IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF KNIVES FOR CUTTING OUT THE SOLES OF BOOTS AND SHOES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Silman, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Machinist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF KNIVES FOR CUTTING OUT THE SOLES OF BOOTS AND
SHOES."
Sealed the 16th July 1869, and dated the 27th January 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Silman at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th January 1869.
I, JAMES SILMAN, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF KNIVES FOR CUTTING OUT THE SOLES
OF BOOTS AND SHOES," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to knives for cutting out soles for boots and
shoes, the said knives consisting of tools worked in presses and having
the figure of the soles to be cut out, the sharp lower edge of the knife
being made to cut the leather by being pressed upon it by the said press.

page_text: My Invention consists in manufacturing the said knives in the
following manner :-I form, by the process of rolling, bars of steel having
a taper or wedge shape in cross section, a smaller or supplementary wedge
being formed near the thin edge, of the bar. The bar is plain on one
face but slightly convex near the thin edge, while the other face has near
the thin edge of the bar a step or shoulder formed by the supplementary
wedge-shaped part described. The said bars are cut into pieces of such
length that each piece, when bent into the proper shape and its ends
welded together, will form one of the said knives. In making the said
knives from the said bars of steel the bars are bent so that the shoulder
described shall be in the inside of the knife. In using the said knives
the soles as they are cut out rise above the said shoulder, and thus
entering a larger part of the knife offer no resistance to the soles after-
wards cut.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Silman in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 16th July 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
SILMAN, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Machinist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said James Silman, Her special licence that
I, the said James Silman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said James Silman, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF KNIVES FOR CUTTING OUT THE SOLES OF BOOTS AND SHOES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said James Silman, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their

page_text: 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 James Silman, 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 thereof, that is to say.:-
My Invention relates to knives for cutting out soles for boots and
shoes, the said knives consisting of tools worked in presses, and having
the figure of the soles to be cut out, the sharp lower edge of the knife
being made to cut the leather by being pressed upon it by the said
-press.
My Invention consists in manufacturing the said knives in the
following manner :-I form, by the process of rolling, bars of steel
having a taper or wedge shape in cross section, a smaller or supple-
mentary wedge being formed near the thin edge of the bar. The bar is
plain on one face but slightly convex near the thin edge, while the other
face has near the thin edge of the bar a step or shoulder formed by
the supplementary wedge-shaped part described. The said bars are cut
into pieces of such length that each piece, when bent into the proper
shape and its ends welded together, will form one of the said knives.
In making the said knives from the said bars of steel the bars are bent
so that the shoulder described shall be in the inside of the knife. In
using the said knives the soles as they are cut out rise above the said
shoulder and thus entering a larger part of the knife offer no resistance
to the soles afterwards cut.
Having explained the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed to
describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawing, the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in cross section, and Figure 2 in side elevation a
bar of steel rolled according to my Invention to be employed in the
manufacture of knives for cutting out the soles of boots and shoes. The
said rolled bar of steel has a taper or wedge shape in cross section, and
has also a smaller or supplementary wedge marked a formed near the
thin edge of the bar. The outer face or the face marked 6 of the bar is
plain, the lower part near the thin or cutting edge being slightly convex.

page_text: The other or inner face c of the bar has near the thin or cutting edge
a step or shoulder d formed by the supplementary wedge-shaped part a.
The rolls which I employ for rolling the bars of steel, Figures 1 and 2,
are of the ordinary kind, and are worked in the ordinary manner, the said
rolls having grooves turned in them of the figure necessary to produce the
said bars of steel. In making knives from the rolled bars of steel of the
form represented in Figures 1 and 2 the said bars are cut into pieces
of such a length that each piece when bent into the proper shape and
its ends welded together will form one of the said knives, the said bar
being so bent that the shoulder or step d shall be in the inside of the
knife. A knife thus made from a rolled bar of steel having the section
shown in Figures 1 and 2 is represented in plan in Figure 3, end
elevation in Figure 4, transverse section in Figure 5, and longitudinal
section in Figure 6. As the bending of the bar and the welding of its
ends together so as to produce the knife, Figures 3, 4, 5, and 6, are
effected by processes commonly employed in the manufacture of ordinary
knives for cutting out the soles of boots and shoes I do not consider it
necessary to describe the said processes. After the welding, the knife
is hardened and tempered, and its cutting edge ground.
By an examination of the sections Figures 5 and 6 it will be seen that
the upper part c of the inside of the knife situated above the step or
shoulder d is of greater diameter than the lower part a situated below
the said step or shoulder d.
In using a knife made according to my Invention it is attached in the
ordinary manner to the ram or plunger of a press, and the piece or
pieces of leather from which the soles are to be cut are placed on a piece
of wood on the bed of the press. By the descent of the plunger of the
press carrying the knife the sharp lower edge of the said knife is pressed
upon the piece or pieces of leather and made to cut the soles therefrom.
As the soles are cut by the said knife they rise above the step or
shoulder d in the inside of the knife, and thus entering the larger part c
of the said knife offer no resistance to the soles afterwards cut.
By manufacturing knives for cutting out the soles of boots and shoes
from bars of steel rolled of the section described and represented the
said knives are more exact in form, work with greater freedom, and are
more economical than knives made in the ordinary way. Further, from
the little exposure to heat of the bars of steel during the manufacture of
the said knives therefrom the quality of the steel is preserved uninjured,

page_text: and consequently the knives are capable of receiving a better temper
and preserve the cutting edge longer than knives of the ordinary
manufacture.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I
do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated,
as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my
Invention; but I claim as my Invention, the improvements in the
manufacture of knives for cutting out the soles of boots and shoes
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing,
that is to say, making the said knives from bars of steel having the section
represented in Figures 1 and 2 of the Drawing, the said bars being made
by the process of rolling, the said bars being cut of the required lengths
to form the knives, bent into the required shape, and welded together at
their ends, and finished substantially as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Silman, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
0 Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
JAMES SILMAN. (L.S.)