AN IMPROVED METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SHEEP SHEARS AND OTHER ARTICLES OF CUTLERY
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Melton Marsden, of Sheffield, in the
County of York, Saw and Steel Manufacturer, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SHEEP SHEARS AND OTHER
ARTICLES OF CUTLERY."
Sealed the 1st April 1870, and dated the 15th October 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Melton
Marsden at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 15th October 1869.
I, HENRY MELTON MARSDEN, of Sheffield, in the County of York,
Saw and Steel Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SHEEP SHEARS AND
OTHER ARTICLES OF CUTLERY," to be as follows :-
Heretofore sheep shears have been made by combining steel with
iron, that is, by welding steel to the iron so as to form a steel cutting
edge; they have also been made wholly of what is known as "best
cast stcol."

page_text: Now according to my Invention I take a lump of iron, and to those
portions which are to form the blades or cutting parts I unite layers of
steel by any of the known processes of uniting the two metals; the mass
or lump of combined iron and steel is then rolled into sheets, and is
ready to be worked up into sheep shears.
As I have before stated sheep shears have been chiefly made of iron
to form the shanks and bows and the base or foundation of the cutting
parts, on which base or foundation of iron a portion of steel is welded to
form a cutting edge in each separate pair of shears, or they are formed
out of steel sheets of one temper, quality, and thickness.
Now according to my Invention I take iron and steel slabs or melted
iron and steel lumps, or I make lumps or ingots of two tempers and
qualities of steel, one temper and quality suitable for the cutting part,
and the other of a temper suitable for the shanks and bows, and I
then cog and roll them into sheets of any required width, and of equal
or unequal thicknesses. When thus rolled into sheets the steel is on the
top side of one edge of the sheots and on the bottom side of the other
or opposite edge of the sheets, and the sheets are of such width that
when cut crosswise into strips each strip will be the length to make the
shears required; and the iron part of the iron and steel sheets and the
mild steel of the sheets of combined steels are suitably placed for
forming the shanks and bows, and the steel part of the iron and steel
sheets or the harder steel of the combined sheets of steels are in such
position as to form the cutting sides or edges of the shears when the
blanks are made up into shears in any of the ways at present adopted.
By this means much saving of time and labor are effected and better
articles are produced.
Altho' I have particularly referred to sheep shears, yet a similar
process is equally applicable to other articles of cutlery.
Sometimes when the bows are made of iron or of too mild a steel I
submit them to cementation or conversion, whereby they become
steelified, and the elasticity thereof is materially increased.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Melton Marsden in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 14th April 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
MELTON MARSDEN, of Sheffield, in the County of York, Saw and Steel
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, ller heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Henry Melton Marsden, Her special licence
that I, the said Henry Melton Marsden, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Melton Marsden,
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 SHEEP SHEARS AND OTHER ARTICLES OF
CUTLERY," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry
Melton Marsden, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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 Melton Marsden, 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, that is to
say-
Heretofore sheep shears have been chiefly made of iron, and upon the
part intended to form the cutting edge or shearing part steel has been
welded, the operation of welding being performed upon each separate
pair of shears by hammer and by hand, the steel being intended to form
the cutting or shearing edges, and the iron being intended to form

