IMPROVEMENTS IN CUTLERY HANDLES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Barber, Spring Knife Cutler, of No: 83, Oxford
Road, in the Township of Ecclesall Bierlow, Sheffield, in the County of
York for the Invention of "IDROVEMENT CHANG"
Sealed the 21st June 1864, and dated the 24th December 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Barber at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th December 1863.
I, HENRY BARBER, Spring Knife Cutler, of 83, Oxford Road, in the
Township of Ecclesall Bierlow, Sheffield, in the County of York, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CUTLERY
HANDLES," to be as follows, that is to say :-
My Invention relates to securing plain and ornamental centre pieces, and
shields, and studs in various kinds of knife handles. For illustration, I take
a spring knife scale, I have a metallic frame cast with a sunk centre, I make
the covering which is to fit into the sunk centre less than the sunk centre,
I then fix it in the centre, and by being less than the sunk centre there will
be a space left all round the covering. I then run a soft metal; such as block
tin, in the space, which secures the covering fast. Shields and studs I make
less than the holes into which they are to be put, and the space round them I
fill up with the soft metal. I also have scales cast with sunk designs, and I
fill the sunk designs with the block tin or other kind of soft metal only.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Barber in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th June 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
BARBER, Spring Knife Cutler, No. 83, Oxford Road, in the Township of
Ecclesall Bierlow, Sheffield, in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Henry Barber, Her special licence that I, the said Henry
Barber, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Henry Barber, 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 CUTLERY HANDLES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Henry Barber, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one their 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 Henry Barber, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, that is to say:-
My Invention relates to an improved method of fitting and securing orna-
mental centre pieces into metal cutlery handles, (and also in the frames or
scales for spring knife and other cutlery handles,) which method or methods
are also applicable in part for forming the said handles, frames, and scales,
and matching and fitting coverings and centre pieces to be inlaid therein, and
are further applicable for forming and matching the ends of the coverings or
ornamental caps and bolsters for spring knife and other scales.
For illustrating my said Invention I have selected the case of a spring
knife, and will proceed to describe the mode of applying my said improve-
ments thereto. In the first place I have a metallic scale frame, cast or

page_text: otherwise formed, (as the size and pattern of the handle may require,) with a-
thin bottom or foundation plate, with bolsters at one or both ends, and standing
flanges along the edges all round, or partially round (as the case may require).
so as to form a sunk centre for receiving the covering or centre pieces.
These latter pieces I make a little less than the sunk centres formed to.
receive them, so that when the said covering or filling pieces are let into the
frames or sunk centres there will be a space or groove all round between the
edges of the filling pieces and the sides of the standing flanges of the frames.
Into the groove thus formed I run soft metal, such as block tin, solder, or any
other metal (simple or compound) which will fuze or melt at a low tem-
perature; or in place of metal any plastic substance, such as gutta percha, for
the purpose may be used.
Having thus stated the nature and object of niy said Invention and
improvements, I will now proceed to describe the means for carrying the same
into effect in practice, reference being made to the accompanying Drawing.
EXPLANATION OF THE DRAWING.
Fig. 1 is an ordinary metallic frame for a spring-knife scale, having a thin
metal bottom a; b, b, the bolsters, which may be plain or ornamented; c, c,
the standing flanges, which, together with the bolsters, form the frame into
which the filling piece of shell, pearl, or other covering is to be fitted and
fixed, the bolsters, flanges, and bottoms being formed of one piece, whether
cast or otherwise; Fig. 2 shews the same scale frame with the filling piece d
let in, and the groove e, e, e, e, all round it, the filling piece being made of the
same shape as the sunk part, but so much less, as is shewn by the dotted
lines f, f; the filling piece when properly placed is temporally fixed by a little
glue or gum, by a weight, clamp, binding, or in any way which may be found
most convenient, and then the cement, metal, or permanent fixing substance
for filling the groove is run or filled in. I would here observe that sometimes
in practice I make the inner edges of the flanges to splay or slightly incline
towards the centre pieces, the edges of which are also chamfered, as shewn at
Fig. 2a, in order that the cement or metal may form a more secure fastening
by the splaying of the frame flanges and chamfering the filling piece edges.
It will be observed that when the groove is formed, as shewn at Fig. 2, it is
very small, and in order that the metal flushing may be made to fill and flood
the groove properly, I make another scale of wood or any suitable material,
and form a groove in it of the same design and thickness as that of the groove
between the filling piece and scale frame flange, and place this scale of wood,
&c. upon the other, so that the two grooves come exactly opposite each other.

