IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SADDLES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Clay, of Sparkhill, near Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Saddler, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF SADDLES."
Sealed the 28th July 1863, and dated the 24th February 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Clay at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 24th February
1863.
I, JOHN CLAY, of Sparkhill, near Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Saddler, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SADDLES," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to the manufacture of those parts of saddles called the
knee pads, thigh pads, and cantle rolls, as well as to the upper leathers of
saddles generally.
In the common method of manufacturing saddles, pads or rolls of the
required form are made of stuffing secured by woollen cloth on the stout
leather part of the saddle called the shell or under flaps and skirts, the outer
leather being wetted and blocked on the said pads or rolls. In making the
pads and rolls and upper leather according to my Invention, I take a pair of
moulds having internally the figure which it is wished to give to the upper
leather, that is to say, having the figure of the saddle with its projections. I
wet the leather and place it upon the lower or convex mould, and place and
secure the upper or concave mould upon the lower or convex one, the wetted

page_text: leather being held and compressed between them. The leather is allowed to
become dry in the moulds, and when dry it is removed from the said moulds,
and the hollow portions having the figures of pads or rolls are filled with
stuffing; a piece of leather is pasted and stitched to the under side of the said
upper leather. The said upper leather having the pads and rolls thus made
in it, is secured to the stout leather called the shell or under. flap and skirt in
the usual manner. Where it is desirable to ornament the saddle by embossed
or raised ornaments, they may be made at the same time and in the same
manner as rolls and pads. The whole of the upper leather, that is to say, that
covering the flaps, skirt, and seat of the saddle, may be made, together with
the required pads and rolls and ornaments from one piece of leather, or the
parts may be made of two or more pieces, as in the ordinary way.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said John Clay in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 8th
August 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
CLAY, of Sparkhill, near Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Saddler,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Clay, Her special licence, that I, the said John Clay, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Clay, 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 for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF SADDLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said John Clay, 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 Office within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Clay, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:→
My Invention relates to the manufacture of those parts of saddles called
the knee pads, thigh pads, and cantle rolls, as well as to the upper leathers
of saddles generally.
skirts, the outer
In making the
In the ordinary method of manufacturing saddles, pads or rolls of the
required form are made of stuffing secured by woollen cloth on the stout
leather part of the saddle called the shell or under flaps and
leather being blocked and pasted on the said pads or rolls.
pads and rolls and the upper leather according to my Invention, I take a pair
of moulds having internally the figure which it is wished to give the upper
leather, that is to say, having the figure of the saddle with its projections. I
wet the leather and place it upon the lower or convex mould, and place and
secure the upper or concave mould upon the lower or convex mould, the
wetted leather being held and compressed between the two moulds. The
leather is allowed to become dry in the moulds, and when dry it is removed
from the said moulds, and the hollow portions having the figures of pads or
rolls are filled with stuffing. The said upper leather having the pads and rolls
thus made in it is secured to the stout leather called the shell or under flap
and skirt in the usual manner. Where it is wished to ornament the saddle by
embossed or raised ornaments, they may be made at the same time and in the
same manner as the rolls and pads. The whole of the upper leather, that is to
say, that covering the flaps, skirt, and seat of the saddle, may be made,
together with the required pads and rolls and ornaments, from one piece of
leather, or the parts may be made of two or more pieces, as in the ordinary
way.
Having explained the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to describe,
with reference to the accompanying Drawing, the manner in which the same
is to be performed.
Figures 1, 2, and 3, represent the convex mould of the pair of moulds
which I employ, Figure 1. being an end elevation of the same mould, Figure 2
a side elevation, and Figure 3 a plan; Figure 4 represents, in plan, the
concave mould of the pair of moulds which I employ; Figure 5 represents in
side elevation, and Figure 6 in plan the two moulds fitted together with the
upper leather between them. The same letters of reference indicate the same.
parts in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
The lower or convex mould is marked a, and the upper or concave mould is

page_text: marked b in the Drawing. The mould a has the figure which it is intended
the under side of the upper leather shall have, and the mould 6 has nearly the
figure which it is intended the top side of the upper leather shall have. The
said mould a has on its surface projections c, d, e, of the shape represented to
form the knee pads, thigh pads, and cantle rolls respectively of the saddle, and
the mould b has openings c, d, e, corresponding in shape to the projections
on the upper mould, as represented. In shaping the upper leather of the
saddle, and making in the said upper leather the pads and rolls, I take a piece
of leather, of a size somewhat greater than that required in the finished
saddle, and I wet it and place it upon the lower or convex mould a, as
represented in Figures 5 and 6, in which said Figures 5 and 6 the upper
leather to be shaped is marked f. I then place upon the wetted leather f the
upper or concave mould b, as represented in the said Figures 5 and 6, the
openings c, d, e, in the said mould 6 passing over the projections c, d, e, on
the lower mould a. The upper mould b is fixed upon the lower one a by
straps 9 on either side, the upper mould 6 being secured by pins h to the said
lower mould a. The upper mould 6 is fixed down upon the lower one a with
such force as to compress between it and the lower mould the wetted leather f,
and make the said leather take the shape of the said moulds. A weight may
be placed upon the upper mould b to assist the compression of the leather f.
The leather is allowed to dry between the moulds a, b, and when dry the said
leather is removed from the moulds. The leather f on removal from the
moulds has the shape of the upper leather of a saddle, with hollow depressions
in its under side corresponding with the projections c, d, e, on the mould a.
The said hollows in the upper leather having the figures of pads and rolls are
afterwards filled with stuffing. I prefer to effect this by the use of the stuffing
mould represented in side elevation and plan in Figures 7 and 8 respectively
of the Drawing. The said mould, Figures 7 and 8, has the figure internally of
the upper leather of the saddle, with depressions or openings c³, d³, and e³,
corresponding with the projections of the hollow pads and rolls in the upper
leather. The upper leather being placed in the mould, Figures 7 and 8, the
projecting parts of the said upper leather enter the said depressions or
openings c³, d³, and e. The hollows in the upper leather are then filled with
stuffing in the ordinary way. The upper leather having the pads and rolls
thus made in it is secured to the stout leather called the shell or under flap and
skirt in the usual manner.
When the saddle is required to be ornamented by raised or embossed
ornaments, projections of the shape of the ornaments to be made are formed
upon the lower mould a at the proper places, openings corresponding with the

page_text: projections on the lower mould being left in the upper mould b. The said
ornaments are made upon the upper leather in precisely the same way and at
the same time as the knee pads, thigh pads, and cantle rolls herein-before
described and illustrated in the Drawing.
Instead of making the upper leather f, together with the pads and rolls, from
one piece of leather, as described and represented, the said upper leather and
pads and rolls may be made of separate pieces of leather moulded by means of
the moulds represented in the Drawing. I prefer, however, the use of one
piece of leather.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and represented in the Drawings,
as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my Invention;
but I claim as my Invention the improvements in the manufacture of saddles
herein-before described, and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is
to say, shaping the upper leathers of saddles and making in the said upper
leathers the required hollows or depressions to form the knee pads, thigh pads,
cantle rolls, and raised or embossed ornaments of the said saddles, by means of
a pair of moulds having the necessary figures to shape by compression between
them the said upper leathers, and form therein the hollows or depressions for
the knee pads, thigh pads, cantle rolls, and ornaments, whether the upper
leather and rolls, pads, and ornaments be made of one piece of leather or of
more than one piece of leather.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Clay, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
JOHN CLAY.
(L.S.)