempted to buy a second-hand machine, on account of its low price, may MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. 3 1 find it the most expensive machine he could use, and be finally obliged lo throw it away and get something up to date in order to get the cost of producing work down to a figure that will leave him any margin at all. When buying a dynamo, see that it is a modern machine. See that it will do your work. See that it does all that is claimed for it. See that it does not require constant attention. See that you get a constant, steady current. You want a machine that will not spark. You want one in which you can control the current. You want one that will not reverse, or heat. You want one that is noiseless. Get one that is not overestimated in capacity. Get one having all parts interchangeable. Get one that when taxed to its utmost capacity will not drop its current. Dynamos and motors capable of giving the best results for a short time may be constructed with very little regard for mechanical principles. In selecting a dynamo or motor, the fact that the machine is to be used for many years, under heavy strain and subject to little attention, should not be overlooked. Its continued elec- trical efficiency is dependent on a high order of mechan- ical excellence. 32 MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. Setting up and Running* The dynamo should rest on a solid or substantial foundation as near to the tanks as convenient, and be placed at a height that will give your plater easy access to all its working parts, especially room to set or adjust brushes, as a few min- utes' attention each morning adds greatly to its effici- ency, and keeps commutator and brushes in good con- dition. See that the dynamo rests firmly on its foundation, as absence of vibration adds to the life of the machine and insures a more uniform current. Set the brushes so that they come in contact w r ith the commutator both top and bottom so as to be directly opposite. To avoid sparks, keep brushes beveled, and avoid letting under leaves drag. Carefully adjust the brushes without too great pressure, to insure perfect contact between brush holder and rod. Too hard pres- sure will cut the commutator. The brushes are fur- nished beveled, and can be kept so by riling. Occa- sionally the projecting part or end of top leaf can be trimmed. A little care in adjusting brushes so as to get the bevel resting squarely on the commutator will pre- vent sparking. Sparking at the brushes does not neces- sarily indicate a fault in the armature. It is more pro- bably due to imperfect adjustment. To remedy, move MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. 33 the rocker arm back and forth, and if the sparking does not entirely cease, alter tension of brushes, See that they bear on comutator the full curve of brush face. There is but one non- sparking point, and after the rocker arm is adjusted to this, do not move it. It is not intended to regulate the current or speed. Lubricate the commutator with vaseline and plumbago mixed and apply with a piece of hard felt. If commutator shows signs of roughness, smooth it with a piece of fine sand paper, and then lubricate. Never use emery cloth or a file. If badly roughened, take armature out and turn commutator off in a lathe. It is a mistaken idea that brushes must bear hard on commutator. Only pressure enough to preserve good contact is required. The com- mutator, to be in perfect condition, should glaze over and show no appreciable wear. It may be kept so by skillful handling of the dynamo. When the commuta- tor once becomes glazed, it is an indication that the brushes are in the right position, and it will not require sandpaper for months; simply use the oil and plumbago. One man should have charge of the dynamo and be held responsible for it. Connections* The matter of battery connections has been fully covered in the article on primary batteries 34 MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. and the method of connecting the battery and tank for small work will be fully understood by reference to Fig. 10, while the importance of the size of wire used for conductors, etc., is fully detailed in the table on page 27. The arrangement and size of connections for dynamos in larger shops, using a number of tanks, is, however, Fig. 10. a very different matter. Here the plan is to use two large conducting bars running from the dynamo past the various tanks and to take the current from these bars by means of wires or rods leading to the various tanks. False economy is often practiced here and, as usual, it leads to trouble. One instance will be sufficient to explain what is meant. An electrotype foundry pur- chased a dynamo when starting in business, and, object- ing to the cost of solid copper bars of the size pre- MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. 35 scribed by the dynamo manufacturer, used large brass tubing instead. Everything went well until business grew so much as to completely fill the tank with work, when they found that they could not deposit the copper in the required time. Naturally they thought they needed another machine; the old one was not up to its rated capacity, etc., etc., and the salesmen of various dynamo builders looked solemn and tried to sell them a machine to replace the first one. One day the agent of the first one happened along, heard the story and calmly said: "You don't want another machine. Get your new solution into your new tank and come along with me, while / buy the conductors and you -pay for them." It was done; the agent bought i^ inch solid copper rods to replace i^ inch brass tubes, and the dynamo thereupon deposited the copper within the required time with both tanks full of work, while with the tubes as conductors it had failed to do it with one tank full. This will give an idea of the importance of putting a little money into copper when it is called for in the plating room. The expenditure occurs but once and it should be ample at the beginning. Take the advice of the dynamo builder in regard to the conductor bars for his machine. It will cost you money if you don't. 36 MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. The bars should be put up in such a way that things cannot be hung upon them or fall across them. Unless this is done there is a constant temptation to the work- men to hang wires, hooks, etc., upon them, and short circuits will be frequent. When this is the case the entire force seems to get rattled and blind. A large plating establishment had a large nickel tank, copper tank, and a small brass tank all go wrong suddenly one morning. Do what they would, they could not find the trouble. They telephoned to a dealer and asked for an expert. He listened to the details and said: '• You don't want me up there; you've got a short cir- cuit somewhere; find that and you'll be all right." At two o'clock they telephoned again. He must come out there. He went, and the first thing he saw on entering the room was an iron crowbar leaning against the main conductor bars, ten feet from the dynamo. That crow- bar cost the wages of ten men for half a day. Short circuits are expensive. They have also been caused by fastening the conductors to damp walls without any- thing between the wall and the conductor. All permanent connections from the conductors to the tanks should be soldered when possible, as it obviates the necessity of keeping a constant watch on all joints, which must be done when screw clamps are used. MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. 