AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR: SHARPENING KNIVES, AND IN A COMPOSITION TO BE USED THEREWITH
Year: 1870

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Robert Lake at the.
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th January 1870. - A communication from abroad by Zenas
Colman Robbins and Henry Alfred Robbins, both of Washington,
District of Columbia, United States of America.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office,"
Southampton Buildings, London, Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR:
SHARPENING KNIVES, AND IN A COMPOSITION TO BE USED THEREWITH," a com-
munication, to be as follows:-
The said Invention relates to an apparatus chiefly designed for
sharpening carving knives, and consists partly in the peculiar shape of a
four-eared and laterally grooved body, the shape thereof being such as to
enable the said body to be readily placed in the best working position
upon the tines of a fork and removed therefrom; also in the combination
of annularly grooved or other sharpening rollers with the said peculiarly
shaped body; also in the combination of a grinding composition con-
sisting mainly of emery, corundom, or other sharp gritty material with
the metallic abrading portions of the sharpening rollers.

page_text: According to the first part of this Invention the body of the said
improved knife sharpener has a groove in each of its sides for the
reception of the tines of a carving fork to allow the sharpener to be
securely held upon the fork as a handle thereto during the operation of
sharpening a carving knife, and then the said sharpener can be easily
removed from the fork and laid beside the dish or platter until its
services may be again required. The depth of the grooves in the sides.
of the body of the said improved knife sharpener is made sufficient to
receive the prongs of the fork conveniently. Four ears which rise from
the sides of the body of the said improved knife sharpener serve as
bearing supports for the pivots of a pair of grooved sharpening rollers.
Fine annular grooves having sharp ridges between the same are formed
on the peripheries of the said sharpening rollers, the said grooves being
so located that when the rollers are secured in their proper positions
within the ears of the body of the sharpener the sharp ridges of one of
such rollers will pass into the grooves of the other roller. The said
sharpening rollers should be made of the best quality of crown steel or
cast steel, and should be highly tempered.
In a modification of this. Invention the base or body of the carving.
knife sharpener is intended to rest upon a table or bench, and if deemed™
desirable to be secured thereto.. The sharpening rollers of this latter
style of carving knife sharpener are composed of metallic disks placed
upon arbors. The peripheries of the said disks are finely grooved, and
when the said disks are secured in their proper positions upon their
respective arbors the sharp ridges between the grooves of the series of
disks on one of such arbors will pass into the grooves of the corre
sponding disks on the arbor of its co-operating sharpening roller. The
disks are laterally separated upon their respective arbors by collars, and
these collars being of a less diameter than the disks open spaces are left.
between the outer portions of the said disks for the reception of emery,
corundom, or other suitable gritty substance when incorporated with any
suitable adhesive material. For the purpose of more securely retaining
the emery or other gritty composition in the spaces between the peri-
pheries of the grooved disks of the sharpening rollers annular series of
apertures are formed in the said disks near the peripheries of the same
for the reception of a portion of the said gritty composition. The grooved
disks should be made of the best quality of crown steel or cast steel and
be highly tempered. The spacing collars may be made of any suitable

page_text: metallic or other material. If it should be deemed preferable the bodies
of the sharpening rollers of this style of carving knife sharpener may be
turned out of solid blocks of steel preparatory to the combination there-
with of the afore-described gritty composition. The afore-described
sharpening rollers are supported in their appropriate positions by bearings
which rise from the base. Any desired ornamental shape may be given
to the base of this modification of our improved knife sharpener.