IMPROVEMENTS IN KNIVES AND FORKS
Year: 1851

page_text: WALTERS, of Sheffield, in the County of York, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-first day of
August, in the fifteenth year of Her reign, did give and grant unto me, the
said John Walters, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial license, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said John Walters, my exors,
adñiors, and assigns, and such others as I, the said John Walters, my exors,
adiñors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time. and all times thereafter during the term of years therein mentioned,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within that part
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, the
Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in the Islands of
Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and in all Her said Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN KNIVES
AND FORKS;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso that I,
the said John Walters, shall particularly describe and ascertain the nature of
the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and shall cause the same to be
inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months-next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters

page_text: Patent, as, on reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
My Invention relates to improvements in table cutlery, the principal object
of which is to obtain the necessary "balance" of the handle without the use
of lead as employed in the ordinary balance-handle cutlery. In the
manufacture of table cutlery hitherto, in order to render the handle of the
knife or fork heavier than the blade of the one or prongs of the other, it-bas
been the practice to introduce lead throughout a considerable portion of the
handle's length. In consequence of the room occupied by the lead the length
of the tang is necessarily very limited, and is, as usually made in "balance
handles," quite inadequate to the permanent fixture of one part to the other.
Now this Invention will supersede the necessity of using lead in the handle;
the tang of the article may therefore extend to nearly the whole length of the
handle, affording facilities for securing the two parts together in the most
perfect manner. The blade is in part balanced. by the extension of the tang,
but in order to cause the handle to preponderate, the bolster is extended from
the shoulder in the direction of the tang, the gravity of which produces the
desired result. This extension of the bolster is not only useful in the manner
described, but it is also conducive to cleanliness, there being none of those
angles in this improved cutlery which in the ordinary manufacture present
facilities for the collection and retention of dirt. The annexed Sheet of
Drawings represents several views of one of these improved knives and forks,
shewing their construction in detail. Figure 1 is a side view of the knife
complete; Fig. 2 represents the same with the handle and part of the bolster
in section; Fig. 3, a back view of knife; and Figure 4, the blade separate from
the handle; while Figures 5 and 6 are cross sections on the lines 1, 1, and
2, 2. It will be observed. that the ivory handle a, a, is bored nearly its whole
length, part of which bore would in ordinary cutlery be occupied by the "balance
lead," but here the tang b is of sufficient length to fill the bore. 'c is the
bolster, which, it will be seen, extends to a considerable length from the shoulder
or point d, on which the knife rests when placed on a table or flat surface.
The weight of the metal bolster being considerable, it compensates for the
difference in weight represented by the extended tang and the "balance lead"
usually employed, causing the necessary "balance" or preponderance on that
side of the fulcrum d.
In the Drawing the several Figures represent the bolster c as of one solid
piece of metal with the blade and tang, but this may or may not be the case,
as I propose to form this bolster of another metal, for the purposes of conve-
nience or ornamentation; say, for example, "German silver." In this case,

page_text: I form the blade and tang in one and the same piece of steel, and so far, like
the ordinary knife without the handle. The bolster is cast with or has a hole
bored in it to receive the tang, on which it slides in the form of a collar. It is
fitted close up to the shoulder d, where it is secured permanently by soldering.
or other suitable means, when it presents the same external form as the knife
shewn in the Drawing. The ivory handle a is secured to the tang by means
of the composition in ordinary use for that purpose. In order to render this
improved cutlery more ornamental, I sometimes coat or cover by electro-plating
the bolster c with silver or gold, which process, being well understood in
application to other purposes, does not require any particular description here.
The bolster c, shewn in the Drawing, is represented of a plain oval form in its
cross section, and curved off towards the shoulder at every point of its
circumference. This presents a surface which is easily kept clean, and such as
does not offer opportunity for the accumulation of offensive matter, which in
the ordinary cutlery can scarcely be avoided. Other forms of bolster c may be
employed, as, for instance, with six or eight sides and otherwise more or less
ornamented. These bolsters may also be of greater or less length, taking
care that they have sufficient gravity to perfect the counterbalance or pre-
ponderance of the handle as described. The tang is represented as of a
cylindrical form, so as to fill the bore of the handle a; but when the bolster c
is of sufficient weight, the tang may be of any rough irregular form, and this
perhaps with advantage, as regards the tenacity of its hold therein.
Figures 7, 8, and 9, represent different views of a fork constructed according.
to this Invention, which, is, however, precisely similar to the knife before
described, so far as regards the bolster, tang, and handle, to which the same
remarks will apply, any further description of which is therefore unnecessary.
In the manufacture of silver dessert kuives and forks I form the blades and
bolsters of one solid piece of metal. The tang, which may be of inferior metal,.
is fixed permanently into the bolster, the solidity of which affords a good hold
for that purpose. In addition to the greater security afforded for the attach-
inent of the blade to the handle by the lengthened tang and bolster, this
bolster also offers protection to the handles of knives in being cleaned by those
knife-cleaning machines now so generally used.
In conclusion I would remark, that I am aware that the common descrip-
tion of knives and forks have been made with long tangs and without the use
of lead, but that the handles of such cutlery have not the property of "balanc-
ing" the blade, which is an essential requisite in a good article.
Having described the nature of my Invention and the manner of carrying
the same into effect, I desire it to be understood that what I claim as such is

page_text: the lengthened bolster c and tang-6 for knives and forks, whereby to produce
the "balance" or preponderance of the handle. I also claim electro-plating
or coating 'the bolsters of knives and forks, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, 'the said John Walters, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Thirteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord'