Page:On the economy of machinery and manufactures - Babbage - 1846.djvu/215

a small steel stake, having a cavity, into which one half of the intended head will fit; immediately above is a steel die, having a corresponding cavity for the other half of the head: this latter die can be raised by a pedal moved by the foot. The weight of the hammer is from seven to ten pounds, and it falls through a very small space, perhaps from one to two inches. The cavities in the centre of these dies are connected with the edge of a small grove, to admit of the body of the pin, which is thus prevented from being flattened by the blow of the die. (a.) The operator with his left hand dips the pointed end of the body of a pin into a tray of heads; having passed the point through one of them, he carries it along to the other end with the fore-finger. He now takes the pin in the right hand, and places the head in the cavity of the stake, and, lifting the die with his foot, allows it to fall on the head. This blow tightens the head on the shank, which is then turned round, and the head receives three or four blows on different parts of its circumference. The women and children who fix the heads are paid at the rate of 1s. 6d. for every twenty thousand. A skilful operator can with great exertion do twenty thousand per day; but from ten to fifteen thousand is the usual quantity: children head a much smaller number; varying, of course, with the degree of their skill. About one per cent. of the pins are spoiled in the process; these are picked out afterwards by women, and are reserved, along with the waste from other processes, for the melting-pot. The die in which the heads are struck is varied in form according to the fashion of the time; but the repeated blows to which it is subject render