DOOT: 689.—Other Workers

A Dictionary of Occupational Terms Based on the Classification of Occupations used in the Census of Population, 1921.

Sub-order 4.—Other Workers

689.—Other Workers

assembler (trouser presses)

screws together wooden lengths and metal cross pieces of trouser press; screws on press-screws, and trouser-stretching apparatus; puts two or more sheets of cardboard between bottom and top, and screws up.

bait painter

paints with bright colour, by hand, metal imitations of bait made by bait maker (688) q.v.

bobbin tip fixer (textile machinery)

fixes metal tips or shields on wooden or papier mache bobbins, by hand or with a power or hand press, to prevent friction on spindle.

bust fitter

receives bust from bust maker (558) q.v., and wooden platters, cut to shape, from a saw mill; chooses platters of suitable shape and size and nails them into bust.

button borer

see button driller.

button bottomer

takes off rough parts, levels back and front of button blank, and reduces it to uniform thickness; fits blank into chuck of a small lathe; starts lathe by hand lever, and presses a cutting edge against blank by hand; removes turned blank and repeats operations.

button burnisher

see button polisher.

button cleaner ; button dipper

cleans vegetable, ivory and mother of pearl button blanks, by dipping them in vats of chemicals and wiping them dry, in preparation for polishing.

button closer

fixes backs of metal buttons, made in two parts, to front, and closes them up by hand or in a press machine.

button cutter

cuts button moulds or blanks from various materials by hand or by means of automatic cutting machine; for metal or celluloid buttons, places sheets of metal or celluloid under am automatic or hand-worked stamping machine fitted with dies; operates machine by hand or by means of hand levers; removes cut blanks by hand; for composition, vegetable, ivory or pearl buttons, cuts button blanks by means of mechanically-driven tubular saw, operated by means of hand levers; holds sheet composition or other material against revolving saw edge, and cuts each blank separately.

button dipper

see button cleaner.

button driller ; button borer, button holer, button piercer

makes holes in button by inserting button in a chuck under the automatic drilling machine, operated by means of hand lever; removes drilled button and places fresh button in chuck; occasionally drills button with hand drill, the blank being fixed in a chuck.

button faker-out, button finisher

see button polisher.

button holer (button making)

see button driller.

button maker

general term for workers who assemble previously prepared parts of buttons.

button maker, linen

operates machine for making linen buttons; feeds machine with linen discs and metal rings and depresses levers governing mechanism joining linen and metal.

button piercer

see button driller.

button polisher ; button burnisher, button faker-out, button finisher

holds button, either in hand or in hand chuck, against revolving mop; feeds mop with wet or dry polishing composition.

button raiser

as for button stamper.

button shanker

fixes shank, i.e. part of button sewn to fabric, on button, by placing shank in a chuck in top half of press, and button in bottom half of press and operating lever by hand, causing shank to he pressed into back ,of button; removes completed button.

button sorter

examines buttons and rejects faulty work; sorts buttons according to size and quality.

button stamper

stamps design on button mould or blank by hand or ower press; places blank in bottom alf of press; fits die in top half and operates machine by means of hand lever, or, by turning a hand screw; removes stamped button from press.

carrier-off (photographic plates, etc.)

see putter-up.

cleaner (photographic plates, etc.), glass cleaner ; glass washer

places glass plates, before they are coated with emulsion, on travelling hand of machine, which carries them past brushes revolving in water or in cleansing solution, e.g. soda and water; switches machine on or off as required.

collector, glass collector (photographic plates, etc.)

collects plates from coating machine, places them in racks, and carries racks and plates to drying room; removes racks of dried plates for packing.

dipper, mantle dipper, gas mantle dipper, incandescent mantle dipper

dips seasoned mantles in a collodion solution and places in collodion dipping oven to dry, so that mantles assume a flexible protective coating.

doll dresser

receives body and limbs from doll stuffer (688) q.v. and doll's clothes from machinist (419) q.v.; sews limbs to body of doll, by hand, with needle and thread, and attaches doll's clothes by fitting them, and sewing them in position.

factory hand (diamond tools)

assists diamond tool maker (688) q.v.; files, solders, screws, and does other less skilled work in connection with diamond tool making.

feeder ; putter-on (photographic plates)

puts glass plates on travelling-band of plate coating machine.

film cutter (photographic films), film slitter

(i) puts rolls of celluloid films at back of cutting machine; switches machine on or off as required, and regulates speed of machine; regulates amount of film thrown forward to be cut by adjusting a screw eccentric;

(ii) cuts films to required dimensions in small hand guillotine.

film spooler (photographic films)

places spool, which is to receive films, on spindle of machine; places film, and paper covering it, accurately at point indicated by mark on machine; slips end of covering paper into slit in spool; moves switch or lever to set in motion machine, which automatically winds film and' covering paper round spool.

fine finisher (tobacco pipes, not clay)

holds mouthpiece against revolving felt-covered disc containing polish; is often done by polisher (wood pipe) (499).

firelighter maker

(i) makes np bundles of chips, sticks, shavings, etc., and wires or ties them together; sometimes also dips them in combustible materials;

(ii) feeds hoppers of machine which mixes sawdust with creosote and compresses it into cakes; stacks cakes on racks to dry; when cakes are dried, cuts them on circular saw into prescribed sizes.

fly paper maker

(i) passes papers, which are ready cut to shape and size required, through a slit in gumming apparatus, where they are automatically gummed on both sides, and pulls them through on other side;

