IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR FORMING PICKAXES AND OTHER TOOLS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for
Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
FORMING PICKAXES AND OTHER TOOLS."-A communication from abroad
by Harvey Lester Lowman, of the City and State of New York,
United States of America.
Sealed the 30th June 1868, and dated the 5th May 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward
Newton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 5th May 1868.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
FORMING PICKAXES AND OTHER TOOLS," to be as follows:-
The first part of the Invention relates to machinery for forming the
eyes of miner's picks and other tools in which the eye for the reception
of the handle projects from the body of the tool.

page_text: The Invention is equally applicable to form other tools which require
the eye for the reception of the handle to be of considerably greater
length than the thickness of the body of the tool.
The machine comprises two pairs of dies; the first pair of dies, which
are both alike, form when. put and held together a close die with a
cavity extending through the whole length to receive the blank or
bar of iron. This part of the cavity must be of a form suited to the
shape of the bar or piece of iron from which the pickaxe or other
tool is to be made. The central part of the cavity of the die should be
of the form or nearly so of the eye of the pickaxe or other tool
intended to be formed. The upper part of the cavity should extend
at least as high as the intended projection of the eye beyond the
body of the tool to be made. In the lower part of the die there is an
aperture of the required form for the free entrance of the inside swage,
which is made with parallel or nearly parallel sides longitudinally
but of an oval shape in its cross section and wedge-formed at the end.
The blank bar of iron at a high heat is introduced between the dies
when opened, and is so held that when the dies are closed it will
be gripped and held in the cavity. The dies are then moved towards
the inside swage, or vice versa, by which operation and the wedge form
of the inside swage the metal is spread out laterally in the cavity
between the dies. The movement is then to be reversed and the blanks
liberated. When delivered from this first pair of dies the blank will be
only partially formed, the principal object of this part of the operation
being to give the required projection to the eye of the intended tool.
In performing this operation the instrument which has been termed an
inside swage forces the metal bodily upwards, leaving it so that the
lower side is bent up.
The object of the second pair of dies, in combination with an internal
swage having a cutting edge, is to complete the form of the eye inside
and outside by a second operation. The blank at the proper heat is
introduced in the second pair of dies. The cavity in these dies forms
a mould of the external shape of the eye of the tool intended to be pro-
duced (say the eye of a pickaxe), the body of the inside swage used in
.connection with the second set of dies is made with parallel sides, but
the tapered portion is longer and brought to a cutting edge. The object
of the second operation is to complete the hole or eye for the reception
of the handle, and finally to complete the external form of the eye.

page_text: As the dies with the heated blank approach the inside swage, or vice
versa, the cutting edge of the latter cuts through the central part of
the blank and the hole for the handle is completed in the eye of the
blank. That part of the cavity of the dies where the inside swage first
enters is slightly rounded or bevilled outward so that the cavity shall
be wider where the inside swage enters than it is a short distance inwards
It results from this form of the cavity in the dies, in connection with
the wedge form of the forward part of the inside swage, that as the
metal of the blank is divided by the cutting edge it is spread outward
and into contact with the bevilled surfaces of the cavity of the dies
by the wedge form of the inside swage, and these bevilled surfaces
of the dies present such resistance to the iron that the wedge like form
of the inside swage can only carry with it such portion of the metal
as is not required to form the projecting part of the eye, and the metal
so carried forward fills up the cavity which was formed in the blank
by the inside swage in the first operation, at the same time completing
the eye. The dies have an opening through which the inside swage
can pass freely towards the end of the operation, so that the wedge
portion of that instrument may pass entirely through the eye of the
blank, the flange like projections of the dies around that hole forming
a resisting surface to give the required form to the back of the blank
around the eye.
The second part of the Invention relates to machinery for rolling
miner's picks and other tools from the eye which is to receive the
handle towards the point or points or cutting edge.
The object of this part of the Invention is to impart the required
form by a succession of rollings by segment rollers or dies formed to
act on two opposite sides only at each rolling, thus leaving the metal
free to spread laterally as well as longitudinally, the two sides which
are free to spread laterally at one rolling being subjected to the
rolling action at the succeeding operation, the series of pairs of segment
rollers or dies being of such form in the direction of the circumference
that one pair will give the final form to two of the opposite faces,
and the other pair the required form to the other two opposite faces,
of a four-sided figure, such as miners' picks.
From the foregoing it will be seen that the forming of fins at the
angles is entirely avoided, and that by reason of the alternate rollings
at right angles the metal is more thoroughly compacted than by any