37 Regulation of the Current.— When the dynamo is employed on several tanks at once the current must be regulated for each by interposing a resistance switch between the conductor and tanks. This is always put in on the positive bar and connected with the positive bars of the tanks. Fig. n illustrates such a switch. In using switch boards or rheostats, they are put up as Fig. u. near the tank as possible. The switch should rest at W, or weak point, while putting work into the tank, and should then be turned towards the strongest point until suitable current is obtained. These resistance coils are used to prevent " burning" the work, as if burned the deposit becomes brittle and very hard to polish. Where several solutions are required separate switch boards should be used with each tank. 38 MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. All platers understand that different voltages are required to operate successfully different kinds of solu- tions, and that when a sufficient voltage is to be gener- ated for a solution of the highest resistance, and at the same time utilized in low resistance solutions, the tank nearest the dynamo, with the customary method, receives the most current, and a tendency to burn and blacken is noticed to a marked degree. When metals such as silver and copper are to be deposited in connec- tion with such metals as nickel and brass, a higher elec- tro-motive force is required, and considerable drop in voltage is demanded in the lower resistance solutions, so as not to blacken the work. Measuring Instruments are often a necessity in studying the conditions under which work is done, and if used will save their cost every month in any large establishment by enabling the plater to know exactly what quantity and strength of current he is using. This is especially true of mixed solutions for the deposition of more than one metal, such as brass, bronze and other alloys. Even on single solutions they are frequently of great service. The observing, practical electro-plater will know that the character of a deposit obtained in a certain solution with a definite area of objects to be MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. 39 plated, depends largely upon the reproduction of certain conditions, and especially upon the tension of the current for the certain area to be plated. To reproduce such conditions it is highly important that either the electro- motive force existing between anode and cathode, and the current flowing through the same, be accurately Voltmeter. determined in order that they may be reproduced at will. The ordinary galvanometer is insufficient and often mis- leading, and not at all satisfactory for the actual meas- urement of either the voltage or current; it indicates only a change of polarity. If it is desired to measure actually the E. M. F. existing at the terminal of the dynamo or bath, only the very best voltmeters or ammeters should be used. They should be so con- structed as to indicate quickly and accurately any" 4° MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. sudden changes in current, and should be direct reading in volts and amperes, and their indications should not be subject to gradual changes. A sensitive voltmeter will indicate the slipping of belts, short circuiting in tanks, and any irregularities of power. The general acknowl- edgment of the absolute necessity of these measuring Fig. i3.—Atnfiere meter. instruments has increased the demand to such an extent that they are now quite reasonable in price. Whilst it will be sufficient in most cases to use a volt- meter in combination with a rheostat for regulating pur- poses, it will sometimes be found desirable to determine the actual amount of current in amperes passing through a tank. It is a fundamental law of electrolysis that a certain number of amperes passing through a plating solution will cause a definite weight of metal to be MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. 4 1 deposited. So, for instance, one ampere will deposit in one hour 1.106 grammes of nickel, or 4.05 grammes of silver. It is evident, therefore, that by means of an accurate ammeter the amount of metal actually deposited can easily be determined. Tanks. — The plating jars, tanks or vats should be of glass, glazed stoneware, enameled iron, or of wood lined with asphaltum. The latter are always used where the baths are large and in constant use, as they are the only ones that are sufficiently strong to withstand hard usage, such as is incident to the handling of large pieces or a great number of small ones. These tanks should be purchased of a dealer in platers' supplies, or from tank manufacturers, as it is not advisable to risk the loss of solution and the consequent damage to surround- ing objects from a poorly seasoned, poorly fitted or improperly lined tank. New tanks of wood are generally shipped unlined, as, if the weather is cold, the asphaltum will be cracked in handling the tank, and if the weather be hot the lining is likely to be found evenly spread over the bottom of the tank to the depth of six inches or more, while there is nothing on the sides. Tanks have thus had to be relined so often that the custom is now to send the tank 4 2 MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. and the lining and let the plater line it himself. One of the best ways to line a tank is to stretch cheese cloth all over the inside, tacking it down neatly on the bottom and all four sides; then nail a strip of wood on the upper edge of the tank, so that it projects about one-fourth inch beyond the inside edges of tank; lay the tank on Fig. 14. — Wooden Tank for Platers. its side, level it up and heat the lining and pour it in on the cheese cloth until it stands even with the strip of wood you have just put on; allow this to cool and repeat for the other sides, doing the bottom last. The cheese cloth strengthens the lining and prevents it from crack- ing, just as hair is used to strengthen plaster. Tanks lined in this way will stand for years. They should MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. 