Improvements in the Manufacture of Creels for Fishermen.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Aug., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 18th May, 1895-Accepted, 15th June, 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Creels for Fishermen.
I, MATTHEW HENRY TODD, of Oaklands, Ilkley, in the County of York,
Leather Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention consists of improvements in the manufacture of creels for fishermen,
and relates more particularly to that class of creel which fishermen carry by means
of straps passed over the shoulders.
The objects of this invention are, to construct a creel which is lighter than creels
as heretofore constructed, and which is moreover waterproof, and when soiled, easily
washed and cleaned.
The ordinary wickerwork, and tin creels do not fulfil the above objects. Wicker-
work creels are only cleaned with difficulty, and are not waterproof, while, in the
case of tin creels, the interior soon becomes rusted.
This improved creel is constructed of buffalo or boar hide, which is not only
light, but also, impervious to water.
The method of constructing this improved creel is as follows: The hide is first
thoroughly soaked in water, after. which it becomes flexible and can be bent to
any form or shape required. This is effected by stitching together the piece or
pieces of the moist hide required to form the body of the creel, around a wooden
black having the form or shape which it is desired the creel shall take. In
order to strengthen the creel, pieces of thin steel are sewn in at the joining or
joinings of the piece or pieces of hide...
The lid of the creel is also made of buffalo or boar hide, and is fastened to the
body of the creel by means of brass clips.
After the piece or pieces of hide have been sewn together, the hide is allowed to
dry, when it becomes hard and stiff, and retains the same shape as the block upon
which it has been constructed.
· Dated this 21st day of August 1894.
J. SIDNEY CRITCHLEY,
27, Kirkgate, Bradford, Agent for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Creels for Fishermen.
I, MATTHEW HENBY TODD, of 1 Skipton Road, formerly of Oaklands, Ilkley,
in the County of. York, Leather Merchant, 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 :-
This invention consists of improvements in the manufacture of creels for fisher-
men, and relates more particularly to that class of creel which fishermen carry..iby
means of straps passed over the shoulders.
The objects of this invention are to construct a creel which is lighter than creela
as heretofore constructed, and which is moreover waterproof, and when soiled easily
washed and cleaned.
:

page_text: The ordinary wickerwork and tin crecls do not fulfil the above objects..
Wickerwork creels are only cleaned with difficulty, and are not waterproof, while
in the case of tin creels the interior soon becomes rusted.
This improved creel is constructed of buffalo or boar hide which is not only light,
but also impervious to water.
In order to more fully explain my invention I append hereto a sheet of drawings
marked with letters of reference:
Fig. 1 of such drawings, shows the form of a piece of hide cut to the shape
required to form my improved creel.
Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5, are views of the creel without the lid, and in an unfinished
state, showing the method of construction,
Fig. 2 being a front view,
Fig. 3 a view looking into the interior of the creel,
Fig. 4 a back view, also showing the underside, and
Fig. 5 an end view.
Fig. 6, is a front view of the finished creel fitted with the lid.
The
The piece of hide required to form the creel is thoroughly soaked, when it
becomes flexible or pliable, and is then cut into the form or pattern shown in
Fig. 1. By cutting it into the form shown, I am enabled to make the body of the
creel out of one piece of hide. The hide in this flexible or pliable state is bent or
laid around a wooden block having the shape that it is required the creel shall take,
the hide being secured to the wooden block by tacking or other means.
usual form or shape of the wooden block and creel is shown in the drawings,
although any other conveniently shaped creel can be formed by altering the shape
of the wooden block and the pattern of the piece of hide. After the hide has been
fixed to the block it is allowed to dry, when it becomes stiff and hard, and retains
the shape of the block upon which it has been secured and dryed.
It will be seen by reference to the drawings that, by cutting the hide as shown in
Fig. 1, the creel is formed with only two joints a and b, the side pieces being laid
over the back and bottom so that the front and sides have a perfectly even surface.
In fixing the piece of hide to the block the part forming the back, front,
and bottom is first attached, and then the part forming the sides which overlap the
bottom and the back as shown in Fig. 4. ,, are the two extreme points of
the pattern and the edges -y appear at the outside at the back and bottom, and
the edges y-z at the inside of the creel. After removing the hide from the block the
parts overlapping to form the joining are stitched together. Before stitching,
however, the said parts are coated with Russian tar to make them perfectly
watertight, and thin pieces of steel are inserted or laid in between in order to add
strength.
The edges x-y are sccured by lines of stitching c, and the edges y-z by lines
of stitching d.
In order to strengthen the upper edge of the creel a piece of wire e is stitched
to the inside which is afterwards covered by a thin piece of leather binding.
The lid of the creel is constructed out of the same material as the body of the creel
which is formed to the requisite shape when flexible, the edges being finished off
with a binding of leather. It is fastened to the body by hinges, rivetted or sewn
thereto, and any convenient form of fastening is used. Loops for attaching straps
for carrying the creel are attached to the back, or the straps may be fastened to
the creel without loops. The creel is finally coated with a covering of paint or
varnish on the outside, and may be painted inside.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
Firstly. A creel for fishermen formed of buffalo or boar hide in the manner
described and illustrated by the drawings.
.
Secondly. In the manufacture of creels for fishermen, the employment of a block

page_text: around which the material required to form the creel is fixed when in a moist and
flexible or pliable state, such material being afterwards allowed to dry while fixed
to such block, for the purpose herein set forth.
Thirdly. In creels for fishermen constructed as described in Claim 2 the pieces of
thin steel inserted between the parts stitched together, and the wire fastened around
the top edge, for the purpose of giving the creel additional strength.
Fourthly. The method of constructing creels for fishermen as herein described
and illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 17th day of May 1895.
J. SIDNEY CRITCHLEY,
27, Kirkgate, Bradford, Agent for the Applicant.