Here are two departments. In one the plates are shaved and trimmed
down to fit the wood blocks, which are made in the other department.
Some of these operations are done by hand, but it is very interesting
to see self-working machines planing the sheets of metal to precisely
the required thinness with mathematical exactness. A pointed tool is
set to a certain pitch, and the plate of metal is made to revolve
in such a way that one continuous curl shaving falls until the whole
surface (back) has been planed perfectly true. The wood blocks are
treated in the same way, after being sawn into the required sizes by a
number of circular saws. Another set of workmen fit and join the metal
to the wood, trim the edges, and turn the blocks out type-high and
ready for working on the printing press.