IMPROVEMENTS IN WHETSTONES, COMMONLY CALLED SCYTHE STONES
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Lancaster, Garden Farm, Dunmurry, Belfast,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WHETSTONES, COMMONLY CALLED
SCYTHE STONES."
Sealed the 4th October 1860, and dated the 13th June 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Lancaster at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 13th
June 1860.
I, JOHN LANCASTER, Garden Farm, Dunmurry, Belfast, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WHETSTONES, COMMONLY
CALLED SCYTHE STONES," to be as follows:-
A handle of wood or ather material has an iron rod fixed into it, which rod
has a nut and screw on the end of it. The stone is made with an hole
through the centre of it; the stone is slipped on to the iron rod, and secured
tight by screwing up the nut at the end, but between the handle and the stone
I place a circulars or other shaped peice of tin, leather, or other material for
the purpose of shielding the band from the edge of the scythe. The same
objects may be attained by fixing the iron rod into the stone, and having the
handle to slip off and on, the iron rod being screwed up tight to the stone by
a nut and screw on the end protruding through the handle.
The advantages over the common scythe stones are these,-
1st, a much better hold for the hand.
2nd, security from cuts, now so common.

page_text: 3rd, greater duribility, as the iron passing through the stone prevents it
breaking.
The stones can be made round, square, or any other shape; the iron rod,
and the hole through the stone may be round or square.
The stones con be made of any of the compositions now in use, especially
Ransome's siliceous stone.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Lancaster in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
12th December 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
LANCASTER, Garden Farm, Dunmurray, Belfast, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Lancaster, Her special licence that I, the said John Lancaster,
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Lancaster, 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
WHETSTONES, COMMONLY CALLED SCYTHE STONES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John Lancaster, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Lancaster, 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 fol-
lowing statement:-
My improvements in whetstones, commonly called scythe stones, are as
follows: A handle of wood, or other suitable material attached to a rod of
iron or other suitable material, such rod passing through the centre of the

page_text: stone, which is perforated to receive it, and is secured on it by a nut and
screw fastened on the rod at the extremity of the stone. A shield or hand
guard for the purpose of shielding the hand from the edge of the scythe, made
of tin, leather, or other suitable material or materials, is fixed on the rod
between the stone and the handle, the whole being tightly secured by screwing
the end nut above mentioned. The nut may be used at either end of the
rod, that is, by driving the rod through the stone, shield, and handle, and
applying the nut at the extreme end of the handle, or by having the rod per-
manently fixed in the handle, and securing the guard and stone to the handle
by the nut at the extreme end of the stone, or the nut may be, dispensed with
altogether: the rod, after passing thro' the stone and shield, can be driven
tightly into the handle. A shield may also be formed by making the end of
the handle next the stone thicker than the stone so as to project beyond it.
1st, I claim as my Invention the sole right of making, using, and selling
whet or scythe stones with a metal rod thro' them.
2nd, I claim as my Invention the sole right of making, using, and selling
whet or scythe stones with a metal red thro' them attached to a handle of wood
or other material.
3rd, I claim as my Invention the sole right of making, using, and selling
scythe stones with a shield or guard placed between the stone and handle, or
formed by the handle projecting beyond the stone, so as to protect the hand
from the edge of the scythe when being sharpened.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Lancaster, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of December, Eighteen hundred-and-sixty
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty. (Ten
words delete before signing.)
JOHN LANCASTER. (L.S.)