The first machine in the stocking-room cuts the sides of the stock to the proper form for turning.  The second saws off the butt-end, and cuts a diagonal line at the breech.  The third is armed with two circular saws, which cut the upper part of the stock to the form of the finished arm.  An iron pattern of the stock is placed in the machine directly under the stock to be turned, upon which rests a guide-wheel, corresponding in size and shape to the two saws above.  The whole is then made to revolve very rapidly, the guide-wheel controlling the action of the cutters, the result being an exact wooden counterpart of the iron pattern.  The fourth machine forms the butt of the stock in the same manner.  The next simply planes three or four places upon the sides of the stock, for the purpose of affording the subsequent machines certain fixed and accurate points for holding it in the frames.  This operation is called spotting.  The next machine performs six separate operations, namely, grooving for the barrel, breechpin, and tang, heading-down, milling, and finish-grooving.  These various operations complete the stock for the exact fitting-in of the barrel.  The next machine planes the top, bottom, and sides of the stock, and the succeeding two are occupied in shaping and bedding for the butt-plates.  The next machine is designed for fitting in the lock, and is the most wonderful of all.  It contains two bits and three cutters pendent from a movable steel frame situated above the stock.  These cutters, or borers, are made to revolve with immense velocity, and are susceptible of various other motions at the pleasure of the workman.  The inevitable iron pattern—­the exact counterpart of the cavity which is designed to be made for the reception of the lock—­is situated in close proximity to the stock, and a guide in the form of the borer is inserted within the pattern, and controls the movements of the borer.  This is ejected by causing the tool to revolve by means of small machinery within the frame, while the frame and all within it move together, in the vertical and lateral motions.  All that the workman has to do is to bring the guide down into the pattern and move it about the circumference and through the centre of it, the cutting tool imitating precisely the motions of the guide, entering the wood and cutting its way In the most perfect manner and with incredible rapidity, forming an exact duplicate of the cavity in the pattern.  It is on this principle, substantially, that all the machines of the stocking-shop are constructed,—­every process, of course, requiring its own peculiar mechanism.  The next machine cuts for the guards and bores for the side-screws of the lock, and the two succeeding cut places for bands and tips.  The next operation is called the second turning, finishing the stock in a very smooth and elegant manner.  The next machine grooves for the ramrod, and the following and last in this department is designed for boring for the ramrod from the point where the groove terminates.  This latter work has always been done by hand until the past winter, and there is as yet but one machine for the purpose in operation at the armory, which, running night and day, is able to bore only six hundred stocks.  The remainder have still to be done by hand, until more machines are constructed.