DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1311#0199
OF THE WORLD'S INDUSTRY. 167
CHAPTER XXIII.
HARDWARE.
PINS, EDDELSTON AND WILLIAMS—KIRBY, BEARD AND CO.—GOODMAN, ETC.—SHEFFIELD MAN-
UFACTURES— SPRING KNITES, ETC.—BRILLIANT TROPHY—GAS BURNERS, STOVES, ETC.—
ELECTRO-PLATING—METALLIC PENS—BUTTONS.
The limits assigned to the display of articles of hardware were necessarily occupied by an
extensive and miscellaneous collection, embracing the most minute as well as the most
gigantic of manufactured articles; from the delicately formed tiny ribbon pin, to the
ponderous and unwieldy anchor ; from the commonest implement of domestic utility,
to the monster engine of destruction, the enormous cannon exhibited by the Low Moor
ironworks. What wonders might there not be revealed, had we time for entering
minutely into the subject, in the description of the various modes of manufacture, and
the no less various uses of the numerous articles that were ranged under the title of
this chapter? We shall briefly notice a few of the most serviceable appliances to the
requirements of civilised man; and, as "ex pede Herculem" is our motto, for the
present we shall commence with the apparently insignificant article of "pins/' as illus-
trated in the Great Industrial Exhibition of 1851. The number of exhibitors of pins
was very limited. In the Birmingham compartment there were but two—Messrs.
Eddelston and Williams, and Mr. Goodman; Messrs. Kirby, Beard, and Co., exhibiting
in the north transept gallery : and it was a matter of regret that in the machinery depart-
ment none of the mechanism by which pins "are made was exhibited. After examining
the finish and form of the pins in the collection of Messrs. Eddelston and Williams,
we cannot avoid being struck with the immense advance which must have been made
since the time of Queen Elizabeth, when wooden skewers formed an indispensable
adjunct to her Majesty's toilet table. Even during the last [twenty years the improve-
ments have been very considerable. Previously to that time the head of the pin consisted
of a spiral ring of wire, placed upon the shank or shaft of the pin, and fastened to it
by blows of the hammer. The inconvenience which resulted from the heads becoming
loose led to the adoption of a plan, now very general, for making pins with solid heads.
Messrs. Eddelston and Co. exhibited a series of examples, showing the various processes
which a pin undergoes in its progress towards completion. We first saw a small block
of copper and one of spelter; next to these there was a block of brass, formed of the
union of those two metals. These blocks were then shown cut into smaller flat strips—
then partially drawn—and finally drawn out into different thicknesses of wire. The
wire was next seen cut into the required lengths, in the form of " pin blanks"—afterwards
"■pointed" and "'headed"—and finally, the silvered or finished pin. A pair of dies and a
punch, used in forming the head of the pin, were also shown. By means of this
instrument or machine the pin was formed, complete with the head and shaft, out of one
solid piece of wire, instead of by the old process of the wire heads. The solid-headed pin
was invented by Messrs. Taylor and Co. about twenty years since, and was patented by
them, but the patent has now expired. In order to produce the head, the shaft of the
pin is cut a trifle longer than the finished pin is required to be made. The wire thus
cut passes into a mould of the exact length of the pin, and the end of the wire pro-
jecting beyond the length of the mould, is by a sharp blow flattened, and shaped into the
form required for the head. The heads are afterwards burnished, an operation which
adds greatly to their finished appearance. The finished pins we observed were most
CHAPTER XXIII.
HARDWARE.
PINS, EDDELSTON AND WILLIAMS—KIRBY, BEARD AND CO.—GOODMAN, ETC.—SHEFFIELD MAN-
UFACTURES— SPRING KNITES, ETC.—BRILLIANT TROPHY—GAS BURNERS, STOVES, ETC.—
ELECTRO-PLATING—METALLIC PENS—BUTTONS.
The limits assigned to the display of articles of hardware were necessarily occupied by an
extensive and miscellaneous collection, embracing the most minute as well as the most
gigantic of manufactured articles; from the delicately formed tiny ribbon pin, to the
ponderous and unwieldy anchor ; from the commonest implement of domestic utility,
to the monster engine of destruction, the enormous cannon exhibited by the Low Moor
ironworks. What wonders might there not be revealed, had we time for entering
minutely into the subject, in the description of the various modes of manufacture, and
the no less various uses of the numerous articles that were ranged under the title of
this chapter? We shall briefly notice a few of the most serviceable appliances to the
requirements of civilised man; and, as "ex pede Herculem" is our motto, for the
present we shall commence with the apparently insignificant article of "pins/' as illus-
trated in the Great Industrial Exhibition of 1851. The number of exhibitors of pins
was very limited. In the Birmingham compartment there were but two—Messrs.
Eddelston and Williams, and Mr. Goodman; Messrs. Kirby, Beard, and Co., exhibiting
in the north transept gallery : and it was a matter of regret that in the machinery depart-
ment none of the mechanism by which pins "are made was exhibited. After examining
the finish and form of the pins in the collection of Messrs. Eddelston and Williams,
we cannot avoid being struck with the immense advance which must have been made
since the time of Queen Elizabeth, when wooden skewers formed an indispensable
adjunct to her Majesty's toilet table. Even during the last [twenty years the improve-
ments have been very considerable. Previously to that time the head of the pin consisted
of a spiral ring of wire, placed upon the shank or shaft of the pin, and fastened to it
by blows of the hammer. The inconvenience which resulted from the heads becoming
loose led to the adoption of a plan, now very general, for making pins with solid heads.
Messrs. Eddelston and Co. exhibited a series of examples, showing the various processes
which a pin undergoes in its progress towards completion. We first saw a small block
of copper and one of spelter; next to these there was a block of brass, formed of the
union of those two metals. These blocks were then shown cut into smaller flat strips—
then partially drawn—and finally drawn out into different thicknesses of wire. The
wire was next seen cut into the required lengths, in the form of " pin blanks"—afterwards
"■pointed" and "'headed"—and finally, the silvered or finished pin. A pair of dies and a
punch, used in forming the head of the pin, were also shown. By means of this
instrument or machine the pin was formed, complete with the head and shaft, out of one
solid piece of wire, instead of by the old process of the wire heads. The solid-headed pin
was invented by Messrs. Taylor and Co. about twenty years since, and was patented by
them, but the patent has now expired. In order to produce the head, the shaft of the
pin is cut a trifle longer than the finished pin is required to be made. The wire thus
cut passes into a mould of the exact length of the pin, and the end of the wire pro-
jecting beyond the length of the mould, is by a sharp blow flattened, and shaped into the
form required for the head. The heads are afterwards burnished, an operation which
adds greatly to their finished appearance. The finished pins we observed were most