43 always be deep enough to leave about six inches between the bottom and the largest work. To find the capacity of any tank, multiply the length, breadth and thickness in inches and divide by 231, as 231 cubic inches make one gallon. Square or round iron tanks, Fig. 15, are used for potash, hot water, etc., and are made in the same shapes Fig. 15. and sizes as the enameled iron tanks used for plating solutions. It is best to buy these of dealers in platers' supplies and not from plumbers, as the tanks of the latter are frequently very thin and of inferior iron, and are liable to break while in use and cause damage amount- ing to five or six times the difference in cost. The platers who are working in a small way will find the best quality of enameled iron cooking utensils serve 44 MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. their purposes very well, but in selecting agate or blue enameled basins, pitchers, cups, pails, etc , a very close watch should be kept for flaws in the enamel, for if the solutions penetrate to the iron they will be destroyed. White enamel is usually selected for this reason, as it is much easier to discover imperfections in the white enamel than in the gray or blue. It also enables the workman to see the color of his solution better, which is sometimes an advantage. Stoneware crocks and jars are also in constant use in plating rooms, to hold the various acids, pickles, dips, etc., and the same care should also be used in selecting them. Heating Xanks* — Small shops usually depend upon gas or oil stoves placed under the various tanks or jars containing solutions that must be kept hot, such as lye, rinsing water, gold solutions, etc., as either offers a means of keeping up the desired temperature with very little trouble or expense. Larger establishments, however, find it cheaper and better in every way to use steam jacketed tanks as shown in Fig. 16. These can be purchased in regular sizes holding from three gallons up to forty gal- lons, and the smaller and medium sizes are rapidly find- ing favor in many machine shops and factories where it is important to cleanse the work quickly and cheaply. MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. 45 Still larger tanks for heavy work are made of boiler iron and heated by a steam coil placed in the bottom of the tank; this usually is allowed to simply lie upon the bot- tom of the tank, so that it may be readily removed Fig. ib. should it become necessary in cleaning the tank or repairing the coil. In arranging the tanks in the plating room much will depend upon the work to be done and the space that is available; the only rule that can be given, therefore, is to follow the order in which the work is handled in both polishing and plating rooms, so that little time and labor 46 MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. will be lost in carrying work back and forth, with the consequent dripping of the lye and acids, etc., upon the floor. In large establishments it is frequently an impor- tant item to have the work thus proceed in a straight line, and where it is necessary the tanks for hot water and lye, dips, etc., are duplicated to avoid carrying the work about. Smaller establishments will, of course, be gov- erned largely by circumstances in the arrangement of tanks, sawdust boxes, etc. CHAPTER IIL THE POLISHING ROOM AND TOOLS. Polishing should always be done in a separate room, in order to keep the plating room clean and thereby pre- vent the expense and annoyance caused by dirt and dust in the solutions. In large shops this is regarded as a matter of course; but many small platers think that a separate polishing room is not necessary; that they can cover their solutions and get along very well without going to the expense of partitioning off a place to do their polishing. The consequence is that their shops always look as if they had not been cleaned in six months; a thick coating of dirt covers the walls, benches, countershafts, tools, machines, etc., until it is actually a fact that the cleanest place in the shop is the floor. This sounds severe, but if the reader will go into such a shop and draw his finger along the walls he will find it to be a fact. The floor is swept daily and the walls are never cleaned. Polishing is a very dirty 47 48 MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. operation; the lint from the cotton and felt wheels, minute particles of leather, emery, oil, tripoli, crocus, wax and finely divided metal are continually flying from the wheels and work and this dust penetrates every- thing. These are the platers that turn out poor work and don't see why they can't do as well as their neigh- bors. Dirt is fatal to good plating and dirt is insepar- able from polishing. Buffing and finishing after plating should also be done in a separate room for the same reason. Many platers have frequent trouble from scratching their work while buffing, often making it necessary to replate the article. Nine times out of ten such coloring or buffing was done in the polishing room where some heavy work had been recently done and the coarse emery or scale from the work had lodged on the finishing wheels. We are speaking now of shops which take rough work and fin- ish it. The little shop with a specialty, such as gold and silver only, or such other work as replating, etc., where heavy cutting down is not done, will hardly go to the trouble of duplicating the heads, countershafts, etc., in order to separate the work in this manner, preferring to take chances on scratching, etc., rather than go to the expense and trouble of separating the polishing and fin- ishing, but wherever practicable it will pay to do it, and MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. 49 in a manufacturing establishment or large jobbing shop it is a necessity. Ventilation in a polishing room is of great impor- tance to the health of the workmen and should always be forced where possible, by a blower exhausting up a chimney or into the outer air, with pipes leading from the blower to hoods about the various wheels, buffs, etc., and these pipes and blower should be large enough to maintain a constant current of air about the wheels and away from the workmen. Men will do much more work in such a room than in one in which they are obliged to gasp for breath with wet sponges over their nostrils, so that the power thus expended in driving a blower has an important result in cheapening the cost of running a polishing room. The Machinery in this department of plating has undergone important changes in the last few years, so that more work and greater cleanliness can be obtained with the modern machine. The old machines had the shafts hung on centers from a clumsy wood or iron frame, built in such a way that it was never cleaned, because it was too much trouble. The modern machine, Fig. 17, has a long shaft running in babbited boxes on 5o MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. each side of the driving pulley and the yoke which car- ries the shaft is mounted on a stout iron column. This arrangement not only gives greater facility in handling the work, but also preserves the perfect alignment of the boxes and even running of the shaft, which was not Fig. 17.— Polishing Head on Column. Fig. 18.— Polishing Head for Heavy Work. always the case with the old style of frame, owing to the springing of the floors when heavy weights of cast- ings are piled near the machines, as is usually the case in large shops. The column also offers no obstruction to sweeping and shops using them are kept much cleaner. Machines for heavy work, Fig. 18, have an upper yoke carried on the lower yoke and having boxes MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. 