A little detective work on the net provided the following derivation:
Pounce:
- A fine powder formerly used to smooth and finish writing paper and soak up ink.
- A fine powder, such as pulverized charcoal, dusted over a stencil to transfer a design to an underlying surface.
tr.v., pounced, pounc·ing, pounc·es.
- To sprinkle, smooth, or treat with pounce.
- To transfer (a stenciled design) with pounce.
[French ponce, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *pōmex, *pōmic-, from Latin pūmex, pumice.]
A sheet of paper with a pattern traced on it is sprinkled with pounce powder. The pounce wheel is then used to trace the pattern onto another surface. It pierces the paper through which a small bit of the pounce powder is transfered to the surface below. In short a precursor to carbon paper.
The wheels are widely available from a number of sources but need to be modified to apply a more rounded rivet type pattern to the surface. One issue is that the spacing is limited to just two choices. One enterprising modeler made his own from a selection of watch gears to obtain scale distances for the rivet pattern.
I've used these in experiments on aluminum tooling foil. The effect is Ok but will not pass the macro lens examination effect. These experiments were the beginning of the present garden path I happen to be on...,
A set of Pounce Wheels:
