CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TANGS OF AWLS, ALSO IN THE MODE OF MANUFACTURING Awi BLADES, OR SIMILAR ARTICLES, AND LIKEWISE IN THE STOCKS OR PADS FOR HOLDING THE SAME
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Davis, Wood Turner, of Loveday Street,.
Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, for the Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TANGS OF AWLS, ALSO IN THE MODE OF MANUFACTURING
Awi BLADES, OR SIMILAR ARTICLES, AND LIKEWISE IN THE STOCKS OR PADS
FOR HOLDING THE SAME."
Sealed the 15th October 1858, and dated the 10th June 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Davis at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 10th
June 1858.
I, WILLIAM DAVIS, Wood Turner, of Loveday Street, Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention for
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TANGS OF AWLS, ALSO IN THE MODE OF MANU-
FACTURING AWL BLADES, OR SIMILAR ARTICLES, AND LIKEWISE IN THE STOCKS OR
PADS FOR HOLDING THE SAME," to be as follows (that is to say):-
My Invention, which is suitable for all kinds of awls (whether for carpenters,
shoemakers, saddlers, or, in fact, all purposes where such an instrument or tool is
required), consists in making or forming the tang slightly taper, whether square,
round, or other suitable shape, the same to be formed without any seat or

page_text: shoulder, as heretofore, and the stock or pad for receiving or holding the awl
I form of malleable cast-iron, brass, or other suitable material, in the casting
of which a chill is laid in the exact shape or size of the awl tang, before
described, as intended to be applied to it, and which hole (formed by the with-
drawal of the chill) must be entirely central, with the lengthway or axis of the
awl and handle when finished. This pad or stock is formed with a shank for
driving into a wood handle of suitable shape.. To facilitate the removal of
awls from such pads or stocks I form an oval or other shaped hole, inter-
secting at right angles the hole formed by the chill before described, and
which oval or other shaped hole I place in such a position that by the
insertion of any sharp instrument, or a common nail, which coming in contact
with the inner end of the tang of the awl, loosens or forces it out, to be re-
placed by one of one of a larger or smaller size, as the user may desire. That
portion of my Invention that relates to the mode of wholly or partially
forming awl blades, or other such tools or instruments, consists in forming on
the face of two rolls (properly geared together) recesses, the two coming
together forming the counterpart. or exact shape of the awl or other tool I
wish to make, so that by passing a red hot strip of steel. between them, the
steel will be turned out the shape desired, and according to the length of the
awl, or other such like instrument I may desire to make, and the periphery of
the rolls (such cavities being continued around the circumference of them), I
am enabled by a continuous rod or wire of steel, made red hot, to turn them
out with great facility; but it may be necessary in some cases, where a great
variation of size is required in the awl or other instrument under operation, to
adopt the progressive process, by passing it between rolls with the sunken
parts varied, beginning with the shallow, and ending with the deep ones, con-
taining the deep or full impressions, in order that the awl or other article
made from it may more closely assume the form desired when finished,
especially the tang part the point or working end may require reducing,
drawing out, or shaping, by hammering, as heretofore; or to avoid the expense
of rolls, some awls or such like instruments, may not from their peculiar
shape readily admit of being formed between them; in such cases the tangs
may be formed with suitable tools applied to a common Oliver, while the other
part may be finished by hammering in the ordinary way.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Davis in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th December 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
DAVIS, Wood Turner, of Loveday Street, Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Davis, Her special license that I, the said William Davis, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such, others as I, the said William
Davis, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
TANGS OF AWLS, ALSO IN THE MODE OF MANUFACTURING AWL BLADES, OR SIMILAR
ARTICLES, AND LIKEWISE IN THE STOCKS OR PADS FOR HOLDING THE SAME," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Davis, by an instru-
ment 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 William Davis, 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 (that is to say):-
The nature and object of my Invention is to simplify the form of that por-
tion of awls called the tang, by which they are united to the handle; at the
same time that I effect this, the awl when finished will be found much
stronger at this part than when made in the customary way, and the tangs
being of a uniform size, the awls may be readily removed or applied to its
respective pad or handle, as this part is intended to be formed of a uniform
size according to the character of awl intended to be made.. Secondly, in the
manner of giving form to such kind of awl blades. And, thirdly, in the stocks
or pads for holding such awls, which stocks or pads are secured to handles

