IMPROVEMENTS IN CUTLERY BOLSTERS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas McGrah, of 45, William Street, Sheffield,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CUTLERY BOLSTERS."
Sealed the 10th January 1865, and dated the 11th July 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas McGrah at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th July 1864.
I, THOMAS MCGRAH, of 45, William Street, Sheffield, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CUTLERY BOLSTERS,"
to be as follows:-
My improvements consist in stamping, embossing, or producing ornamental
impressions upon all descriptions of bolsters of table cutlery; also upon all
descriptions of bolsters of pen and pocket knives, and cutlery in general; the
bolsters to be made solid is of iron, steel, or any other suitable metal. The
process is as follows:-The bolsters having been manufactured in the usual
way in a plain form are made bright or smooth by filing, grinding, or glazing
("or such other means as are usually employed;") then I place the smooth
or bright bolster or bolsters in dies corresponding in size to the plain bright
or smooth bolsters (the dies having a design cut in or upon them), and by
means of a fly, stamp, hammer, or other means I produce the designs,
shapes, or desired impressions upon the bright or smooth bolster, the
impression so produced being clear, smooth, and bright.

page_text: I intend to apply this Invention mostly to such shapes of bolsters as shall
imitate silver ferrules, there being a great advantage in this respect over the
ordinary ferrules, as the bolsters (or, as they may now be termed) "solid
ferrules" having been operated upon will balance the knives without the use
of lead in the handles, which is employed in most cases to balance table
cutlery, the improved bolster or solid ferrules being alone sufficiently heavy
to balance. But I do not confine myself to any particular shape of bolster,
or any particular design, the Invention being applicable to any shape of
bolster. The object of this Invention is to ornament or otherwise make a
plain bright bolster into an altered or improved shape at a much less cost than
could be done by any other mode at present in use.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas McGrah in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th January 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
MCGRAH, of 45, William Street, Sheffield, in the County of York, Table
Knife Manager, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Thomas McGrah, Her special licence that I, the said
Thomas McGrah, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
ns I, the said Thomas McGrab, 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 CUTLERY BOLSTERS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Thomas McGrah, 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 Thomas McGrab, 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:-
My improvements consist in stamping, embossing, or producing ornamental
impressions or configurations upon that part of all descriptions of table cutlery
called the bolster, the bolsters being made solid, of iron, steel, or any other
suitable metal. The process is as follows:-The bolsters having been forged
{or made in any other manner} in a plain or any other suitable form are then
rendered clean, smooth, or bright by filing, grinding, or glazing, or by any
other known method; then I place the clean, smooth, or bright bolster or
bolsters in dies, prints, or beneath or between beds or punches having a
design, ornamental or otherwise, engraved, cut, or made in or upon them, and
by means of a stamp, hammer, fly, or press (or by other means} I produce
the required designs, shapes, impressions, or configurations upon the clean,
smooth, or bright bolsters, the impressions so obtained and produced being
clean, smooth, or bright.
It is intended to apply this Invention chiefly to table cutlery heretofore
having silver or other kinds of ferrules on the hafts or handles, and to sub-
stitute for the said ferrules ornamented solid improved bolsters arranged so as
to balance on the most suitable part of the bolster or bolsters without the use
of lead in the handles or hafts as heretofore done in most kinds of table
cutlery to produce what is termed a "balanced article;" and, by preference, I
would make the blade, bolster, and tang in one solid piece.
One of the objects of this Invention is to reduce the cost of producing
ornamental or other improved shapes of bolsters; the bolsters being cleaned or
made smooth or bright in a simple or plain form retain their smoothness or
brightness after they have been operated upon, thereby saving a great portion
of the expense attendant upon making and finishing in the ordinary manner
what are termed "fancy bolsters."
I would observe that I do not confine myself, firstly, to operate upon any
particular shape of bolster, or any particular design, the Invention being
applicable to any shape or kind of bolster; secondly, to operate upon the
bolster in a cold or hot state, or any particular degree of heat; thirdly, nor
to the precise details or arrangements herein described, as variations may be
made therefrom without deviating from the principles or main features of my
said Invention.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the manner in

page_text: which the same may be performed or carried into effect, I desire it to be
distinctly understood that what I claim as my Invention is, "producing
ornamental impressions on and improving the shapes of all descriptions of
bolsters of table cutlery after they have been made and cleaned or rendered
smooth or bright, in the manner herein described.".
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas McGrah, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Ninth day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
HECTOR BIRKETT,
18, Waingate,
Sheffield.
THOMAS MCGRAH. (L.S.)