US20911A - Leather-shaving knife - Google Patents

Description

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEicE.

J. B. WENCHVCRTH, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

LEATHER-SHAVING- KNIFE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 20,911, dated July 13, 1858.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN B. WENTWORTH, of Lynn, in the county of Essex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement Vin Leather- Shaving Knives; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the instrument ready for use; Fig. 2 is a view of the blade removed from the stock; Fig. 3 is an outside View of one half of the stock; Fig. 4 is an inside view of the other half of the stock; and Fig. 5 is a section of the smaller end of handle, B.

Like parts are indicated by the same let'- ters in all the drawings.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will now describe its construction and operation.

A is a wooden handle, on a line with the stock, and shaped like those in common use.

B is the cross handle, attached to the other end of the stock in the usual manner, but of a new and peculiar shape so as to lit the hand and act as a brace upon the lower edge of the same, and also upon the thumb, to enable a person to carry the knife level and at once perceive its exact position in forcing it down upon the leather. The middle of this handle is convex, while the lower part, at 1, is concave, and terminated with a bulge, or knob, at 2, to rest against the edge of the hand. The other end of the handle, as seen in Fig. 1, is made smaller to arch the thumb, and is also provided with depressions, b, (see Figs. 1 and 5) for the ball of the thumb, whereby the implement is braced and prevented from rocking in the hand.

C C (Fig. 1,) is the stock made in two parts; an outside view of one half being seen in Fig. 3, and an inside view of the other half in Fig. 4. These halves are made of steel, and, as will be seen in Figs. 1 and 3, are beveled from the line to y; the part between m and w, being parallel with the inner side. These halves are held together and confine the blade, D, between them, by means of seven screws which pass through half, C C, and screw into C C; two of said screws, f and f, passing through the Shanks,

and ve, e, e, e, e, e, through the unbeveled part of the stock, as shown in Fig. 1. These screws, with the exception of f f (which secure the corners of the blade) are set on a line upon the side, or back, of the stock, and at a distance from the center of the same. Thus the back of the stock, being the heaviest part, acts as a sort of counterbalance to the action of the cutting edge of the blade. The blade, D, being carried horizontally, or level, and the edge cutting at a right angle with it, it is obvious that, by placing the screws at a distance from the center of the stock, the cutting edge of the knife may be very much nearer to a line passing through the center of the handles, A and B, and thereby greatly shorten the leverage of the cutting edge; which is very important, inasmuch as the leastcant would injure the skin, or leather.

In the Tomlinson patent, and in all other shaving-knives with which I am acquainted, the heaviest part of the stock is the center, requiring a hard grip and great strength in the arms, to keep it level and free from rocking; whereas this diiiiculty is eifectually obviated in my invention by the counterbalance, and shorter leverage, alluded to above. I also make the bevel more tapering, without widening the stock, or altering the leverage; which constitutes another improvement over any other stock extant.

D Fig. 2 is the blade, with slots, d, d, d, d, d, through which pass the screws, e, e, e, e, e, which confine the blade between the two halves of the stock. These slots, as seen in Fig. 2, are about one third as long as a new blade is wide. When a new blade is rst put into the stock, the ends of the slots, as seen in Fig. 1, are brought up to the screws, e, from the beveled side, and moved out, as used up. When one side is thus worn up, the blade is taken out and turned so as to use the other side.

I have used a leather shaving knife for more than twenty years, and find that this of mine is much superior to all others, for l the center from y to z, and provided With lightness, safety, and the ease with which it screws, e, combined with a blade, D, having 10 is Worked. slots, d, operating as, and for the purpose What I claim as my invention and desire specified. 5 to secure by Letters Patent, is JOHN B. WENTWORTH.

The Within described leather shaving Witnesses: knife, consisting of a stock, C C, with N. AMES,

O. C. SLEEPER.

bevel only on one edge, extending beyond

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