IMPROVEMENTS IN HORSE- SHOES, AND IN THE MODE OF MAKING THE SAME
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Lancaster, of Vine House, Canning Town, in the
County of Essex, Farmer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN HORSE-
SHOES, AND IN THE MODE OF MAKING THE SAME."
Sealed the 15th May 1877, and dated the 23rd January 1877.
*
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said John Lancaster at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 23rd January 1877.
JOHN LANCASTER, of Vine House, Canning Town, in the County of Essex, Farmer.
IMPROVEMENTS IN HORSE-SHOES, AND IN THE MODE OF MAKING THE SAME.”
"
The main object of my Invention is to form a horse-shoe, which by its shape
shall not only be lighter but by giving a better foothold will offer a greater resistance
to slipping, as well as to tear and wear.
My shoe is in outline (and shape) similar to those now used. In plan it resembles
the lower external portion of the horse's hoof to which it is to be affixed. I make
it of wrought or malleable iron. The ground face is formed with an open groove
or channel running nearly.from end to end; the face, which is attached to the hoof,
is an even surface, so that practically it may be described as formed of one plate
having about one-third of its width or diameter turned up vertically on each side
so as to form in cross section a nearly rectangular chamber, the top open. This
chamber is the open groove on the ground face of shoe before described; the bottom
side is the face of the shoe attached to the hoof. The extremities of the groove,
being the ends of the shoe, are made solid; the groove itself is filled with wood or
wooden blocks wedged tightly in, the object of the wooden blocks being to increase
the foothold and prevent slipping, while the absence of metal in the groove makes
the shoe much lighter, and in use greatly prevents its rapid wear.
The shoe is made with a solid toe piece or clip in the front, and to increase the .
wearing power I insert along with the wood within the groove near the toe piece,
and parallel with the groove or the faces forming it, a small wedge or plate of
steel.
The following is the means or method I adopt so to make or manufacture my
shoe-Slight modifications of the plan or process may be adopted, but in general
the description will enable anyone practically acquainted with such a manufacture

page_text: to carry it out. From a white hot bar of wrought iron I form by means of one or
more pairs of rolls, whose peripheries have been cut and turned, another long bar
having a section similar to that before described, that is to say, with the groove or
channel and with the projection for the toe piece or clip; this bar is then cut into
suitable lengths for a shoe, the ends being hammered up solid. The nail holes are
pierced in the bottom; it (the shoe) is then fitted to the hoof, the wooden blocks
with the steel plate being inserted in the groove, and the shoe is then ready to be
attached to the hoof.
In order more clearly to illustrate the mode of manufacture just described I have
appended to this Specification the accompanying Drawings, which are intended to
show the general process of making the shoe stage by stage until complete.
The rolls are similar to those used for rolling iron, so as to give particular
sections. There may be a separate pair of rolls for each particular section, or one
pair of rolls may have different lengths of their peripheries formed, so as to give
the different sections herein-after set forth.
An ordinary square bar having been provided it is heated and passed through
the first section of the rolls, and Fig. 1 is a section of it showing the resulting form.
This new bar is turned on its edge, and then passed through another pair of rolls
or another section of the same pair, and the resulting form is that shown in
Fig. 2.
In this Figure A is the incipient groove or chamber; B and D, the two vertical
walls or faces; C, the bottom wall or face; while F is a small projecting rib for the
purpose of forming the toe piece or clip of the shoe. The bar with the groove as
partially formed is now passed through another section of the rolls, so as to perfect
the formation of the grooves and the thickness and depth of the walls, the resulting
section being that shown in Fig. 3, and in perspective as in Fig. 3.
The thickness and height of the walls, as well as the width of the groove,
varies according to the peculiar kind of work-horse for which the shoe is required.
The inner wall is by preference always made thinner than the outer; and in
order to give a better fit or bevel to the foot I prefer that the inner wall should be
a little lower than the outer. It is now presented to and passed through another
section of the rolls or another pair, which are so formed as to finish the chamber A
with the walls B, C, and D, but the projection F is flattened down along the whole
length, with the exception of a small portion at equal intervals along the bar; this
small portion forms the toe piece or clip. Instead of rolling the projection F down
it may be shorn off, leaving the part for the toc piece or clip standing.
The bar is now finished, so far as the rolls can, in forming the proper section;
it is now cut into lengths suitable each for a shoe, Fig. 4. This portion has now
the ends hammered solid as at Fig. 5; it is then by means of a suitable mandrill
bent into the rough form, Fig. 6.
In this state the nail holes are pierced; the shoe is then fitted with the hoof; the
wooden blocks, with steel piece inserted in the groove and the shoe is complete, as
shown in Fig. 7.
Having now described my Invention, and shown how the same is made and
applied, I wish it understood that what I claim and desire secured by the said
Letters Patent is, the construction and use of a horse-shoe similar generally in form
and outline to that described in this Specification and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawings, and also the mode of manufacturing the same, substantially as here-
within set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Lancaster, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Eighteenth day of January, One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-seven
JOHN LANCASTER. (L.S.)