Some brushes are made without wooden backs, the elastic pin-set material being stitched or riveted to a backing of leather g (Fig. 419), to which a leather strap h is attached, forming a handle under which the hand is held when in use. This kind of brush ia useful for grooming horses, &c. It ia also possible to have a margin of bristlea around the metallic part of tbe brush ; in those having receaaed backs, the wire for drawing in the bristlea is concealed ; those having leather backs require the briatlea to be wired in from tho edge, aa in Fig. 420, or from the back, as in Fig. 421. In the case of brushes with metal hacks, such aa cattle and horae brushes, the bristles are fixed in a strip of leather which ia fastened to the metal back, and surrounds the wire pins forming the centre of the brush. Cylindrical bruahes for brushing hair and other purposes are made by securing the pin-set material to the circumferences of the cylindera : preferably it is sewn to a strip of leather backing, and thia is coiled apirally around the cylinders and cemented or tacked to them.
Bass Brooms.—Since the introduction of Piaasaba (see Fibrous Substancea), the manufacture of " bass brooms" bas become an important branch of the bruah-making industry. The rough " bass," as it is called, has to undergo a process of cutting, combiug, steaming, " mixing," cleaning, and a final aecret process, by which it is rendered moro durable, in order to fit it for the bruahmaker. The principal conaumera of thia material are J. and G. Horsey, of Mile End, who are the sole employers of machinery for making thia clasa of brush. The backs or stocks are pierced partially through with holes, aa by the MT-oodbury machine, before mentioned, and are automatically centered for the reception of the bunches. On one aide of the machine, ia a box filled with bass of the proper length, and at each revolution of the machine, a curioua mechanism, called the " thief," darts into the midst of the bass, and abstracts just sufficient to form ene bunch, which, being delivered to a travelling " carrier," is conveyed under the punch for fixing. Fig. 422 ahows a section of thc punch descending, and doubling up the bunch, at the same time forcing down a scrap of steel wire which, when down in place, is spread out, and bolds the bunch in position, as shown in Fig. 423. Figs. 421 and 425 show a plan and sections of the wire, the bass being removed. The steel wire is run from an immense reel placed over each rnachine, whence it descends through a series of rollers, which deliver just so much at a time as will suffice to fix one bunch. Each machine, requiring the attendance of only one girl, can fix about 30,000 bunches per diem. Immediately the stock is filled, the broom passes through a set of cornbs, and between a series of knives, by NNhich the surface of the bass is rendered flat and even. Finally, the backs are dressed smooth, and almost polished, by the action of a number of rotary and fficed knives.
Figs. 426 and 427, both partly in section, show respectively a side view and front view of one of the machines employed in recessing wooden backs. A is a framing, EID which is fixed a standard B,
one side of whose projecting head is planed and formed with " vee " slides, to receive a sliding carriage C. In bearings formed in bosses on this carciage, a cutter spindle 1 is fitted to revolve, receiving motion from a strap m. The carriage can be slid to and fro by means of a screw operated by a handle n, and working in a nut fixed to the carriage, as in the case of a lathe slide rest. A shaft o is fitted to revolve upon an inclined axis, in a bearing p fixed to the framing of the machine. On the upper end of this shaft, is formed a head q, which is planed and made with vee slides, and upon this head a table D is fitted to slide. Corresponding parts are seen in Fig. 428, which illus trates a modification in the machine. To the under side of the table, are secured two curved guide blocks r r, fitted to revolve around and in contact with an annular guide ring s, which is bolted to the table, but can be adjusted so as to be more or less eccentric with respect to the axis of the shaft o. If the ring s were fixed so as to be concentric with the shaft o, tho table D would revolve with the shaft without sliding upon the head q, but when the ring is eccentric to the shaft, the table is made to slide to and fro on the head during each revolution. The table D is prepared to receive and hold in position the wooden back which is to be recessed. In the figure, the back marked E fits into a recess in the face of the table. A cutter F is fixed to the lower end of the spindle /. A revolving motion is imparted to the shaft o, by means of the worm and wheel G, the worm being fixed on a shaft t, driven by means of a strap. The. back to be recessed placed in position on the table, the carriage C having been slid away from the standard, so that the cutter would clear the work on completion of the back last operated upon. When the work is in position, the shaft t is started, and the work is thereby caused to revolve, and also t,o move to and fro in a direction across the axis of revolution. The carriage C is now moved in the direction indicated by the arrow, by turning the handle n, by which the cutter is brought into contact with the work. The movement of the carriage being continued, the cutter recesses the handle in all directions away from the centre, and, by the combined rotatory and rectilinear motions of the work, makes the recess of an oval form. The cutter is so formed that when the recessing is completed, which c,ompletion is determined by the further movement of the carriage being arrested by a stop, the margin of the oval recess is under cut, as indicated in Fig. 408. For some purposes, the recess does not require to he under-cut, nor the bottom of the recess to be raised in the centre, for instance as in the case of Fig. 417. The action of the shaft o is then made vertical and not inclined.