100 



]ii'e-lict phiji ill Vicloriii. 



To obtain all tlio wax, or at least the maximum from old combs, 

 pressure is required — sometliing of the nature of a cheese press. The 

 press shown in the illustration (Fig. 1) is a stout wooden box securely 

 bolted together and lined with tin; inside of this is a slatted grating 

 and bottom, leaving a chamber of 10 x 10 inches (12 inches deep) into 

 which an ordinary sugar bag is inserted. The old comb is dissolved by 

 boiling and poured into the bag, the latter is then folded down, the 

 press block put on, and the screw gradually worked down. Water and 

 wax escape by the outlet into a separating tank which retains the wax, 

 but allows the surplus water to escape. 



Fig. 1 shows the press complete, exce})t- 

 ing that a board should be fastened across 

 the top of the uprights with a hole to guide 

 the serew, so that it works evenly and 

 steadily. The upi'ights should either be 

 securely fastened to the floor of a little 

 platform or braced to the wall l)y stays at 

 the top. The fVame consists of two up- 

 rights, al)out two feet eight inches long, 

 nuuk' of (3-in(di X 2-iiJcli timber, with cross 

 ])iece of similar dimensions at the top, and 

 a floor piece 12 inches wide near the 

 bottom, the four being mortised and 

 l)olted togetlier at the intersections, the 

 screw lilock lieing slightly let into the cross 

 piei'c and bolted. The screw is a 2-inch 

 wooden carpenter's bench screws The body 

 of tlie press is made of |-inch shelving, 

 lilocked or dove-tailed together at the 

 corners, and measures llf in. x llf in. in- 

 side l)y 1 2 in. deep. The bottom is fitted into 

 the l)ody flat on the underside ; the upper- 

 side has an incline of 1 inch from the sides 

 to the groove in the centre, which latter inclines towards the 

 outlet in front, as shown in Fig. 2. A frame 3 inches wide 

 runs round the top of the body, bracing it together, and projecting 

 upwards by 1 inch over the top edge of the body, forms a rabbet 

 f inch X 1 inch. The whole body is lined with tin inside, the groove 

 terminating in a spout. Figures 3, 4 and 5 show the fittings inside the 

 lining. Fig. 4 is the bottom of the grating, made of pieces of wood 

 ■g inch thick and 1 inch deeper in the centre than at the ends, to corre- 

 spond to incline of the bottom of the body, on the lining of which they 

 rest. They are % inch a^^art, and slats |- inch wide by f thick, set 3-16th 

 apart, are nailed cross"\vays on to the top of them as shown in Fig. 4. 



Fig. 3 shows the four sides of the grating, each of which is uncon- 

 nected with the others, and consists of slats g- inch x f inch, set 3-16th 

 ajjart, nailed on to a piece 1 inch x -J at top, which rests on the rabbet 

 at top of body, when inserted in the latter. A doubled piece of tin in 

 a sawkerf iiiade endways into the slats connects them at the bottom 

 w'tliout obstructing the passage of the liquid pressed. 



Fig. 1.— Wooden Wax-pross. 



