AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF AXES
Year: 1885

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
I, HENRY HAMMOND, a citizen of the United States of America, and residing
at 156 Dixwell Avenue, in the City of New Haven, and State of Connecticut,
Blacksmith, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for AN IMPROVEMENT
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF AXES, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in the following statement :-
This invention is a new process of making the eye and head of an axe, and it
consists essentially in forcing the sides of an axe blank apart, at the eye portion,
to such an extent as to perform the double work of making the eye, and expanding
the cheeks into the ultimate contour and thickness desired; and in upsetting the
head of the blank, till it reaches the thickness and shape desired for the head of
the axe.
Figures 1, to 8, inclusive, of the accompanying drawings, illustrate the process
when executed after the forming of the blade; and Figures 9, to 14, inclusive
represent the same, when executed before the blade is completed.
Figures 1, and 2, are side and edge views, respectively, of a block of steel of
suitable size and proportions for producing a steel axe. Figures 3 and 4 represent
that block, after its lower portion has been forged into the form of the blade of an
axe. Figures 5, and 6, illustrate the article shown in Figures 3 and 4, after that
article has been furnished with the hole a, by being split open from edge to edge,
with one or more chisels, or punches having inclined sides. Figures 7, and 8, show
the article illustrated in Figures 5 and 6, after the hole a, has been enlarged to the
eye d; and the head c, has been upset into the shape of the head e.
Figures 9, and 10, are side and edge views, respectively, of a block or blank of
iron, of suitable size and proportions for producing an axe poll. Figures 11, and 12,
represent that block or blank, after both of its ends have been narrowed, as a
convenient preliminary to subsequent operations; and after it has been furnished
with the hole f, in the same manner that the hole a, is produced in the article
shown in Figures 5, and 6. Figures 13, and 14, illustrate the blank shown in
Figures 11, and 12, after the hole f, has been enlarged into the eye g, and the
head h, has been upset into the shape of the head j, and the lower part i, has been

page_text: thinned and widened out, at its edges, into the form k, preparatory to making a
finished axe, by the application of a "bit," in either of the well-known methods.
The new process is as follows.
The blank is first heated, and then the eye is made with one or more chisels, or
punches having inclined sides, which, as they penetrate the metal, force the sides
of the blank apart, and thus expand the blank, at the eye portion, to the ultimate
thickness desired for the axe at that place; and the head is made by upsetting the
upper end of the blank, so as to make it approach, and, if desired, to exceed, in
thickness, the eye portion of the axe.
I recommend that the eye be formed without expelling any metal from the
blank; but the penetrating instrument may have a blunt edge which will expel a
small amount of the metal, while it also makes room for itself by forcing the metal
sidewise into convex protuberances substantially like those shown in Figures 6,
and 12. So also, I recommend that the holes a, and f, be first formed, and
afterward enlarged into the eyes d, and g, respectively; but those eyes may be
made at once, without any preliminary holes. I recommend, also, that the
indicated forging and forming be done with dies and chisels, operated by machinery;
but it may be done with hand tools.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed; I declare that what
I claim is
L
The process of making the eye- and head of an axe which consists in first
heating an axe blank; and then in forcing the sides thereof apart, at the eye
portion, till that portion is expanded to the ultimate thickness and form desired;
and in upsetting the upper end of the blank, till it reaches the thickness and shape
desired for the head of the axe; all substantially as described.
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