13th, A pair of nippers to cut the feet from the plated wire.
The tools being ready, the workman should proceed to measure the frames of the watches ; and supposing that he finds the frame to correspond with one of the di visions on the guage, he should chuse a die half a size larger, as the dial must always be one size larger than the frame, which will be the case when the thickness of the copper is included. It will be found, if all is con ducted according to our directions, that the dial, when completed, will extend over the frame just enough to fill the groove in the inner case of a watch, which will be turned for that purpose. If the dial is to be made to a brass edge, the die should be full one size less than the inner rim; tor as the dial has to lie within the rim of the edge, an allowance must be made for the thick ness of the copper, and likewise for the swelling of the plate in the fire, which is a circumstance that invaria bly happens. The proper die being chosen, place one of the pieces of copper on that side of the die which has the smallest diameter, and as nearly in the centre as possible; lay the die, with the copper upon it, Hat on a table or board, and the round ended punch, Fig. 2. being put on the centre, press it down and wriggle it round till the end of it is forced as far as it can go into the cen tre hole of the die. The copper is then to be taken off, and the bulge thus formed must be filed nearly through. Let the copper then be placed on the die in the same manner as before, and the round broach gently thrust through the centre hole, till it fits it nearly tight tta the die. When this is done, holding the die and copper in the left hand, with the die upwards, let the copper be cut as nearly round as possible, leaving it about of an inch larger than the smallest side of the die. This may be best accomplished by holding the scissars a lit tle aslant, till the desired breadth is obtained. The die, with the copper uppermost, is then to be laid on the work board, and gently rubbed or burnished over with the round broach, till the copper lies quite smooth and flat on the die. Hold the die and the copper firmly in the left hand, and having the broach in the right, bur nish that part of the copper which extends beyond the edge of the die, which is best done by rubbing the broach round the copper, and pressing it close to the edge of the die. The copper is now to be taken off the die, and the edge or rim thus formed must be finished by filing it till it is equal on every side. The centre hole must be filed a little to take off the ragged parts, but it must not be made so low as the edge ; and the bur that is formed by filing should be scraped off with the edge of a graver. The copper is then set up to the desired
convexity, by placing it in the setting die, and rubbing it with the setting spatuli till the, copper touches in all parts ; after which the feet are soldered on.
The inconveniences that attended the use of plain cop per wire soldered with sprier for the feet, are now en tirely obviated, by employing copper wire plated with silver. When the copper is set up properly, place it f exactly on the frame of the watch. Hold the copper and frame in the left hand, and with the point or needle mark through the holes in the frame where the feet should be placed; then place the copper in the setting die, and describe small squares, about each of the marks that have been made with the point, observing that these must be large enough to admit the foot wire to be placed within, as the intention of the squares is no thing more than to throw up a bur or ridge, to prevent the foot from slipping out of its place during the opera tion of soldering. The feet for the coppers must now be cut, by fixing an iron peg into the work board, and the pieces of plated wire being held against it, it will be found • to form a very good resistance to the action of the file. It should be observed, that if coppers are to be made for flat plates, the feet should be filed at right an gles; but if the plates are convex, they should be filed at an angle as nearly as possible corresponding with the curve formed in the hollow part of the copper, because when the foot is placed on the copper, it will be found to stand perpendicular to the base line, or edge of the copper. The feet thus filed should be cut off with the nippers; if for frame plates, about three-sixteenths of an inch long; but if for flat plates, one-eighth will be suffi cient. A small quantity of borax should now be rubbed upon a piece of slate, with the addition or a few drops of water, into which the filed parts of the feet being slightly dipped, will greatly facilitate the soldering. The copper is then to be held in the left hand, and the feet taken up with the tweezers arc to be set in their proper places on the copper, when it will be fit for soldering. \Viten a great number are to be done at once, it will be the best way to. set up all the feet before any are sol dered. In this case, the frames set on the board with the pillars upwards, make very convenient stands to place the coppers on till they are soldered. It must be carefully observed in this kind of soldering, to use the borax very sparingly ; for as it blubbers up when the heat first comes to it, the feet would be thrown down, which would occasion much difficulty and loss of time in replacing them.