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draw-bench; it is moved to any distance varying from the 100,000th part of an inch 

 (0-00001 ) and upwards by the wheel H, which receives a very minute motion from the 

 pinion p by means of a lever, o, fitting into the capstan-head H. K was originally 

 intended to bo used to set or fix the screw o when it had been brought to its proper 

 position, but it is not used ; for, in fact, the cylinders wear away appreciably by the 

 passage of the fillets, so that they constantly require to be brought nearer together to 

 make up for this wear. With some species of gold the friction is so great that, 

 although oil is used, the cylinders become so hot as to render the gold pasty ; in such 

 case a kind of welding takes place, which causes the tearing of the fillet. If this 

 extreme point be not readied, as indeed it seldom is, the cylinders become of varying 

 temperatures, and so great is the effect of this {hat, in order to compensate for it, the 

 upper cylinder has to be continually raised or depressed. The beds which carry the 

 cylinders become worn by the strain and fret, and require grinding out at intervals ; 

 therefore, to allow for the difference which this would make, screws, N, are provided, 

 by which the cylinder in the lower bed can always be raised to its proper position. 

 We cannot but admire the ingenious productions of inventive minds ; and surely, if 

 ever there were a marvellous machine for assisting the coiner, it is this ; indeed, it 

 may be doubted whether a more admirable instrument for its purpose can be con- 

 trived. Sir John Barton, who invented and directed the making of it, took into 

 consideration every circumstance which could possibly arise, but he never saw prac- 

 tically the full advantage of his conception. There are some persons who smile at 

 the draw-bench, but it is one of those inventions which will outlive its detractors, at 

 least so long as economy and perfection are points te be studied in coining. Foreign 

 mints are said to have found no advantage in the use of the draw-bench. It is to be 

 regretted that this instrument has not yet been efficiently used. Mr. J. Martin, of the 

 Paris Mint, has recently made some very accurate experiments with the draw-bench, 

 and has produced results every way in accordance with those obtained by Mr. Ausell 

 in the Eoyal Mint, and is convinced that the draw-bench may bo considered ns the 

 coiner's right hand. 



When the fillets have passed between the cylinders 



1535 of the draw-bench, they are sheared into four lengths 



by a pair of hand-shears affixed to the bench, and 

 the pieces passed on to the tryer who, by a hand 

 cutting-out press, shown at fig. 1535, punches out 

 one or more blanks from each piece of fillet, and 

 weighs it in a delicate balance, placed close beside 

 him, that he may judge if the fillet be likely to 

 produce good blanks. The fillet is placed for this 

 purpose on the bolster, A, and is held in the left 

 hand, while with the right he seizes the handle, c, 

 and pulls it suddenly towards him, when its motion 

 causes a screw with which it is provided to depress 

 the cutter, n, which cuts a blank and pushes it 

 through A, the tryer at the same moment placing his 

 hand under the bench to catch the blank as it falls. 

 The spring, D, is so powerful as to carry back the 

 handle to its original position while the tryer is 

 catching the falling blank. 

 The fillets, notwithstanding the draw-bench, cannot be brought to perfect accuracy ; 

 niul, to meet such variations as arise, a difference is made in two of the cutting-out 

 punches, by altering their diameters to such an extent, that a blank cut by them from 

 a standard fillet would vary in weight from a blank cut by them from an ordinary 

 fillet. One cutting-out punch is so altered that a blank would bo 0'125 grain, and 

 the other that a blank would be 0'250 grain heavier. This admits of a fillet other- 

 wise too thin being used ; but if the fillet be found to err on the other side, it is 

 passed once more either through the draw-bench, or through the mill at a spring- 

 pinch. The tryer should be selected as a peculiarly steady man, possessing a 

 calm judgment, with considerable energy, as upon him depends the accuracy of 

 the whole process of coining; ho has not unfrequently so to manage his work that, 

 upon 5,000,000 of sovereigns coined, he should arrive to within one sovereign of the 

 calculated value. 



The fillets, having been thrown by the tryer into the receptacles which indicate tlio 

 particular cutting-out punches to which they are to bo taken, are fetched by a man, 

 who wipes off the oil, and then carries them to the cutting-out room, where the fillet* 

 are cut into blanks and scissel. The cutting-out presses used in the Koyal Mint it re 

 very cumbersome, and when in operation are terribly noisy; it is therefore hoped that 

 At no distant period they may bo replaced by some of a far more simple construction ; 



