The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1892-08-25
MY 100000 sabers During Our Civil


readers to learn of the various processes
which must be gone through in the pro-
ductiOn of an acceptable saber blade, to
say nothing of the steel scabbard and
brass hits used for them, and of the
troubles and triumphs Of an arms manu-
facturer during our civil war.
Early in the commencement of our
troubles commenced the manufacture,
at Trenton, New Jersey, of blades only
for a firm in Philadelphia that made
scabbards and hits. At first almost
anything was accepted, with little or no
inspection; but as the government be-
came supplied they became more and
more particular. So l began expert
menting on quality. 1 had a regular
oak testing block made, which is on a
circle of IS inches circumference and a
little less at the butt of the saber, or
where it's butt came. The United States
required them to be struck twice over
this oak block, so that the points would
snap like whip. If the blade remained
bent so that it was perceptibly crooked
either way it was condemned, and a
small letter stamped on the hilt or
tang where it was fastened to the hilt
by going through the hand piece and
being riveted at the upper end.
They must be made of forged bars of
the very best cast steel, and when fin
ished be of certain lengths, widths and
weights to within one ounce either way,
and be of a certain curvature, SO as to
enter and be withdrawn readily from
the scabbard We heated them in an
oven to bright cherry red, then
plunged them endwise, point down, in
to an oil bath; and, in order to be sure
of a good spring temper, they must
come out SO hard that no part of one
could be scratched with the corner of a
hard saw file, and then the temper drawn
down over an open charcoal fire to a
bright pigeon blue, and Strengthened
with a copper mallet while the heat was
the proper curve bent in them edgewise
in the same way. 1t was big days
work for one man to harden, temper,
ten hours. We used the very best whale
oil and kept up the carbon by using in
it quantity of resin and little bees
wax. We kept the oil bath cool by run
ming water around narrow tank-the
water inside and out. / used salt water
that put into my oil bath occasionally
with a sprinkling pot. The water
would settle at the bottom, and l used
a small pump to get it out.
This | found greatly assisted in get
ting them file hard, as we called it, with
out cracking. For the first few months
we lost fully half, that would not pass
inspection. If they were slightly hard
they broke, and that was the end of
them; and if slightly soft they would
stay bent, and that condemned them.
So | kept trying some way of stiffening
the softer ones. l found that by bluing
them they were stiffened so that they
would pass the test, but to polish off
the bluing made them again soft. So
now | must study up some way to take
the bluing off without the polishing. l
found that to put about gallon of
sulphuric acid in half barrel of water,
and plunge them into the acid water
and rub them off quickly with a dry
cloth, the bluing was removed but that
the acid ate into the steel. So / ar
ranged another tank of lime water to
neutralize the acid. l then plunged the
blue-hOt saber into acid water, and from
there into lime water, and rubbed it off
quickly with dry cloth and Viana
lime dip, and l had a most beautiful
polish. | fenced off a small room in
one corner and carried my own key, and
did this work for months and months.
| at last persuaded my inspector, Mr..
Massman, not to stamp on the shanks,
for l had found out new way of re-
tempering them. finally got my work
down so fine that l averaged ninety
nine out of one hundred pieces of steel
that l started on. Another trouble l
had was in getting just enough steel
cut off to make saber and no waste,
as my hammered steel was very irregu
lar in size. SO would stand a lot of
bars on end and run them in small
dish of water until the steel displaced
just so much, and then cut them off at
the water mark. got this so perfect
that the pieces might vary considerably
in length and yet did not vary a quar-
ter of an ounce in weight. After nearly
two years l ventured to invite my in
spector into my private corner and ex-
plain to him my method. Said he, swell,
that cost you some study and ingenuity