97 



certain the leather improves by remaining some weeks in this condition. It should 

 be observed that, in drying, the leather absorbs a large quantity of the oleaginous 

 matter with which it is charged, and the unabsorbed portion forms a thick coating of 

 hardened greasy matter on the flesh side. 



Leather which has to be blackened on the flesh (wax-katJier\ from this point, re- 

 ceives different treatment from ^raw-leather. Wax-leather is taken to the shop-table 

 and softened with a graining-board. The skin is laid on the table and doubled, grain 

 to grain, the graining-board (fig. 1373), which is confined to the hand by a leather 

 strap (a a), is driven forward and drawn back alternately until a grain is raised on the 



1372 1373 



leather, and it has attained the required suppleness. Observe, the graining-board is 

 slightly rounded on the lower surface, and traversed by parallel grooves from side to 

 side, which are coarser or finer, as occasion requires. The grease is next removed 

 from the flesh by the slicker, and afterwards a sharp slicker is passed over the grain 

 to remove grease or other accumulations from it. The next process is called 

 whitening. The leather is laid over the beam, and a knife with an extremely fine 

 ed^e is used to take a thin shaving from the flesh side ; this is a point at which a 

 cu: rier's skill is tested. The knife used is one that has been very much worn, the 

 quality of which has been tested to the utmost ; and so extremely true is the edge 

 expected, that not the slightest mark (scratch) is allowed to appear on the surface of 

 the leather. Only a good workman can satisfactorily accomplish this. The slightest 

 gravel in the flesh of the skin may break the edge of the knife in pieces, and it is not 

 easy to rectify so serious a misfortune; besides, a poor workman may turn up the edge 

 by steeling, an operation which ought to mend the mischief instead of provoking it. 



A fine graining-board is next used to soften ,the leather ; the stiffer parts being 

 boarded both on the grain and flesh sides, and the operation being carried on in two 

 or three directions, to insure both softness and regularity of grain. Boarding is per- 

 formed by doubling the leather and driving the double part forward and drawing it 

 backward by the graining-board. 



The leather is now prepared for the waxer, and passes, consequently, into his 

 hands. "Waxing, in large establishments, is a branch considered separate from the 

 general business, and is usually in the hands of a person who confines himself to this 

 occupation alone. The skin is laid on the table, and the colour rubbed into the flesh side 

 with a brush. It is necessary to give the brush a kind of circular motion to insure 

 the required blackness in the leather. The colour is made by stirring a quantity of 

 the best lampblack into cod-liver-oil ; sometimes a little dubbing is added, and in order 

 to make it work smoothly so as not to clog the brush, some stale tan-water from the 

 vats in the scouring-house is beaten up with the mixture until it combines therewith. 

 The preparation of the colour is an important affair, and requires a considerable 

 amount of time and labour to render it such as the waxer desires. 



A slick-stone, or glass, is next used ; this tool is about the size and shape of the 

 slicker, but instead of being ground like it, the edges are very carefully removed, so 

 that while, from end to end, it preserves nearly a right line, it is circular across the 

 edge. The stone (a fine pebble) is little used now, plate-glass being substituted for it. 

 The use of the tool just described is to smooth the flesh after the operation by the 

 colouring brush, thereby getting rid of any marks made on the surface. 



The next step in waxing is what is called sizing. Size is prepared by boiling glue 

 in -water ; the melted glue is diluted with water to the extent required, and in some 

 cases it is softened by mixing cod-liver oil with it in cooling. When cold, it is beaten 

 up with various ingredients, according to the taste or experience of the waxer ; the 

 waxer then well rubs the size into the coloured side of the leather, and with a sponge, 

 or, more generally, the fleshy part of his hand, smooths it off. When dry, the slick- 

 stone, or glass, is again applied, thus producing a polish on the size ; and a very thin 

 coat of oil completes the work. In different manufactories different methods are pur- 

 sued, but the above is convenient and satisfactory in almost all circumstances. It is 

 now ready for the shoemaker. 



Leather intended to be blacked on the grain is left folded up when dry after stuff- 

 ing. Some years ago it was the custom to stain these kinds of leather while wet in the 

 scouring-house, by spreading stale urine over it, and then applying a solution of copperas 



VOL. III. H 



