MINT 



341 



which to measure the fillets at any point, as to width and thickness. This gauge will 

 be more intelligible by reference to fig. 1528. A is the handle, which is hollow ; B is 

 a lever attached to the flat rod of copper c, which at E is cut with a rack, into which 

 a pinion, F, is made to work. The pinion, F, works on a shaft, the upper end of which 

 carries a hand provided with a vernier, o. If now the handle, A, be firmly held by 

 the hand, while the thumb be made to press the lever, B, towards the end of the 

 handle, the rod, c, is set in motion, and causes the vernier, G, to travel over the dial- 

 plate. The rod, c, rests on another rod, D, made of steel, and so long as to pass into 

 the handle of the instrument. The ends of the rods, c and D, are fitted at a with steel 

 shoulders, and are then continued, as represented. If it be desired to measure the 

 thickness of a fillet, the points are caused -to open by pressure applied to B, and the 

 tillet is placed between them, when a spring brings back the rod, c, as soon as B is 

 gently released, and encloses the fillet. The separation of the points by the fillet 

 causes the hand or indicator, o, to stand at a point from zero, which is then read. The 



1528 



scale is divided into 500 parts ; and if the points be opened 0'50 inch, the hand makes 

 one revolution ; so that the '001 of an inch is gained by one reading. But each O'OOl 

 is subdivided by the vernier into ten, so that a ten-thousandth part of an inch is read 

 without trouble. To measure the diameter of a blank coin, or the width of a fillet, 

 it must be placed between the points ; but since the extreme graduation of this gauge 

 is 0'50 inch, it is necessary if it be desired to measure a larger diameter, to press back 

 the lever, B, till the zero of the vernier, o, reaches 0'500 on the scale, and hold it there 

 while a clamp is made fast at the spot indicated by a, to prevent the motion of c 

 without D. "When the clamp is fixed, the rod, D, must be drawn out till the zero of the 

 vernier reaches that of the scale, when the screws, H, must be tightened to retain D in 

 its new position, with half an inch permanent opening between the points. In a new 

 measurement, that permanent 0'500 must be added to the reading. This arrangement 

 admits of measuring up to 3'5000 inches, to which limit the gauge is extremely accu- 

 rate. The instrument was invented by Mr. G. F. Ansell, because he found it difficult 

 to convince the men that the fillet was thickest in its middle, and consequently heavier 

 there than it should be ; and the production of this instrument at once overcame all 

 those difficulties. 



The fillets are weighed from the rolling-room to the drag-room, where they are 

 finally adjusted; for with every energy, discretion, and skill, fillets cannot be 

 obtained of uniform thickness by simple rolling. In the drag-room the fillets are 

 taken to the small shears, by which one end of each fillet is trimmed so as to render 

 it square. The fillets having been trimmed so as to render their ends square, are next 

 passed to the extent of about two inches between the rollers o a flatting mill, shown 

 \nfigs. 1529, 1530, 1531, which reduce that part of the fillet to about two-thirds its 

 thickness. A B represent a pair of small rollers, the upper one of which is cut with 

 three flat faces, so that it has three rounding and three flat surfaces ; hence, when both 

 rollers are revolving, there are spaces with openings between them ; but when the 



