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CUTLERY 



Bronze, like steel, can be hardened, but by opposite 

 means, since it is softened by sudden and hardened 

 by slow cooling. The ancients appear to have 

 been great experts in the tempering of bronze. 



The Anglo-Saxons had knives somewhat resem- 

 bling a razor-blade. They had forks also ; but it 

 would appear that these were employed for serving, 

 not for use in feeding. The custom of using forks 

 for eating with came from Italy, and was not 

 known in England till the reign of James I. Be- 

 fore that, people fed themselves with their fingers, 

 as is still the practice in the East. The Persians 

 so much prefer this custom that they contemptu- 

 ously call a fork a claw. Up to the end of the 15th 

 century knives do not appear to have been much 

 used at table, but as in those days everybody 

 carried a knife in his girdle, it probably served to 

 cut meat with as one of its applications. Spring- 

 shears of the ancient Roman form were the only 

 kind known up to Norman times, and probably 

 even till the 15th or 16th century. 



The London cutlers obtained a charter of incor- 

 poration in 1417 from Henry V. ; but long before 

 that knives were made at Sheffield, as the ' whittle ' 

 of that town, or village, as it would then be, 

 is incidentally mentioned by Chaucer. Knives, 

 sickles, shears, and scissors are named as being 

 made in Sheffield, when the Hallamshire cutlers 

 were incorporated in 1624. Cutlery was not then 

 however an English .specialty ; and England still 

 imported iron and steel goods largely from the 

 Continent ; and in England, Birmingham was in the 

 17th century regarded as the home of smiths and 

 cutlers. The vast increase in the size of Sheffield 

 since 1800 shows that it is chiefly during this 

 century that its cutlery wares have expanded from 

 being a mere inland 'into that of a world-wide 

 commerce. 



Table-knives. Of these the best kinds are made 

 by hand, and have the blade of steel, while the 

 shoulder and tang, to which the haft is fitted, is 

 of malleable iron. From the end of a thin bar of 

 steel, which has been carefully brought to a proper 

 heat, the blade is roughly forged, cut off, and 

 welded to a piece of iron for the tang and shoulder. 

 The latter, usually called the 'bolster,' is formed 

 by crushing the hot iron between a pair of dies, 

 and the tang drawn out by some strokes of the 

 hammer. After reheating, the blade is again 

 hammered and the maker's name stamped upon 

 it. The next stage, that of hardening and temper- 

 ing, is all-important in every kind of steel cutting 

 instrument. Raising the blade to a dull red heat 

 and then plunging it in cold water hardens it, but 

 at the same time makes it brittle. The brittleness 

 is removed and the steel made flexible by the 

 process of tempering, which consists in again heat- 

 ing the blade till it acquires a bluish colour, and 

 at this moment putting it back into the water. 

 After tempering, the knife passes to the grinder, 

 who smooths the bolster and works the blade a 

 little on the grindstone. But the blade still 

 requires to be made quite straight in the smithy, 

 and again ground. The finishing processes of 

 lapping, glazing, and polishing follow, in which 

 different wheels are used along with emery and 

 polishing-powder. The lap is covered with an alloy 

 of tin and lead, and the glazing and polishing 

 wheels with leather. Bone, ivory, horn, and other 

 materials are employed for the hafts, but these are 

 prepared by a different set of workmen. 



Machinery is now used for the manufacture of 

 blades of common table-knives, in which case blade, 

 bolster, and tang are made of one piece of steel. 

 A few_ strokes of a steam-hammer shape the blade, 

 and without reheating the shoulder is formed, but 

 it requires to be heated again for drawing out the 

 tang. The blade is next reheated and hammered 



thin, and then the whole of the metal portion of the 

 knife is pressed into dies to give it the exact shape 

 and size. Grinding and the finishing processes 

 now follow. 



Very cheap knives are made by simply ' flying ' 

 (i.e. pressing into dies) the blade and tang out of 

 a cold sheet of steel at one operation, and dispens- 

 ing with a shoulder. 



Forks. These are made from a bar of steel three- 

 eighths of an inch square. The forger begins by 

 forming the tang, shoulder, and shank. He then 

 beats out flat a square piece left at the end for the 

 prongs. In the next stage the whole is heated till 

 it is soft, and pressed with some force between two 

 halves of a die, which roughly form the prongs. 

 The fork is afterwards filed, ground, brightened, 

 and hafted. Forks of an inferior kind are cast. 



Spring-knives. Pocket-knives are of much more 

 modern date than those used at the table. The 

 earliest piece of cutlery made at Sheffield, or 

 perhaps in England, was called a thwytel or 

 whittle, and served for a weapon as well as for 

 other purposes. At a later time the jack-knife 

 appeared, which was made to shut into a groove 

 in the handle, but had no spring. Some spring- 

 knives are believed to have been made as far back 

 as the beginning of the 17th century ; but it was 

 not till about 1820 that a spring-knife of the type 

 now so much in use was invented by the first Lord 

 Wharncliffe, or at least was named after him. 

 The process of making the blade of a spring-knife 

 does not differ much from that already described 

 for a table-knife. Sometimes the springs are 

 forged, but others are ' flied ' i.e. formed at a 

 single blow out of a piece of steel. The inner 

 scales of the haft are made of brass or iron, and 

 sometimes of a more expensive metal ; Avhile a still 

 greater variety of material, such as hard wood, 

 horn of various kinds, ivory, bone, and tortoise- 

 shell, is used for the outer scales. 



Razors. The use of the razor goes back to a 

 very remote period. It is referred to in the book 

 of Numbers, and was used by the ancient Egyp- 

 tians as well as by the Greeks and Romans. The 

 blade of a razor is forged from a piece of steel of 

 the thickness of its back, and half an inch wide, 

 the concave sides being formed on the rounded 

 edge of the anvil. In the smithing process which 

 follows, the workman hammers it to make it 

 compact, and at the same time shapes it into 

 proper form. It is next ground, hardened, and 

 tempered ; after which it is once more ground, 

 and then lapped, glazed, and polished. The best 

 qualities of razors are made of the finest cast 

 steel, and are manipulated with great care in every 

 stage of their manufacture. But there is always 

 some uncertainty about the quality of a razor even 

 when made with the utmost skill and care and from 

 the best material. Perhaps this explains why 

 high-priced razors are not in great demand, at 

 least in Great Britain. 



Scissors. A blade is forged from a flat bar of 

 steel, and this, including a bit for the shank and 

 bow, is then cut off. Next a hole is punched for 

 the bow to admit of its receiving the point of a 

 small anvil upon which it is roughly shaped. After 

 reheating, the bow is further shaped, the shank 

 formed, and both filed. The joint is now squared, 

 and the hole bored for the rivet or screw. Grind- 

 ing and smoothing of the blade follow, and then 

 the two are screwed together. If they work 

 smoothly, they are ready for hardening and temper- 

 ing, but the screw is first removed and the two 

 halves wired together. Afterwards the scissors 

 are ground and passed through the finishing pro- 

 cesses already described. 



In describing briefly the manufacture of the 

 several articles of cutlery noticed above, only the 



