AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SPRING KNIFE SCALES AND KNIFE HANDLES
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Hill, of 103, Milton Street, Sheffield, in the
County of York, Ivery Turner, and Henry Barber, of 60, Thomas Street,
Sheffield, aforesaid, Spring Knife Cutler, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SPRING KNIFE SCALES AND KNIFE
HANDLES."
Sheffield, aforesaid, Spring Knife Cutler, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SPRING KNIFE SCALES AND KNIFE
HANDLES."
Sealed the 21st June 1861, and dated the 27th December 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Hill and Henry
Barber at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 27th December 1860.
I, WILLIAM HILL, of 108, Milton Street, Sheffield, in the County of York,
Ivory Turner, and HENRY BARBER, of 60, Thomas Street, Sheffield aforesaid,
Spring Knife Cutler, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SPRING KNIFE SCALES AND KNIFE
HANDLES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in a new method of pressing and securing horn, hoof,
or shell on to spring knife and bowie knife scales, and bowie knife and dagger
handles, and farriers' and butchers' knife handles.
We propose placing pins, either plain or ornamental, on the metallic scales
and rivetting them thereto, leaving the front surfaces of such pins projecting
about one-eighth of an inch or less; the horn or other material is then to be

page_text: pressed on to the scale, and the pins or studs pierced through it; these pins or
studs may be made either of star-drawn wire or of any other design, or a shield
or name plate may be used instead, projecting sufficiently high to come through
the horn.
Bowie knife or dagger handles will be made by leaving an open space up
the centre which is continued through the solid ends thereof; these spaces are
for a metallic core, shaped like a knife tang, which is to be inserted before
the horn or other material is pressed upon the rivets on each side, which,
when done, and the core withdrawn, leaves a space or opening for the tang
either of a bowie knife or dagger to pass through, which is then secured at the
bottom of the handle by an ornamental nut.
We also propose using flat-tanged knives and passing through the tangs
thereof at intervals ornamental pins, studs, or stars projecting on each side, so
that when a layer of horn, hoof, shell, or other suitable material is pressed on
cach side it forms a secure and ornamental handle.
These improvements apply more particularly to bowie knives, daggers,
spring knives, and other such like cutlery, with the exception of table knives.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Hill and Henry Barber in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 27th June 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
HILL, of 103, Milton Street, Sheffield, in the County of York, Ivory Turner,
and HENRY BARBER, of 60, Thomas Street, Sheffield, aforesaid, Spring Knife
Cutler, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said William Hill and Henry Barber, Her special licence that we,
the said William Hill and Henry Barber, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said William Hill and Henry
Barber, our 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE

page_text: MANUFACTURE OF SPRING KNIFE SCALES AND KNIFE HANDLES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said William Hill and Henry Barber, our
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, 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 per-
formed, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said William Hill and Henry Barber,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement, that is to say :-
This Invention consists in a new method or methods of pressing and securing
horn, hoof, or shell on to spring knife and bowie knife scales, and bowie knife
and dagger handles, and farriers' and butchers' knife handles.
In order to explain our said Invention as completely as possible, we now
proceed to describe the best means we are acquainted with for carrying the
same into practical effect, as follows:-
We place either plain or ornamental pins on the metallic scales and rivet
them thereto, leaving the front surfaces of such pins projecting about one-
eighth of an inch, more or less. The horn or other suitable material is then to
be pressed on the scale, and the rivetted pius pierce through it; these pins are
made on the dovetail principle, that is, broader at the top than the bottom,
so that when the covering is pressed on and set it cannot come off again, and
these pins may also be made only long enough to come half way through the
covering so that they will not be seen, or long enough to come entirely through
it, and they may also be made of various designs, as star, stud, shield, or name
plate. Also in pressing the covering on we place a small steel core or
mandril on the metallic scale, and when the horn is pressed on and set this
core is withdrawn, and it leaves a small hole or gait where pickers, tweezers, or
lancets may be fitted. Likewise at the bottom of the press for pressing the
covering on, we have three or four small centre points, according to the make
of the knife. These centre points mark the under side of the scales where the
holes are to be bored for the blade and spring rivets of the knife.
likewise use this marking process for marking all other kinds of spring knife
scales. In securing shell coverings to the spring knife scales so that the rivets
will not be seen, the covering is first matched to the scale in the ordinary
way, but in boring the holes for the rivets the holes are bored through the
lining, and only half way through the covering; the knife is then rivetted
We

