IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR PIERCING AND DRILLING TANGS AND SCALES FOR TABLE KNIVES AND FORKS, CARVERS, AND BUTCHERS" KNIVES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Nixon and Jabez Winterbottom, both of
Sheffield, in the County of York, Cutlery Manufacturers, for the
Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR PIERCING AND DRILLING TANGS
AND SCALES FOR TABLE KNIVES AND FORKS, CARVERS, AND BUTCHERS"
KNIVES."
Scaled the 7th October 1871, and dated the 12th April 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Nixon and
Jabez Winterbottom at the Office of the Commissioners of l'atcuts,
with their Petition, on the 12th April 1871.
We, JOSEPH NIXON and JABEZ WINTERBOTTOM, both of Sheffield,
in the County of York, Cutlery Manufacturers, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR PIERCING AND
DRILLING TANGS AND SCALES FOR TABLE KNIVES AND FORKS, CARVERS, AND
BUTCHERS' KNIVES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in the construction
and arrangement of machinery for the purpose of piercing and drilling
tangs and scales for table knives and forks of various descriptions,
including butchers' knives and carvers; the Invention being also

page_text: applicable to bolstered and capped table cutlery of all kinds, more
especially to "pinned-on" bolstered cutlery.
The objects sought are accomplished by punching simultaneously the
holes for the scales and an additional hole for the pin of the bolster
or cap; so also holes of various sizes may be punched by one and the
same bed made of steel with corresponding holes according to the
number of punches and their positions. We use a metal block drilled
with a number of holes for receiving the punches, which are to be
inserted in the holes, and held securely therein by means of set screws
passing through the side of the block, these punches being of steel and
turned in a lathe to secure accuracy of form. They are then cut with
a notch or recess, into which the set screw is forced, and by these
arrangements the situation of the punches becomes constant during the
working of the machine. We also employ a corresponding steel bed
drilled with holes, corresponding to the number, size, and positions of
the punches; say, six small holes for the scales and one large hole for
the pin of the bolster, but other number of holes in various positions
or of various sizes may be used. The steel bed is placed in a suitable
foundation, and secured in position by set screws or other suitable
equivalents, and the punch block is set over it in suitable bearings,
guides, or other convenient appliances, but between the punch block and
the steel bed we place a steel pull-off plate, which is held in position
by two metal straps, the pull-off plate being raised up to the straps
by springs placed under the straps and plate. Holes are cut in the
pull-off plate to admit the passage of the punches through the plate and
tang, and into the holes of the steel bed. The use of the pull-off plate
is to prevent the article pierced following or rising up with the retreating
punches. Gauges or guides are arranged at proper positions in regard
to the steel bed, in order to regulate the position of the article to be
pierced. These gauges are mounted on V grooved bearings or slides;
they consist of loose bits raised in the slides by springs beneath them.
The bits are prevented from springing out by the pull-off plate pressing
them down. There is a head and a side gauge, and also a choil gauge,
the latter is fixed on the right-hand side of the machine. The tang of
the knife, fork, or other article being placed between the steel bed
and the pull-off plate, the punches are brought suddenly down, thus
piercing the articles as required. The machinery is worked by fly or
other power actuated by steam or manual labor. We also use a steel
template of the size required drilled with holes corresponding to the

