32 LACQUER 



pletes the traverse. The whole carriages with their bobbins have now changed their 

 position, as will be seen by comparing No. 9 with No. 1. The odd carriage, No. 1, 

 tj> has advanced one step to the right, and has become one of the front tier ; one of 

 the back tier or line ^> has advanced one step to the left, and has become the odd 

 carriage ; and one of the front ones <p has gone over to the back line. The bobbins 

 and carriages throughout the whole width of the machine have thus crossed each other's 

 course, and completed the mesh of net. 



The carriages with their bobbins are driven a certain way from the one comb to the 

 other, by the pressure of two long burs (one for each) placed above the level of the 

 comb, until they come into such a position that their projecting heels or catches i i, 

 Jig. 1306, are moved off by two other long flat bars below, called the locker plates, and 

 thereby carried completely over the interval between the two combs. 



There are six different systems of bobbin-net machines : 1. Heathcoate's patent 

 machine. 2. Brown's traverse warp. 3. Morley's straight bolt. 4. Clarke's pusher 

 principle, single tier. 5. Leaver's machine, single tier. 6. Morley's circular bolt. All 

 the others are mere variations in the construction of some of their parts. It is a 

 remarkable fact, highly honourable to the mechanical judgment of the late Mr. Morley 

 of Derby, that no machines except those upon his circular-bolt principle have been 

 found capable of working successfully by mechanical power. 



The circular-bolt machine (comb with curved teeth) was used by Mr. Morley for 

 making narrow breadths or edgings of lace immediately after its first invention ; and 

 it has been regularly used by the trade for that purpose ever since, in consequence of 

 the inventor having declined to secure the monopoly of it to himself by patent. At 

 that time the locker bars for driving across the carriages had only one plate or blade. 

 A machine so mounted is now called ' the single-locker circular bolt." In the year 

 1824, Mr. Morley added another plate to each of the locker bars, which was a great 

 improvement on the machine for making plain net, but an obstruction to the making 

 of narrow breadths upon them. This machine is now distinguished from the former 

 by the term ' double locker.' 



A rack of lace is a certain length of work counted perpendicularly, and contains 

 242 meshes or holes. Well-made lace has the meshes a little elongated in the direc- 

 tion of the selvage. 



Mr. Heathcoate's machine, invented in 1809, was the first successful lace-making 

 machine. 



Mr. Morley patented his in 1811 ; and in the same year Messrs. Marl and Clarke 

 invented the pusher machine, and Messrs. Leaver and Turton, of New Radford, brought 

 forward the lever machine. In 1817, Mr. Heathcoate applied the rotatory movement 

 to the circular-bolt machine, and mounted a manufactory at Tiverton on this plan, 

 where the lace manufacture is still carried on extensively. 



LACQUER is a varnish, consisting chiefly of a solution of pale shell-lac in alcohol, 

 tinged with saffron, annotto, or other colouring matters. ' That commonly employed 

 is made by dissolving shell-lac in proof spirit, and colouring with the resinous substance 

 called draffon's blood. The lacquer heightens the colour of brass, or renders it more 

 golden in tint. Lacquer may be pale or deep in tint, when it is known as pale or 

 bronze lacquer, or it may be variously coloured. A transparent colourless lacquer 

 is a desideratum for German silver. A substance called bleached shell-lac is sold, 

 and I believe used for very pale lacquer. The lacquer is warmed and brushed over 

 the articles, which have been also previously warmed on stoves. If the temperature 

 is too cold, a dulness of surface is produced, which is not removed by re-heating. 

 The surface of brass is frequently coloured or bronzed after ' dipping,' and before 

 lacquering. A dark grey coating is produced by dipping the article in a solution of 

 arsenious acid in hydrochloric acid, by applying a dilute aqueous solution of bi- 

 chloride of platinum, by applying an aqueous solution of corrosive sublimate mixed 

 with vinegar, or by rubbing plumbago over the surface. By the application of 

 lacquer to the surface of brass, which has received a dark grey coating by any of 

 these processes, a bronze-like tint is produced, due to the light reflected, through the 

 coloured stratum of varnish produced by lacquering, from the bright surface under- 

 neath. Precisely the same effect may be obtained by rubbing plumbago over a piece 

 of writing-paper, and then lacquering the surface, as in the case of brass. For 

 common work, the corrosive sublimate method is extensively used ; it is said to cause 

 trouble when it comes in contact with softer solder, with which the reduced mercury 

 amalgamates. The platinum process is used for instruments, such as theodolites, 

 levels, &c. ; and in these the bronze is much blacker, as pale is employed instead of 

 yellow lacquer. These methods I know are employed, and probably there may be 

 many others. The beautiful colours of brass foils are communicated by vanously- 

 coloured lacquers. The coating of resinous matter adheres with remarkable tenacity, 

 and is not detached by bend'ng the foil backwards and forwards repeatedly. The 



