IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FILES
Year: 1860

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 THE MANUFACTURE OF FILES."-A com-
munication from abroad by William P. Pierce, of Boston, in the State of
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 17th September 1860.
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 THE MANUFACTURE OF FILES," to be as
follows:-
Round files, as ordinarily made by hand, have their teeth formed by a suc-
cession of cuts which raise the metal; the rows of teeth thus formed being in
straight lines from one end of the file to the other. Such a file is very im-
perfect in its operation, and can never cut true in a round hole or other curved
surface, as the highest parts of all the teeth in a row lie in the same line, as
the file is pushed lengthwise over the surface which is being filed, and the high
part of each of the teeth cuts deeper than that portion of the teeth next to
the adjoining row, leaving grooves across the surface acted on.
This objection has been overcome by the present Invention, which consists
in making round files, or files the faces of which are curved around the axis of
the file, with rows of teeth which wind helically or spirally around the file
from one end to the other. By this arrangement of the file teeth the grooving
out of the surface operated on by the file is avoided.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 16th March 1861.
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 Seventeenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord 1860, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her
heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said William Edward
Newton, Her special license that I, the said William Edward Newton,
my executors, administrators, 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
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention of " IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FILES," a communication to him from abroad by
William P. Pierce, of Boston, in the State of Massachusetts, and United
States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Edward Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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 Office within six calender 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) :-
Fig. 1 is a view of a round or rat-tail file of this improved construction;
Fig. 2 an enlarged view of a portion of the same, showing the arrangement and
the position of the teeth.
Round files, as ordinarily made by hand, have their teeth formed by a suc-
cession of cuts, which raise the metal; the rows of teeth thus formed being in
straight lines from one end of the file to the other. Such a file is very im-
perfect in its operation, and can never cut true in a round hole or other curved
surface, as the highest parts of all the teeth in a row lie in the same line. As

page_text: the file is pushed lengthwise over the surface which is being filed, and the
high part of each of the teeth cuts deeper than that portion of the tooth next
to the adjoining row, leaving grooves across the surface acted on.
This objection has been overcome by this present Invention, which consists
in a round file, or a file the face of which is curved around the axis of the file,
the rows of teeth of which wind spirally around the file from one end to the
other, by which the grooving out of the surface operated on by the file is
avoided.
That others skilled in the art may understand and use this Invention, I will
proceed to describe the manner in which the Inventor has carried out the
In the said Drawing is represented a round file of the improved
manufacture, in which the rows of teeth a, b, c, d, &c. (Fig. 2) wind spirally
around the file from one end to the other of it. To facilitate this manufacture
the blank is revolved around its axis by suitable machinery whilst the cutting
of the teeth progresses. With a file so constructed (either round or half-
round) a round hole may be filed or a curved surface be made smooth, as the
rows of teeth do not lie in lines parellel with the direction of cut of the file,
and do not tend to score the surface into grooves.
Having now set forth the nature of this Invention, and explained the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under
the above recited Letters Patent I claim as a new article of manufacture a
round file, or one having its face curved around its axis, the rows of teeth of
which are formed spirally around the file substantially as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)