IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FINGERS FOR REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES, AND IN STAMPING AND FORGING THESE AND OTHER ARTICLES OF IRON OR STEEL, AND IN APPARATUS USED THEREFOR
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Frederick Phillips, of 13, Noel Street, Islington,
in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF FINGERS FOR REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES, AND IN
STAMPING AND FORGING THESE AND OTHER ARTICLES OF IRON OR STEEL, AND
IN APPARATUS USED THEREFOR."
с
aled the 22nd August 1876, and dated the 1st March 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Frederick Phillips at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 1st March 1876.
JAMES FREDERICK PHILLIPS, of 13, Noel Street, Islington, in the County of
Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FINGERS FOR REAPING AND
MOWING MACHINES, AND IN STAMPING AND FORGING THESE AND OTHER ARTICLES OF
IRON OR STEEL, AND IN APPARATUS USED THEREFOR."
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of fingers for
reaping and mowing machines, and in stamping and forging these and other articles
of iron or steel.
I forge solid wrought-iron or steel fingers for reaping and mowing machines in
suitable dies with their knife slot in them, thereby dispensing with the expensive
process of slotting them by a shaping machine when cold. Fingers thus made can
be case-hardened or tempered all over their outer surface, and will not require the
insertion of steel plates or lining of steel, as is now usual, but will of themselves
carry a good cutting edge, and a hardened surface, and a sharp point.
I use iron or steel dies so shaped as to form the finger by a few blows under a
steam or other hammer, such dies being brought together between slides or other
guides or appliances to ensure their proper action.
I make the dies for stamping and forging these and other articles with bevilled
or cutting edges, so that the plash or overflow is nearly all cut off by the dies.
A convenient way of making these dies is to mould the pattern of the article to
he stamped in plaster or other suitable material, and then cast the die in Bessemer
or other steel, thereby saving the expense of sinking the dies by hand chisels. I
enlarge the mould a little to allow for contraction of metal.
I sometimes forge fingers in the dies without the knife slot, and while hot cause
them to be brought up in contact with the teeth of a revolving or reciprocating
[Price Sd.]

page_text: saw-like cutter by suitable sliding apparatus, by which means the knife slot is
formed with great rapidity; or the fingers thus formed may while hot be placed in
a suitably shaped die, and the knife slot cut by a chisel or other cutting tool under
the hammer; or the fingers may while hot be placed in a suitable die having a slot
formed in it to guide a punch, by which the knife slot may be punched out at a
blow.
I sometimes forge the upper and lower parts of the finger in dies, separate, and
weld them together, or they may be stamped in two separate pieces with the one
part suitably shaped to receive the other and be then rivetted togetlier.
In some cases I forge the finger in dies having a piece standing up to form the
slot. I prefer to make this piece angle shaped to secure strength.
In some cases in stamping fingers in dies I find it convenient to make them in
shapes differing from that in which the finger is required for work, and leaving it
to be straightened or set afterwards. After stamping, the fingers are ground before
case hardening.
I also produce the threads of screws and worms by forging or stamping between
dies constructed with cutting edges. In a similar way I produce forged or stamped
wrought-iron ribbed beaters for the drums of thrashing machines.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said James Frederick Phillips in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st September 1876.
"
JAMES FREDERICK PHILLIPS, of 13, Noel Street, Islington, in the County of
Middlesex. IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FINGERS FOR REAPING AND
MOWING MACHINES, AND IN STAMPING AND FORGING THESE AND OTHER ARTICLES OF
IRON OR STEEL, AND IN APPARATUS USED THEREFOR."
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of fingers for
reaping and mowing machines, and in stamping and forging these and other articles
of iron or steel, and in apparatus used therefor.
I forge solid wrought-iron or steel fingers for reaping and mowing machines in
suitable dies with their knife slot in them, thereby dispensing with the expensive
process of slotting them by a shaping machine when cold. Fingers thus made can
be case-hardened or tempered all over their outer surface, and will not require the
insertion of steel plates or lining of steel, as is now usual, but will of themselves
carry a good cutting edge, and a hardened surface, and a sharp point.
I use iron or steel dies so shaped as to form the finger by a few blows under a
steam or other hammer, such dies being brought together between slides or other
guides or appliances to ensure their proper action.
I make the dies for stamping and forging these and other articles with bevilled
or cutting edges, so that the flash or overflow is nearly all cut off by the dies.
A convenient way of making these dies is to mould the pattern of the article to
be stamped in plaster or other suitable material, and then cast the die in Bessemer
or other steel, thereby saving the expense of sinking the dies by hand chisels. I
enlarge the mould a little to allow for contraction of metal.
