AN IMPROVED PLANE IRON
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Hellyer Manning, of 3, Saint George's
Road, Marylebone, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention
of "AN IMPROVED PLANE IRON."
Scaled the 9th April 1875, and dated the 23rd January 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Hellyer
Manning at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 23rd January 1875.
I, RICHARD HELLYER MANNING, of 3, St. George's Road, Marylebone,
in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED PLANE IRON," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to what are known as plane irons, wherein the
improvement on the present system is derived by the screwing together
of plates of iron or steel, with a very thin plate of steel placed between
the outer plates.
In carrying out my Invention the bed iron is constructed with a hole
or long slot in or about the centre of it, so as to allow sufficient room for

page_text: a screw to pass freely through the head of the screw to bed on the
underneath side of the bed iron.
The cutting iron is constructed of a very thin piece of steel with a
long slot placed at one end of the plate, so as to allow sufficient room for
the screw or screws to pass freely through, and also to allow the cutter
to be shifted forward for sharpening and wearing away, and is fixed as
follows: Either it will have a spring fixed to the bed iron by 2 screws,
which pass through the slot in the steel plate or cutter and screwed into
the bed iron, which will have two nut holes in it for that purpose, or will
be fixed by the face iron as follows :—
The face iron is constructed with a hole or nut about the thickness of
the cutting iron farther from the end of it then what the bed iron is,
which engages the end of the screw, passing through the whole of the
plates of iron or steel, so that when screwed up the centre piece of steel
is fixed between the two outer plates, which may be made slightly
hollow towards the cutting end, so as to secure great pressure on the
point of the iron and solidity when the irons are placed in the plane
for use.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Richard Hellyer Manning in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 13th July 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
HELLYER MANNING, of 3, St. George's Road, Marylebone, in the County
of Middlesex, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Richard Hellyer Manning, Her
special licence that I, the said Richard Hellyer Manning, my executors,
- administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Richard Hellyer
Manning, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter

page_text: 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 IMPROVED PLANE IRON," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Richard Hellyer Manning, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, 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 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 Richard Hellyer Manning, 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 :-
This Invention relates to an improvement of the present system of
construction of plane irons by substituting therefor two plates of iron or
steel screwed together, with a thin plate of steel with sharpened edge
placed between them.
The ordinary plane iron consists of two plates, videlicet, a cutting iron
and a plate facing it, known as the back or cover iron, which are screwed
together in such a manner as to involve their separation whenever the
cutting iron requires to be ground or sharpened.
The ordinary cutting iron is constructed of iron with a plate of steel
welded upon the face of it for a portion of its length, usually to the slot
of the screw. This cutting iron is made of sufficient thickness to gain
the requisite solidity, but it becomes necessary as the edge wears down
to grind away the iron through the whole of its thickness in order to
sharpen the plate of steel so welded upon its face. The result of this
grinding away of the cutting iron, which when new is much thicker at
the cutting edge than at the slot, is from time to time to alter the fit of
the iron in the plane, and so affect its solidity and the smoothness of its
working that it is only by the exercise of constant care that the plane is
kept in good working order.
These difficulties are obviated and additional advantages gained in my
Invention having for the cutting iron a thin plate of steel and obtaining

page_text: the requisite solidity by screwing it between two plates of iron of Stects
which for the purpose of description I hereafter refer to as the bedding
iron and face iron, in a particular manner, the cutting iron having a long
slot through which the screw passes so as to allow of its being shifted
forward from time to time as may become necessary by its wearing away &
or requiring to be sharpened.
In carrying out my Invention the bedding iron is constructed with a
hole in it, so as to allow a screw to pass through it, the head of the screw
to bed on the underneath side of the bedding iron, the bottom end of
bedding iron to be bevelled the same angle as pitch of plane.
The cutting iron is a very thin plate of steel with a long slot of
sufficient width to allow of the screw passing freely through it. The
commencing position of the slot will be determined by the different
widths of the several size irons extending upwards, the length of slot to
be a little longer than the length of the cutting portion of the cutting
iron to admit of the cutting iron being pushed forward and sharpened
when nearly worn out, the remaining portion above the slot to act as a
thumb plate to shift the cutting iron forward to be sharpened and then
drawn back in its proper position suitable for use.
The face iron is constructed with a nut hole in it, which is threaded
so as to receive and hold the end of screw, which thus passes through
the three plates. When screwed up the cutting iron is fixed between
the two outer plates, which may be made slightly hollow or curved
inwards towards the edge of the cutting iron, so as to secure greater
pressure upon the cutting end of the iron, and a consequent solidity
when in use, a portion of the face iron situated above the nut hole to be
cut out to allow the thumb to shift forward and draw back the cutting
iron when nearly worn out.
Another advantage of my Invention is that by making the screw hole
in the bedding iron nearer the cutting end by about the length of bevel
of cutting iron than the situation of the corresponding screw holes in
face and cutting iron, the bevelled end of the bedding iron, when the
whole plane iron is screwed up, is set slightly back from the edge of
the cutting iron. The result obtained by this method of setting bevelling
is a greater smoothness of work and a decrease in the liability to strip
the wood, and as such setting is determined in the manufacture of the

page_text: plane irons by the relative positions of the screw holes in the iron, no
skill or judgment in reference to such setting is required to be exercised
by the mechanic or other persons using the improved plane irons, but
such setting is brought about by merely screwing the plates together.
A further advantage is that in my Invention the cutting iron never
requires grinding nor to be separated from the other irons. Whenever
it may be necessary to sharpen it all that is required to be done is to
relax the screw, shift forward the cutting iron, sharpen it, and restore it
to its place and tighten the screw.
In order that my said Invention may be fully understood I now
proceed to refer to the several Figures in the annexed Drawings.
Figure 1 represents sectional view of my improved plane iron, showing
the three irons screwed together ready for work.
Figure 2 represents plan of bedding iron with a hole A to allow
screw D, as shown in Figure 1, to pass freely through it.
Figure 3 represents plan of cutting iron with a long slot B to allow
screw D to pass freely through it.
Figure 4 represents plan of face iron with a thread hole C, which
receives and holds the end of screw D, also slot H, to allow the thumb
to shift the cutting iron.
Figure 5 represents an enlarged sectional view of the edges of the iron
so as to illustrate their relative positions when set.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would state in conclusion that what I consider to
be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to
me by the herein-before recited Letters Patent is,―
First. The construction and arrangement of the bedding iron, as and
for the purpose herein-before described and illustrated by my accom-
panying Drawings.
Second. The construction and arrangement of the cutting iron, as and
for the purpose herein-before described and illustrated by my accom- -
panying Drawings.

page_text: the purpose herein-before described and illustrated by my accompanying
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Hellyer Manning, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of July, in 1
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.
RICHARD HELLYER MANNING. (L.S.)