University of Virginia Library

SHOPS.

The Shop Equipment is throughout of the best quality, the machines
being all from good makers and of sizes ample for the purposes
of instruction. A full outfit of hand tools is maintained at all times.
Each shop is equipped for the instruction of a squad of sixteen students,
this being as large a number as one instructor can properly
direct at once. The Machine Shop is provided with four first-class
engine lathes, illustrating the practice of the best American makers;
with a planer, a shaper, two drill presses, a universal drilling machine
(Brown and Sharpe), and a universal grinder (same makers);
also with a gas forge for tempering tools, a cut-off saw for metal
rods, an emery wheel, and so on. The Wood Shop is furnished
with several small lathes, a large pattern maker's lathe, a jointer, a
planer, a saw bench for slitting and cross-cutting, a band-saw, a jigsaw,
and a wood trimmer for pattern making. The Foundry has a
cupola furnace for working cast iron, a brass furnace, a core oven,
and all needful accessories for moulding and casting; the blast for the
cupola is furnished by a special blower, driven by a small high-speed
steam engine. The Forge Room is equipped with Buffalo down-shaft
forges; and the necessary smith's tools; the draft is furnished by the
same blower, and the exhaust is operated by a fan driven also by the
engine. Shop instruction is given for its educational value. The purpose
of this Department is to train engineers, not artisans; and the
claims of the shops are not permitted to infringe on the truly vital
functions of the laboratories, the drafting rooms, and the lectures.