IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- PACTURE OF ANVILS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Unwin Askham, of Sheffield, in the
County of York, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
PACTURE OF ANVILS."
Scaled the 2nd October 1869, and dated the 5th April 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Unwin Askham
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 5th April 1869.
I, JOHN UNWIN ASKHAM, of Sheffield, in the County of York, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF ANVILS," to be as follows:-
The face or table of anvils as at present made is often defective,
having frequently hard and soft places after "hardening," which face
or table should be equally hard all over its surface, and the steel in
some instances not being properly welded to the iron part or butt which
forms the lower part the anvil is thereby rendered unsound and not fit
for use.
Now these improvements have for their object the removal of such
defects as above described, and consist in so making anvils that the

page_text: face or table may be equally hard all over when finished, and in so
casting or welding the butt to the head or upper table that the parts
may be thoroughly joined or amalgamated and the anvil made more
durable at a less expense than heretofore.
A convenient mode of performing the improvements is as follows:-
I first prepare a model of the size and shape of the anvil to be pro-
duced; I then place it in a box formed of two or more parts, cover it
with composition, and I then fill up the box with sand in the ordinary
; after the model is removed and the sand perfectly dry (this
being done in the usual way) I first pour in through a suitable
opening the molten steel to form the face or table, then through the
same aperture (after the steel on the table is sufficiently cool) I pour
in a very mild molten steel, which flows over the table and gives the
requisite toughness and solidity to the steel "beck." After a proper
time has elapsed I then pour in through another opening formed for
the purpose the iron or metal, which also runs upon the steel and forms
the lower part or butt of the anvil, and a perfect amalgamation takes
place between the iron and steel. The casting being complete it is then
finished in the ordinary manner for castings.
To harden: I construct a large metal bosh or trough, six or eight
inches deep, in which I insert a number of perforated sharp-edged bars
of metal, which I term the "gridiron," on which the anvil is allowed
to rest on its face or upper surface, either flat or slanting; I then open
a sluice communicating with a reservoir of water and allow a force of
cold water to flow upon the face and pass under the anvil and over the
bars of the gridiron to any depth required. By these means I am enabled
to obtain a much harder and more regular surface than the present mode
of manufacture. After this the surface is ground in the ordinary method
now in use.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, 3
filed by the said John Unwin Askham in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 5th October 1869.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, 3
filed by the said John Unwin Askham in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 5th October 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
INWIN ASKHAM of Sheffield in the County of York, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Unwin Askham, Her special licence
that I, the said John Unwin Askham, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Unwin Askham, my
executors, administrators, and 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 "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ANVILS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John Unwin Askham, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 John Unwin Askham, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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 face or table of anvils as at present made is often defective,
having frequently hard and soft places after "hardening," which face
or table should be equally hard all over its surface, and the steel in
some instances not being properly welded to the iron part or butt which
forms the lower part the anvil is thereby rendered unsound and not fit
for use.
Now these improvements have for their object the removal of such
defects as above described, and consist in so making anvils that the face
or table may be equally hard all over when finished, and in so casting
or welding the butt to the head or upper table that the parts may be
thoroughly joined or amalgamated and the anvil made more durable
at a less expence than heretofore.
A convenient mode of performing the improvements is as follows:-
I first prepare a model of the size and shape of the anvil to be produced;

page_text: I then place it in a box formed of two or more parts, cover it with
composition, and I then fill up the box with sand in the ordinary
manner; after the model is removed and the sand perfectly dry (this
being done in the usual way) I first pour in through a suitable opening
the molten steel to form the face or table, then through the same or
other convenient aperture (after the steel on the table is sufficiently
cool) I pour in a very mild molten steel, which flows over the table
and gives the requisite toughness and solidity to the steel "beck."
After a proper time has elapsed I then pour in through another
opening formed for the purpose the iron or metal, which also runs.
upon the steel and forms the lower part or butt of the anvil, and a
perfect amalgamation takes place between the iron and steel. The
casting being complete it is then finished in the ordinary manner for
castings.
To harden-I construct a large metal bosh or trough, six or eight
inches deep, in which I insert a number of perforated sharp-edged
bars of metal, which I term the "gridiron," on which the anvil is
allowed to rest on its face or upper surface, either flat or slanting; I
then open a sluice communicating with a reservoir of water, and allow a
force of cold water to flow upon the face by an upward cast and pass
under the anvil and over the bars of the gridiron to any depth required.
By these means I am enabled to obtain a much harder and more regular
surface than the present mode of manufacture. After this the surface is
ground in the ordinary method now in use.
I would remark that the foregoing description is to be taken only as
a convenient mode of performing the Invention and not as the only
mode, as it is obvious that the details may be varied without departing
from the spirit and nature of the Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Unwin Askham, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of October, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
nine.