I sometimes forge fingers in the dies without the knife slot, and while hot cause
them to be brought up in contact with the teeth of a revolving or reciprocating
saw-like cutter by suitable apparatus, by which means the knife slot is formed
with great rapidity; or the fingers thus forined may while hot be placed in a
suitably shaped die, and the knife slot cut by a chisel or other cutting tool under
the hammer; or the fingers may while hot be placed in a suitable die having a
slot formed in it to guide a punch, by which the knife slot may be punched out at
a blow.
I sometimes forge the upper and lower parts of the finger in dies, separate, and

page_text: weld them together, or they may be stamped in two separate pieces with the one
part suitably shaped to receive the other, and be then rivetted together.
In some cases I forge the finger in dies having a piece standing up to form the
slot. I prefer to make this piece angle shaped to secure strength.
In some cases in stamping fingers in dies I find it convenient to make them in
shapes differing from that in which the finger is required for work, and leaving it
to be straightened or set afterwards. After stamping, the fingers are ground before
case-hardening.
In order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed.
ing fingers with the knife slot in them.
pan of ares, such as 1 employ for stamp-
Figure 2 is a plan of the lower or bed dié of a pair of dics intended for the samė
purpose, but of a different construction.
Figure 3 is a longitudinal section, and Figure 4 is a transverse section of a pair
of dies such as I employ to produce fingers solid, or without the knife slot, which
in this case has to be afterwards produced by means herein-after described.
The dies shown at Figure 1 produce the finger in a curved form, and it has after-
wards to be straightened. The point of the finger it will be observed is downwards
in the lower die, and the two sides of the knife slot are opened out from each other
and laid horizontally, or nearly so. In producing fingers with these tools I take a
bar, say, about one and a quarter inches square and heat it at the end, I then bend
it and roughly fashion it to fit the cavity of the bed die; then when it is at a white
heat I introduce the end of the bar between the dies, and by two or three heavy
blows the metal is brought to the form desired.
It will be observed, and this is a matter of great importance, that the surfaces of
the dies where they come into contact around the contour of the finger are very
narrow, although not actually sharp so as to be injured by the blows; this admits
of a bar being used for making the fingers of considerably larger section than the
fingers themselves, so that the mould may be well filled, whilst the superfluous
metal is shorn off, and being displaced laterally does not prevent the dies closing
together. When stamping fingers in this manner, it is desirable that both sides of
the knife slot should be formed somewhat concave, as this ensures their carrying a
better edge than they otherwise would.
The dies, of which one is shown at B, Figure 2, shut together the other way of
the finger, meeting along the top and bottom in place of at the sides. The lower
dic has a projection standing up, as is shown, corresponding to the knife slot; it
does not, however, rise sufficiently high to meet the top die, so that a fin is left in
the finger about one-tenth of an inch thick which has to be removed afterwards.
These dies, like those shewn at Figure 1, are bevilled off around the edges so that
the surfaces where the dies meet are quite narrow. With these dies the heated bar
of metal, without any previous fashioning, is inserted between the dies, and a few
blows suffice to shape the finger.
Figures 3 and 4 show in detail the form of dies I employ to forge a solid
finger; these like the others are so made as to come into contact only on narrow
surfaces.
I would remark that where the fingers have to be made with side horns to butt
one to the other, I prefer to forge the fingers in this way, as there is some difficulty
in striking up the side horns in the other dies. In all cases I employ metal of a
good and ductile description.
Figure 5 is a front elevation, and Figure 6 is a sectional plan of a stainping
machine suitable to be used in stamping these fingers. The upper die is firmly
fixed to a block which moves up and down between guide columns, boing actuated

page_text: by a steam cylinder and piston. The lower die is carried on a circular anvil block
or cheese, the position of which can be accurately adjusted by set screws, of which
The cheese is
there are four, arranged radially and at equal distances around it.
also capable of adjustment by rotation; it has a lug upon it which is held between
two tangential set screws, as is shown.
Figure 7 is an elevation of a stamping machine which is also applicable to be
used in producing these fingers; it is worked by manual labour, and by steam or
other power acting together, a system of working which is in common use in heavy
stamping. The dies are carried as already described, and the upper die block is
guided by two bars or columns of square section set so that the V grooves in the
sides of the block work on the angles of the bars. These bars at their lower ends
are inserted into holes made to receive them in lugs on the anvil block, where they
are held fast by set screws. Packing pieces of thin sheet metal are inserted
between the bars and the anvil block for the purpose of adjustment. The bars are
secured at their upper ends in any convenient way, usually to one of the beams
of the building; they are let into blocks bolted to the beams, and the distance
between the blocks can be adjusted, the bolt holes being slotted. To the guide
bars other bars are securely riveted at each end, and in each case the bars are con-
nected in the centre by an adjustable strut. By trussing the guide bars in this
way they are rendered very stiff, and great facility for adjustment is afforded.