page_text: holes in the steel bed, so that the number, size, and position of the
holes are the same in each apparatus. The template is improved by
means of roughing or file cutting on the inner surface, whereby the
scale is prevented from moving from its situation when once adjusted,
thus overcoming a serious defect in a flush or smooth surface of template;
for while the drilling is in operation the scale becomes fixed by the
serrated or roughened surface, and is thus prevented from moving from
its position.
The operation of our improved machinery will casily be understood
in its application to the manufacture of table and other cutlery with
"pinned-on" bolsters and caps, by punching or piercing simultaneously
the holes for the bolsters or caps with the holes for the scales, various
sizes of holes being punched by means of one and the same bed; and all
the tangs of a kind being pierced alike, and the scales being all drilled
alike by template to correspond; it follows that we can by these appliances
rivet or pin together indiscriminately any pair of scales to any knife,
fork, or other article of its kind, all the said tangs and scales being
interchangeable.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Nixon and Jabez Winterbottom in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 12th October 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOSEPH
NIXON and JABEZ WINTERBOTтom, both of Sheffield, in the County of
York, Cutlery Manufacturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Ifer reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said Joseph Nixon and Jabez Winterbottom,
Her special licence that we, the said Joseph Nixon and Jabez. Winter-
bottom, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
we, the said Joseph Nixon and Jabez. Winterbottom, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any tüne 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, excrcise, and vend,.
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland;, the Chaunel

page_text: Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR
PIERCING AND DRILLING TANGS AND SCALES FOR TABLE KNIVES AND FORKS,
CARVERS, AND BUTCHERS' KNIVES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that we, the said Joseph Nixon and Jabez Winterbottom, our executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, 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 Scal
Patent Offico within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Joseph Nixon and Jabez
Winterbottom, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :—
Our Invention relates to certain improvements in the construction and
arrangement of machinery for the purpose of piercing and drilling tangs
and scales for table knives and forks of various descriptions, including
butchers knives and carvers, the Invention being also applicable to
bolstered and capped table cutlery of all kinds, more especially to
"pinned-on" bolstered cutlery.
The objects sought are accomplished by punching simultaneously the
holes for the scales and an additional hole for the pin of the bolster or
cap; so also holes of various sizes may be punohed by one and the
same bed made of steel with corresponding holes according to the
number of punches and their positions. We use a metal block drilled
with a number of holes for receiving the punches, which are to be
inserted in the holes and held securely therein by means of set screws
passing through the side of the block, these punches being of steel and
turned in a lathe to secure accuracy of form. They are then cut with
a notch or recess into which the set screw is forced, and by these
arrangements the situation of the punches becomes constant during the
working of the machine. We also employ a corresponding steel bed
drilled with holes corresponding to the number, size, and positions of
the punches, say six small holes for the scales and one large hole for the
pin of the bolster, but other number of holes in various positions or
of various sizes may be used. The steel bed is placed in a suitable
foundation and secured in position by set screws or other suitable
cquivalents, and the punch block is set over it in suitable bearings,

page_text: guides, or other convenient appliances, but between the punch block
and the steel bed we place a steel pull-off plate, which is held in position
by two metal straps, the pull-off plate being raised up to the straps by
springs placed under the straps and plate. Holes are cut in the pull-off
plate to admit the passage of the punches through the plate and tang
and into the holes of the steel bed. The use of the pull-off plate is to
prevent the article pierced following or rising up with the retreating
punches. Gauges or guides are arranged at proper positions in regard
to the steel bed in order to regulate the position of the article to be
pierced. Theso gauges are mounted on V grooved bearings or slides;
they consist of loose bits raised in the slides by springs beneath them.
The bits are prevented from springing out by the pull-off plate pressing
them down. There is a head and a side gauge, and also a choil gauge;
the latter is fixed on the right hand side of the machine. The tang of
the knife, fork, or other article being placed between the steel bed and
the pull-off plate the punches are brought suddenly down, thus piercing
the articles as required. The machinery is worked by fly or other power
actuated by steam or manual labor. We also use a steel template of
the size required drilled with holes corresponding to the holes in the
steel bed, so that the number, size, and position of the holes are the
same in each apparatus. The template is improved by means of roughing
or file-cutting on the inner surface, whereby the scale is prevented
from moving from its situation when once adjusted, thus overcoming
a serious defect in a flush or smooth surface of template, for while the
drilling is in operation the scale becomes fixed by the serrated or
roughened surface, and is thus prevented from moving from its position.
The operation of our improved machinery will easily be understood
in its application to the manufacture of table and other cutlery with
pinned-on bolsters and caps by punching or piercing simultaneously
the holes for the bolsters or caps with the holes for the scales, various
sizes of holes being punched by means of one and the same bed, and all
the tangs of a kind being pierced alike, and the scales being all drilled
alike by template to correspond, it follows that we can by these appliances
rivet or pin together indiscriminately any pair of scales to any knife,
fork, or other article of its kind, all the said tangs and scales being
interchangeable.
1
mamulatale undantad

