204 
COMB FOUNDATION 
the cells, also strengthened the sheet itself. 
Up to this time the article had been made 
between engraved flat metal plates; but 
Wagner was the first to conceive the idea 
of turning out the product between a pair 
of suitably engraved or stamped rolls op¬ 
erated on the principle of a mangle or a 
common laundry wringer. But, evidently, 
be never developed the principle. 
FOUNDATION-ROLLS. 
Tn 1866 the King brothers of New York, 
and in 1874 Frederic Weiss, made founda¬ 
tion-rolls ; but, apparently, the product 
that they turned out from these rolls was 
very crude. It was not until 1875 that A. I. 
« 
Original Washburn foundation-mill. 
Root, in collaboration with a friend of his, 
A. Washburn, a fine mechanic, brought out 
a machine on the mangle principle that 
turned out sheets good enough and rapidly 
enough to be of commercial importance. 
This old original Washburn machine was 
so nearly perfect that its product was the 
equal of that from any cut mill made on a 
similar pattern today. 
About this time, also, or perhaps a little 
later, Frances Dunham and J. Vandevort 
of New York built rolls that turned out an 
excellent product. About the same time 
J. E. Yan Deusen, also of New York, built 
a machine that made foundation having flat 
bases, and incorporated in it fine wires. 
While the flat bases were not natural, of 
course, yet the purpose was to get a thinner 
base and to use wire. The bees, it is true, 
would reconstruct the bases, but they ap¬ 
parently did not take to flat-bottomed 
foundation as well as to the article having 
natural bases, and it subsequently disap¬ 
peared from the market. In later years 
Charles Olilm of Wisconsin built a ma¬ 
chine for engraving rolls with angle bases 
by the use of cutting-knives or gravers. 
Early in 1900 E. B. Weed, the man who 
developed what is known as the “Weed 
process” foundation, worked out a plan 
for making rolls using metal type, cast at 
a type-foundry, and of the same metal 
that is used in printers’ type. This orig¬ 
inal machine developed some defects that 
were not easy to overcome. Final!v in 
1918-1919 H. C. Blanchard and 11. H. 
Root worked out the problem, so that it is 
now possible to make a comb foundation 
by using die-cast faces that are a perfect 
duplicate of the bottom of natural comb. 
The new foundation, including a method 
of refining, is sold under the trade name 
of Airco. 
It was not possible, by using cutting 
knives, to engrave rolls so as to give the 
exact natural base; but it was possible to 
make a steel die perfect in all respects, 
and from this to cast 
hard-metal type that 
would give for the first 
time in the world’s history 
a comb foundation having 
a base with the same an¬ 
gles and nearly as thin as 
in natural comb. The dia¬ 
gram accompanying will 
explain more exactly. The 
old engraved or cut face 
on soft metal is shown in 
the heavy black line 
marked B. The new one 
is shown by the light line 
, , Drawing illustrat- 
with the sharper angles— ing the difference 
a difference of 20 degrees. ]? etw f e f. tlle , Airc ° 
° . foundation A, and 
Until 1919 no foundation the old founds- 
i ,i i i tion, B. The lat- 
eA ei ptlt OB tile mai ket tor has the thick- 
had a base that the bees er b , ase > the flatter 
angle, and the 
cud not have to modify, unavoidable d i s- 
requiring, of course, the 
outlay of a good deal of physical energy on 
the part of the bees, to say nothing of the 
time consumed in reconstructing the base. 
As a matter of fact, the bees after a 
fashion worked over a flat-bottomed foun¬ 
dation of years ago, as was previously 
explained. The old foundation from 
the engraved rolls was not accurate, be- 