51 supporting the shaft close to the polishing wheels, thus adding greatly to the steadiness and consequent effec- tiveness of the machine while allowing the necessary room for handling large work below the wheels. Work that is too large and heavy to be handled is ground and polished by means of wheels carried on and rotated by a flexible shaft, Fig. 19. This is nothing more or less than the flexible drill of the machine shops, which the polishers have been quick to seize upon and adapt to their work, with even greater results than this tool has achieved in the machine shop, as in many polishing shops there is room for its almost con- stant use, which is not the case with machinists. It is cheaper and quicker than the older swing frame- machines and being so much lighter and easier to handle, workmen will do much more with it. Fig. iQ— Flexible Shaft Grinding. 52 MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. Small work is polished on bench lathes which consist of the same yokes and shafts are shown in Fig. 17 except that they are mounted upon benches instead of on columns, owing to the greater facil- ity of handling small pieces on a bench. Very small and light work, in shops without power, are ground and polish- ed on foot power machines as shown in Fig. 20. In working pol- ishing machines the chief points to be observed are to use soft and flexible belts, that will hug the small pulleys closely and not jump and jerk when any heavy strain comes upon them suddenly and to keep the bearings well babbitted and Fig. 20 —Foot Power Polishing Head. MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. 53 free from emery, which would immediately sink into the babbit metal and act as a lap, cutting out the shaft very rapidly. Bearings not provided with closed oil cups should have covers of tin or brass over the oil holes and the foreman should see that the covers are kept in place. If there is room for it in the cups, a little cotton waste laid in them and changed as fast as it gets dirty will do a good deal towards keeping emery out of the bearings of all machinery in the polishing room. Where possible the machines should be arranged so that the workmen stand facing the light, as this permits them to see what they are doing without stopping and turning their work about, thus enabling them to do more work in a given time than they could if the light came from another direction. This may seem a trivial matter, but any polisher will assure you that it is not, and in a business where the chief expenditure is for labor, every saving of time is important, especially where a large number of men are employed. Glass or metal shades should be placed over each wheel to protect the eyes of the workmen; sometimes this is obviated by extending the hoods far enough over the wheels to serve as a shield. When this is done the 54 MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. hood is made so that it may be readily slipped back upon the blower pipe when changing wheels, etc. Rattling or Tumbling Boxes. Small objects, such as small castings, stampings, etc , that are not required to have square edges, are best cleaned by tumbling, or rattling, as it is called in foundries. Large quantities of work are thus easily and cheaply cleaned without much manual labor, which is the expensive item in polishing. If rough castings are being worked, the sand, scale, etc., adhering to them is allowed to remain in the barrel, where it acts as a polishing powder, brightening the parts which are not reached by the metal of other cast- ings; but when tumbling for a bright finish, the sand, dirt, etc., are exhausted by means of the blower, so that the surfaces are finely polished by friction only — burnished, as it were, by rubbing against other metal of the same kind. A strong exhaust should be kept up when polish- ing in this way, or the finish will be dead instead of bright. It is a principle in burnishing that you cannot get the burnished surface smoother than the burnisher, so that a little consideration will show that bright work is only obtained by long-continued tumbling, and the bright finish comes rather quickly after all the pieces in the barrel have become smooth. It is, therefore, MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. 55 necessary to handle the work in batches, and not to add more work after the batch has been some time in the barrel, or the work will not finish evenly, and time Fig. 2i .— Egg-Shaped Tumbling Box. will be lost instead of gained. The speed should be regulated so that the articles may have time to slip down upon and slide over each other as much as possible. If .the barrel turns too fast they will hug 56 MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. the sides of the barrel and be carried around with it; about 40 to 60 revolutions per minute is correct; if too slow, the action is unnecessarily prolonged. Fig. 21 shows a new form of tumbling barrel far superior to anything else within our knowledge. The barrel is egg- shaped; it has a section of exhaust pipe connected to the hollow journal at one end and a tight and loose pulley at the other end. No gearing whatever is used. Three special advantages are found in the egg-shape: It gives the contents a double motion or action — from ends to center and from sides to center — caus- ing a thorough mixing and rubbing together of all the parts contained therein, cleaning and polishing the con- tents better and quicker than any other form of barrel. It requires less power, as the end motion causes the contents at the ends to tumble into the center because of assuming the perpendicular earlier than those parts at the side. It runs with less noise, because the contents are kept moving in two directions at the same time, doing away entirely with the intermittent motion so noticeable in other forms; doing away with gearing also lessens the noise. It is lined with a sectional lining of hard iron, which can be cheaply and quickly replaced when worn out, MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. 57 making the barrel as good as new. A current of air is forced through the barrel by an exhaust fan, which removes the dust and carries it out through pipes arranged for the purpose, and the room is kept perfectly free from this nuisance. The workmen are thus enabled to do their work comfortably. It is said to do more and better work, takes up less room and requires fewer barrels for a given amount of work than any other. Small sizes of the barrel, for finishing small work ready for plating without hand labor, are now being made. Emery or Corundum Wheels are used for grinding off the lips of castings, imperfections caused by breaks in the moulds, etc. These wheels are of varying thick- nesses, grades, sizes and shapes and should be run at correspondingly varied speeds in order to get the best work out of them. The same grades of wheel from different makers sometimes vary slightly in speed and these details had therefore best be obtained from the manufacturers. If run too fast they will glaze and require dressing to keep them sharp. Too much pressure when grinding will also glaze a wheel. The grinder should understand dressing wheels, as it is often necessary in balancing them, as well as in keep- ing the surface true and sharp. 