page_text: a plan of the machine with the pull-off plate removed; Fig. 2 being a
plan view of the pull-off plate removed with straps and springs; Fig. 3
being an elevation of the bed, punch block, or holder, and punchies;
Fig. 4, a plan of a template; Fig. 5 being a plan of a punch a, with a
recess or notch 6 cut therein for the purpose of receiving a set screw,
as before stated, the various parts being made of iron, steel, or other
metal. Fig. 6 shews a plan of a template c with three holes, by which
we drill scales, which are afterwards riveted together with three thick
pins. The template is roughened or file cut, as shown by the raised
surfaces d, for the purpose above described; Fig. 7 represents a per-
spective view of a bed with six small holes for scales, and one large
hole for the pin of the bolster; of course, other number of holes in
various positions may be used. Fig. S shews a vertical and horizontal
section of a table knife with tang and scales secured by seven pins or
rivets. Figs. 9 and 10 shew the scales and bolsters unattached; and
Fig. 11 shews the knife complete.
A, Fig. 3, is a block of metal drilled with the number of holes
required in their proper positions, into which holes the punches e, e,
are inserted, the said punches being fixed by set screws D, D. B is a
steel bed drilled with holes F, F, corresponding in number and situation
to the punches c, c. G is a steel pull-off plate arranged between the
punch block A and the bed B, being held in its place by two metal
straps I, I; this pull-off plate is raised from steel bed B by springs J
placed under the straps I, I, and the plate G. 1, II, II, shew holes or
spaces cut in the plate G to admit the punches in their passage through
the plate. The use of the pull-off plate G is to prevent the article
pierced from following the retreating punches. K, K', K³, Fig. 1, are
guages arranged about the bed B to regulate the position of the article
to be pierced. These guages are mounted on V grooved bearings or
slides; the head gauge is shown at K, the side gauge at K', and they
consist of loose bits, and are prevented springing out by the pull-off
plate pressing them down. The choil gauge K is fixed on the right
hand side of machine. E, Fig. 4, shews a template corresponding to
bed B.
The operation of the machinery will be obvious to any one conversant
with the art of piercing and drilling tangs and scales. The tang of the
knife, fork, or other article being placed between the bed B and plate G,
the punch block A is brought quickly down by a fly or other equivalent

page_text: means, causing the punches e to pierce the said article as required; and
all the tangs of a kind being pierced alike, and all the scales being
drilled alike, the riveting or pinning together can be effected as before
described.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, we would remark that
we do not limit ourselves to the precise details or configuration of parts
which we have expressed and shown, as the same may be obviously
varied or modified in many ways without departing in any degree from
the principles on which our Invention is based; but what we claim and
desire to be secured to us by the herein in part recited Letters Patent
is, the gencral arrangement and combination of parts constituting
machinery whereby the tangs and scales of table knives and forks,
carvers, and butchers' knives are pierced; and especially we claim the
application of our machinery to the manufacture of table and other
cutlery with "pinned on bolsters and caps, by punching or piercing
simultaneously the holes for the bolster or caps with the holes for the
scales, various sizes of holes being punched by means of one and the
same bed, all substantially as herein specified.
"
In witness whereof, we, the said Joseph Nixon and Jabez Winter-
bottom, have hereunto set our hands and scals, this Tenth day
of October, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-one.
Witness,
JOHN B. BROWN,
JOSEPH NIXON.
(L.S.)
JABEZ WINTERBOTTOM. (L.s.)
258, Brook Hill,
Sheffield,
Banker's Cashier.