FOUNDERY. 



tar, and stub-nails together. They charge 

 & proper number of earthen pots that 

 bear the fire with the two ingredients, as 

 full as they can hold, and melt it in an open 

 furnace built for that purpose. When it 

 bubbles, the iron is then melted, but it 

 evaporates very much. This melted com- 

 post is ladled into an iron pot, wherein is 

 melted lead, that is fixed on a furnace 

 close to the former, 3lb. of melted iron to 

 25/6. of lead ; this they incorporate ac- 

 cording to art. 



The easier, taking the pan off the 

 stone, and having kindled a good fire, he 

 sets the pan in again, and metal in it to 

 melt. If it be a small-bodied letter, or a 

 thin letter with great bodies, that he in- 

 tends to cast, his metal must be very hot, 

 and sometimes red-hot, to make the let- 

 ter come. Then taking a ladle, of which 

 he has several sorts, that will hold as 

 much as will make the letter and break, 

 he lays it at the hole where the flame 

 bursts out ; then he ties a thin leather, 

 cut with its narrow end against the face, 

 to the leather groove of the matrice, by 

 whipping a brown thread twice about the 

 leather groove, and fastening the thread 

 with a knot. Then he puts both pieces 

 of the mould together, and the matrice 

 into the matrice-cheek, and places the 

 foot of the matrice on the stool of the 

 mould, and the broad end of the leather 

 on the wood of the upper haft of the 

 mould, but not tight up, lest it hinder 

 the foot of the matyice from sinking 

 close down upon the stool, in a train of 

 work. Afterwards, laying a little resin 

 on the upper part of the mould, and 

 having his casting-ladle hot, he, with the 

 boiling side, melts the resin, and presses 

 the broad end of the leather hard down 

 on the wood, and so fastens it thereto. 

 Now he comes to casting, when placing 

 the under half of the mould in his left 

 hand, with the hook or jag forward, he 

 holds the end of its wood between the 

 lower part of the ball of his thumb and 

 his three hinder fingers ; then he lays 

 the upper half of the mould upon the 

 under half, so as the male gages may fall 

 into the female ; and, at the same time, 

 the foot of the matrice places itself upon 

 the stool, and clasping his left hand 

 thumb strongly over the upper half, he 

 nimbly catches hold of the bow or spring, 

 with his right hand fingers at the top of 

 it, and his thumb under it, and places the 

 point of it against the middle of the 

 notch in the backside of the matrice, 

 pressing it forwards, as well towards the 

 mould as downwards, by the shoulder of 



the notch, close upon the stool, while at 

 the same time, with his hinder fingers,as 

 aforesaid, he draws the under half of the 

 mould towards the ball of his thumb, and 

 thrusts, by the ball of his thumb, the 

 upper part towards hisfingei-s, that both 

 the registers of the mould may press 

 against both sides of the matrice, and his 

 thumb and fingers press both sides of 

 the mould close together. 



Then lie takes the handle of his ladle 

 in his right hand, and with the ball of it 

 gives two or three strokes outwards 

 upon the surface of the melted metal, to 

 clear it of the scum ; then he takes up 

 the ladle full, and having the mould in 

 the left hand, turns his left side a little 

 from the furnace, and brings the geat of 

 his ladle to the mouth of the mould; and 

 turns the upper part of his right hand to- 

 wards him, to pour the metal into it, 

 while, at the same instant, he puts the 

 mould in his left hand forwards, to re- 

 ceive the metal with a strong shake, not 

 only into the bodies of the mould, but, 

 while the metal is yet hot, into the very 

 face of the matrice, to receive its per- 

 fect form there as well as in the shank. 

 Then he takes the upper half of the 

 mould off, by placing his right thumb on 

 the end of the wood next his left thumb, 

 and his two middle fingers at the other 

 end of the wood : he tosses the letter, 

 break and all, out upon a sheet of waste 

 paper, laid on a bench a little beyond his 

 left hand ; and then is ready to cast ano- 

 ther letter as before, and likewise the 

 whole number in that matrice. 



Then boys, commonly employed for 

 this purpose, separate the breaks from 

 the shanks, and rub them on a stone, 

 and afterwards a man cuts them all of an 

 even height, which finishes the fount for 

 the use of the printer. See the next ar- 

 ticle. A workman will ordinarily cast 

 3000 of these letters in a day. The per- 

 fection of letters thus cast consists in 

 their being all severally square and 

 straight on every side ; and all generally 

 of the same height, and evenly lined, 

 without stooping one way or other ; 

 neither too big in the foot nor the head ; 

 well grooved, so as the two extremes of 

 the foot contain half the body of the let- 

 ter ; and well ground, barbed, and 

 scraped with a sensible notch, &c. See 



PllINTIJfG, 



FOUNT, or FONT, among printers, a 

 set or quantity of letters, and all the ap- 

 pendages belonging thereto, as numeral 

 characters, quadrats, points, &c. cast by 

 a letter-founder, and sorted, Founts are 



