AN IMPROVED METHOD OF MANU- FACTURING RAZOR BLADES.
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Heiffor, of Sheffield, in the County of York,
Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF MANU-
FACTURING RAZOR BLADES.
Sealed the 7th October 1856, and dated the 26th April 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the Said Thomas Heiffor at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 26th
April 1856.
I, THOMAS HEIFFOR, of Sheffield, in the County of York, Manufacturer, do
5 hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF
MANUFACTURING RAZOR BLADES," to be as follows:-
Hitherto razor blades have been forged. Now, my Invention, consists in
rolling a strip or plate of steel into the shape of a razor blade, and in cutting
away sufficient from the front of the blade to make the tang, which I after-
wards form under the hammer.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Heiffor in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th October 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
HEIFFOR, of Sheffield, in the County of York, Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Thomas Heiffor, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas Heiffor,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Thomas Heiffor, 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 "AN IMPROVED METHOD
OF MANUFACTURING RAZOR BLADES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Thomas Heiffor, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of 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.
I
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Heiffor, 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
thereof, reference being had to the Drawings annexed, that is to say:-
Hitherto razor blades have been forged or made by hand from square rods
or strings of steel. Now, my Invention consists in rolling steel in strings or
strips of a concave or hollow form or shape of a razor blade, and in cutting
away part of the steel so as to leave sufficient to form the tang, which I
afterwards fashion with a hanımer in the usual manner, or as is hereafter
described.
:
For the purpose of exemplifying the manner in which I carry my Invention
into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed.
Figure 1 shews a piece of steel rolled to a concave or hollow form for
making a razor blade; Figure 2, a cross section of the same; Figure 3 is a

page_text: view of a razor blade in a more advanced state, with the superfluous steel
cut away; Figure 4 represents the blade with the tang portion of the steel
flattened previously to being shaped; and Figure 5 is a view of the same when
completed.
A is a piece of steel or other suitable metal rolled into a string of concave.
or hollow form, having a thin edge a, as in ordinary razor blades when half
ground; this string of steel is cut into any required lengths by means of a
fly or other cutting instrument. To form a tang to the razor blade, I cut
away the superfluous part of the steel, as seen at B, Figure 3. The tang can
now be formed by forging the metal B with a hammer in the usual manner,
or by flattening the tang portion of the steel under a stamp or steam hammer,
or by eccentric rollers, as shewn at C, Figure 4; the metal B is then cut into
any required shape by means of a fly or other suitable cutting instrument.
The blade is next beated and bent into whatever shape or degree of scimetar
form is preferred, and afterwards smithed or hammered on the edge by hand
or steam power, when it may be hardened and tempered in the usual manner.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim the rolling of
steel in strings of a concave or hollow form in the shape of a razor blade, and
the cutting away of a portion therefrom to form the taug, which is afterwards
fashioned with a hammer in the usual manner, or by a steam hammer,
or excentric rollers, all as herein-before described, and represented in the
Drawings annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Heiffor, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of October, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-six.
THOMAS HEIFFOR. (L.S.)