58 MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. Flat wheels are dressed with an emery wheel dresser, a tool generally listed by dealers and therefore unneces- sary to describe here. Curved surfaces, moldings, ogees and angles are ground with wheels specially turned up by the workman to fit the surface, in order to do the work quickly while preserving the shape; as in pre- paring stove work for nickeling, etc. This turning is best accomplished by using a diamond turning tool, which can also be found in the market. Such wheels when glazed are also dressed with the diamond tool. Work having hollows too small for the large wheel is ground with a large and small wheel on the same arbor. This holds true in polishing as well. Canvas Wheels are next used on all large surfaces. These are made of coarse duck or canvas, cut into discs of the required size and glued or cemented together under pressure, after which they are bored out to receive the arbor, put on the machine and turned up to the required shape with a wood turner's tools. Some shops make their own canvas wheels, but it is generally cheaper to buy them. Both glued and cemented wheels have their advocates. The former claim that there is little difference between them and glued wheels are cheaper; the latter declare that a glued wheel is too MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. 59 hard and will not polish uneven surfaces as well as a wheel well made with a flexible rubber cement, and that a slight increase of cost is more than made up by speed in polishing. It is a matter which every polisher will decide for himself, according to the nature of his work. Canvas wheels are set up like wooden wheels. The grade of emery will depend upon the nature of the work to be done. If very rough and coarse iron surfaces are to be worked, No. 70 emery is first used, followed by No. 90; if the surface is fairly smooth, No. 90 is used at first followed by No. 120. If the metal is brass tripoli is used for cutting down. Wood Polishing Wheels, Fig. 22, are made of thin sections of pine, glued together with the grain crossed, bored and turned up as previously described, and finally, if flat, covered with best oak tanned leather, glued on the rim and turned up true, if it needs it. These wheels are set up by covering the leather with hot glue and then rolling in powdered emery of the desired grade. Right here is a source of frequent trouble. It often " ^ 6o MODERN ELECTRO PEATING. happens that in gluing up a lot of wheels of different grades the loose particles of emery on the 70 wheel will get into the glue brush and be deposited on a 90 or 120 wheel. Nobody sees it, of course, until the polisher finds that he cannot get the scratches out of his work until he changes wheels. Much time is often lost in this way. The remedy is to have separate glue pots and brushes for the various grades. When the emery is no longer sharp it is soaked off the wheel and fresh powder again glued on. It is customary to glue and set up wheels the last thing before quitting work at night, in order that the glue may have all night to dry and thus get thoroughly hardened, so as to give the best service. Only the very best glue will stand the work. Polishing Wheel Cleaner ♦ Users of leather covered emery wheels should use a cleaner. By placing the worn wheel in this machine and let- ting it run a few Fig. 23.—Folishing Wheel Cleaner. . . , , minutes with the water just touching the rollers, all of the glue and MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. 6 1 ornery will be removed without damaging or loosen- ing the leather covering. This machine, Fig. 23, has two rows of movable rods (only one shown in cut), to keep the wheels from falling over. The idle roller also has two positions for different diameters of wheels. As it requires no attention or time to use it, the cost of this machine will be saved in a few weeks' labor. Speed should be about 20 revolutions. The other wheels, which would be injured by water, are cleaned with buff sticks which are made by glueing a stick and dipping in No. 15 to No. 36 emery. Leather Wheels are used in polishing and fine grind- ing, where a flexible wheel is necessary. There are many different kinds, which may be classed under this head, and while every polisher has his preferences, if he has not the kind he prefers, he can use another. Walrus Wheels are made from the thick, specially tanned hide of the Walrus, and are unequaled for work requiring the wheel to be turned up to a thin, moulded edge or curve, as they are thick enough to allow such shapes to be made from a single piece, while the thinner discs of other leathers are apt to leave ridges of glue where it will mark the work unless greater care is taken. 62 MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. Bull Neck Wheels are made, as the name indicates, from the thickest and toughest portions of hides, and form" a harder wheel than Walrus. They are much used in stove, bicycle and other steel and iron work, and are turned and glued up as previously described. The other leather wheels are similar in their nature, differing only in the mechanical structure and degree of hardness, the desirable quality being the ability to hold the emery up to the work without allowing any lumps or unevenness in the glued emery to cut into or gouge the work; this becomes more and more important as the finishing proceeds, or softer metals than iron are being worked, and so still softer wheels are used, made from felt. Felt Wheels are used with emery and glue, or with polishing compositions. They are of varying degrees of hardness and either white or gray. Certain peculi- arities of felt wheels, though well known to professional polishers, have never, to our knowledge, been printed, and it may be serviceable to mention them here. The first point is that the higher priced wheels are the cheap- est, the extra price being more than made up in the increased durability and uniformity of the white wheels, which wear much longer, balance better, and give a MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. 63 superior finish, than do the cheaper gray felt. The second point lies in the fact that the wool in a felt wheel will catch fire under too hard pressure, and once ignited it will smoulder away under the emery and glue until it has burnt a long hole in two directions through the felt, without showing any signs until the coating breaks in from the surface, and the wheel, being then out of bal- ance, begins to pound. The only thing to do, in such a case, is for the workman to turn the wheel down to where the felt is solid and start over again. Burning is always the result of carelessness, and it is amusing to hear a workman claim that the hole was there when he got the wheel, forgetting that in such a case the^wheel would be out of balance and he could not have run it that way without balancing the wheel. Cotton Buffs, Figs. 24, 25 and 26, are made of discs of muslin and are used with pastes of tripoli, crocus or rouge, for fin- ^^~— ^ ishing or coloring. They vary in '"^- >y "^ softness according to the nature of - f / ^ ^ N % g I I / rs \ \ } :: the work, their material and the I . V // / method of manufacture. The hard- \ \^ — y y ^ est buffs are made in sections from -_>^-~ ;: " duck, stitched or quilted together, Fig. ^.