page_text: turned and finished in the usual way. And the means thus described are also
applicable for applying other such like implements to the handle or pad, by
which they are intended to be used, such as surgical instruments, corkscrew
worms, crochet crooks, etc., but in order to facilitate the description of my
several improvements I will describe the Drawings hereunto annexed, wherein
I have exhibited the form of the awl and other tangs, as also the pads for
Figure 1 represents a saddler's awl, the blade a being finished in the usual
way, but the tang, which is here partly represented in dotted lines marked 6,
is formed slightly taper; but either round, oval, square, or other suitable
shape in its transverse section. c, c, is the pad for holding the awl, which
may be formed of malleable, cast iron, German silver, or other suitable metal,
with a hole through it, as at d, and as the small end of the awl tang projects
into this hole, it is evident that however tight it may have been driven into
this pad or socket, that the insertion of a common nail or similar shaped
article, the same being driven through this hole, that the awl will be loosened
and forced out, and as the hole for receiving the awl tang and the awl tang
are intended to be of a uniform size, it is evident that such pads and handles
will last and endure for a long time, as a broken awl may be removed and a
fresh one applied with the greatest facility, the tightness or firmness of the
connection being mainly depending by the greater or less degree of tapering
given to the tang and to the socket that receives it. e is a ferule formed on
the pad c, c, for surrounding the wood of the handle f; and Fig. 2 is a section
of the wood handle and pad of Figure 1, showing the shank of the pad or
socket c, c, that passes up the centre of the wood handle f, by which means it
is thoroughly secured. And Fig. 3 represents an awl blade, socket, and
handle, as suitable for shoemakers; and Fig. 4 is a section of the same,
which shows that I am not all times compelled to have a shank standing up
from the centre of the pad to drive into the handle, as described and repre-
sented at Figure 2, as the ferule formed out of the pad (here shown) will be
found sufficient to unite the pad g, g, to the wood bandle h, the awl blade
being removed when required, as described in Figure 1, by the insertion of a
taper nail or other means through the hole i, and simply by way of showing
that this mode of handling or holding awls is also applicable to all descriptions.
I have exhibited at Fig. 5 a vertical section of a handle and socket with a
strong loose ferule, for the purpose of holding what are called American
pegging awls, such an awl being here exhibited, marked j, the strong ferule;

page_text: pad, and handle being applied to such awls to resist the constant striking or
beating that such awls are subjected to. And Fig. 6 is a vertical side view
of an awl, pad, and handle, suitable for the use of carpenters and joiners, and
in a general way, three sizes of pads and awl tangs may be used, which would
be sufficient to render this principle applicable from the very largest down to
the smallest or finest awls, and this same principle will apply to the variation
in sizes and shapes required by saddlers, shoemakers, or others. Thus my
Invention is particularly applicable to their use, for instead of the advantages
of the pad being confined to the facilitating the removal of such awls, it is
evident that a carpenter has only to provide himself with three or four handles
or pads to be enabled to use awls of the largest or smallest size that may be
required in his work, from one suited to form the holes for receiving flooring
brads down to the smallest size that is required in the fabrication of delicate
cabinet work, the tangs of the awls according to the number or size being of a
uniform shape, as also the corresponding number or sized pads for receiving
them. And Fig, 7 is a vertical section of this pad and handle, also the ferule,
(which, for the purpose of variation) is shouldered down on the pad for the
purpose of keeping the pad perfectly concentric with the ferule; the wood
handle is drawn solid, but it might have been turned hollow, and divided, so
as to form a receptacle for holding spare or various sized awls. Fig. 8
represents a side elevation of a corkscrew, the tang of the worm shown here
in dotted lines marked k, being formed in the same way as the tangs of the
awl blades, so also is that part of the stock m that receives it made like the
pads before described; and as the worms of corkscrews are very liable to
break, which in a general way renders the handle and stock valueless, but by
adopting this mode the broken part of the worm may be easily forced out
of the stock by any suitable taper instrument driven into the hole m, when
a new or fresh worm may be applied. The shoulders p, p, are formed on the
tang end of the worm, for the purpose of facilitating its being driven into the
stock. Fig. 9 represents a small bone or other handle with a pad attached.
for receiving a crochet crook, the tang of which being formed taper, in the
same way as that portion of the awl blade herein-before described, are intended
to be made, it is evident that such crooks may be removed or applied when
desired. Fig. 10, which is a section of the handle and pad shown in the last
Figure, exhibits the simple method by which the pad is united to the bone or
hard wood of which the handle may be composed, which handle is represented
hollow, for the purpose of holding spare or different sized crooks.
I have not
thought it necessary to represent the various articles or instruments to which
this mode of finishing or connecting them with handles is applicable, as those