The rope from the block carrying the upper die is led up over a pulley driven by
the motive power, and is brought down again to a stirrup which receives the foot
of the workman.
Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating the method in which I produce the metal dies.
I support a model of the article to be.stamped (slightly larger than the actual size
to allow for contraction) in the middle of a box of wood or other material, and I
cast plaister around the article up to the middle; I then oil the surface of the
plaister or make a parting in other convenient manner, and cast another block of
plaister upon the first block; I then separate the blocks and take out the article.
Afterwards I pare off the edges of the blocks to a suitably bevilled form, as
already described, and from the block thus produced I have the dies cast.
I find that steel manufacturers have no difliculty in supplying me with steel dies
of suitable quality cast from these patterns.
Figure 9 is a side elevation; and Figure 10 is an end elevation of a saw frame
which I employ to cut the knife groove in fingers which I stamp solid.
The apparatus consists of a circular saw, such as is commonly used for cutting
railway rails, and in front of it is mounted the rocking frame a carrying a socket,
in which the finger to be cut and which is highly heated is held, then by the handle
in connection with the frame it is moved up to the saw until the saw has slotted
the finger to the depth desired. After the slot has been cut by the saw the finger
is placed in a block, as is shewn at Figure 11, and by means of a drifting tool the
knife slot is brought to the form desired.
In some cases in place of cutting the slot with a saw I employ a chisel to effect
the same object; the way of using the chisel is represented at Figure 12. After
the chisel the drifting tool is employed in the same way as when the saw is used to
make the leading cut.
Sometimes after stamping the finger solid I produce the knife slot by placing
the finger when in a suitably heated state in a box mould with openings at the
sides corresponding to the knife slot, which then produce by driving a punch
of suitable shape through the finger whilst it is confined in the box mould.
One half of the box mould which I employ for this purpose is represented at
Figure 13.
In some cases I stamp the finger in two parts, and afterwards rivet them together,
ns is shown at Figures 14.
The lower or main part of the finger is stamped with a projection upon it to
serve as the rivet, and the upper part. which forms the top of the knife slot is
made with a corresponding hole.

page_text: The surfaces also which come together I make convex and concave, or I incline
thein so that there may be no risk of the parts moving after riveting.
In some cases I stamp the finger in two parts, and afterwards weld these parts
together, as is shown at Figure 15. For the purpose of welding I can employ dies
similar to those used for stamping the solid finger.
In order to render the cutting parts of the finger sufficiently hard I case-harden
them, and this I prefer to do by dusting over the parts which I wish to harden with
powdered prussiate of potash, as is well understood. Or when I stamp the fingers
in the manner shewn at Figure 1, or when I stamp them in two parts and after-
wards rivet or weld them together, I sometimes weld surfaces of steel on to the
cutting parts at the time of stamping, the iron and the steel, both at welding heat,
being laid together between the dies.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention and the manner of per-
forming the same, I would have it understood that I claim,-
First. The means of stamping fingers with the knife slot, substantially as described
in respect to Figure 1.
Second. The means of stamping fingers with the knife slot,, substantially as
described in respect to Figure 2.
Third. The means of producing fingers by stamping them solid and afterwards
cutting and forming the knife slot, substantially as described in respect to Figures 3,
4, 9, 10, and 11.
Fourth. The means of producing fingers by stamping them solid and afterwards
punching out the knife slot, substantially as described in respect to Figures 3, 4,
and 13.
Fifth. The means of producing fingers by stamping them in two parts and then
rivetting or welding these parts together, as is described in respect to Figures 14
and 15.
Sixth. The means of producing the dies for stamping fingers and other articles,
substantially as described in respect to Figure 8.
Seventh. The forming the dies for stamping fingers and other articles with the
meeting surfaces narrow, so that they may shear or cut away the surplus metal,
substantially as described.
Eighth. The neaus of constructing stamping apparatus, substantially as described
in respect to Figures 5, 6, and 7, especially the method of centreing the lower die,
and the method of trussing and adjusting the side guide bars.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Frederick Phillips, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
JAMES F. PHILLIPS.
(L.S.)