ordinary intermittent kind. _g_ is a groove in the
bed, in which lies the lower vertical web of the rod, of cruciform
section, the two horizontal webs lying upon the bed with the edge of
the web to be notched lying just over the die, in which works the
punch, B, of which B' is the cutting edge. The punch is operated in
the usual way, its lower end, which does not rise out of the die,
acting as a guide. B* is the beveled stop in the groove, _g_, which by
fitting in the notches, _b_ or _b'_, corrects inaccuracies of the
feed.

Fig. 2_a_ is a sectional plan and Fig. 2_b_ an elevation of the tool
by which the second operation is performed, the same tool being also
used for performing the third operation. (Illustrated in Fig. 3_a_.)
_h h_ are a pair of bed-dies having a space _h'_ between them to
receive the lower web of the bar, and having notches, C C and D D, in
their inner ends, forming counterparts of the punches by which the
pairs of mortises, _c d_, Fig. 2, are punched in the pair of webs
lying upon the bed-dies, _h_. These bed-dies are fitted to slide a
little in opposite directions upon a suitable bed plate and are caused
by the inclined cams, _i'_, on the guides, _i_, of the press head
(which pass through corresponding apertures in the bed-dies, _h_) to
approach each other at the moment the punches come down on the work,
so as to grip the lower web of the rod and support the pair of webs
being operated on close up to the sides of the lower web lying in the
space _h'_, while when the punches rise the bed-dies move apart, so
that the web is quite free in said space _h'_ and the rod may be
easily fed forward for a fresh stroke of the press. B* is the beveled
stop in the space, _k'_, as in the tool first described. The bed-dies
_h_ have a second set of notches C' D' at their outer ends, similar to
but longer than those C D, so that by reversing the bed-dies they will
form counterparts for a second set of punches corresponding thereto
for performing the third operation--_i.e._, enlarging the mortises, _c
d_, as represented in Figs. 3 and 3_a_; or, instead of adapting the
dies, _h_, to perform the two operations, separate tools may be used
for the second and third operations.

Fig. 4_a_ is an elevation and Fig. 4_b_ a sectional plan of the tool
for performing the fourth operation--namely, removing the portion
_a*_, Figs. 3, 3_a_, 4_a_, and 4_b_. This is done by a pair of
punches, A*, corresponding in shape to the ends