REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES.

Owing to the variety in the construction of reaping and mowing machines we cannot do other than give a few general hints as to their management.

In selecting a machine, simplicity and strength combined with lightness are the points to be desired. All gearing should be carefully boxed in to protect it from dirt, sticks, &c. The frame and gearing should not be less than 6 inches from the ground, or it will be liable to pick up and be choked by the cut grass.

Perhaps the most important points to see to about a reaping or mowing machine are the cutting knives and fingers. The best class of fingers are made of a combination of wrought iron and steel welded, or of wrought iron with steel points rivetted on. Fingers made of chilled cast or malleable iron are not so good. The speed of the knives has an important bearing on their cutting; it should be sufficient to give a clean sweet cut, allowing time, however, for the corn or grass to clear itself readily. Where there is an undergrowth of clover or weeds the speed may be increased with advantage. The knives should always be kept sharp and in good condition; if they are used dull or worn the work will be unsatisfactory and the machine will draw heavily; a serrated knife should only be used to cut a crop which is quite ripe and clean. Before starting work, oil all the bearings and look carefully to the bolts and nuts. It is important that the finger-bar is bolted firmly to the shoe, and in the best machines when the nuts are made tight they are secured with spring keys.

In folding the finger-bar always see that the balancewheel stands at half throw, as this will prevent the knives being bent or broken. The finger-bar should be kept as nearly parallel with the ground as possible. To prevent accident in changing knives when horses are attached to

the machine, a hook should be placed between the cogs of the driving wheel and spur pinion. If bullocks—who are slower walkers than horses-are used, see that the machine is speeded accordingly. For lubricating purposes use only the best oil, as it is the most efficient and in the end the cheapest. The crank-shaft bearings, the pitman, and the bearings of the knife should be oiled every halfhour, the other bearings every hour.

Combined reaping and automatic sheaf-binding machines or harvesters have lately been introduced. These, in addition to reaping the grain, bind it in sheaves either with string or wire. These machines are of somewhat complex construction, and require careful management; they are, however, very valuable where much corn is grown. Binding the sheaves with wire is objected to by some agriculturists owing to the chance of the wire getting into the thrashing machine drum or into the mouths of the cattle; it, however, makes a somewhat neater job than string. In the best machines with which we are acquainted the binder is made with an iron frame, entirely open at the rear, to accommodate any length of grain and to avoid choking. The twine grasper for knotting is actuated by cam and lever, which is more accurate than the spring arrangement usually employed, less loose sheaves being thrown from the machine unbound.

CHAPTER VIII.

BUILDERS' MACHINERY.

ALTHOUGH machinery, as an aid to building construction, is of comparatively modern introduction, its progress has been great, and it has without doubt prevented the cost of modern house-building and decoration rising to ruinous proportions. The reason of this is not far to seek when we state it may take a man, say, twenty minutes, to shape three feet of Bolection or Architrave moulding by hand, when, with a well-constructed machine, nearly one thousand feet of better-finished work may be produced in the same time.

The economy of using machinery for building construction being admitted, a very important question presents itself What machinery can a builder employ profitably? This question admits of a variety of answers, which would vary according to the nature and magnitude of the business and other circumstances. It may be, however, taken as an axiom that it is better to employ a moderate amount of machinery regularly than a larger amount occasionally; in point of fact, as a rule, it does not pay a builder to use the more complex of woodworking machines, which should be relegated to the sawing and moulding mill proprietor, who is better able to secure an uniform supply of work, wherein lies much of the profit of machinery over hand labour.

As an example, we will take a general builder's business of moderate extent-say, employing thirty to forty men. The following engineering plant should meet its require

ments, and be well and profitably employed :-An engine of not less than eight horse-power; a circular saw or joiner's bench to carry a 36-inch circular saw, arranged with a rising and falling spindle and tenoning and boring apparatus; a vertical spindle moulding and shaping machine; a handpower mortising machine; and a mortar mill, with suitable shafting; in all of the value of about £400. With this plant a very considerable amount of work can be turned out. If the engine is to be fixed permanently, the horizontal type, with a Cornish or Galloway boiler, is to be preferred; if it has to be moved from place to place the ordinary portable engine on wheels is the best form. In this latter case the engine should have light hoisting gear attached, as on a contract of moderate extent this will dispense with the services of several labourers. With the saw bench, deals and boards up to 12 inches deep can be converted and cross-cut for door stuff, &c.; and all kinds of flatting and deepening, plain or feather-edged boards, matched boards, skirtings, scantlings, &c., can be readily turned out. After the wood has been sawn, it can be tenoned, grooved, tongued, rebated, or bored, as desired, and without the aid of very skiful labour.

With the vertical spindle moulding and shaping machine, all ordinary straight or curved mouldings and circularheaded or straight sashes may be worked. Planing, thicknessing, rebating, shaping, and stop-chamfering can also be performed. A piece of wood may be converted into mouldings or otherwise; door rails and similar light work may be planed or thicknessed. It will work equally well in oak and hard woods as in pine or the softer woods. Gothic work for church decoration, pew backs, and other mouldings may be shaped and moulded with facility; and if the cutter spindle is arranged to angle, difficult undercut mouldings may be produced at an immense saving over hand labour. In fact, this machine, properly con

structed and worked, may be pronounced one of the most valuable of all woodworking machines. The operations of the mortising machine and mortar mill are too well known to need notice. We give, however, a few notes as to the management of the latter. All bearings must be kept well greased or oiled, but more especially the centre step; if this is worked dry, the toe of the centre shaft will soon grind off. If the toe of the centre shaft wears so as to cause the pinion and wheel to work too deeply into gear, raise the step by putting a thin piece of wood under. The scrapers should be fixed 1 inch clear of the bottom of the pan, till the mill has been worked some little time and the edges of the false bottom plates are worn smooth, when the scrapers may be put a little nearer if necessary. The scraper arms must be kept well screwed up to the standards. All the crevices along the false bottom plates should be run full of cement before putting the mill to work. See that all bolts are kept properly screwed up. Hoops for hooping rollers when worn and duplicate wearing parts should be kept in stock.

Much of the profit in the use of machinery as an aid to building depends upon its judicious management.* A man should be appointed to work each machine, whose duty it would be to keep the saws or cutters in perfect order, so that they are fit for use when wanted. In many establishments the men are allowed to use the machines haphazard, the result being the tools are always out of order, causing much loss of time and inferior work. Duplicate cutter heads and irons should be provided for the moulding machine, and if any difficulty is experienced in keeping the irons to the same profile, we can recommend the use of circular saucer-shaped cutters. These are turned from the solid, and sharpened from the periphery inwards. Their profile thus remains the same, no matter how badly the * See "Saw Mills, their Arrangement and Management."