(ii) term loosely applied to cover all persons employed in fly paper factory, including those engaged in folding up or rolling paper, boxing or packing it, in stamping out tinplate to be used in making containers, and in fitting together parts of tin containers round a roll of fly paper and passing end of roll through a slit in one of sides.

glass examiner (photographic plates)

examines glass plates, for defects, after they have been washed and before they are coated with emulsion.

glass washer (photographic plates)

see cleaner.

goffer (artificial flowers)

curls edge and presses petal into shape with hand goffer, a gas or electric heated iron of special shape.

impregnator (incandescent mantles)

soaks mantles in solution and passes through rollers to abstract surplus fluid.

ink pad maker, ink pad worker ; stamping pad maker

covers small slab of wood with linen; stuffs with cotton wool or similar material, between wood and linen; secures the whole, and soaks pad in ink; fixes pad in tin box.

ironer (artificial flowers)

(i) polishes artificial leaves, grasses, petals, etc., with hot iron;

(ii) irons natural ferns after they have been dyed by shader (688) q.v.

mantle maker, gas mantle maker, incandescent mantle maker

general terms for any worker engaged in any process of gas mantle making, e.g. burner-off (688), seasoner (688), dipper, impregnator, sewer (419) q.v.

mould maker (artificial flowers)

feeds mould or jig with cotton wool, which is caught up by a spindle revolving horizontally in mould; breaks off wool when enough has been caught up, and applies paste with a brush as wool revolves on spindle, thus shaping and compressing it to form artificial fruit, berries, etc.; pulls a lever which releases moulded wool, and withdraws mould and wool from revolving spindle; takes wool from mould.

mounter, puzzle mounter

pastes puzzle picture on face of puzzle, with rush and paste, and packs puzzles; often does other unskilled work in factory during slack periods.

oiler (printer's rollers)

dips mop in oil and rubs up and down inside surfaces of cylinders of mould gun, see centreman (688), to ensure that composition will not adhere to mould on cooling; assists centreman in charging mould guns, carrying spindles, etc.

paperer-on (whips)

pastes paper on prepared cane handle of whip by hand; cf. whip stocker (688).

preserver (artificial flowers)

covers natural grasses, flowers, etc., with preservative varnish or paint by dipping, spraying, etc.

putter-on (photographic plates)

see feeder.

putter-up (photographic plates) ; carrier-off

carries racks of coated plates from coating machines to drying room.

racker (photographic plates)

takes coated plates out of coating machine and places them in racks to dry.

reeler (photographic films)

as for reeler (photographic paper), except that machine is smaller and rolls shorter than those used in paper reeling.

reeler (photographic paper)

receives paper as it comes from drying room; guides end of roll of paper through reeling machine; laps paper round a beam or spindle, and clamps this in position in machine; switches on power to set machine in motion; watches reeling carefully, and regulates speed of running of rollers to adjust tension on paper as it is being rolled.

sock cutter, sock maker

cuts out socks of cork, felt, loofah, etc., for insertion in boots and shoes, by machine press and cutting die, or by hand or power shears; sometimes specifically designated, e.g. cork sock maker.

sorter (photographic plates, etc.)

sorts out different kinds and thicknesses of glass, etc., on arrival at factory, before they receive treatment of any kind.

sprayer (artificial flowers and leaves)

spreads a length of fabric on bench; fills container of spraying apparatus with basic colour, which is ready mixed; pulls trigger, setting apparatus in motion, and sprays fabric with basic colour; fills container with second colour and sprays fabric therewith diagonally at intervals, in narrow stripes, so that shading effect is produced in petals, etc., when cut from fabric; cf. sprayer (688).

stamping pad maker

see ink pad maker.

stripper (printer's rollers)

strips worn composition from' metal spindles of printers' rollers with small hand knife; wipes spindles clean, ready for painter (printer's rollers) (592) and centreman (688) q.v.

syringe cottoner

binds cotton, by hand, round plungers of syringes; usually also boxes and wraps up syringes.

tag maker (paper fasteners)

performs one or more of following operations; cuts thin sheet brass into strips, by turning handle of small hand cutting machine; cuts strips on same machine into pieces suitable for stamping; stamps pieces to channel-shaped section in a stamping machine worked by foot treadle, cf. stamper (254); cuts cord to short lengths with scissors or hand knife; inserts end of cord into channel-shaped sections of brass strip and closes sections by pressing foot treadle of stamp which bends over and flattens sides of sections; sometimes also makes boot laces in same way. cf. boot lace tagger (429).

tipper (penholders)

places steel tips or holders on pen sticks.

trimmer (printer's rollers)

trims rough ends of composition rollers after covering by centreman (688) q.v. and prior to examination by tester (688) q.v.

veiner, veiner and marker (artificial leaves)

lights gas warming bed of machine; selects a leaf, from tray of cut leaf-shapes, and places it in brass veining mould, places mould in bed of machine; turns wheel which causes press to descend upon mould and so vein leaf; reverses wheel to raise press; takes out veined leaf, puts in another leaf, and repeats process.

waxer (artificial flowers)

stiffens, by hand, finished artificial flowers by dipping them in warm wax; sometimes also dips them in chemicals to make them waterproof.

wool charger (surgical appliances)

packs wool into padded instrument cases, or into padded parts of surgical appliances, and sews up casing, as required, to make complete.

From: A Dictionary of Occupational Terms Based on the Classification of Occupations used in the Census of Population, 1921,
Ministry of Labour, 1927. Digitised by Peter Christian, August, 2016. This text is in the Public Domain.

ORDER XX.—WORKERS IN MIXED OR UNDEFINED MATERIALS (not elsewhere enumerated)

Sub-order 4.—Other Workers

689.—Other Workers