Knock Up

In the warehouse, is to place the sheets of each signature of a work uniformly even at the edges upon each other, after they are taken down from the poles, and previously to their being piled away.

The person who has this to do, takes a quantity of about two quires, (if it be a stout hard paper he may take a little more,) and holding it loosely at the edges with both hands, he bends the ends a little towards him, so that the paper shall form a curve; he then lifts it up a little from the table, and lets it drop upon its edge through his hands, — the curve giving the edge a little firmness, many of the sheets drop down into their places; he repeats this two or three times, and will then, in letting it drop upon the table, bring the lower part nearer to him, so that the outside of the curve may strike first, and throw the sheets gradually up higher at the back; this he will also do two or three times; he then lets the further side rest upon the table, and shuffles the upper sheets gradually away from him, lifting the whole up, and letting the edges drop upon the table, three or four times; repeating these operations soon brings all the edges even, both at the ends and sides; he then lays this taking on one side, and repeats the operation with other takings, laying them on each other, till he has completed the whole.

A soft flimsy paper takes more time in knocking up than a hard paper, as the sheets have not strength enough separately to be driven into their places by striking on the edges.