Improvements in the Manufacture of Scythes and Sickles.
Year: 1899

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Scythes and Sickles.
I, RUDOLF COMMICHAU, of Magdeburg-Sudenburg, in the German Empire,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
Scythes and sickles have heretofore usually been manufactured by being
forged from straight metal bars. By this method of manufacture a portion of
the material is lost from waste etc., and the durability and quality of the article
obtained depends almost entirely upon the skill of the workman.
Now, this invention has for its object to obviate the above mentioned dis-
advantages and to this end it consists in giving the straight metal bars the curved
shape which the scythe or sickle blade is to have by rolling. To effect this the
rolling apparatus is provided with cylindrical or conical rollers which are so
arranged that the metal bars or strips passing through them are strongly
stretched on one side and are thereby given the form of flat spirals. To make
these elliptical, as is necessary for the manufacture of scythe and sickle blades,
the rolling apparatus is, furthermore, so arranged that after one or more revolu-
tions of the rolls they are alternately pressed more strongly together and returned
to their initial position. By this arrangement the metal strips or bars are
alternately more and less curved and assume the requisite elliptical form.
The sickle and scythe blades thus formed, and which are still connected
together, are suitably separated and provided with the usual tangs or the like
for the attachment of the wooden handles.
The hardening and grinding of the sickle and seythe blades are effected in the
known manner.
200
1000
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4. South Street, Finsbury, London,
Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Scythes and Sickles.
I, RUDOLF COMMICHAU, of Magdeburg-Sudenburg, in the German Empire,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:-
Scythes and sickles have heretofore usually been manufactured by being forged

page_text: from straight metal bars. By this method of manufacture a portion of the
material is lost from burning etc., and the duration of the process and quality
of the article obtained depends almost entirely upon the skill of the workman.
Now, this invention has for its object to obviate the above mentioned dis-
advantages and to this end it consists in giving the straight metal bars the curved
shape which the scythe or sickle blade is to have by rolling. To effect this the
rolling apparatus is provided with cylindrical or conical rollers which are so
arranged that the metal bars or strips passing through them are strongly
stretched on one side and are thereby given the form of flat spirals. To make
these elliptical, as is necessary for the manufacture of scythe and sickle blades,
the rolling apparatus is, furthermore, so arranged that after one or more revolu-
tions of the rolls they are alternately pressed more strongly together and returned
to their initial position. By this arrangement the metal strips or bars are
alternately more or less curved and assume the requisite elliptical form.
The sickle and scythe blades thus formed, and which are still connected
together, are suitably separated and provided with the usual tangs or the like
for the attachment of the wooden handles.
The hardening and grinding of the sickle and scythe blades are effected in the
known manner.
In the accompanying drawings,―
Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 illustrate the general shape of the strips of metal from
which the articles are to be made.
Figures 5 and 6 indicate how the strips can be separated to form the articles:
Figures 7, 8 and 9 are detail views showing sections of the blades:
Figures 10 and 11 are side and end elevations respectively of a machine by
which the invention may be carried out.
Figures 12 and 13 are enlarged detail views of the strip forming part of the
machine.
The process forming the object of this invention which obviates these dis-
advantages consists in imparting to straight metal strips of suitable section the
required curvature of the scythes or sickles by rolling. The device used for
this purpose is provided with cylindrical or conical rolls, which are so adjusted
that the strip of metal is stretched to a large extent at one edge and imparted
the shape of a helical surface. To make the latter elliptical in shape, as required
in the manufacture of scythes and sickles, the rolling device is so arranged that
after the rolls have effected one or more revolutions they are alternately pressed
at one time more strongly together and at another time returned to their posi-
tion. As above described my method of forming scythe and sickle blades consists
in passing strips of metal through a rolling machine whereby they are alter-
nately curved more or less sharply and caused to assume a spiral elliptical form,
as shewn in Figures 1, 3, 4 and 5. The blades thus obtained and still connected
together are separated, as shewn in the drawings, Figures 3 to 6. A point is
then formed on them and also a thick part and socket to receive a wooden
handle. The sections of the blades are shewn in Figures 7 to 9.
The hardening, grinding etc., of the scythe and sickle blade are effected in
the usual way.
Figures 10 to 13 illustrate a machine whereby my improved method may be
carried out; a, b represent two rolls revolving each at the same speed and the
axes of which form an angle with each other; c, d are two guiding-rolls for
the strips, and e an adjustment and beading roll. These rolls are rotated by
suitable means as the bar progresses through the machine.
In operation the steel bar, of suitable cross-section, is introduced between the
guiding-rolls c, d which force the strips through the guide f and between the
rolls a, b which are so arranged that the bar is stretched by the pressure exerted
on its outer edge and leaves the rolls in the form of a ring. The bar striking
against the beading-roll e, the edge thereof is turned up, as indicated in
Figures 12 and 13. By suitable adjusting means, shown in the form of stirrups,

page_text: the rolls can be adjusted in a manner well understood with proper relation to
each other and to the shape or form of the completed article, as desired.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. The herein before-described method of forming scythe and sickle blanks
which consists in rolling a strip or bar of metal into the form of a helix with a
thickened outer edge and in such manner that the edges of successive and
contiguous portions thereof will conform to the shape of the articles to be formed,
and in finally severing the strip at separated points, substantially as described.
2. Scythes and sickles manufactured substantially as hereinbefore described
and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 29th day of May 1900.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
Agents for the Applicant.