Elric
Well-Known Member
REPORT ON THE MANUFACTURES OF THE UNITED STATES AT THE TENTH CENSUS (JUNE 1, 1880),
http://books.googleusercontent.com/...kNOcKZPFGd47rneVaGYlRVo5_wSnD8iStETaFfvq2X55M
TRUING OR STRAIGHTENING.—The straightening of gun-barrels remains a skilled craft, in which mechanical contrivances have not yet superseded hand labor. The straightening is done by shade, the workman looking through the barrel at a horizontal line in a framed glass or upon a window-pane, and the lines of reflection in the bore showing any deviation from straightness. This method superseded straightening by the string or silk cord, which was in use long after the introduction of truing by shade, and sometimes at the same time and place, since truing by shade requires a knack which some find it difficult to acquire. Truing by shade is said to have been practiced by Eli Whitney at an early date; to have been introduced at North's factory, Middletown, Connecticut, by an English workman named Peter Ashton in 1830, and at the Springfield armory and at Waters' factory, at Millbury, Massachusetts, by an English workman named Thomas Smith, and to have been introduced at Harper's Ferry about 1822. It is also stated to have been introduced at Harper's Ferry by Smith after he had left Millbury.
These statements seem conflicting, but the earliest practical introduction of the method as a skilled craft was probably in 1830, by Smith, whose skill was so great that at a time when journeymen's wages were commonly $1 a day he was paid by the gun-barrel, and received $21 a day for himself and boy. His blows upon a twisted barrel (to quote Mr. A. H. Waters) followed each other like the taps of a woodpecker, leaving scarcely a square without the marks of his copper hammer. He was not long left to enjoy this profitable monopoly, as his method was watched and copied, first by Thomas Warner, who afterward became master-armorer at Springfield. In 1832, at Watertown, New York, barrels were still straightened by the use of the bow and the silk cord.
In straightening, the place of the deviation must not only be seen, but the barrel must be properly laid upon the anvil and struck at exactly the right place, or else the blow causes a new bend, instead of rectifying the former one. Straightening usually accompanies smooth-boring, and is done by the same man while the boring is in progress. At this work 40 or 50 barrels a day are considered a fair day's work. On large orders men are sometimes employed to devote themselves entirely to straightening. A specially skillful operative has been known to straighten 124 barrels in a day, keeping two men busy smooth-boring; but this was an unusual rate, some men not being able to straighten more than 30 or 40 in a day. Straightening becomes more difficult with the small-bore barrels of the present day than with the larger bores formerly used.
http://books.googleusercontent.com/...kNOcKZPFGd47rneVaGYlRVo5_wSnD8iStETaFfvq2X55M
TRUING OR STRAIGHTENING.—The straightening of gun-barrels remains a skilled craft, in which mechanical contrivances have not yet superseded hand labor. The straightening is done by shade, the workman looking through the barrel at a horizontal line in a framed glass or upon a window-pane, and the lines of reflection in the bore showing any deviation from straightness. This method superseded straightening by the string or silk cord, which was in use long after the introduction of truing by shade, and sometimes at the same time and place, since truing by shade requires a knack which some find it difficult to acquire. Truing by shade is said to have been practiced by Eli Whitney at an early date; to have been introduced at North's factory, Middletown, Connecticut, by an English workman named Peter Ashton in 1830, and at the Springfield armory and at Waters' factory, at Millbury, Massachusetts, by an English workman named Thomas Smith, and to have been introduced at Harper's Ferry about 1822. It is also stated to have been introduced at Harper's Ferry by Smith after he had left Millbury.
These statements seem conflicting, but the earliest practical introduction of the method as a skilled craft was probably in 1830, by Smith, whose skill was so great that at a time when journeymen's wages were commonly $1 a day he was paid by the gun-barrel, and received $21 a day for himself and boy. His blows upon a twisted barrel (to quote Mr. A. H. Waters) followed each other like the taps of a woodpecker, leaving scarcely a square without the marks of his copper hammer. He was not long left to enjoy this profitable monopoly, as his method was watched and copied, first by Thomas Warner, who afterward became master-armorer at Springfield. In 1832, at Watertown, New York, barrels were still straightened by the use of the bow and the silk cord.
In straightening, the place of the deviation must not only be seen, but the barrel must be properly laid upon the anvil and struck at exactly the right place, or else the blow causes a new bend, instead of rectifying the former one. Straightening usually accompanies smooth-boring, and is done by the same man while the boring is in progress. At this work 40 or 50 barrels a day are considered a fair day's work. On large orders men are sometimes employed to devote themselves entirely to straightening. A specially skillful operative has been known to straighten 124 barrels in a day, keeping two men busy smooth-boring; but this was an unusual rate, some men not being able to straighten more than 30 or 40 in a day. Straightening becomes more difficult with the small-bore barrels of the present day than with the larger bores formerly used.