page_text: the bow shanks and baso or foundation of the cutting or shearing
parts.
Sheep shears have also been made out of sheets of what is known as
cast steel or sheets of what is known as shear steel, the sheets being of
uniform temper, quality, and thickness, the shears being cut out with a
fly punch or other machinery.
Now according to my Invention instead of welding steel to iron, as
above described, I take a lump of iron of suitable size and shape, and
to those portions which are intended to form the base or foundation of
the cutting or shearing parts I unite a layer of steel by any of the
known processes of uniting or combining the two metals. The mass or
lump of iron and steel thus combined or united is then rolled into sheets
of any required length and width and of equal or of unequal thickness,
and is ready to be cut up into blanks, and worked up into sheep shears.
When thus rolled into sheets the steel is on the top side of one edge of
the sheets and on the bottom side of the other or opposite edge, or the
steel may be on both edges of the same side of the sheet. When the
sheets are thus rolled the iron part is suitably placed for forming the
shanks and bow and the base or foundation of the cutting parts, and
the steel parts are placed in such a position as to be suitable or available!
for the cutting or shearing edges of the shears.
My Invention further is that instead of using sheets of cast steel or
slicar steel, as above described, I make an ingot of mild steel, and
before it cools and while it is sufficiently hot I unite to suitable portions
of it a facing of harder and better steel by the usual method practised
in the making, or what is known in the steel trade as iron and steel
lumps, the mild steel being suitable for the shanks and bow and the
base or foundation of the cutting parts, and the harder or better steel
being so placed as to be available for the parts intended to form tho
cutting edges of the shears. I then cog and roll this combined ingot 3
into sheets of any required width and length and of equal or unequal
thickness; the sheets are then ready to be cut up into blanks, and sub-
sequently made up into sheep shears. When thus rolled into sheets
the hard steel is on the top side of one edge of the sheets, and on the
bottom side of the other or opposite edge, or the hard steel may be on the
same side of both edges.
When sheets of steel of different qualities or tempers united or com-
bined, as above described, are rolled the mild steel is suitably placed for

page_text: forming the shanks and bow and the base or foundation of the cutting
parts, and the harder steel is in such a position as to be suitable for
forming the cutting parts or edges.
When the bows are made of iron or of steel of too mild a temper I
submit them to a process of cementation or conversion, whereby they
become steelified, and the elasticity thereof is materially increased. By
this method of manufacture much saving of time and labor are effected
and better articles are produced.
Although I have particularly referred to sheep shears, yet this method
of manufacture is equally applicable to the manufacture of other articles
of cutlery.
And in order that my said Invention may be still more clearly
understood, I proceed to describe the way in which it may be carried
out, and also some of the applications of the same.
The material before described being rolled into sheets of suitable
width, length, and guage I first either pare or punch out the blanks by
hand or power machines. I then proceed to turn up the edge of the
back of the blade, hollow the shanks, and bend the part designed for
the bow to any required form. All these operations I perform by the
aid of hand tools in the ordinary way, or I fix similar tools in a fly or
screw press for doing this work. When the operations above referred
to are completed I harden the shears either in water or oil, and finish
them by grinding, polishing, bending, and setting in the usual way
practised in the trade.
Before hardening those shears which are made with iron bows or of
steel of too mild a temper, I sometimes cover or enclose such parts with
any suitable substance, the action of which when submitted to a certain
heat in contact with iron will carbonise or convert them more or less
into steel in proportion as the process is prolonged or shortened; wood
or animal charcoal or prussiate of potash will answer this purpose.
In order to show more fully how the various operations are carried
into effect I annex Drawings shewing views of blanks out of which tho
shears are formed, and the same in other or more advanced stages of
manufacture.
Figures 1 & 2 are views in plan of blanks made according to my
Invention; Figure 3 is a side clevation of the same shewing the positiou
the steel occupies; Figure 4 shows a blank cut out from a sheet rolled

page_text: unequal in thickness; Figure 5 shews a pair of finished sheep shcars
made from No. 2 blank; Figure 6 shews a pair of finished sheep shears
made from blanks shown at Figure 1 of unequal thickness.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I do not claim
as my Invention the welding or uniting of steel to iron or the uniting
of hard steel to mild steel; but I claim as my Invention, the making of
sheep shears and other articles of cutlery out of sheets made or com-
posed of iron and steel combined or united, and also out of sheets made or
composed of steel of different qualities and tempers combined or united,
the sheets of either kind being rolled of equal or unequal thickness,
substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Melton Marsden, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witnesses,
W. FRETSON,
Solicitor,
HENRY MELTON MARSDEN. (L.S.)
Sheffield.
EDWP. GRIFFITH BREWER,
89, Chancery Lane,
London.