-Medium Buff. 64 MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. while the soft buffs are of muslin stitched only at the center. As many sections as may be necessary to make the desired thickness of wheel are put on the arbor and the flanges set up until the wheel runs prop- erly. Too tight flanges will cause the buff to spread Fig. 25. — Hard Buff. Fig. 26 — Soft Buff. and run unevenly; if too loose, the wheel will slip, making bad work. Grease Wheels* When a leather covered wood, leather or felt wheel has had the emery on it worn down smooth by use, so that it no longer cuts freely, a little tallow or oil is applied to its face, a little 180 emery cake or polishing paste is applied and the work gone over again. The wheel thus prepared is called a grease MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. 6$ wheel. Grease wheels are made only from wheels set up from 120 or finer emery. The work is then gone over again, without oil or tallow on the wheel, and this use of a worn grease wheel is known as "dry fining." After the grease wheel is worn down perfectly smooth, a little pumice or polishing paste is applied, a flint stone is held against the face to glaze it over and at the same time remove any particles of sharp emery that may still be there and the work is gone over a fourth time. This is known as color- ing and produces the highest finish on steel, leaving the work lustrous and beautiful in appearance. This final polish has a great influence upon the appearance of the plating and practical men can tell at a glance in looking at plated steel, whether the polishing was a "three wheel" or "four wheel" operation. In such cases it is customary, when doing small work, to place the fining and coloring wheels side by side on the same arbor, separated by collars, so that the successive operations may be done with one handling. Belt Straps are made of canvas or duck, from one to two inches wide, glued and set up with emery as previously described, and used in polishing flat surfaces, such as cutlery, flat springs, large tubes for 66 MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. bicycle frames, etc. They are run on flanged pulleys, one of which is supported on a standard and the other, which is the driver, is mounted in place of a wheel on one of the polishing heads. Balancing Wheels* All wheels running as fast as they must in polishing require to be very carefully balanced or they will "pound" or "chatter," making good work impossible. Balancing is accomplished by placing the wheel on an arbor and rolling it on two level, knife edged strips of metal, one on each side of the wheel. Thus suspended the wheel will stop with its heaviest part downward, and with a little chalk to mark the wheel and some small pieces of sheet lead to fasten on the side of the wheel, balancing is quickly and easily performed. It may also be done by hanging the arbor between spur centers, as pulleys are balanced in a machine shop, but the rolling method of balancing on bars, which is precisely the method the watchmaker employs in poising a watch balance, is the quickest and best. Balancing should not be done until the wheel has been turned true on its arbor and glued up. It should never be omitted. A properly balanced wheel will run true, even and noiseless at any speed. MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. 6^ Speed of Wheels. Wheels and buffs are run from 2,000 to 2,500 revolutions per minute, depending on their size and the nature of the work; and here we would like to make a suggestion, which will materially increase the output of any polishing shop. If we examine the table of emery wheel speeds given herewith, we shall find that the speed increases rapidly as the wheel gets smaller. Most people imagine that this table is merely a guide to the safe run- ning speed of the wheel and that it is given in order that the wheel may not burst while running. This is an error; the table simply means that the given number of revolu- tions for any size of wheel is that which will drive the circumference or cutting surface of the wheel at its proper cutting speed to enable the wheel to do the best work and the most of it. Machinists understand the point thoroughly, and their shops are filled with cone-pul- leys to enable them to keep up the cutting speed Revol jtions Diame- Per Minute. Inches. Mini- Maxi- mum. mum. I l8,0OO l8,000 I# 1 0,000 14,006 2 7,900 11,000 2^ 6,330 8,800 3 5.275 7,400 VA 4,500 6,300 4 3,950 5,500 \Vz 3,500 4,900 5 3,160 4,400 6 2,640 3,700 7 2,26o 3,l60 8 1,980 2,770 9 1,760 2,460 10 1,580 2,210 12 1,320 1,850 H 1,130 1,580 16 990 1,380 18 ^80 1,230 20 790 1,100 22 720 1,000 24 660 920 26 600 850 30 500 735 36 400 42 350 48 300 68 MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. on work of varying sizes. In the polishing depart- ment this is neglected. The pulleys and counter- shafts are arranged to run the largest wheels properly, and when they are turned down from time to time, the work simply proceeds more and more slowly until the wheel is worn out and a new or larger one substituted. Now, it is useless to tell a polisher to keep up the cutting speed of his wheels, unless you give him the means of doing so. There should be four-step or five-step cone pulleys on the line shaft for each machine, belted to the other cone of the pair, on a jack shaft which also carries the driving pulley leading to the wheel arbor of the machine. This would enable pol- ishers to speed up as their wheels got smaller, and the increased output of the shop would repay the outlay several times over, each year. The cones could be made of wood, and would add nothing to the weight and consequent wear on the line shaft. Now that so many large shops are being fitted up regardless of expense in order to get a great output of work, this is a point that should not be neglected. Direction of Polishing* In all polishing operations the successive grindings should constantly cross one another as far as possible, otherwise the scratches will MODERN ELECTRO PLATING. 69 not be taken out, and the work will not have an even, mirror-like polish. The wheels should turn so that the lower edge moves away from the workman and the work is held up to the wheel on its under side, so that the dirt, grit, etc., will fly back into the hoods, while the work, in case of accident, would drop away from the wheel instead of falling on it, as would be the case if another position were chosen for the work. The pres- sure should be light and even and the grinding should, in each case, be continued as long as any of the scratches made by the coarser previous operation remain on the work; when only the marks of the wheel in use can be seen, the work may be considered ready for the next operation. Polishing Materials* In order to hold fine powders on the wheels and buffs they must be mixed with some medium that will perform this office, and at the same time act as a lubricant to the work. It was formerly customary for polishers to buy their powders and mix them with varying proportions of oil, tallow and bees- wax, which was then cast into blocks. The objections to this were lack of uniformity and the use of too much oil, wax, tallow (or all three) in proportion to the amount of powder, which had a tendency to " stuff" 74 " in polishing 65 " wheels 65 Connections 26, 33 Copper baths 98, 103 " " management of.. 101, 105 Copper, dip for 83 pickle for 82 " to polish 78 Corundum wheels 57 Cotton buffs 63 Coupling batteries 22 Crocus 71 Current, regulation of 22,37, 90, 101, 105, 112, 131, 139, 142, 152 Current strength for alloys 161 " " " brass 101 " " " copper 105 " gold 142, 152 " nickel 112 " silver— .131,139 Cyanide dip for brass 83 Cyanide of potassium in brass baths 101 Cyanide of potassium in copper baths 101,104 Cyanide of potassium in gold baths 147 " " " in silver baths, 130,138 INDEX. PAGE. Dips and pickles, action of 80 Dip for copper or brass 83 " cyanide for brass 83 " ormolu 169 Dynamos, care of 32 " connections for 33 " requirements of 31 use of 28, 30 Electricity, definition of 8 Electropoion fluid 25 Emery wheels 57 PAGE. Instruments, measuring 38 Iron, pickle for 82 " and steel to polish 76 Lacquering 186 Lead, to polish 78 Leather wheels 61 Lime, Vienna 72 Lining tanks 42 Liver of sulphur 181 M Felt wheels. 