a few deft touches he removes any particles of clay 

 that may have been left at the edge of the mold, re- 

 moves the mold and the molded plate from the machine 

 and hands them to a boy who takes them to the dry- 

 ing-stove. The time required for modeling an or- 

 dinary plate in this manner is about thirty seconds. 



In making small, hollow pieces on these machines, 

 such as cups, bowls, or round sugar-bowls, the mold 

 represents the outside of the piece, the inside being 

 made with the tool. The batting process is dispensed 

 with, the lump of clay being thrown directly into the 

 mold and formed into the vessel by depressing the 

 cutting-tool at once. In the case of "undercut" 

 pieces that is, where the opening at the top is smaller 

 than some lower portion the tool has to be made 

 and set on a movable lever, or some similar device, 

 so that it can cut out and fashion the wider portions of 

 the piece, and still swing back far enough not to 

 touch the narrower portions when it is removed. 



From this simple form of plate- or cup-making jolley, 

 all manner of machines have been evolved for making 

 deep and shallow ware, large and small. Some of these 

 are automatic in action, practically dispensing with 

 skilled assistants. As a rule the finer grades of work 

 are not attempted on such machines; but such stock 

 things as cups and bowls, and large pieces, such as 

 wash-bowls, can be turned out with great rapidity. 

 Machines for doing heavy work are found only in the 

 larger potteries, as the mechanism is necessarily com- 

 plicated, and their initial cost, and the cost of repairs, 

 are correspondingly high. 



[258] 



