IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTUR FACTURE OF KNIVES AND FORKS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Ireland, of Handsworth, in the County
of Stafford, Silversmith, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MANUFACTUR
FACTURE OF KNIVES AND FORKS."
THE
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Ireland at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th December 1871.
I, GEORGE IRELAND, of Handsworth, in the County of Stafford,
Silversmith, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for " IM-
'PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF KNIVES AND FORKS," to be as follows:-
-My-Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described.in
the manufacture of knives and forks, the said improvements having for
their object to facilitate the manufacture of knives and forks, and to
prevent the handles becoming detached from the blades or bodies, and
also to give a good cutting edge to the blades of knives and hard..points

page_text: 1.
to the prongs of forks when the blades and fork parts of the said knives
and forks are made of silver, German silver, or other metal or alloy not
sufficiently hard to form a good cutting edge or point.
In manufacturing knives and forks according to one of my improve-
ments I make each knife or fork of two pieces of metal, one half of the
handle and the blade or fork part being made from one piece of metal,
and the other half of the handle being made from another piece of
metal. After the handle parts of the pieces of metal have been fashioned
into half handles the said half handles are joined together by brazing or
soldering, and a complete knife or fork thus produced.
7
I will describe my Invention as applied to the manufacture of
knives I cut from sheet German silver, brass, or steel, or other sheet
metal or alloy by means of stamps or presses blanks or pieces having a
figure proper to form the blade of the knife and the longitudinal half of
the handle of the knife, together with the bolster part at the junction of
the handle and blade, and I cut out other blanks or pieces having a
figure proper to form the other longitudinal half of the handle and its
bolster part. By means of dies worked in a press or stamp, or by the
use of properly shaped rolls, I shape, raise, or fashion the handle part
of the first-mentioned blanks into a trough form so as to resemble the
longitudinal half of an ordinary knife handle. There is thus formed a
half handle made in one piece with the blade. I shape or fashion in a
similar way the last-mentioned blanks, so as to form the other longi-
tudinal half of the handle. By placing the edges of the halves of the
handle face to face and joining them together by brazing or soldering a
complete handle is made to the blade, the said handle being hollow and
resembling externally an ordinary metallic handle. The blade of the
knife is completed in the ordinary way.
In making forks according to my Invention I proceed in the manner
described with respect to knives, that is to say :-I make the fork body
and longitudinal. half handle upon one piece of metal, and the other
longitudinal half handle, from another piece of metal, and join the halves
of the handle together by brazing or soldering.
* Instead of cutting out and shaping the half handle and blade
or fork and second half handle as described, the said parts may be made
*

page_text: According to another of my improvements I give a good cutting edge
to the blades of knives made of silver, German silver, brass, or other
comparatively soft metal or alloy, by inserting in the edge of the blade
a strip or piece of steel, from which.strip or piece of steel the cutting
edge is made, the said strip of steel being secured by brazing or
soldering. The said strip of steel may either be inserted in the blank or
in the metal from which the blank is cut. In like manner I make the
prongs or the lips of the prongs of forks of steel.
t
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Ireland in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 6th June 1872.
.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
IRELAND, of Handsworth, in the County of Stafford, Silversmith, send
greeting.
WHEREAS 'Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said George Ireland, Her special licence
that I, the said George Ireland, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said George Ireland, 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
KNIVES AND FORKS,” upon the condition (amongst others) that I,-the-said-
George-Ireland, 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
1
.M..
2.
** .,
".
201)

