the much more simple and
familiar process by which a shoemaker makes a pair of shoes, and he
will find how inadequate mere words are to describe any mechanical
operation.[13] Suffice it to say, that the machinery was of the most
beautiful manufacture and finish, and even at this day will bear
comparison with the most perfect machines which can be turned out with
all the improved appliances of modern tools. The framing was of
cast-iron, while the parts exposed to violent and rapid action were all
of the best hardened steel. In turning out the various parts, Maudslay
found his slide rest of indispensable value. Indeed, without this
contrivance, it is doubtful whether machinery of so delicate and
intricate a character could possibly have been executed. There was not
one, but many machines in the series, each devoted to a special
operation in the formation of a block. Thus there were various
sawing-machines,--the Straight Cross-Cutting Saw, the Circular
Cross-Cutting Saw, the Reciprocating Ripping-saw, and the Circular
Ripping-Saw. Then there were the Boring Machines, and the Mortising
Machine, of beautiful construction, for cutting the sheave-holes,
furnished with numerous chisels, each making from 110 to 150 strokes a
minute, and cutting at every stroke a chip as thick as pasteboard with
the utmost precision. In addition to these were the Corner-Saw for
cutting off the corners of the block, the Shaping Machine for
accurately forming the outside surfaces, the Scoring Engine for cutting
the groove round the longest diameter of the block for the reception of
the rope, and various other machines for drilling, riveting, and
finishing the blocks, besides those for making the sheaves.

The total number of machines employed in the various operations of
making a ship's block by the new method was forty-four; and after being
regularly employed in Portsmouth Dockyard for upwards of fifty years,
they are still as perfect in their action as on the day they were
erected. They constitute one of the most ingenious and complete
collections of tools ever invented for making articles in wood, being
capable of performing most of the practical operations of carpentry
with the utmost accuracy and finish. The machines are worked by a
steam-engine of 32-horse power, which is also used for various other
dockyard purposes. Under the new system of block-making it was found
that the articles were better made, supplied with much greater
r