IMPROVEMENTS IN HANDLES FOR RAZORS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Russell, of Sheffield, in the County
of York, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
HANDLES FOR RAZORS."
Sealed the 15th July 1853, and dated the 11th May 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION lett by the said Samuel Russell
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 11th May 1858.
I, SAMUEL RUSSELL, of Sheffield, in the County of York, Manufaç-
turer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN HANDLES FOR RAZORS" to be as follows:-
At present various materials are used, but metal has never been
introduced, in the manufacture of razor handles; I propose to use
metallic handles cast in one piece. The handles may be run complete
in moulds, with the sides as thin as may be desired, and of any pattern;
this will save all the labor involved in the mode of manufacture at
present resorted to, of drilling, rivetting, and connecting the sides: the

page_text: holes for the rivet or screw to connect the blade and handle are cast in
the handle, so that the rivet has merely to be passed through and
fastened; but for general purposes I propose to use a screw and small
nut, so that a child may be able to put the razor together. When
cast, the handle is fit for the reception of a cominon razor blade, but it
may be electro-plated, inlaid with ivory, pearl, tortoise shell, or other
substance, or the surface may be relieved with dead bright or frosted
work; the Invention affords considerable scope for design, as it admits
of the most elaborate ornamentation being introduced.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Samuel Russell in the Great Seal Patent Office,
on the 10th November 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
SAMUEL RUSSELL, of Sheffield, in the County of York, Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the sixteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Samuel Russell, Her special license that I, the
said Samuel Russell, iny executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Samuel Russell, my executors, administra-
tors, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN HANDLES FOR RAZORS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Samuel Russell, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature

page_text: of the said Invention, and in what manner the sanie 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 Samuel Russell, 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 consists in the use and application of white or
Britannia metal for and in the manufacture of razor handles. The
object and intention of my said Invention is to substitute such metal
for ivory, bone, horn, or other material at present in use for razor
handles or scales. The handles may be cast in dies or moulds, with
the sides or scales as thin as may be desired, and of any pattern.
The die or mould for casting is formed in two thicknesses, and is
prepared, sunk, or cut for the handles in such manner that half the bed
or space formed for the reception of the casting is sunk in each of the
thicknesses, sides, or corresponding parts of the die; the thicknesses,
sides, or corresponding parts are put together or joined with stuls
or projections on the face of the one to fix into holes or sockets in the
face of the other, so that when the die or mould is once perfected
and adjusted for casting, the proper combination of the thicknesses,
sides, or corresponding parts, for constant use, is secured; the dies may
be made so that the handles may be cast whole or in two pieces or
scales; when cast in scales they can be connected by solder. The
advantage of my Invention is, that by the adoption of the material
to which it applies in lieu of ivory, bone, horn, or the materials at
present in use, much of the labour involved in the process of connecting
the blade and handle is saved, ample scope is afforded for variety of
design and for ornamentation by means of electro-plating, or inlaying
with ivory, pearl, tortoise shell, or other substance, and durability is
secured in climates where the heat to which they are subjected cracks
and injures other handles.
of
And I hereby declare my said Invention to consist in, and I clairn as
my Invention of Improvements in Handles for Razors," the use

page_text: and application of white or Britannia metal for and in the manufacture
of such handles
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Russell, have heretofore
set my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Russell, have heretofore
set my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
SAM. RUSSELL. (L.S.)
Signed and scaled by the said
Samuel Russell in the presence of
T. H. CASHIN, C. E.,
Highway Buildings, Sheffield.