ORDER VIII.—WORKERS IN PRECIOUS METALS AND ELECTRO PLATE

Sub-order 1.—Workers in Precious Metals and Electro Plate

285.—Polishers and Scratch Brushers

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brusher, scratch ; scratcher

polishes articles, e.g., plate or jewellery, during and after process of plating or gilding, by holding them against a fine wire brush revolving on a lathe, while a stream of lubricant, e.g., soap and water, size and sour beer, etc., automatically supplied, keeps brush moist.

brusher, wire

a scratch brusher q.v. who polishes plated parts of machines, e.g., sewing machines, cycles and motors, using water as a lubricant, and a coarse wire brush.

brusher-in, scratch

a scratch brusher q.v. who removes scratches from surface of jewellery, or gold, silver or plated articles.

buffer ; sander

prepares gold and silver articles for pollster q.v.; removes surface marks from jewellery, and polishes metal articles ready for plating, by holding article against a leather or felt-faced wheel revolving on a lathe, the wheel being sprinkled with fine sand or other abrasive, mixed with oil or grease; sometimes specifically designated according to abrasive used, e.g., sand buffer, or according to article buffed, e.g., hollow-ware buffer, spoon and fork buffer.

burnisher, gold and silver burnisher

rubs, by hand, gold and silver articles, and imitation jewellery with a burnisher, a tool of polished steel (or agate and other stone) lubricated with soap solution, thereby closing pores of metal and producing polished surface.

cutter-out's assistant

see rubber.

dollier (silversmith's)

a lathe polisher q.v. who polishes the insides of silver or electro-plate hollow-ware by means of a revolving dolly, i.e., a wooden tool covered with swansdown or woollen and silken fibre.

finisher

(i) removes blemishes from surface of plated articles and polishes, using a machine lathe fitted with a revolving buff, dolly or mop, which he sprinkles with lime, whiting, rouge or other abrasive;

(ii) gives final polish to jewellery to remove marks, scratches or blemishes and to improve colour by using a buffing lathe or by rubbing article, by hand, with rouge, washing it in warm water, and finally drying it, and polishing it with a leather; sometimes specifically designated according to material used or article worked upon, e.g., silver finisher, plater's finisher, spoon and fork finisher.

mopper

see polisher, lathe.

mopper, grease

a lathe polisher q.v. who polishes articles on a" bob" or mop of linen or other material, on which is rubbed an abrasive composition over grease powder.

polisher, hand

(i) rubs colouring polish or rouge on silver plate, etc., and after polishing, wipes off rouge with a wash leather; washes article in warm water, and dries it with a leather;

(ii) polishes gold and silver settings for jewellery, by hand, with sandpaper, rough stone, and buffs; washes article in hot water with soap, and dries it in boxwood or hot sawdust; for finer settings works with sewing thread soaked in paste; sometimes specifically designated, e.g., gold polisher, jewellery polisher, plater's polisher, silver polisher, spoon and fork hand polisher; cf. lathe polisher.

polisher, lathe ; mopper

polishes articles of gold, silver, and electroplate with a buff mop on a lathe, using such abrasives as sand, lime, pumice, emery or rouge; removes the minimum amount of metal in the process; sometimes specifically designated, e.g., case polisher, gold polisher, hollow-ware polisher, jewellery polisher, plater's polisher, silver polisher, spoon and fork polisher.

rubber ; cutter-out's assistant, shearer's assistant

assists cutter-out (287) q.v. or press worker (286) q.v. by removing "fash" or uneven surfaces, with a file, or by rubbing on a file bed.

rubber-down

rubs down, by hand, on a piece of specially prepared hard stone, gold or silver metal parts which have been cut or stamped in a press, thereby removing roughness and producing a smooth surface in preparation for soldering.

sander

see buffer.

scratcher

see brusher, scratch.

shearer's assistant

see rubber.

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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.