ARTIFICIAL AIDS TO COMB-BUILDING. 
l8 
amateur would succeed w^ere he to use a layer 
of one or two inches only of wax over w^ater, in a 
sufficiently deep vessel. More dips and more cold 
water are required, but the resulting sheets are more 
even in thickness, and may be converted, w'ithout a 
foundation machine, into a practically useful founda- 
tion, as hereafter explained. 
Let us return to the type-metal plates and the manner 
of using them. After lying in a bath of soapy water, 
at i2odeg., to soften and prevent sticking, the w^ax 
sheets were placed between the plates, which were 
generally backed by a pair of strong, hinged boards. 
Fig. 48.— Cheshire’s Pla.ster Mould and Block for Making 
Artificial Midrib, in Section (Scale, J). 
A, Midrib in situ—tb, Top Bar of Frame ; sb, Side Bar ; bb, Bottom Bar ; sc, Screw ; 
prn, Plaster Mould. B, Top Bar Carrying Midrib— Letterings as before. 
used like lemon-squeezers, when a fairly sharp im- 
pression was produced. The plans for fixing embossed 
sheet into frames apply equally to modern foundation, 
and so need now receive no attention. All attempts 
at using these sheets of full size failed. No sooner 
w’ere they warmed by the bees than their stamped 
pittings became shallower, and the sheets stretched. 
Practice showed that guides i^in. or 2 in. deep could 
not with advantage be exceeded, and so I started a 
process which must not be altogether omitted, as it 
enabled me to use full sheets with perfect success 
