AN IMPROVED FILE HOLDER
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake,
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED FILE HOLDER." A comununication from abroad by the
Nicholson File Company (Incorporated), of Providence, Rhode Island, United
States of America.
Sealed the 8th September 1877, and dated the 18th July 1877.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 18th July 1877.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "AN IMPROVED FILE HOLDER." A communi-
cation from abroad by the Nicholson File Company (Incorporated), of Providence,
Rhode Island, United States of America.
The prime object of my Invention is to provide a file holder, with which a file
may be readily sprung or bent, and held in that condition for service.
File holders as heretofore made have in reality been mere handles of peculiar
construction for. receiving the tang of a file. Saw filing machines have however
heretofore embodied a file holder having as a part thereof a guiding rod or bar,
which is fitted to slide bearings, whereby the file may be moved longitudinally to
and fro at certain prescribed angles for securing uniformity in the teeth of saws.
These machine file holders are provided with a tang socket, and also with a tip
socket, which receives bodily the tip of a file, and these sockets are adjustable with
relation to each other, so that the file may be clamped thereby, and held parallel
with the guiding rod or bar. With. these machine holders any desired degree of
end wise compression on the file may be attained, but the construction of the tip
socket is such that the tip of the file would be broken if it should be bent because it
is held bodily within the socket.
This Invention consists, mainly, in the combination with a suitable handle of a
rear socket, which engages with the tang of a file, a front socket which is provided

page_text: with a shallow recess for receiving the tip of a file with abutting contact, and
suitable means for adjusting these sockets with relation to each other, whereby the
file may be sprung or bent, and worked in that condition.
A file holder having the characteristics described, in combination with a file
which is sprung, constitutes as an entirety a novel tool, and my Invention further
consists in the combination with a suitable holder of a file which is sprung or bent
therein.
The value of this novel characteristic of my holder will be readily comprehended
when it is remembered that a longitudinally convex file is operated with greater
ease and efficiency than a flat straight file, especially when working on large surfaces.
The convex surfaced file is also less liable to clog and glaze, and is more easily
worked than the straight flat file, because of the variety of positions which the
convex surface is made to assume with relation to the surface filed during the filing
operation, and the consequently limited section of its teeth which are brought into
action.
The said Invention is of importance in enabling the operator to take almost any
common file, without special selection as to its curvature of face, and give to it such
additional curvature by springing it, as for the occasion he may require.
Figure 2 represents in lateral vertical section, on the line x, x, Figure 1, the rear
socket of the said holder and the tang of a file.
Figure 3 represents in longitudinal central vertical section another form of holder
embodying this Invention.
Figure 4 represents in edge view a file without a tang, fitted for use with the
holder shown in Figure 3.
The handle of the holder is shown at A. In Figure 1 the handle is so arranged
that the file may be used on large surfaces, the axis of the handle being in a plane
above that occupied by the file. In Figure 3 the handle is arranged for using the
file on the surfaces of pieces which may be held in a vice for instance, the axis of
the handle being in this case in the same plane as the file.
In both forms of handle a socket is provided for securing the rear end of the file.
In Figure 1 the socket is shown at a provided with a tapered interior for the
reception of the tang b with which files are usually provided; this socket with a
tang therein is shown in section in Figure 2.
In Figure 3 a socket is shewn at c which is V shaped, for receiving the butt of a
file; when in case the tang has been broken the end is prepared for the purpose, made
V shaped, as shown in Figure 4; the handle in Figure 3 has also an axial socket a¹
for the reception of a tang.
It will be seen that in both cases the rear socket will freely permit the pile to be
bent outward or downward, because there is beneath the file no portion of the
socket to prevent such downward or outward bending. Each rear socket has
however at its front end an overlapping portion, which, being in contact with the
upper surface of the file near the tang, prevents it from bending upward.
Both forms of holders have at the outer end thereof a tip socket as at e, which has
a V shaped recess for receiving the tip of a file, which is beveled from each side as
shewn. These sockets may be varied in form, but the V recess is best suited for
general service, as it affords a good seat for the file, and is one to which any file
may be readily fitted, and at the same time no portion of a tip socket thus formed
projects downward, so as to interfere with the operation of the cutting face of the
file when applied to large surfaces. Any other form which will securely hold the
file at both ends may, however, be employed, provided that the tip socket does not

page_text: embrace the tip of the file, and has a recess which will serve simply to retain the
socket in abutting contact with the prepared tip of the file, and which will permit
it to adjust itself therein, regardless of the extent to which the file may be bent or
curved.
It is obvious that for convenient service, considering this device as a mere holder,
it is important that the tip socket should be movable with relation to the rear
socket, not only for readily taking and releasing a file, but also for adapting it for
use with files of different lengths. When my holder is considered, however, as
a device by which a file securely held therein may be bent to any desired degree
and worked in that condition, the movable tip socket has a decided value.
The simplest and most effectual means for controlling the tip socket is a screw
rod and nut, and I have shown two methods of applying them, the two forms of
handle shown requiring different methods. In Figure 1 the tip socket is connected
with the handle by a bent rod f on the end of which the socket is formed. The
rear end of this rod is screw-threaded, and fitted in a tap g which is within and
connected to the handle. The outer end of the tap is squared up as at h, so that a
wrench may be used thereon if necessary. Adjacent to the squared portion the tap
is cylindrical, and is loosely embraced in a collar as at i, which is connected to and
forms a part of the shank socket.
An annular shoulder on the tap engages with the rear surface of the collar i,
so that when the handle is turned the tip socket is drawn toward the shank
socket.
In Figure 3 the tip socket is prolonged, and provided at its rear end with a tap 1
for receiving the screw-threaded rod m, which is free to turn in a collar as at n on
the handle. The rear end of this rod is added as at o, and has a bearing against
the rear surface of the collar n, so that when the rod is turned by means of the
finger wheel p the tip socket is drawn toward the handle.
In some instances I apply to my holders a central post between the rod and the
upper surface of the file as shown at q. This post tends to a more secure
holding of the file. In the holder shown in Figure 1 this post is centrally located
on the rod f, while in Figure 3 it is shown to be connected to and form a part of
the tip socket below the tapped portion thereof.
Should it be desirable to work a file so bent as to present a longitudinally
concave surface, the rear socket should correspond practically with the tip socket,
and no post would then be employed, for the latter would prevent the upward
curve of the file, and the same is true of the tang socket shown in Figure 1. The
rear socket in Figure 3 has a proper recess, but the upper portion of the socket
extends forward and engages with the upper surface of the file, and this would
prevent the file from freely bending upward, and when intended for that peculiar
service the upper portion should be shortened, so that the socket recess will
practically correspond with that in the tip socket.
It will be readily seen that by rotating the handle or the rod as the case may be
the tip socket is moved to and fro for taking in or releasing a file or for bending it,
and that while the file is mounted in the holder it is securely held, and in a position
thoroughly convenient for service.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I do not limit myself to the precise construction herein shown and described,
for I am aware that holders possessing the novel characteristics herein described
may be modified or varied without departing from the spirit of my Invention, and
I claim,
First. A file holder embodying in combination a suitable handle and two sockets,
adjustable with relation to each other, and with recesses therein which retain the
file by abutting contact therewith, whereby a file may be sprung longitudinally to
adapt the curvature of its face to various kinds of work to be dressed as above set
forth,

page_text: Second. The combination with a suitable longitudinally compressing file holder
of a file which is sprung or bent therein as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of July in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven.
W. ROB', LAKE, (L.S.)