640 Transactions of the American Institute. 



size suited to the work in hand. Then a wire carrier, advancing, 

 pushes about two inches of wire through the bunch at the bend and 

 cuts off the part thus advanced. The plunger now pushes the doubled 

 bunch with wire down into a nut with spiral threads or rifles on the 

 inside, at the same time giving it a twist. The effect of this motion 

 is to wrap the wire as a spiral or screw thread around the bunch, and 

 the twisting or gimlet motion continues so as to screw the bunch, 

 wire and all, into the hole of the brush-stock below, giving it the 

 firmness and solidity of a screw. Then releasing its hold and giving 

 one revolution backward, to take the twist out of the bunch, the 

 plunger flies up and is ready for another bunch, which it prepares 

 and inserts by exactly the same motions. Now, the remarkable thing 

 about all such nice and accurately made machines is, that if they do 

 their work and do it well at a slow rate, they will do the work just 

 as well when the machine is driven at high speed. All this series — 

 parting the bristles, gathering them into a firm package, doubling 

 them over, pushing the wire through the loop, twisting the wire 

 around the bunch, screwing the bunch thus armed with the wire into 

 the hole of the brush-stock, and, last of all, relaxing the twist so as to 

 leave the projecting bristles smooth and ready for the trimming 

 shears — manipulations that the most expert workman could not go 

 through in less than half a minute, the Woodbury machine performs 

 at the rate of seventy bunches a minute. The common scrubbing- 

 brush is composed of about sixty bunches ; the machine makes such 

 a brush in one minute, and performs the work thoroughly. As the 

 holes do not pass through the wood, no back is required. The 

 machine produces a greatly increased amount of work continuously, 

 and without tiring, equaling the performance of ten of the most 

 expert and rapid hand-drawers in speed, and doing better and what 

 appears to be more lasting work. 



Mr. Wiard said the remarkable part of the invention consisted in 

 making the wire which confines the bristles, the tap to cut its own 

 screw-thread into the wood, the ends of the wire, after it is in place, 

 serving as pawls to prevent its return by reversed motion. He com- 

 pared the cost of the work done by the machine with that of hand 

 work, and considered the inventor of the machine a public benefactor. 



(Applause.) 



Adjourned. 