page_text: all round; I then bind these scales together and run the metal, &c. in, either
through a hole in the wood scale or knife scale leading to the channel formed
by both, and which channel will take a larger body of the flushing metal and
leave a rib or flange all round; when the wood or moulding scale is removed
this projecting rib is then reduced to the proper level or surface by filing or
otherwise, and the scale is finished off. In running the metal, &c. in, air
holes should be left for the air to escape from the channel as it is displaced
by the flushing material. I prefer to have a moulding scale as above described,
but other methods may be used for insuring the perfect flooding of the groove,
such as a covering of paper, which may be bound or tied upon the knife scale,
and the metal be poured in through holes opposite the groove in the metal
bottom plate of the scale frame. It will be observed that the ends of the scale
frame, Fig. 2, which form the bolsters are made ornamental at A, A, and to
match the ends of the centre piece to them, instead of filing them I boro.
them with a plate and spring drill or ordinary centre drill for some designs;
this plate is similar to a shield plate, and has holes at each end formed to
correspond with A, A, or with the particular design adopted. By this improved
process I also match the ends of the covering to the ornamental caps and
bolsters of ordinary spring knife scales, as shewn at Fig. 3. I form the ends
of the covering either to fit close to the cap and bolster or leave a space to be
filled in with metal, but in matching the coverings when they are intended to
fit and be fitted with a close joint, I prefer having the cap and bolster loose
from the metal lining, (this has no reference to the metal frame, but only to
the ordinary knife scale,) and having them made thinner in those parts to
which the covering is to be fitted, as shewn at Figs. 4 and 5, the latter being
a section of Fig. 4 through the line P, P. I form the ends of the covering
by boring them with a spring drill and plate of suitable design about half way
through, or deep enough to receive the thin ornamental part of the cap or
bolster, so that the thick part of the latter will come level with the under side
of the covering; I then put the scale lining to the under side, and solder the
cap and bolster to it with the covering between them, so that the latter is then
held fast in its place by the overlap of the cap and bolster at each end.
For caps and bolsters of very elaborate designs, I prefer to form them in
two pieces and cut them out with a fly, that is to say, I cut a cap and bolster
out of a thin piece of metal, and form the thick part by packing it with
another piece of metal, as shewn at Fig. 6; these pieces are fitted and soldered
as described at Figs. 4 and 5. I also have the caps and bolsters made and
connected together by a centre piece a, as shewn at Fig. 8. The metal for
this purpose is about half the thickness of the covering; it is cat with a fly

page_text: and fitted into the covering, Fig. 7, with a spring drill and plate. The
covering is cut away at each end, as shewn by the dotted lines b, b, Fig. 7;
the ends are then packed level with thin pieces of metal, the same as described
under Fig. 6, and secured to the lining in a similar manner.
I also press
pieces, similar to that shewn at Fig. 8, into such kinds of covering as are
pressible instead of fitting them, but they will do either cut with a fly or cast
in the required shape for this purpose; but I pack and secure them to the
lining as before explained. For some kinds of knives, instead of packing
them, as above described, I prefer boring a hole though each end of the
covering, as shewn at A, A, Fig. 7, and then putting in a piece of metal to
form the packing. The object of this latter plan is to cause the scales to rivet
solidly when the knife is being put together. But when using such round
pieces of packing for pressible covering I solder them fast to the back of the
cap and bolster, as shewn by the dotted lines A, A, Fig. 8, so that when they
are pressed into the covering the said packing pieces will go entirely through
the covering at the under side, or if cast to be with packing nibs cast thereon.
I would here observe that this kind of packing, either when fitted or pressed,
would do for the loose caps and bolsters, instead of packing them as described
at Fig. 6. The round packing piece may in some cases be stamped or formed
on the die like a stud or shank, and thus no soldering would be required.
Having thus fully described my said Invention, and explained the means
which I propose to employ for carrying the said improvements into effect in
practice, I would here further state, that in relation to Figs. 4 and 5 I propose
to have the caps and bolsters cast with a thick and thin part, of which Fig. 5
is the edge view, and having stamped the thick part I cut the thin or orna-
mental part into shape with a fly; this can be also done with a stamp, but I
prefer the fly cutting as it makes a more perfect and neater fitting, and I
claim,―
1st, the modes of securing the centre pieces in the metallic frames with a
soft metal or other suitable substance, as herein described.
2ndly, the application of this improvement and process to the ends of the
covering of ordinary spring knife scales, and to all kinds of cutlery handles to
which caps and bolsters and metal frames are or may be applied; and also to
all kinds of metallic cutlery handles in which a suitable hollow can be formed
for receiving a centre piece.
3rdly, the matching the ends of the covering pieces to the ornamental parts
of the caps and bolsters, (but I do not claim the spring drill process for letting
in shields).
4thly, I also claim the process of soldering the caps and bolsters to the

page_text: lining with the covering between them, and the overlap of the bolster at each
end to secure the said covering fast; and I also claim bolsters cast with a thick
and thin part, and then stamping or flying them into shape (the step from the
thin to the thick part may be square or inclined); and I further claim having
the bolsters in two pieces and soldering them to the lining, as herein
described.
5thly, I claim having the caps, bolsters, and centre pieces in one integral
piece, and fitting or pressing and packing them, as described, for obtaining a
solid rivetting.
6thly, the round packing for the loose caps and bolsters, as herein described,
but I do not confine myself to the round form exclusively, nor to the soldering
thereof to the caps, as the caps and bolsters may in some cases be stamped
with a packing shank, which would answer the same purpose.
In witness whercof, I, the said Henry Barber, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
HRY DE GARRS,
51, Pornona St.
HENRY BARBER. (L.S.)