IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SPADES, SHOVELS, AND SUCH LIKE TOOLS
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
GRIFFIN, of Withymoor Works, Dudley, Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fifth day of October, in the seventh year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said James
Griffin, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said James Griffin, my exors, adñors, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said James Griffin, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term
of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SPADES, SHOVELS, AND
SUCH LIKE TOOLS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that
I, the said James Griffin, shall cause a particular description of the nature
of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, 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
Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Griffin, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and

page_text: ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:-
My Invention relates to Improvements in the Manufacture of Spades,
Shovels, and such like Tools, and consists,-
First, of improvements in forming half moulds employed in the manufacture
of cofered spades, cofered shovels, and such like cofered tools.
Secondly, my Invention consists of improvements in shaping half moulds,
and also welding half moulds, by employing rollers with dies or moulds in the
manufacture of cofered spades, cofcred shovels, and such like cofered tools.
And, thirdly, my Invention consists of improvements in making moulds for
the manufacture of moulds used in the manufacture of spades, shovels, and
such like tools with sockets, or such like means for receiving the handles.
And in order that the Invention may be most fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
The first part of my Invention consists of using iron (for making half
moulds) which has been rolled with a groove or bevil at one edge, in order to
form a convenient recess for receiving the steel employed at the cutting edge.
Fig. 1 shews an edge view of two half moulds with steel between them,
such as have been heretofore employed in manufacturing cofered spades,
cofered shovels, and other such like cofered tools; and I have shown these
half moulds and the steel between them in order to facilitate the workman
understanding the difference of construction which constitutes the first part of
my Invention. Figure 2 shews a plan and edge view of a portion of iron, cut
from a bar of iron which has been suitably rolled, with a recess or groove at
the lower part thereof; and this groove or recess may be formed by having a
bar rolled in proper grooved rollers, as is well understood, producing the
groove or recess the whole length of the bar, as is shewn at Figure 8, or by
having the rollers suitable for producing bars such as are shewn at Figure 4,
the dotted lines in each of these Figures shewing the places where the bars are
respectively cut in order to form half moulds. The portions thus cut off are
to be forged at their upper ends into the shapes shewn in edge view and plan
at Figure 5, with the partly-formed straps, as shewn, when they will be in a
condition for undergoing the requisite shaping by dies or moulds in rollers,
forming part of the improvements included under the second head of my
Invention. Figure 6 shews a plan and edge section of a half mould after it
has been acted on by dies or moulds with rollers, by which the strap has been

page_text: elongated and the recess formed for the cofer. Figure 7 shews an edge view of
two such half moulds as those described at Figure 6 placed together with steel
between them ready for welding, the steel being placed in the recess caused by
the grooved surfaces originally in the bars of iron, as described at Figure 2,
by which means the quantity of steel introduced will be regulated, and the
steel will occupy its proper place with certainty; and to facilitate the manu-
facture I have the steel made of the proper figure to correspond with the
recess which is formed between two half moulds. Figure 8 shows an edge
view of two half moulds with a piece of steel introduced between them ready
for welding, but in this case the inner surface of one of the half moulds is
plain at its lower end. By this arrangement the steel may be brought near to
the front or back of the spade, shovel, or other similar tool.
The parts,
Figures 7 and 8, are now in a condition, when heated to a welding heat, to be
welded either by hand, or according to the second part of my Invention, by
means of dies or moulds with rollers, and when the parts Figure 7 are thus
welded, they will form a mould such as is shewn at Figure 9, where a mould
is shewn in plan and edge section.
I will now proceed to explain the dies or moulds and rollers used for
carrying out the second part of my Invention for shaping the half moulds, and
for welding the half moulds into moulds. Figure 10 shews a transverse
section of a pair of rollers with dies or moulds fixed therein for shaping the
half moulds by extending the straps and forming the recesses for the cofers.
Figure 11 shews part of a longitudinal section of the rollers, and the dics or
moulds fixed therein; and Figures 12 and 13 respectively shew the upper and
lower dies or moulds fixed in grooves in the rollers, which is the mode of con-
struction I prefer, but the dies may be fixed by other means, or may be
formed in the rollers. The pieces of iron, Figure 5, when at a forging heat,
are to be fed by the workman into the dies or moulds as the rollers revolve, or,
in place of revolving all round, they may move first in one direction and then
in the other, by which the half moulds will be subjected to pressure in two
directions. These rollers are to be geared together, as is well understood. The
rollers for welding half moulds into moulds are similar to those above
described, the dies used being suitable for welding the half moulds without
pressing on the straps and parts for making the cofer, which, as is well under-
stood, require to be left unwelded. Figure 14 shews a transverse section
of the rollers, with dies or moulds used for welding; and Figure 15 shews
part of a longitudinal section of the rollers, and Figure 16 one of the dies or
moulds used, the upper and lower dies or moulds in this case being similar

page_text: to each other; and the dies used in this case may be otherwise fixed,
or may be formed in the surfaces of the rollers. It will be evident that
in thus forming the cofers by the first-mentioned dies, greater uniformity
of manufacture than by the means heretofore resorted to will be obtained,
and a great improvement in the manufacture of cofered spades, cofered
shovels, and other similar cofered tools, will result from welding any
suitable half moulds in proper dies or moulds with rollers into moulds for
making such articles, the moulds or dies being varied according to the half
moulds used. The proper moulds being thus formed are to be completed into
cofered spades, shovels, or other similar tools, in like manner to that heretofore
practised, and which forms no part of my Invention; and it only remains to
be stated that, according to the sizes of spades, shovels, or other similar tools,
so will be the sizes of half moulds used, and they will consequently require
different sizes of dies or moulds in the rollers for shaping them and for welding
them into moulds. In making spades, shovels, or other similar tools with
sockets, or such-like means for receiving the handles, I cause the the steel to be
welded into two bars, one or both of them being made with a groove or recess
at one edge, as before described, and as is shewn at Figure 16, and then
rolled into a bar such as is shewn at Figure 17, and it will be evident that one
of the bars used may be a plain bar, and the steel be brought near to one side
of the article manufactured, and when steel is to be used only on one surface,
then one bar of iron of sufficient thickness for the "mould " is to be formed
with a groove or recess to receive the steel, as is shewn at Figure 18. The
iron thus formed with steel for the cutting edges of the tools is to be cut as
indicated by dotted lines at Figure 18, and the pieces used for being forged
into spades, shovels, and other similar tools. I would remark, that I am
aware that bars of iron with bars of steel have before been rolled and formed
into one bar, and bars with steel between two surfaces of iron, or on one
surface of iron, and in some cases at only one edge, have before been made by
piling iron and steel, and producing bars therefrom for the manufacture of
edge tools. And I mention these circumstances in order to state that
I do not claim the combining of steel by rolling, the peculiar character
of the first and third parts of my Invention being the employment of
iron previously prepared with grooves or recesses formed therein, so that
the steel used in producing the cutting edges of spades, shovels, and other
similar tools, may fill such recesses, and thus improve the manufacture
of such articles; and I am aware that dies or moulds have been used with
rollers in forging other articles in iron, I do not, therefore, claim the