page_text: other known method of rolling heretofore practised for producing
articles of irregular form in the direction of the length. Before
applying steel to form the point or cutting edge it is important to
cut the end of the blank square, and then to slit it for the insertion
of the piece of steel previously made wedge form to be driven into
the slit. This is effected by arranging two pairs of cutters at right
angles with each other, one pair for cutting off the end of the blank
and the other pair at right angles thereto for splitting the end of the
blank.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Scal Patent
Office on the 4th November 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special
licence that I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Edward
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time.
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after, during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Ohannel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR FORMING PICKAXES AND OTHER TOOLS,"
being a communication to me from abroad by Harvey Lester Lowman,
of the City of New York, United States of America, upon the condition
((amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to
be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent

page_text: Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said. Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked. thereon (that
is to say):
The first part of the Invention relates to macliinery for forming
the eyes of miners' picks and other tools in which the eye for the
reception of the handle projects from the body of the tool.
The Invention is equally applicable to form other tools which require
the eye for the reception of the handle to be of considerably greater
length. than the thickness of the body of the tool..
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 is a vertical longitudinal
section of the mechanism for forming. the eye of a miner's pick, and
includes two sets of dies and inside punches; Fig. 2 is a vertical
cross section of the same in the line A, a, of Fig. 1, showing the bar
or block of iron b. enclosed in the
acted upon by the inside punch f;
the bar 6 after it has been acted
and 5, are vertical. sections in the
an elevation of the inner face of one of the first set of dies and inside
punch; Fig. 7 is an elevation of the inner face of one of the second
set of dies and punch f¹; Fig. 8. is an elevation and edge view of
the eye of a pickaxe completed; Fig. 9 is a front clevation of the
mechanism for forming: the points or cutting edges of the tool;:
Fig. 10 is an end elevation of the same, and Figures. 11, 12, 13, 14,
and 15, are vertical sections taken in the several lines A', a', B; b₁₂.
C, c, D, d, and E', e', of Fig. 9.
first set of dies and ready to be.
Fig. 3 is a similar section shewing
upon by the punch f; Figures 4
line B; b, of Fig. 1, and Fig. 6 is
In Figures 1 to 8, A, A, represent the first pair of dies which are
both alike and form when put together a close die with a cavity a,.
Fig. 1, extending through the whole length to receive the blank or
bar of iron b. This part of the cavity must be of a form suited to:
the shape of the bar or piece of iron from which the pickaxe or other
tool is to be made.. The shape of the blank or bar is not material
so long as it is of the required. bulk of metal. The part c of the

page_text: cavity of the die should be of the form or nearly so of the eye of
the pickaxe or other tool intended to be formed, but an exact resem-
blance in form is not essential as the final form is not intended to
be given in this pair of dies. The upper part of the cavity, as at d,
Figs. 4 and 6, should extend at least as high as the intended
projection of the eye beyond the body of the tool to be made. In the
lower part of the die there is an aperture e of the required form for
the entrance of the punch f, the body of which is made with. parallel
or nearly parallel sides longitudinally, but of an oval shape in its
cross section, and wedge-formed at the end g, Fig. 1, but not brought
to a cutting edge. The heated bar of iron 6 is introduced between
the dies and is so held that when the dies are closed it will be
gripped and held in the cavity a. The dies are then moved towards
the punch for vice versa, by which operation and the wedge form
of the punch the metal will be spread out laterally in the part c and
upward into the part d of the dies. The movement is then to be
reversed and the blanks liberated. When delivered from this first
pair of dies the blank will be only partially formed, the principal
object of this part of the operation being to force the metal into the
part d of the dies to give the required projection to the eye of the
intended tool. In performing this operation the punch f forces the
metal bodily upwards, leaving it with the lower side bent up as at i,
Figures 3 and 4. The punch f¹, Fig. 7, of the second pair of dies
has a cutting edge and will complete the form of the eye inside and
outside by a second operation. The heated blank b', Fig. 7, is placed
in the second pair of dies A', A¹. The cavity in these dies forms
a mould of the external shape of the eye of the tool intended to be
produced. The body of the punch f¹ used in connection with the
second set of dies is made with parallel sides, but the tapered portion g',
Fig. 1, is longer and brought to a cutting edge as represented. The
position of the dies A', A', relatively to the punch f¹ is the reverse of
the position of the first pair of dies.
The object of the second operation is to complete the hole or eye for
the reception of the handle by forcing back a sufficient quantity of
metal to fill up the cavity i, that is to say, to force back in part the
metal which was bent upwards by the punch fin forcing the metal in
the first pair of dies to form the projection of the eye, and finally to
complete the external form of the eye. As the dics A', A', with the
heated blank b' approach the punch f', or vice versa, the cutting edge

