*iN BBRNlSHlJra. ]05 



The burnishing of leaf-gold or silver, on wood, is performed with 

 burnishers made of wolves' or dogs' teeth, or agates, mounted in 

 iron or wooden handles. When they burnish gold, applied on other 

 metals, they dip the blood-stone burnisher into vinegar ; this kind 

 being exclusively used for that purpose. But when they burnish 

 leaf-gold, on prepared surfaces of wood, they are very careful to 

 keep the stone, or tooth, perfectly dry. 'J'he burnisher used by 

 leather-gilders, is a hard polished stone, mounted in a wooden 

 handle ; this is used to sleek or smooth the leather. 



The ordinary engravei's burnisher, is a blade of steel, made thin 

 at one end. to fit into a small handle, which serves to hold it by. 

 The part in the middle of the blade, is rounded on the convex side, 

 and is also a little curved. The rounded part must be well polish- 

 ed, and the tool very hard. 



They use this burnisher to give the last polish to copper-plates, 

 rubbing them well with it, and being very careful to use oil con- 

 tinually, to lubricate it. Other burnishers are nearly of the same 

 form as those used by the gilders and silverers. 



In clock-making, they burnish those pieces or parts, which, on 

 account of their size or form, cannot be conveniently polished. 

 The burnishers are of various forms and sizes ; they are all made 

 of cast-steel, very hard, and well polished : some are formed like 

 the sage-leaf files ; others, like common files : the first are used to 

 burnish screws and pieces of brass ; the others are used for flat 

 pieces. The clock-makers have also very small ones of this kind, 

 to burnish their pivots ; they are Cd]\ed pivot-burnishers. 



The burnishing of pewter articles, is done after the work has 

 been turned, or finished otf with a scraper : the burnishers are of 

 different kinds, for burnishing articles either by hand or in the 

 lathe ; they are all of steel, and while in use are rubbed with putty- 

 powder on leather, and moistened with soap-suds. 



The burnishing of cutlery, is executed by means of hand or vice- 

 burnishers ; they are all made of fine steel, hardened, and well 

 polished. The first kind have nothing particular in their construc- 

 tion ; but the vice-burnishers are formed and mounted in a very 

 ditferent manner. On a long piece of wood, placed horizontally 

 in the vice, is fixed another piece, as long, but bent in the form of 

 a bow, the concavity of which is turned downwards. These two 

 pieces are united at one of their extremities by a pin and a hook, 

 which allows the upper piece to move freely around this point, as 

 a centre. The burnisher is fixed in the middle of this bent piece, 

 and it is made more or less projecting, by the greater or lesser 

 length which is given to its base. The moveable piece of wood, 

 at the extremity opposite to the hook, is furnished with a handle, 

 which serves the workman as a lever. This position allows the 

 burnisher to rest with greater force against the article to be bur- 

 nished, which is placed on the fixed piece of wood. They give to 

 the burnisher either the form of the fiice of a round-headed ham- 

 mer, well polished, to burni.*h those pieces which are plain or con- 

 vpx ; or the form of two cones, opposed at their summits, with 

 14 Vol, I. 



