Operator locates back seam of upper on last. Machine drives two tacks
which hold it in place.]
The shoe as completed up to this point with the parts mentioned
fastened together as shown, is now ready for assembling. The workman,
after placing the last inside the shoe upper, puts it on the spindle of
the Rex Assembling Machine, where he takes care that the seam at the
heel is properly located. He presses a foot lever and a small tack is
driven part way in, to hold the upper in place. He then hands it over
to the operator of the Rex Pulling-Over Machine.
[Illustration: PULLING-OVER MACHINE
Draws shoe upper smoothly down to last. Operator adjusts it so that
each seam occupies correct position on last. Machine automatically
drives back to hold it in place.]
This machine is a very important one; for as the parts of the shoe
upper have been cut to exactly conform to the shape of the last, it is
necessary that they should be correctly placed on the last to secure
the desired results. The pincers of this machine grasp the leather at
different points on each side of the toe; and the operator, standing
in a position from which he can see when the upper is exactly centered,
presses a foot lever, the pincers close and draw the leather securely
against the wood of the last. At this point the operation of the
machine halts. By moving different levers, the workman is able to
adjust the shoe upper accurately, so that each part of it lies in the
exact position it was intended when the shoe was designed. When this
important operation has been completed, the operator again presses a
foot lever, the pincers move toward each other, drawing the leather
securely around the last, and at the same time there are driven
automatically two tacks on each side and one at the toe, which hold the
upper securely in position. These tacks are driven but part way in, so
that they may be afterward removed.
[Illustration: THE LASTING MACHINE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT