AN IMPROVE- MENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF AXES
Year: 1889

page_text: I, HENRY HAMMOND, of New Haven, Connecticut, one of the United States of
America, blacksmith, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for AN IMPROVE-
MENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF AXES, and in what manner the same is to he
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
This invention relates to manufacturing axes, and other analogous implements, by
first forming a curved and concave bar of steel or iron, and afterward cutting that
bar crosswise into pieces, and then forming each of those pieces into an ax-blank
or an ax-poll-blank, and then into a completed axe.
Figures 1 and 2 are a side view and a cross-section, respectively, of a bar of steel
having uniform cross sections throughout its length, and uniformly curved on circular
lines, and having opposite curved longitudinal concavities on its two sides nearest its
concave edge. Figures 3 and 4 represent an ax-blank made by cutting off the bar of
Figures 1 and 2 on the left hand dotted line of Figure 1. Figures 5 and 6 illustrate
the blank of Figures 3 and 4, after its lower portion has been drawn down and made
into the form of the blade of an axe, and its upper part has been somewhat changed
in contour to make it correspond with the ordinary form of the head of an axe.
Figures 7 and 8 show the blank of Figures 5 and 6, after a chisel has been forced
into each of its edges, and a tapering recess has thus been formed therein, in the place
where the eye is to be located, and extending inwardly, nearly to a junction with the
opposite recess. Figures 9 and 10 depict the blank of Figures 7 and 8, after a chisel
has been forced into one of those recesses, and through the metal which separates it
from the other, and then through that other, and thus through the entire.blank from
edge to edge, and after the eye of the axe has been completed and the cheeks of the
axe expanded to the ultimate position and contour desired. Figures 11 and 12 are a
side view and a cross-section, respectively, of a bar of iron or other metal, having
uniform cross-sections throughout its length, and being uniformly curved on circular
lines, and having opposite curved longitudinal concavities on its two sides nearest
its convex edge; and which bar, for axes of the same size, will be narrower than
J
The

page_text: To manufacture axes according to my present improvement, steel bars may be rolled
otherwise made into the form shown in Figures 1 and 2, and may be cut up into
pieces of uniform length upon curved lines, the ends of each of which lines are
coincident with the radius of the curved edges of the bar, and blanks such as that
shown in Figures 3 and 4, may be thus produced. Then such a blank may be forged
into the form of Figures 5 and 6; which form corresponds everywhere with that of a
completed axe, except that instead of having an eye, it has two concavities across
its sides, opposite to each other, and opposite to the place where the eye is to be
located, each of which concavities corresponds substantially in size with one-half of
the eye to be made. Then the eye is made with one or more chisels, or punches 1
having inclined sides, which, as they penetrate the metal, force the sides of the blank
apart at the eye portion, to the ultimate thickness desired for an axe at that place, and
the completed axe of Figures 9 and 10, may be thus produced.
And the procedure set forth in the foregoing paragraph may begin with a bar of
the form shown in Figures 1 and 2, made of iron and steel welded longitudinally ||
together so as to produce an iron axe having a steel bit like those heretofore made
by hand; and Bessemer or other low steel may be used instead of iron, in the
same way.
Or bars of iron or other metal may be rolled or otherwise made into the curved
concave form shown in Figures 11 and 12, and may be cut up into pieces on straight
lines coincident with the radius of the two curved edges of the bar, and the blanks
thus produced may be made into ax-polls, in substantially the same way that the
blanks of Figures 3 and 4 are made into axes. Then those ax-polls may be made
into axes, by the application of ax-bits thereto, in any proper manner.
The curved bar of Figures 1 and 2 is particularly adapted to be cut up into
ax-blanks, by being severed into pieces on the above described curved lines; because
the pieces thus produced conform more nearly to the ultimate shape of an axe,
than
would blanks formed by cutting up a straight bar into equal pieces, on parallel lines.
And the bar of Figures 11 and 12 is particularly adapted to be cut up into ax-
poll-blanks on radial lines; because the blanks thus produced are narrower at their
Tower edges than at their heads, and are better adapted to the reception of an
ax-bit and the drawing down and welding of the metal of their lower edges upon
that ax-bit, than they would be if they were made from a straight bar cut up on
parallel lines.
I recommend that the eye be formed in an ax-blank and in an ax-poll-blank without
expelling any metal therefrom; but the penetrating instrument may have a blunt
edge which will expel a small amount of metal while it also makes room for itself
by forcing the metal sidewise, and thus expanding the cheeks as described. I also
recommend that one or more tapering recesses be first formed, and afterwards
enlarged into the eye, but the eye may be made without any preliminary cutting
or punching, and may be made either before or after the described forming of the
lower portions of the blanks or axes. So, also, I recommend that the indicated
forging and cutting be done with dies and chisels operated by machinery ; but the
whole may be done with hand tools.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :
1. The process of making ax-blanks and ax-poll-blanks, which consists in forming a
curved bar of metal, and then in cutting that bar into pieces on lines the ends of
which are substantially coincident with the radius of the curve of the bar; sub-
stantially as described.
2. The process of making ax-blanks and ax-poll-blanks which consists in forming a
curved bar, the two edges of which are segments of concentric circles, and the two
sides of which are provided with curved longitudinal concavities concentric with those
circles; and thon in cutting that bar into pieces on lines the ends of which are
sucstantially coincident with the radius of those circles; all substantially as described.

page_text: 3. The process of making axes, which consists in forming a curved bar of metal,
the cross-section of which is nearly identical with the longitudinal section of the
axes to be made, except at the sides of the bar opposite to where the eyes of the
axes are to be located, where longitudinal concavities are formed, each of which is
about equal in cross-section to half the cross-section of the eyes of the axes; and
then cutting the bar into pieces on lines the ends of which are substantially
coincident with the radius of the curved edges of the bar; and afterwards forming
an eye in each of those pieces with a chisel or punch, which, as it penetrates the
metal between those concavities, forces the sides of the blank apart, and thus expands
the blank at the eye portion, to the ultimate shape desired; all substantially as
described.