page_text: together without the covering on; the holes in the covering are then made
wider in the inside than at the entrance, and rivets are fastened into them on
the same principle as pearl button shanks are, or these rivets may be soldered
in, or the rivets themselves may be made of a soldering metal. When the
covering is thus prepared it is put on to the knife, and the rivets going through
the corresponding holes in the knife lining are rivetted in the inside of the
knife or soldered fast. We likewise use small screws for securing coverings
of this kind, but they are only for two-ended knives or capped knives. The
coverings are matched and bored to the linings as the above; the linings and
spring are then rivetted together at the centre spring hole; the covering is
then secured to the lining with small screws long enough to go through the
lining and half way through the covering. The screw heads are then glazed level
with the lining and the blades then rivetted in; and as knives of this description
(that is two-ended or capped knives) have metallic ends, the rivets that go
through the ends are glazed clean with them, so that there is no rivet visible
when the knife is finished. We do not confine ourselves to shell alone, such
as tortoise or pearl, but ivory, bone, and all kinds of hard and brittle coverings
may be thus secured. We-likewise-use-a-small-screw-for single-ended knives.
that have the covering pressed on without the rivets being seen as before
described. In a knife of this kind the holes that are bored in the scales to
correspond with the two spring holes are bored through the lining and half way
through the covering, a piece of wire is then driven through the centre hole in
the spring, and left to project out at each side sufficient to fill the holes in the
scales; a small screw is then screwed into one of the scales in the hole that
corresponds with the hole in the end of the spring, which is then put on the
projecting end of the screw, and the other scale is then screwed on to the
remaining end of the screw. The small protecting ends of the wire in the
centre spring hole are then sprung into their corresponding holes, and the
blade or blades then rivetted in.
Bowie knife and dagger handles are made with a metallic frame having an
open space up the centre which is continued as holes through the solid ends of
the frame; along the sides of this frame the pins are cast or rivetted. A steel
core shaped like a bowie knife tang is inserted in the open space in the frame,
and when the horn or other suitable material is pressed on, the core is with-
drawn, leaving a hole through the handle for the tang of a bowie knife or
dagger, which is secured fast at the bottom end with an ornamental nut. We
also press a horn handle without frame with the steel core up the centre as the
above, and we put a hoop or ferrule on the guard end and a cap on the other
end, and screw them all tight up with the nut on the blade tang.

page_text: For flat and round-tanged bowie knives, butchers' and farriers' knives, we
put the pins through 'the tangs, and press the horn on at each side.
These improvements apply to bowie knives, butchers' and farriers' knives,
daggers, spring knives, and such like cutlery, but not table knives, as horn has
been pressed on table knives before in the same manner as we treat flat and
round-tanged bowie k nives
Having now fully described the nature and objects of our said Inven-
tion for an "Improvement in the Manufacture of Spring Knife Scales and
Knife Handles," and the manner in which such is to be performed, we would
remark in conclusion that we do not confine ourselves to the exact details
herein mentioned, as some of the details of our Invention might be varied
without at all departing from the principle of our Invention; but that which
we claim as our Invention, intended to be secured unto us by the herein
in part recited Letters Patent, is,
Firstly, rivetting the pins on the spring knife scales before the covering is
put on, and for the purpose of pressing the covering on.
Secondly, pressing the covering on to spring knife scales.
Thirdly, the small steel core for making the tweezer or lancet gait.
Fourthly, the centre dots or points for making the scales, whether used
when pressing the covering on, or for making other kinds of scales where the
holes are to be bored.
Sixthly, in securing shell coverings, we claim the dovetailed holes, the
process of fastening the rivets in them, and of rivetting and soldering the
coverings on after the knife has been put together, as described.
Seventhly, we claim the small screws for fastening covering on, and we also
claim securing all kinds of hard coverings by these processes as well as
shell.
Eighthly, we also claim the small screw used at the bottom of a pressed-
covered knife for making such knife without a rivet being seen.
In bowie knife and dagger handles we claim, firstly, the metallic frame
with the rivets on.
Secondly, we claim the steel core for making a hole for the tang in all
kinds of pressed handles for bowie knives and daggers.
Thirdly, we do not claim the ferule and cap and nut as described for a bowie
or dagger handle as new, that is, we do not claim them as new separately, but
we claim them all as new in that combination.
Fourthly, we claim putting the pins in flat-tanged bowie knives, butchers'
and farriers' knives before the covering is pressed on, and pressing the covering
on to both flat and round tangs.

page_text: This is our claim, being always understood to refer to spring knife scales,
bowie and dagger handles, butchers' and farriers' knife handles, and handles
for such like similar cutlery, with the exception of table knife handles, in the
manner herein described for the purposes set forth.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Hill and Henry Barber,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Seventh day of April, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
JOHN CLARK,
7, St. James Row, Sheffield.
WILLIAM HILL. (L.S.)
HENRY BARBER. (L.S.)