MOULDING. 373 



edges are trimmed with a sharp knife, and two smooth sheets 

 of wax are peeled off. If the slieets are intended for heavy 

 foundation, twice as many di; s are necessary. The wax 

 should be liquid but not hot. If it is too hot, the sheets 

 will crack. To secure rapid work, you must liave a room 

 arranged purposely for the dippers, with a zinc or tin floor 

 to catch the drips of water and wax. 



690. The illustration, here given, (see plate) shows one 

 of the moulding tables in our foundation factory. The sheet 

 wax, after a few days' cooling in a deep and dry cellar, is 

 tempered, in the moulding tank with warm water, and run 

 through the rollers. The latter are lubricated with starch, 

 or soapsuds. When soapsuds are used, it is very import- 

 ant that the sheets be pressed so tightly in the rollers, as 

 to come out dry. This also makes a better print. The 

 foundation, as fast as it comes from the rollers, is laid upon 

 a hard wood block — a dozen sheets or more, at a time. A 

 wooden pattern is laid over them, and they are trimmed to 

 the proper size, by a knife made for the purpose, whose 

 blade has been wet with soapsuds. The projecting edges 

 are trimmed off, and the damaged sheets are melted over 

 for future use. 



For the thin grades of foundation, the narrower the 

 sheets are, the thinner the foLindation can be made. A 

 wide sheet spreads the rollers by springing the shafts to a 

 certain extent, and is heavier. 



691. The manufacture of foundation, which at first 

 seemed likely to be undertaken by every Apiarist, has 

 become an industry of itself, owing to the greater skill and 

 speed acquired by those who make it daily. It might be 

 compared to cigar making. Any Apiarist can make wax 

 into sheets and run it through rollers, and any farmer can 

 raise tobacco and roll its leaves into cigars, but, to the 

 uninitiated, a neat sheet of foundation is as diflicult to 

 make as an elegant cigar. 



