Note 16 — Chapter I
Louisa S. Maclehose translation
Reciprocating saws of the kind Vasari mentions, mostly of soft steel or iron, and also circular saws, are in use at the present day, the abrasives being emery, or a new material called ‘carborundum.’ This consists in minute crystals of intense hardness gained by fusing by an electric current a mixture of clay and similar substances. See The Times, Engineering Supplement, Oct. 31, 1906.