62 Flexible shaft 51 Finishing gold 165 nickel 120 black nickel 126 Finishes for platers 179 " ormolu 169 German silver, pickle for 83 Gold 141 " alloys, pickles for 84 " baths, temperature of 148.155 " chloride of 144 " to dissolve 144 " to strip 92 " plating, durability of 163 " solutions, color of 142.148,155 hot ....148 cold 151 " for bright gilding. .157 for iron and steel -156 " containing nickel.. 160 " carat 157 " green 159 pale 159 red 158 rose 158 " " stock... 149 Grease wheels 64 Green bronze for brass 182 " light on zinc 184 " patina on any metal 183 " to remove 92 Management of batteries 7 Machinery for polishing. 49 Materials forpolishing 69 Measuring instruments 38 N Nickel and gold solutions 160 black plating 121 " deposits, faults in 116,118 solutions 109, 124 " " appearance of 113 " " condition of 113 to polish 120 tostrip 91 Olive green on brass 183 Ormolu dips 169 " finishes... 166 Oxides, to strip 92 Pale gold solutions 159 Patina on any metal 184 Pickle for brass 82 " black for iron 82 " bright for iron 82 " copper 82 " german silver 83 " gold alloys 84 INDEX. PAGE. Pink on silver - 185 Polishing, direction of 68 heads 50,52 " materials 69 '' room, machinery of. -49 " , " ventilation of 49 Polishing wheel cleaner 60 " " wood 59 Polishing brass 78 " britannia 78 " copper .78 " iron and steel 76 lead 78 nickel 120 tin 78 " zinc 78 Preparation of work 76 Proportions of metal in salts 161 Pumice stone 73 Quicking solutions 95 Rattling boxes 54 Red bronze on brass 182 Red gold solutions 158 Regulation of current ..22, 37, 101, 105, 112, 131, 139, 142, 152 Removing green 92 Resistance, electrical.. 10 " switch 37 Rose colored gold solutions 159 Rouge 71 Scratch brushes 74 Scouring sink 73 Sectional plating 137 Shaft, flexible.- 51 Shapes of steel burnishers 177 Silver chloride 128 cyanide 138 Silver solutions 127, 130, 137 Silver, amounts deposited ...136 " solutions, management of 131, 133 " " work and anodes in, 132 Silver plating, cheap work.- 95 " pink on 185 to strip 91 Sink, scouring - :.-- 73 Speed of scratch brushes 74 " " wheels 67 PAGE. Steel burnishers, shapes of 177 Straps, belt 65 Striking solution 133 Stripping solutions, use of 89 gold - 92 nickel 91 " oxides r 92 " silver 91 " solutions, use of 89 Sulphur, liver of ...181 Switch, resistance 37 Tanks, capacity of.- 43 " heating 44 " iron 43 " lining 42 " plating - 41 " small 43 Temperature of gold solutions. 148, 155 " nickel " 118 Tin, to polish 78 Tripoli 71 Tumbling boxes 54 Turning yellow 137 V Ventilation of polishing room 49 Vienna lime 72 Voltage 8 Voltmeter 39 w Wheels, balancing 66 bull neck 62 " canvas 58 " cleaner 60 " emery or corundum 57 felt 62 " grease 64 leather 61 " speed of 67 " walrus 61 " wood polishing 59 Wire, electrical capacity of 27 Work, preparation of 76 Z Zinc, to amalgamate 24 " light green for 184 " to polish 78 Particular Attention is nailed to the Celebrated Imperial Mainsprings, Every day we receive the most flattering, unsolicited testi- monials, samples of which we submit as follows : Coshocton, O., Aug. 8, 1896. Messrs. Green Bros., New York. Gentlemen -.—Enclosed please find check in payment of Cabinet of Imperial •Maitosp rings less cash discount. Your 'springs are, beyond doubt, the finest ; finrs'hed and most reliable in the market. We are very well pleased with them, -also the handsome cabinet. Very respectfully, Burns & Gosser. 54 and 56 Seneca Street, Buffalo, N. Y., March 2, 1896. Messrs. Green Bros., New York. Dear Sirs:— We have been using your Imperial Mainsprings for some time and can say for them, I think they are the best springs I ever used. The finish and make are good and their durability unexcelled by even the higher priced springs. Should prefer them to any spring I ever used. Respectfully, Frank Hammond, Watch Inspector and Adjuster for N. Y , L. E. & W. R. R.; L. S. & M. S. R. R.; L. V. R. R.; B. R. &P. R. R. Registered Trade Mark and Fac Simile of Wrapper en our Imperial American Mainsprings. The Imperial Mainsprings are guaranteed for one y eat. Each Spring bears the Word " IMPERIAL." Each Sprang is tagged with the Name and Size; for Finish, Temper, Elasticity and Durability they have no equal. price : $12.00 PER GROSS. Exact cut of the Imperial Spring, 1.00 PER DOZEN. coiled and tagged. GREEN BROS. 6 MAIDEN LANE, ••• NEW YORK. IMPORTERS AND JOBBERS OF.... Fine Grade Watcn materials, Tools and Jewelers' General Supplies. If you want good and Quick Service and Genuine American Watch Material, send us a Trial Order. Orders filled from .any catalogue. NORTHAMPTON EMERY WHEEL CO, Grinders', Platers' and Polishers' Supplies. 20 South Canal Street, CHICAGO, ILL, WE FURNISH EVERYTHING FOR "^jibb r Electro Plating M INCLUDING DYNAMOS, 1ATTEMES, CHEMICALS ALSO POLISHING BUFFING LATHES MATERIALS SEND FOR OUR CATALOGUE. AND WITH OF EVERY DESCRIPTION The Hanson & Van Winkle Go. CHICAGO. NEWARK, NEW YORK. The Escapements. Their Action,' Construction and Proportion. All watch and clock escapements thoroughly illustrated and described. Illustrated with twenty diagrams. Paper Covers Price $ 50 Same in cloth binding 75 Prize Essay on Watch Cleaning and Eepairing. By F. C. Ries. This work took the first prize, (offered by The American Jeweler) in competition with thirty-six other writers. Contents: Examination of the Move- ment; Taking Down; Fitting the Dial ; Fitting Center Pivot and Bridge; Bushing; Endshake; Worn Center Pinions; Truing the Barrel; Repair- ing the Ratchet; Patting on Square on a Fuzee; Examination of Main, spring; Stemwind Mechanism; Examination of Train; Imitation Gilding; Pivots; Making Balance Staff; The Hairspring; Jeweling; Cleaning in General. Price 25 Watch and Chronometer Jeweling. By N. B. Sherwood. A complete trea- tise on this subject and the only one in print. Contents: Peculiarities of Gems used in Making Jewels; Requisite Tools and How to Use Them; Shaping and Polishing the Jewel; Opening the Jewel; Setting the Jewel; The Endshake Tool; General Hints to the Repairer. Illus- trated. Price 35 General Letter Engraving. By G. F. Whelpley, the acknowledged authority on engraving. His latest and best work. Contents: Gen- eral Hints to Beginners; Lines and Curves; Originality; Practice Material; Position of Graver; Treatment of Gravers; Correct Spacing; Coffin Plate Engraving; Necessary Tools; Laying out the Work Preparation of Plate; Use of Gravers; Methods of Cutting; Slope and Height of Letters; Inclination of Graver; Transfering; Letters Appropriate for Long and Short Names; Harmony in Laying Out; TouchingUp; Difficult Materials and their Treatment; Tools and Materials; Sharpening Gravers; Choice of Tools; Engraving in Rings; Gravers for Same: Engraving Blocks and Stands; Ciphers, their Formation and Ornamentation; Inscriptions; Best Manner of Cutting; Ciphers as Compared with Monograms; Monograms and their Treat- ment; Figure Monograms or Cipheroids; Inter- twining, Complex Monograms; General Treatment. Copiously Illus- trated. 