OR IMPROVED GRIND- ING AND POLISHING MACHINERY TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF KNIVES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Reeves, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "NEW OR IMPROVED GRIND-
ING AND POLISHING MACHINERY TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF KNIVES,
Sealed the 13th November 1857, and dated the 19th May 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Reeves at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th May 1857.
I, CHARLES REEVES, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufac-
turer, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "NEW OR IMPROVED
GRINDING AND POLISHING MACHINERY TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF KNIVES,
MATCHETS, SWORDS, AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES," to be as follows:-
My said Invention consists of machinery constructed as herein-after
described for grinding knives, swords, matchets, and other articles of similar
manufacture. The said machinery consists essentially of two parts, namely,
a grinding stone or other grinder or polisher, and a barrel or drum carrying
the articles to be ground. Both the grinder and drum rotate on horizontal
and parallel axes, their rotations being in opposite directions. The grinder has
a rapid rotatory motion, and is capable of accurate adjustment to accommodate.
its wear. The drum moves very slowly, and is furnished at suitable distances

page_text: with beds of a form suitable to receive and hold the article to be operated
upon. By the revolution of the drum the flat surfaces of the articles to be
operated upon are slowly brought under the operation of the grinder. The
motion of the drum is independent of that of the grinder, so that the former
can be thrown into and out of gearing without interfering with the motion of 5
the latter.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Reeves in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th November 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
REEVES, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Charles Reeves, Her special licence that I, the said Charles Reeves,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Charles Reeves, 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 "NEW AND IMPROVED
GRINDING AND POLISHING MACHINERY TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF KNIVES,
MATCHETS, SWORDS, AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Charles Reeves, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Reeves, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described, and ascertained in and by the follow-
ing statement thereof, that is to say:
;
My: Invention consists of the 'new or improved grinding and polishing

page_text: machinery to be used in the manufacture of knives, matchets, swords, and
other similar articles, herein-after described, and illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawing.
:
Figure 1 represents in side elevation, Figure 2 in plan, and Figure 3' in
vertical longitudinal section, my new or improved machinery. The said
machinery consists essentially of two parts, namely, a grinding stone or other
grinder or polisher a, and a barrel or drum b, carrying the articles. to be ground
or polished. Both the grinder a and drumib rotate on horizontal and parallel
axes, the directions of their rotation being such, as indicated by the arrows in
Figure 1, that their opposed faces move in opposite directions. The grinder
or polisher a has; a rapid rotatory motion communicated to it through the
pulley c; on which works a strap or band from the driving machinery. The
drum b has a slow motion communicated to it through the toothed wheel d,
connected by ordinary gearing to the: driving power. The journals or bearings
e, in which the axis of the 'grinder or polisher a turns, are capable of ready
change of place on the cross bars if supporting them, so as to permit the 'said
grinder or polisher to be brought close to: the drum b as the said grinder or
polisher diminishes in size by wear; or the journals or bearings e of the grinder:
or polisher may be fixed, and the journals g of the drum 6.may be capable of
sliding on the framing of the machine, for the purpose of accommodating the
wear of the grinder or polisher a. The drum b is furnished with a series
of cavities or beds of, a form suitable to receive the articles to be operated
upon.
In the Drawing I have represented a series of knives fixed upon the drum
b, the said knives h being fixed in the sunken depressions or beds in the said
drum b; the tang of the knife is held down firmly by a screw i, and pins or
projections. k near the point of the knife preserve the proper position of the
end of the knife during the grinding or polishing process; or the points of the
knives may be introduced into staples for the purpose of holding them.
By the revolution of the drum b, the flat surfaces of the knives, swords, or
other articles to be operated upon are slowly brought under the operation of
the grinder or polisher a. The motion of the drum b is independent of that of
the grinder or polisher a, so that the former can be thrown into and out of
gearing without interfering with the motion of the latter.
Although I prefer to sink depressions or beds on the cylindrical surface of
the drum b for the knives, swords, or other articles to be placed in, yet I do not
restrict myself to any particular method of fixing the knives and other articles
to the drum b, as various methods of fixing the said articles may be resorted
to. The knives or articles being ground or polished, may be pressed with the

page_text: requisite degree of force against the grinder or polisher by means of the
branched lever m. The lower ends of the said lever are jointed to the framing
at n, and connecting links o connect the said lever m with the journals 9 of
the drum b. By pressing the upper end of the lever m the articles being
ground or polished are pressed upon the grinder or polisher.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and represented, as the same
may be varied without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I
claim as my Invention the new or improved grinding or polishing machinery
to be used in the manufacture of knives, matchets, swords, and other similar
articles, herein-before described, and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing,
that is to say, grinding or polishing machinery in which a grinder or polisher
is combined with a drum or cylinder, on which said drum or cylinder the
knives and other articles to be ground or polished are temporarily fixed and
brought by the slow rotation of the said drum under the operation of the said
grinder or polisher, by the rapid rotatory motion of which said grinder or.
polisher the sides of the blades of the knives, swords, and other articles are
ground or polished.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Reeves, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
CHARLES REEVES. (L.S.)