page_text: of the latter cuts through the
for the handle is completed.
central part of the blank and the hole.
During the operation last above described
the tendency of the wedge like form of the punch f¹ is to carry the
metal of the blank back to the form it had before it was operated upon
in the first pair of dies, except as to the hole made through it, and thus
to destroy the projection of the eye from the body of the tool to be
made. What is required is to force back only enough metal to
straighten what may be termed the back of the pick or other tool,
and at the same time to preserve the projection of the eye from the body:
of the tool obtained by the first operation. That part of the cavity d'
of the dies where the punch f¹ first enters is slightly rounded or bevilled
outward so that the cavity shall be wider where the punch enters than
it is a short distance inwards, as will be seen by reference to Fig. 1.
As the metal of the blank is divided by the cutting edge of the punch
it is spread outward and into contact with the bevilled surfaces of
the cavity of the dies, and these bevilled surfaces of the dies
present such resistance to the iron that the wedge like form of the
punch can only carry with it such portion of the metal as is not
required to form the projecting part of the eye. The metal so carried
forward fills up the cavity which was formed in the blank at i by the
punch in the first operation, and at the same time completes the eye.
The dies A', A', have an opening at k through which the punch f¹ can
pass freely towards the end of the operation so that the wedge portion of
that instrument may pass entirely through the eye of the blank, the
flange like projection of the dies around that hole forming a resisting
surface to give the required form to the back of the blank around the
eye. Two operations only will thus form from a plain bar or block of
This result is
metal the central part of a pickaxe or other tool.
effected without waste of metal, as the hole or eye for the handle is
formed by spreading the metal instead of punching and driving a piece
out and thus forming waste scraps. The dies A, A, and A', A', are
hinged in pairs to the under side of a cross head m¹ which slides
vertically in ways in the standards n', n³, of a suitable frame. Each
pair of dies is provided with a spring o', o', by which they are opened
like a pair of jaws for the blank to be inserted and taken out. To the
bed plate p¹ of the frame are secured cam pieces q', q', q', q', and when
the cross head m¹ begins to move down the outer lower surface of the
dies will strike these cam faces, and are thereby forced towards each
other so as to close the dies which are so held until they are relieved by

page_text: 2
the return motion and opened by the springs for the discharge of the
blanks. The butt end of the punches and f¹ are firmly secured to.
the bed plate by side wedges so that they can be readily taken out..
The cross head m¹ is connected by rods &', s, with another and parallel
cross head at a distance apart equal to the diameter of each of two
excentrics u', u', on the driving shaft ¹, by which the dies are moved up
and down. At each motion of the dies a partially formed blank is made-
in the first pair of dies, and at the same time a finished eye is taken
out of the second set of dies. It will be obvious that instead of moving
the dies towards and from the punches the punches may move instead of
the dies.
What I claim as new in this part of the Invention, and desire to
secure by Letters Patent is, the use of the two part dies (in which the
blank is enclosed) in combination with the wedge formed punch fas.
herein described for partially forming the hole for the handle by forcing
out and spreading the metal to form the outside of the tool and partially
make the eye by the same operation.
I also claim the second set of dies and punch f¹ for completing the
formation of the body and also of the eye after it has been commenced.
by the first set of dies and punch f as above set forth.
The second part of the Invention relates to machinery for forming or
rolling the points of picks and other tools from the eye which is to
receive the handle towards the point or points or cutting edge.
The object of this part of the Invention is to impart the required form
to the points or ends of the tool by a succession of rollings with
segmental rollers or dies so formed as to act on two opposite sides only
at cach rolling, thus leaving the metal free to spread laterally as well
as longitudinally, the two sides which are free to spread laterally at one
rolling being subjected to the rolling action at the succeeding operation.
The series of pairs of segment rollers or dies are of such form in the
direction of the circumference that one pair will give the final form to
two of the opposite faces, and the other pair the required form to the
other two opposite faces of a four-sided figure, such as miners' picks..
In the accompanying Drawings (referring to Figures 9 to 15 inclusive)
a represents the. frame in which are mounted in suitable boxes two a
parallel rollers b, b, geared to rotate in opposite directions. Two seg-
ments c, c, are secured, one to each of the rollers, or instead a series of
segments may be secured side by side to each roller and in the direction

