Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1885-07-24
TABLE CUTLERY.
How Table KNIVES, Forks, Etc. are
HIade-IntereStIngP Processes.

%A11A ~
How Table KNIVES, Forks, Etc., are
made-IntereSting Processes.
American cutlery is now iinding its
way all over the world, and knives,
shears, scythes, and planes of our man.
ufacture are to be found in the ware
houses OF most large English cities. In
1872 the importation ef cutlery into the
United states amounted to $40, 500, 900,
which was cut down in 1880 to about
5000, 600 year, beside which $500, 600
worth of domestic goods were exported
in that year. In the manufacture of axes
the United States have made most mar
velous advances, surprising all other
countries, except Canada, which bears
an equally good reputation for making
these useful implements.
Good table knives are made of steel
and iron welded together; the part
which goes into the handle Called tech
nically the tang in England) and the
shoulder are of iron, and the blade of
steel. The tang and shoulder are forged
from bar iron, and the blade from shear
or cast steel, Knife blades, razor blades,
and other small articles are usually
forged into their required shape while
still attached to the bar, which serves
for the workman to hold them by. When
the bar becomes too short, it is grasped
in a pair of tongs held close by ring
which clamps them by sliding
up their conical handles Two
men are employed in forging such work.
The principal workman, or fireman, as he
is sometimes called, uses a small ham,
mer of two to four pounds weight, while
the Zimmerman yields the hammer,
weighing from ten to fifteen pounds.
The fireman, who attends the heating as
well as the anvil work, directs the ham
norman, whose blows merely follow
those of the small directing hammer of
the fireman. In drawing down or re-
ducing a bar both in length and width,
the fiat face of the hammer is used; but
when the length or breadth alone is to
be extended, only the narrow edge OF
the hammer is used The concavity of
razor blades is made by hammering the
blade on small round-fuced anvil; the
notch, or nail hole, of penknife is
struck by means of chisel of the re.
quired form. Superior work, such as
razor blades, are ''smithed" after forging,
that is, beaten upon an anvil, to con.
dense the metal as much as possible, and
slightly ground or scorched upon a
rough stone, to finish the shaping and
remove the scale, or black oxidized sur
face, which would interfere with the
color of the tempering.
Common knives are made entirely OF
iron, and the difference of price arises
not merely from the difference in cost of
the material, but from the greater facility
of working. 1t should also be understood
that, in many articles composed of steel
welded to iron, the saving of steel is not
the only advantage, for steel being more
brittle than wrought iron, it is very de,
sirable, in all articles subject to trans
verse breaking strain or to conclusion,
that every part except the cutting OF
working edge should be of iron. Thus a
Ratchet made entirely of steel would be
less durable than one of iron with a
welded steel cutting edge, and SO Of
other articles.
Table forks are forged rudely into the
shape required, first as though but sin
gle thick prong were required. The part
for the prongs is then beaten ont, and a
stamping die is brought down upon it,
which forms the prongs, with thin film
of steel between them; this is cut out by
q cutting die. Then they are softened and
filed up, again hardened and tempered
and ground to smooth and finish. The
dry grinding of forks, needles, etc., is a
very deleterious trade, on account of the
particles of steel which enter the nostrlls
Ct the workmen, and produce most pain.
full irritation, followed by a peculiar
disease called GRINDERS asthma" which
is said to shorten life so seriously that
few dry grinders, exposed to the steel
dust, reach forty years of age. Many
remedies have been proposed for this. A
magnetic mouthpiece was invented; but
the workmen would not wear it, on &C.
count of its novelty, it's grotesque APP
pearance, the trouble of cleaning it, and
the belief that if their trade were more
healthy, greater numbers would enter it,
and wages be reduced. A revolving fan,
which sets in motion current of air,
that is carried by pipe to the outside
of the building, has been used with
greater success, and is now in general
use when it can be applied, though its
introduction was much opposed by the
workmen.-Scientlfc american.