IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CUTLERY
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Jervis, of Sheffield, in the County of
York, Ironfounder, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF CUTLERY."
Sealed the 29th December 1871, and dated the 3rd July 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Jervis at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd July 1871.
I, JOSEPH JERVIS, of Sheffield, in the County of York, Ironfounder,
do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CUTLERY," to be as follows:
-
This Invention relates to a mode of casting the holsters and tangs,
or hafts or handles on to the blade or blanks of table and other like
knives, or on to the bodies or blanks of forks, or to the casting of the
handles of scissors or shears on to their blades in combination with a
mode of annealing the cast-iron portions of such articles without
damage to the quality of the steel.

page_text: According to this Invention as applied, for example, to the manufacture
of table knives and forks, I propose to cast either a round or flat tang
and bolsters in one piece on to the blade or blank, and to run the metal
into that end of the mould which is nearest the blade or blank in order
to maintain a high temperature at that part of the said blade or blank,
and thereby prevent chilling and undue hardening of the cast iron at
the bolsters or that part where it will subsequently be required to
receive the greatest amount of labor. If desired the complete handle
may be cast on in the same way, the metal being poured in at the end
nearest the blade or blank for the purpose above set forth.
The partly manufactured article is then submitted to a process of
annealing for the purpose of imparting toughness or increased strength
to the cast iron portion, and of allowing by reason of the greater
softness of the metal of a better finish.
In effecting this annealing it is necessary to protect the blade or
blank or steel portion of the article from the injurious action of the
heat thereon, or to counteract such action, for which purpose I embed
the cast-iron portion into the material in the annealing pan, and I
protect the steel portion by coating it with coal tar pitch, or other
equivalent material, and enclosing or surrounding the part with
powdered wood charcoal, the latter tending to supply or make good any
loss of carbon in the steel under the temperature to which it is of
necessity subjected.
..
By this Invention cutlery can be produced at a lower cost and of a
better quality or finish in relation to the price than has hitherto been
practicable under the ordinary modes of manufacture.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
.
filed by the said Joseph Jervis in the Great Scal Patent Office
on the 3rd January 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH 30
JERVIS, of Sheffield, in the County of York, Ironfounder, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of July, in the year of our

page_text: Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the 35th year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Joseph Jervis, Her special licence, that I,
the said Joseph Jervis, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Joseph Jervis, my executors, administrators,
or 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 THE Manufacture
OF CUTLERY," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Joseph
Jervis, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Jervis, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner. the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to a mode of casting the bolsters and tangs
or hafts or handles on to the blade or blanks of table and other like
knives, or on the bodies or blanks of forks, or to the casting of the
handles of scissors or shears on to their blades in combination with a
mode of annealing the cast-iron portions of such articles without.
damage to the quality of the steel.
According to this Invention as applied, for example, to the manu-
facture of table knives and forks, I propose to cast either a round or
flat tang and bolster in one piece on to the blade or blank, and to run
the metal into that end of the mould which is nearest the blade or
blank, in order to maintain a high temperature at that part of the said
blade or blank, and thereby prevent chilling and undue hardening of
the cast iron at the bolster or that part where it will subsequently be
required to receive the greatest amount of labour. If desired the
complete handle may be cast on in the sanie way, the metal being

page_text: poured in at the end nearest the blade or blank for the purpose above
set forth.
The partly manufactured article is then submitted to a process of
annealing for the purpose of imparting toughness or increased strength
to the cast-iron portion, and of allowing by reason of the greater
softness of the metal of a better finish.
In effecting this annealing it is necessary to protect the blade or
blank or steel portion of the article from the injurious action of the
heat thereon or to counteract such action, for which purpose I embed
the cast-iron portion into the material in the annealing pan, and I
protect the steel portion by coating it with coal tar pitch, or other
equivalent material, and enclosing or surrounding the part with
powdered wood charcoal, the latter tending to supply or make good
any loss of carbon in the steel under the temperature to which it is of
necessity subjected.
.
By this Invention cutlery can be produced at a lower cost and of a
better quality or finish in relation to the price than has hitherto been
practicable under the ordinary modes of manufacture.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I
shall now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that
purpose shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of
Drawings, the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts
in both the Figures.
Figure 1 represents a plan view of a portion of the lower half of a
moulding flask, shewing the application of the first portion of my
Invention to the casting of the handles and bolsters on to two fork
blanks.
Figure 2 is a sectional view shewing my improved mode of protecting
the steel blade or blank during the subsequent process of annealing.
A (Figure 1) represents the sand in an ordinary moulding flask in
which I lay side by side any number of steel blades or blanks B, B,
on to which it is desired to cast handles C. In my Drawing I have
shewn open handles, but, of course, any pattern may be adopted that
is capable of being moulded.. In lieu of handles it is obvious that
simple tangs and bolsters may be cast on the steel blanks or blades.
D is the main pouring channel or "gate" for the molten metal, and
E, E, arc branches, each leading to a separate blank. The "gate ΟΙ
وو

page_text: opening a which enters the mould or matrix of the handle and bolster
is situate, as will be seen on referring to Figure 1, close to the end
of the blank or blade, in order that the incoming molten metal by first
coming in contact with the comparatively cold steel may rapidly raise
it to a sufficiently elevated temperature to ensure its not chilling, and
consequently unduly hardening the cast metal forming the bolster b,
which requires to be ground and polished. The handles or tangs which
have been cast on the steel blades or blanks, either in the manner
herein-before described, or in the ordinary and well-known manner, are
annealed according to the second part of my Invention without injury
to the temper of the steel by introducing the articles to be treated into
any convenient receptacle F (see Figure 2), containing a layer a of
sufficient depth of powdered wood charcoal to receive the steel portion B
of the article, which steel portion has been previously coated with coal
tar pitch. The cast-iron portions C of the articles are embedded in or
enclosed by the usual materials (as shewn at 6) employed in annealing
cast-iron articles.
Having new described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to
be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to
me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,—
First. The manufacture of cutlery by casting the handles, tangs, and
bolsters thereof on to the steel blanks in suitably prepared moulds and
subsequently annealing the cast-iron portion, for the purpose herein-
before described.
Second. The casting either a round or flat tang and bolster or a
handle or haft on to the blades or blanks of table cutlery, or on to the
blades of scissors or shears, substantially in the manner and for the
purpose herein-before described.
"
Third. The preventing the "chilling" of the bolster by placing the
gate" of the mould at the end nearest to the steel blank, as herein-
before described.
Fourth. The annealing of handles, tangs, and bolsters after they
have been cast on the steel blanks of cutlery for the purpose herein-
before described.

page_text: Fifth. The mode of protecting during the process of annealing the
steel portion of an article of which one portion is composed of cast iron
and another portion of steel, by coating the said steel portion with coal
tar pitch and embedding the same in wood charcoal, substantially as
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Jervis, have to this my
Specification set my hand and seal, this First day of January
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Jervis, have to this my
Specification set my hand and seal, this First day of January
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
JOSEPH JERVIS. (L.S.)