page_text: 1
Patent:.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Ireland, 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 thereof, that is to say:-.
My Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in
the manufacture of knives and forks, the said improvements having for
their object to facilitate the manufacture of knives and 'forks, and to
prevent the handles becoming detached from the blades or bodies, and
also to give a good cutting edge to the blades of knives and hard
points to the prongs of forks, when the blades and fork parts of the said
knives and forks are made of silver, German silver, or other metal or
alloy not sufficiently hard to form a 'good cutting edge or point....
In manufacturing knives and forks according to 'one of my improve-
ments I make each knife or fork of two pieces of metal, one half of
the handle and the blade or fork part being made from one piece of
metal, and the other half of the handle being made from another
piece of metal. After the handle parts of the pieces of metal have
been fashioned into half handles the said half handles are joined
together by brazing or soldering, and a complete knife or fork is thus
produced.
I will describe my Invention as applied to the manufacture of
knives I cut from sheet German silver, brass, or steel, or other sheet
metal or alloy by means of stamps or presses blanks or pieces having a
figure proper to form the blade of the knife and the longitudinal half of
the handle of the knife together with the bolster part at the junction of
the handle and blade, and I cut out other blanks or pieces having a
figure proper to form the other longitudinal half of the handle and its
bolster part. By means of dies worked in a press or stamp, or by the
use of properly shaped rolls, I shape, raise, or fashion the handle part of
the first-mentioned blanks into a trough form so as to resemble the
longitudinal half of an ordinary knife handle. There is thus formed a
half handle made in one piece with the blade. I shape or fashion in a
similar way the last-mentioned blanks so as to form the other longitu
dinal half of the handle. By placing the edges of the halves of the
handle face to face, and joining them together by brazing or soldering, a

page_text: complete handle is made to the blade, the said handle being hollow and
resembling externally an ordinary metallic handle. The blade. of the
knife is completed in the ordinary way..
In making forks according to my Invention. I proceed in the manner
described with respect to knives, that is to say, I make the fork body
and longitudinal half handle from one piece of metal, and the other
longitudinal half handle from another piece of metal, and join the halves
of the handle together by brazing or soldering.
Instead of cutting out and shaping the half handle and blade or fork
and the second half handle as described, the said parts may be 'made' by
casting.
•
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings represents a front view;
Figure 2 an edge view, and Figure 3 a cross section of a dessert knife
made of German silver, the said knife being manufactured according. to
my Invention. Figures 4 and 5 represent the parts of which the knife.is
composed; Figure 4. representing in edge view and front view the blade
and longitudinal half of the handle, the hollow or concave side of the
handle being shown in the latter view, and Figure 5 representing. the
outer and inner sides and edge view of the other longitudinal half of the
.handle.
N
"
a is the blade, and 6 is one of the longitudinal halves of the handle;
c is the bolster at the junction of the half handle b and blade a. The
said parts a, b, c, are made of one piece of metal in the manner herein-
before described. d is the other longitudinal half handle, and e is the
bolster of the same, the said half handle d and its bolster e being made
in the manner herein-before described. The half handles b, d, have the
hollow or trough figure represented. The half handle d, Figure 5, is
joined to the half handle b, Figure 4, by placing the edges of the said
half handles b, d, face to face, in the manner.shown in Figures 1, 2, and
3, and brazing, or soldering them together. A shoulder at f is made on
the blade a, against which the outer edge of the bolster e of the half
handle d abuts. The handle b, d, of the knife, made in this way is
hollow, as seen in the section, Figure 3. The handle of the knife may.
be plain instead of fluted as represented, or the said handle
ornamented in any desired way.
'may be
Figure 6 represents a front view, and Figure 7 an edge view of a fish
knife made of German silver according to my Invention, and Figures 8:

