HOSIERY 



815 



spring, which forces up the chisel when the pressure of the screw is removed. Tho 

 appearance of the groove, when the punching is finished, will be rendered familiar by 

 inspecting^. 1162, p. 817. When the punching is finished, the wires are to bo 

 brought to a fine smooth point by filing and burnishing, the latter of which should bo 

 very completely done, as, besides polishing the wire, it tends greatly to restore that 

 spring and elasticity which has been removed by the previous operation of softening. 

 Tho wire is next to be bent, in order to form the hook or barb ; and this is done with 

 a small piece of tin plate bent double, which receives the point of the wire, and by its 

 breadth regulates the length of the barb. The stem of the needle is now flattened 

 with a small hammer, to prevent it from turning in the tin socket in which it is 

 afterwards to be cast ; and the point of the barb being a little curved by a pair of 

 small plyers, the needle is completed. 



In order to fit the needles for the frame, they are now cast into the tin sockets or 

 leads as they are called by the workman ; and this is done by placing the needles in 

 an iron mould, which opens and shuts by means of a joint, and pouring in the tin 

 while in a state of fusion. In common operations, two needles are cast into the same 

 socket. The form of the needle, when complete and fitted to its place in the frame, 

 will be seen in fig* 1157> which is a profile section of the needle-bar exhibiting one 



1157 



needle. In this figure a section of the pressure is represented at F ; the needle appears 

 at G, and the socket or level at K. At H, is a section of the needle-bar, on the fore 

 part of which is a small plate of iron called a verge, to regulate the position of the 

 needles. When placed upon the bar resting against the verge, another plate of iron, 

 generally lined with soft leather, is screwed down upon the sockets or leads, in order 

 to keep them all fast. This plate and the screw appear at i. When the presser at F 

 is forced down upon the barb, this sinks into the groove of the stem, and the needle is 

 shut ; when the presser rises, the barb opens again by its own elasticity. 



The needles or hooks being all properly fitted, the next part of the stocking-frame 

 to which attention ought to be paid, is the machinery for forming the loops ; and this 



1158 



1159 



consists of two parts. The first of these, which sinks between every second or alternate 

 needle, is represented at o,fig. 1155, and is one of the most important parts of the 

 whole machine. It consists of two moving parts ; the first being a succession of hori- 

 zontal^ levers moving upon a common centre, and called jacks, a term applied to 

 vibrating levers in various kinds of machinery as well as the stocking-frame. One 