112 pp. Paper $1.00. Cloth - — 1 25 The Watchmakers' and Jewelers' Practical Eeceipt Book. A workshop companion, comprising full and practical formula and directions f oi solders and soldering, cleaning, pickling, polishing, bronzing, color- ing, staining, cementing, etching, lacquering, varnishing, general directions for finishing all metals, handreds of miscellaneous receipts and processes of great value to all practical watchmakers and jewelers. This is the only book on the market to-day that gives full and complete directions for etching names, portraits, etc., in the bowls of souvenir spoons and silver articles in general. This so-called trade secret ie sold by certain persons at $5.00. Dozens of other " trade secrets " that are advertised for sale in trade papers at from $1.00 to $5.00 can be found in this book. Worth its weight in golc 1 to any practical watch, maker and jeweler. 132 pages, illustrated. Paper covers, $1.00. Fine English muslin binding .. 1 25 Poising the Balance. An Essay of unusual merit. By J. L. Finn 25 Hairspringing. A complete treatise on the art of hairspringing. By A. Z. Price 25 Adjustments to Positions, Isochronism and Compensation. The only work on the subject in print. 50 pp. Illustrated. Price 25 Eepairing Watch Cases. A practical treatise on the subject. By W. Schwanatus. Contents: Repairing the Pendant; Lining Pendant Holes; Work at the Joints; Soldering the Bezel; The Closing of the Case; Taking Out the Dents. 40 pp. Price 25 Jewelers' Practical Eeceipt Book. Contains a mass of most valuable receipts, formulas and information, gathered from the best and most reliable sources. Fifth edition, revised and enlarged. 48 pp. Price.-- 15 Prize Essay en the Balance Staff and Cylinder. By P. W. Eigner. This essay took the first prize offered by the American Horological Society. Gives methods for turning, grinding and polishing, from staff to pivots. Illustrated with numerous engravings. Paper covers 2c Compensating pendulums and Hew to Make Them. A practical treatise on the construction of mechanically perfect Pendulums, for the use of watchmakers. By J. L. Finn and S. Riefler. Illustrated. Paper covers, rice. « & Abbott's American Watchmaker and Jeweler. By Henry G. Abbott. An Encyclopedia for the Horologist, Jeweler, Gold and Silversmith. Co; i taining Hundreds of Private Receipts aDd Formulas, Compiled from the Most Reliable Sources. Complete Directions for Using all the Latest Tools, Attachments and Devices for Watchmakers and Jewelers. Among other things contained in this volume may be mentioned a thorough explanation of adjustments, both to positions and isochronism: directions for making all the alloys used by a watchmaker, jeweler and metalworker; a review of all the escapements, their action, construction and proportion, together with diagrams of each escapement; an exhaustive treatise on balances, their expansion and contraction, auxiliaries, sizes and weights and direction for poising; the balance staff, and full and complete directions for mak- ing and replacing new staffs, together with ^ the use of the graver in turning and the manip- ulation of measuring instruments; directions for making twenty different cements of great value to the watchmaker and jeweler, including lathe wax; directions for cleansing, pickling and polishing all kinds of metals: magnetism and the use of the various demag- netizes ; electro-plating, bronzing and staining all metals; gauges of all kinds, and directions forusing; soldering and directions for making all kinds of hard and soft solder and fluxes; steel, its treatment in annealing, hardening, tempering, etc.; watch cleaning, repairing, etc; a treatise on wheels and pinions; directions for using all modern tools and appliances; and hundreds of miscellaneous receipts, formulas and hints on all kinds of work, of great value to every work- man. This edition contains forty- four pages more than former edi- tions, and each page contains one-third more matter than the pages of former editions. An alphabetical list of over five hundred European watchmakers who manufactured watches prior to 1800, with years in which they carried on business, from which the watchmaker can easily establish the age of any movement that a customer may desire to know about; an alphabetical list of all books on horology published in the English or French language, prior to 1850; portraits and sketches of all the celebrated watchm akers of the world from 1600 to 1894. 354 pages. Illustrated with 288 engravings. Paper covers, $125. Fine muslin - - - - -- $1 50 A Simple and Mechanically Perfect Watch. By Moritz Grossmann. A Prize Essay on the Construction of a Simple yet Perfect Watch. Written in a masterly man- ner by one of the greatest of Horological Auth- ors. Illustrated with many engravings. From the standpoint of the practical man at the bench this is one of the most exhaustive essays ever written on the subject and no practical work- man can fail to appreciate it. 96 pages. 38 diagrams. Paper, 75c. Fine muslin * Ofc The Watchmakers' Library. This book consists of a collection of the best articles from the various trade journals of this country and Europe, among the authors being Moritz Grossmann, M. Kessels, Chas. Spiro, Chas. Reiss, Herman Horrman, P. M. Youlen, M. Sandoz, Herman Grosch, James U. Poole, E. Sordet and Vincent Lauer. The papers are all of a practical nature and of great value to the practical watchmaker, the whole forming a volume of 290 pages and index. In Paper Covers 1 0« Prize Essay on the Balance Spring and its Technical Adjustments (Baroness Burdett Coutt's Prize). By M. Immisch. A description of the inven- tion of the balance spring, its effect upon the art of watchmaking; the effects of inertia of the balance; resistance of the air; balance adjustment by means of turning screws and washers; proportions of spring and balance; nature of spirals; lengths of balance vibrations and their effect upon the timing; pinning in equal and unequal coil6; the Breguet spring; making its curves; pinning; regulating isochronal springs, etc. Fully illustrated with numerous engravings and dia- grams. Cloth. Price - 10C Repairing Repeating Watches. By C. T. Etchells. A practical treatise on the subject and the only one in print. Fully illustrated. The most vexatious repairs that come to the watchmaker are those on repeating watches— and yet they are the most profitable if yon know just how to make them. Not every watchmaker can make them, and that is just why they are profitable. Do you how? If not, why not? You are never too old to learn. Paper covers .-- «* 237 90 W ■tf % .4