IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF KNIVES AND FORKS, AND IN HANDLES FOR THE SAME.
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Theodore Griffin, of 166, Fleet Street,
in the City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF KNIVES AND FORKS, AND IN HANDLES FOR THE SAME.'
A communication from abroad by Charles Moore, of Westbrook, in
the County of Middlesex, Connecticut, in the United States of
America.
Sealed the 12th November 1869, and dated the 14th May 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Theodore Griffin
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 14th May 1869.
I, JAMES THEODORE GRIFFIN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF KNIVES AND FORKS, AND IN HANDLES FOR THE
SAME," to be as follows:-
The objects of this Invention are, first, to manufacture the blades,.

page_text: bolsters, and tangs of table and dessert knives and forks of separate
pieces of metal.
And, secondly, To form the handles of one or different materials,
in order that when complete they may present a novel and ornamental
appearance.
The first part of the Invention consists in making the blade by casting
or otherwise, and forming a notch or recess in the handle end thereof, in
which notch cut a screw thread for screwing the tang or wire into.
On the same end of the blade I slide a bolster, which has a slit in it to
fit the blade. The outer end of the tang is also screw threaded for the
handle to be screwed on to; the handle abuts against the bolster, and
when screwed up a pin may be passed through it and the tang to hold
them firmly in place and prevent their becoming unscrewed.
The second part of the Invention consists in forming the handles of
two or more pieces of the same or different materials, and in holding all
of them in place by a screwed on end piece or knob, or otherwise.
This method enables me to produce varieties of shapes of handles, and
by the employment of different materials, such as an ivory knob, a
metal tubular stem, and a pearl ferrule or ring I can produce novel and
highly ornamental handles.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Theodore Griffin in the Great Seal Patent
Oflice on the 13th November 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
THEODORE GRIFFIN, of 166, Flect Street, in the City of London, send 2
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc- 3
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said James Theodore Griffin, Her
special licence that I, the said Jamies Theodore Griffin, my executors,

page_text: the handle
abuts against the bolster, and when screwed up a pin g
may be passed through it and the tang to hold them firmly in place
and prevent their becoming unscrewed, as represented in Figure 5,
which a view of a knife with all the parts composing it put together.
The second part of the Invention consists in forming the handles of
two or more pieces of the same or different materials, and in holding all
of them in place by a screwed on end piece or knob, or otherwise
This method enables me to produce varieties of shapes of handles, and
by the employment of different materials, such as an ivory knob, a
metal tubular stem, and a pearl ferrule or ring I can produce novel and
highly ornamental handles.
Figure 6 clearly represents a knife with the handle in section to shew
how the tubular stem is held in place by the rings i and ; when the
knob is screwed on to the end of the tang 4, so as to bring the
ring against the bolster c, and firmly bind all the parts in a secure
manner. As before stated the tubular stem or stems h, h, may be of
metal, or of ivory, or vulcanite, or in fact of any material, and either
plain or ornamental to suit the taste of the manufacturer, or of the
public; and so in the same manner the rings i, j, may be of any
material different from the stems, or of the same materials as the stems
if necessary, so that properly speaking an almost endless variety of
mixed colors or materials may be so combined as to obtain a desired
effect.
In some cases I make the handle of only one piece of material, as
shown in Figure 5, or of a number of pieces, as shown in Figure 6; or
if it is found necessary to make the handle of a series of rings or ferrules
strung as it were upon the tang I can do so.
Among the advantages to be gained by this Invention is, that should
by any accident or other cause one blade of a set of knives become
damaged and useless that blade can easily be removed and a fresh one
inserted in its place, whereby the whole set is again rendered complete.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,
constructing knives and forks in the manner and for the purposes sub-

page_text: stantially as herein-before described and represented in the accompanying
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Theodore Griffin, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of November,
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
JAMES THEODORE GRIFFIN. (L.S.)