WAX. 



470 



WAX. 



In .1 home-made press, since it is hardly 

 practicable to construct any thing without 

 too much expense that will keep the fol- 

 lower always at right angles with the screw, 

 it is necessary to place the old comb evenly 

 in the box so that the follower shall go down 



in fact, this home-made press is very similar 

 to that one, except that it is simpler, strong- 

 er, and easier to construct. 



It must be borne in mind that, since there 

 is no way to hll the pressing-box with boil- 

 ing hot water and allow it to remain full un- 

 til thoroughly heated, when starting work, 

 boiling water must be poured over the box 

 and contents until they are thoroughly heat- 

 ed; and then if the work is continuous the 

 parts will not become cold enough to chill 

 the wax. 



A plain square box would burst if the 

 corners were not strengthened, hence it is 

 necessary to bind them by nailing on pieces 

 of very heavy tin or galvanized iron as 

 shown. Thus reinforced the box is amply 

 strong. 



SCREW PRESSURE VS. LEVER. 



A long heavy lever may be preferred in 

 place of a screw, and in some places it may 

 be easier to construct and operate. The 

 same plan can be followed as that shown in 

 Fig. 6. It is very necessary to guide the 

 lever in some way in order to keep the pres- 

 sure always vertically above the center of 

 the pressing-box. It is much more difficult 

 to handle a lever than a screw, for there is 

 so much weight to manage. The argument 

 is often advanced that the lever is prefer- 

 able for the reason that the operator can 



Fig'. 19.— A good design for a home-mude uulieuled 

 press. 



as straight as possible. In the illustration 

 the screw rests on top of a thick iron plate 

 on the follower to keep it from entering the 

 wood. 



Fig. 20 shows more clearly the construc- 

 tion of the pressing-box and the tin tray 

 under it. 



A solid wooden bottom might be made for 

 the box, but the wax and hot water would 

 leak through it too much, and so it is better 

 to have nothing but cleats and allow both 

 wax and hot water to run directly through 

 them on to the tin tray and then out at the 

 opening in front. The front piece of the 

 box should be about half an inch narrower 

 than the other sides, in order to give an 

 opening for the wax to escape. The corners 

 of the tin tray do not need to be soldered. 



A press somewhat similar to this has been 

 used with good satisfaction by Mr. E. D. 

 Townsend, of Eemus, Michigan. It will be 

 noted that, in the old original Hatch-G em- 

 mil press. Fig. 9, a tin tray is also used in 

 connection with the wooden pressing- box; 



mmsm, 



"t?-«- 



Fig. 20.— Pressing-box and tin tray of tlie lionie- 

 made press. 



leave it alone, knowing that the pressure 

 will be aijplied constantly if heavy weights 

 are hung on the end. While this point is 

 valuable in connection with pressing combs 

 submerged in boiling water, as shown in 

 Fig. 6, it is of little advantage in the un- 