page_text: and 9.represent the parts of which it is composed, the parts of the said
Figures 6, 7, 8, and 9 being marked with the same letters of reference as
corresponding parts in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5..
14
Figure 10 represents a fork of German silver made according to my
Invention, and Figures 11, 12, and 13 represent the parts of which it is
composed. The said fork is constructed in the manner described with
respect to a knife, that is to say, the fork body a² and longitudinal half
handle b and its bolster c are made from one, piece of metal, and the
other longitudinal-half- handle d and its bolster e from another piece of
metal, the said half handles being joined together by brazing or
soldering.
Figure 14 represents a dinner knife of steel made according to my
Invention, and Figures '15, 16, and 17 represent the parts of which it is
composed. When the knives and forks are made of steel I prefer to
make the bolster c, c,-solid with the steel blade a (or fork body) and
longitudinal half handle b, the other loose longitudinal half handle d
being without a bolster, as represented. In brazing or soldering the
loose half handled to the half handle 6 the top or inner edge of the
loose half handle d is made to abut against the side of the solid bolster c
projecting from the half handle b.
In knives and forks made of silver, German silver, brass, or other soft
metal, the bolster may be made solid with the blade or fork body, as
described and represented with respect to a steel knife, but I prefer to
make the bolsters hollow and provide each half handle with a bolster, as
described and represented in Figures 1 to 13, when the knives and forks
are made of silver, German silver, brass, or other soft metal or alloy.
1.) 4.
When the handles of steel knives and forks made according to my
Invention require to be furnished with a crest, or with an inscription,
design, or ornament, I make the loose or second half handle of German
silver or other soft metal, and attach it by soldering or brazing to the
steel half handle made solid with the blade or fork body. Figure 18
represents a dinner knife and Figure 19 a dessert knife made in this
way, the loose or second half handle made of German silver or other soft
metal and provided with a crest or an ornamental design being marked d.
It is preferred that the ornamental loose half handle shall constitute the
inner, side of the handle.

page_text: The dies and tools, and the rolls which I employ in cutting out,
shaping, and fashioning the blade or fork body and the half handle and.
the second half handle are of the kind commonly employed for similar..
operations and are worked in a like manner. The casting process, when
I make the parts by casting, is conducted in the ordinary manner:
By the improvements described and illustrated the manufacture of
knives and forks is facilitated, the handles are prevented from becoming
detached from the blades or fork bodies, and the handles although
hollow possess the advantages of solid handles without the weight.
The improvements herein-before described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawings, are applicable to knives and forks of
kinds and made of various metals and metallic alloys.
་
ious
My Invention consists further in giving a good cutting edge to the
blades of knives made of silver, German silver, brass, or other com-
paratively soft metal or alloy, by inserting in the edge of the, blade a
strip or piece of steel, from which strip or piece of steel the cutting edge
is made, the said strip of steel being secured by brazing or soldering.
The said strip of steel may either be inserted in the blank or in the
metal from which the blank is cut, that is to say, after the blank of
German silver or other soft metal or alloy from which the blade is to be
made has been cut out, I remove from the edge of the blade part of the said
blank a narrow strip and braze or solder in its place a strip of steel, or
I take the German silver or soft metal from which the blank is to be cut,
and remove a portion therefrom and braze or solder in the said cut away
part a strip of steel. When the blank is cut from the metal the strip of
steel is situated at that part of the blank from which the cutting edge of
the blade is made. In like manner I make the prongs or the tips of the
prongs of steel.
This part of my Invention is applicable to knives and
forks made in the ordinary way, and to knives and forks made according
to the improvements herein-first described.
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 illustrated,-
as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my
Invention. But I claim as my Invention,-
Firstly. The improvements in the manufacture of knives and forks
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings,

page_text: :
that is to say, making each knife or fork of two pieces of metal or
metallic alloy, the blade or fork part and one of the longitudinal half
."handles, being made from one piece of metal, and the other longitudinal
half handle being made from another piece of metal, the said two half
handles being joined together by brazing or soldering, substantially as
described and illustrated.
"
"
Secondly. The improvement. herein-before described, in giving a good
cutting edge to the. blades; of knives and hard points to the prongs of
forks made of silver, German silver, brass; or other, comparatively soft
metal-or-alloy, that is to say, by inserting in the blank or in the metal
from which the blade of the knife or prongs of the fork is or are made
strip or strips of steel, the said steel strip or strips being secured in
the blank or metal by brazing or soldering as described.
2:
"In witness whereof, I, the said George Ireland, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
.Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
.Birmingham.
GEORGE IRELAND. (L.S.)