MANUFACTURE OF TROWELS."
Year: 1882

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Albert Reaney at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 23rd June 1882.
ALBERT REANEY of Sheffield in the County of York.
MANUFACTURE OF TROWELS."
"
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
My Invention relates to the manufacture of Bricklayers Trowels and other
similar Trowels which have tangs, and it consists chiefly in making the tangs of a
hollow or tubular form, from the plate or blade of the trowel instead of forging
them out of the solid steel in the usual manner, the object being to reduce the cost
of manufacture, and to avoid the risk of burning or overheating the blade, as my
method does not require the steel to be heated so highly as when it has to be
forged and drawn out.
In carrying out my invention I cut or shape a suitable piece of steel from a
sheet or strip which may be of uniform thickness or it may be thicker at one edge
than at the other-one portion being formed to suit the shape of the blade and one
for the tang-The narrow part (being that for the tang) I make sufficiently hot
and place between a pair of tools or swages by preference fitted in a machine
baving a vertical motion--The faces of the tools which correspond (male and female),
when brought together press the steel into the desired shape or outline of the
tang of a trowel- the cross section being semicircular or thereabouts-it is then
placed between and operated upon by a second pair of swages or closing tools,
which complete the shape of the tang by closing up the edges of the material-thus
forming a hollow or tubular tapered tang of great strength and ready to receive
the wood handle.
If desirable one or more creases may be formed in the heel of the trowel for the
purpose of stiffening and strengthening it.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Albert Reaney in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 22nd December
1882.
ALBERT REANEY of Sheffield in the County of York, "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF TROWELS"
My Invention relates to the manufacture of Bricklayers Trowels and other
similar trowels which are provided with tangs to which the handles are secured;
and it consists in forming the tangs from the plate or blade of the trowel, by
bending, swaging, or otherwise shaping the material into a tubular tang instead of
forging them out of the solid steel by the present expensive process, thus the
object of my invention is to reduce the cost of manufacture, and to improve the
quality of the article by avoiding the risk of overhoating of the steel, as trowels
made by my process do not require to be heated so highly, as they do when the
tang is forged solid.
In carrying out my invention, I cut out or otherwise shape a suitable piece of steel
from a sheet or strip which may be of a varied, or of a uniform thickness; and in
order that my invention may be clearly understood I will refer to the annexed
sheet of drawings and to the Figures and letters marked thereon, premising that
the same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the various figures.
Figure 1 represents a trowel blank, or plate of steel, cut to a suitable shape from
which to make the combined trowel blade and tang; A being the blade, and the
narrow part B is the portion from which the tang is formed; when the portion
marked B is made sufficiently hot to be worked, (which is quickly and best done in
a small furnace) I place it between a pair of swages, or similar tools, by preference
carried by a Machine having a vertical movement which bend or crank the
material at B to the desired shape, and partially close up the edges to a shape
approximating to that of the finished tang, a second pair of tools complete the
operation by closing the edges together, and thus forming a hollow tang of great
strength and rigidity, and ready to receive the wood handle, which may be secured
in the usual way by rivetting the end of the tang over a cap or washer.
Figure 2, represents a completed blade and tang.
Figure 3, represents a trowel with a hollow tang made by turning the sheet
steel downwards, so that the seam or junction of the edges are underneath instead
of on the top side as in Fig. 1. A hollow stiffening ridge C may be raised on the
blade if desired, by pressure or other similar means.
Having now described and fully ascertained the nature of my invention, and the
manner in which it is or may be carried into effect; in conclusion, what 1 consider
to be novel and original, and of my Invention, and therefore claim as the invention
secured to me by the hereinbefore in part recited Letters Patent is,―
The manufacture of bricklayers Trowels, and other similar Trowels, by forming
the complete tangs of a hollow or tubular shape, from the steel plate or blade, by
means of swages, dies, or other mechanical equivalents instead of by forging them
solid, substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated.
In witness whereof whereof I the said Albert Reaney have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this nineteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord,
Eighteen hundred and eighty two.
Witness,
ROBT. F. DRURY.
Fel. Inst. Patent Agents,
Sheffield & District Patent Office.
ALBERT REANEY. (L.S.)