NEW-IMPROVED METHOD OF MAKING SMOOTHING IRONS OR SAD IRONS, PLANE IRONS, AND VARIOUS EDGE TOOLS
Year: 1806

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BELL, of the Town of Derby, in the County of Derby, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third, by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-second day of December, in the forty-seventh year of His
reign, did give and grant unto me, the said William Bell, my exors, admors,
and assigns, is special licence, full power, sole priviledge and authority, that
1, the said William Bell, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, during the term of
years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, an:l
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, ny "NEW-IMPROVED METHOD OF MAKING SMOOTHING IRONS OR SAD
IRONS, PLANE IRONS, AND VARIOUS EDGE TOOLS;" in which Letters Patent there
is contained a proviso obliging me, the said William Bell, under my band and
seal, to 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 His Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within one calendar month next and immediately
after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and' by the same,
relation being thereunto had, may more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Bell, do hereby describe the nature of my Invention as follows:-
The articles which bear the different appellations of smoothing irons, sad'irons,
and flat irons, and which are commonly made use of for ironing or smoothing

page_text: wash'd linens, muslins, and other articles, have been frequently complained of
for being defective in their construction, but which defects are intended to be
obviated by my improvements, as herein-after described (that is to say): -
First, in the necessary operation of heating the said irons they become
smoak'd or dirty, so as to require considerable trouble in rubbing and cleaning
before they can be properly made use of;
And, secondly, they are very frequently overheated, so as to damage or
endanger the linens, muslins, or other articles they are used upon..
Now, to prevent such inconveniences, I have forni'd a thin case or slipper, as
described in the Drawings hereunto annext (see Drawing No. 1), which case or
slipper I make of steel, wrought or cast iron, or any other metalic substance
or substances, and polish the face of the said caso or slipper, so as to render it
smooth, neat, and clean. I also fit it up with a spring or other fastenings, for
the purpose of securing it to the sad iron with which it is intended to be used
(sce perspective Drawing No.-2). The said case or. slipper being thus com-
pleated, I then introduce my sad iron, properly heated, into it, which, being
made of. thin mettal, quickly becomes sufliciently penetrated with heat and
rendered fit for its intended purpose.
.
Another inconvenience complained of in the common sad iron is, that the
handle thereof, which is generally made of wrought iron, being affixed in such
manner that it cannot be seperated from the body or cast-iron part to which
it is connected, naturally becomes hot, at the same time when. the body of the
iron is heated, so as to require what is generally term'd an iron-holder to
prevent its burning the hand. But to remove this objection I make a handlo
or handles; as described at Drawings Nos. 3, 4, and 5, which I quickly connect
or seperate from the heavy or cast part of the iron during the time of its being
heated. The advantage is, that I avoid the usual incumbrance of an iron-
holder.
My improvements in making plane irons and various edge tools I describe.
as follows:-I take either wrought iron, cast iron,, or any other of the mettals.
or their compounds, which I either hammer, roll, or cast into the suitable
forms or shapes for the purposes herein-after described, as, for instance :-
In making my plane iron blank or stock from any of the aforesaid materials,
I leave a vacancy, which will appear by reference to Drawing No. 6, which.
vacant part in said Drawing is painted blue, and is intended to be filled up by
a thin piece of steel made exactly to fit it, as marked in the Drawing No. 7.
I then tin the two parts which are intended to be connected together, and for
the purpose of uniting them I run between them any kind of soder which
does not require any extreme heat to render it fusible; the steel may be con-