page_text: exhibited in the Drawing are sufficient to exhibit the means in which my
Invention (in this respect) may be carried into effect.
And the manner in which the second part of my Invention may be carried
into effect is capable of some diversification, as circumstances or convenience
may suggest, as, for instance, a pair of suitable steel or chilled rolls may be
used, which rolls must be properly geared together, so as to revolve in perfect
unison; and around the periphery of such rolls I purpose making continuous
cavities, the cavity in one roller being immediately contiguous to the corre
sponding cavity, so that the matrix thus formed, part on one and part on the
other, is of the exact inverse of the form I wish to impart to pieces of steel
of which the finished blades are intended to be made, the sunken cavities thus
described being continued around each roller, I am enabled to take a rod of
steel of the desired size, and by making it red hot in a muffle, or by other
suitable convenient means, and the rolls being set in motion, and the steel
passed between them through suitable guides, the steel rod will not only
be divided up into pieces suitable for awl blades, but proper form may be
given to them by this means, as also to the tangs, so as to ensure them being
of a uniform size; the blade part of such awls may require to be subsequently
finished by being drawn out by hammering in the usual way, as this process
greatly improves the quality of the steel of which they are formed, and
by varying the shape of the matrix one pair of rolls may be made subservient
for the forming of all description of blades or other articles that may
be required to be made; but as the giving of accurate form to the tangs
is the principal object to be attained, should the use of rolls be found
objectionable from their great expense, the same result will be attained by
using dies fitted on a suitable bed and hammer, either to be worked in the
manner of a common stamp, by raising the hammer with a rope or other
means between guide rods, or by the foot, an arrangement of giving form to
such like articles called an Oliver, which apparatus, as also the stamp, whether
worked by other mechanical agency or means, is well understood in the
fabrication of small articles in iron in Birmingham and the neighbouring
towns in Warwick and Staffordshire.
The manner of forming the pads, whether of iron, brass, German silver, or
other metal, is by casting them, and in order to get certainty of size in the
holes for receiving the tangs, as also the transverse holes by which they are
expelled or driven out, is by laying in chills or cores, a mode of casting
cavities or hollow recesses, well understood and generally practised by the
casters of such kinds of awls.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in

page_text: which the same may be carried into effect, I wish it understood that I do not
purpose confining myself to the exact details as exhibited in the Drawings
hereunto annexed, as the parts essential to my improvements may be varied
without departing from the nature and character of my Invention; but what
I claim and wish to protect by these my in part recited Letters Patent is, the
application to awls and such like instruments or implements of the form of
tangs herein-before described and exhibited, as also the mode or modes of
forming such tangs, and likewise in the pads for holding the same.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Davis, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
JAMES S. COCKINGS,
Patent Agent, Birmingham:
WILLIAM DAVIS. (L.S.)