Draini7ig'Tiles and Soles, 99 



being provided with a catch on each spoke, on its arriving at the 

 spring F, falls into, and is locked by it. By this motion the 

 piston and clay has been raised about one inch, or the thickness 

 of a tile ; the operator then leaves hold of the spoke, and with 

 the strike cuts off a slice of clay, equal in thickness to the space 

 through which the piston and mass of clay has been raised ; the 

 strike being guided in passing from front to back of the mould 

 by the edges of the same. The nearest boy now lifts off the 

 slice, lays it upon a tile horse, or bending- block. Figs. 4 and 5^ 



Fig. 4. Fig. 5. 



where the tile is put into form by bending the slice of clay 

 on the horse. This operation is repeated until the mould is 

 emptied. The boy who removes the slice then moistens the 

 inside of the mould with a wet cloth, or other wet substance ; and 

 while the man is refilling the mould, both boys are employed in 

 washing down the bended tiles, and laying them in the drying 

 shelves. 



In making soles or flat tiles, the same process is followed, 

 except that in this case the strike is furnished with one or two 

 cross cutters, as shown by the dotted marks a, a, in Fig. 3, which, 

 simultaneously with the cutting of the slice, divides it into two or 

 three separate portions. These are taken up by the boys, and 

 removed directly to the shelves. 



The table or stool that bears the horses is a very slight fabric, 

 and is furnished with a water trough ; but no sand-box, that ma- 

 terial not being required in this method of moulding tiles. 



The horses. Figs. 4 and 5, are in two parts, the upper or curved 

 part being fitted to the other by means of a groove and feather. 

 They are covered with flannel, which, when moistened, allows 

 the tile to part freely from them. In lifting the tile to the shelf, 

 the upper part only of the horse is lifted with the tile. The 

 strike. Fig. 3, is a piece of hard wood, three-fourths of an inch 

 thick, and shaped as in the figure. A thin brass- wire is stretched 

 between the points b b, which forms the cutter for slicing ; and in 

 the strike for cutting soles, the cross-cutters a a are added ; the 

 extremities are formed into handles, by which the operator holds 

 the strike. 



The operations effected by this machine being purely prac- 

 tical, it sometimes happens that the moulder succeeds but in- 

 differently for a week or two at first ; but that period will gene- 



H 2 



