THE MANUFACTURE OF BROOMS 55 



by which one man can make from six to eight dozen 

 brooms per day. It consists of a table with a pro- 

 jecting wing under which is a revolving hollow 

 shaft, which serves as a socket (a) to receive the 

 broom handle. The socket is revolved by means of 

 a belt from the treadle (b). 



The broom-handle is placed in this socket, with 

 seven or eight inches of the butt exposed, and held 

 fast by a setscrew. A tack is driven part way in, 

 about an inch and a half from the end of the handle, 

 and the wire wound around it ; the tack is then 

 driven down, and the wire thus fastened. The han- 

 dle is revolved two or three times to give the wire 

 a firm hold around it before any brush is put on. 

 The wire is wound on a reel, shown in the engraving 

 at c, passes around three pulleys, by which the 

 requisite tension is procured, and then passes to the 

 broom handle. When the wire is properly fastened, 

 the operator takes a handful of coarse, rough brush, 

 and holds the stalks beneath the wire as the handle 

 turns, spreading them smoothly, and pounding them 

 down closely with a flat pounder, made something 

 like a common potato masher, which is used in 

 kitchens, but is flat or oval instead of round. This 

 brush is the filling, and about three small handfuls 

 are needed for each broom. The wire should be 

 wound around the filling three or four times, and as 

 the brush revolves the stalks are smoothed off with 

 a sharp knife just above the last turn of the wire. 

 The wire is then slipped off the brush on to the 

 handle, and wound around it once about half an inch 

 above the smoothed end of the stalks. Then a hand- 