page_text: of the axes of the rollers, and these segments should be let into cavities
formed in the surfaces of the rollers and there firmly secured so that the
working surfaces will project sufficiently from the surfaces of the rollers
to permit the attendant freely to introduce between them the articles to
be rolled so soon as the segments have passed. But if desired, each
series of segments may be formed of one block of metal with its roller.
The segments are arranged in pairs on the two rollers, and are marked.
d, d, e, ef, f, g, g', and h, h', and the working surface of the two
forming each pair should correspond in length and breadth to the dimen-
sions of the articles that are to be rolled. The first pair of dies d, d',
should have their working surfaces so shaped that the blank in passing,
between them will be reduced on two opposite faces to the form desired
for the first rolling, the second pair e, e', will act on the other sides, and,
so on until the pick will be finished by the last pair of rollers. Behind.
the rollers and secured to a part of the frame are gauges i, j, k, l, m,.
corresponding in number with the pairs of segment dies, and placed in.
line with them, they are secured to the frame so that they can be set
nearer to or further from the rollers to suit the length of the blank when
put into the machine for any one of the rollings. The attendant inserts
the blank between the rollers until the end is brought in contact with
the gauge and in line with the first pair of dies d, d', so that when
they come around in the rotation they gripe and roll the blank, and
in doing so move it towards and deliver it to the attendant who turns
it a quarter revolution, inserts it against the second gauge j, and so on
throughout the series. The forming of fins at the angles is by this
means entirely avoided, and by the alternate rollings at right angles the
metal is more thoroughly compacted than by the method of rolling
heretofore practised. Before applying steel to form the point or cutting
edge the end of the blank is cut square and then slit for the insertion of
the wedge form or piece of steel which is driven into the slit, one man
holding the blank and the tools for cutting and splitting, and the other
striking. I avoid the greater part of this labor and the skill required
by the second part of the said Invention and perform the work more
accurately and expeditiously by the second part of the Invention. The
square ends and slits in the ends of the blank are made by two pairs of
cutters at right angles with each other, one pair for cutting off the end
of the blank and the other pair at right angles thereto for splitting the
end of the blank. On the side of the frame there is a strong bracket o
firmly secured thereto or making part thereof, and to the upper surface
i

page_text: 8
thereof are secured two cutters p and q, the cutting edge of the cutter p
for convenience being parallel or nearly so with the axes of the rollers
and the other q at right angles. Two corresponding cutters p¹ and q¹
are secured to a stock which vibrates on a fulcrum pin at s projecting
from the same side of the frame, and the vibratory motion is given to
the stock by a crank pint on the end of the journals of one of the
rollers, the crank pin passes through a piece u which slides in the
vibratory stock so that the rotation of the crank imparts to the stock
the required reciprocating motion to the cutters p¹ and q¹, to give
them in connection with the stationary cutters the required shearing or
cutting action.
What I claim as new in this the second part of the Invention, and
desire to secure by Letters Patent is, the combination of two or more
pairs of segmental dies, each pair acting only on two opposite sides, and
the successive pairs working on the metal alternately at right angles, as
and for the purpose set forth.
And I also claim the arrangement of the two pairs of fixed and
movable cutters at right angles with each other, as and for the purpose
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-fourth day of
October, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-eight
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)