1014 CUTLERY 



CURRYXWO Or LEATHER (Corroyer, l-'r. ; Zurichten, Ger.) is the art of 

 dressing skins after they are tanned, in order to render them fit for the purpose of 

 the shoe-maker, coach-maker, harness-maker, &e. See LEATHER, CUUBYING OF. 



CUSCUS ROOT. A grass which yields a fragrant essential oil, called Vitever. 



c USP ARI A BARK. The bark of a South American tree, the Galipea Cusparia, 

 much esteemed for its medicinal properties. 



CTTTCK or Kutch. The catechu of the Acacia Catechu. See ACACIA CATECHTJ. 



CUTXiERY. (Coutelleric, Fr. ; Messcrschmiedwaare, Ger.) Three kinds of steel 

 are made use of in the manufacture of different articles of cutlery, viz., common steel, 

 shear steel, and cast steel. Shear steel is exceedingly plastic and tough. All the 

 edge tools which require great tenacity without great hardness are made of it, such as 

 table knives, scythes, plane-irons, &c. 



Cast steel is formed by melting blistered steel in covered crucibles, with bottle glass, 

 and pouring it into cast-iron moulds, so as to form it into ingots : these ingots are 

 then taken to the tilt, and drawn into rods of suitable dimensions. No other than 

 cast steel can assume a very fine polish, and hence all the finer articles of cutlery are 

 made of it, such as the best scissors, penknives, razors, &c. 



Formerly cast steel could be worked only at a very low heat ; it can now be made 

 so as to be welded to iron with the greatest case. Its use is consequently extended to 

 making very superior kinds of chisels, plane-irons, table knives, &c. 



Forging of table knives. Two men are generally employed in the forging of table 

 knives ; one called the foreman or maker, and the other the striker. 



The steel called common steel is employed in making the very common articles ; 

 but for the greatest part of table knives which require a surface free from flaws, shear 

 steel and cast steel are generally preferred. That part of the knife termed the blade 

 is first rudely formed and cut off. It is next welded to a rod of iron about -J inch 

 square, in such a manner as to leave as little of the iron part of the blade exposed as 

 possible. A sufficient quantity of the iron now attached to the blade is taken off from 

 the rod to form the bolster or shoulder, and the tang. 



In order to make the bolster of a given size, and to give it at the same time shape 

 and neatness, it is introduced into a die, and a swage placed over it ; the swage has a 

 few smart blows given it by the striker. This die and swage are, by the workmen, 

 called prints. 



After the tangs and bolster are finished, the blade is heated a second time, and^Jie 

 foreman gives it its proper anvil finish : this operation is termed smithing. The blade 

 is now heated red hot, and plunged perpendicularly into cold water. By this means 

 it becomes hardened. It requires to be tempered regularly down to a blue colour : in 

 which state it is ready for the grinder. 



Mr. Brownill's method of securing the handles upon table knives and forks, is, Ly 

 lengthening the tangs, so as to pass them completely through the handle, the ends of 

 which are to be tinned after the ordinary mode of tinning iron ; and. when passed 

 through the handle, the end of the tang is to be spread by beating, or a small hole 

 drilled through it, and a pin passed to hold it upon the handle. After this, caps of 

 metal, either copper plated, or silver, are to be soldered on the projecting end of the 

 tang, and while the solder is in a fluid state, the cap is to be pressed upon the end of 

 the handle and held there until the solder is fixed, when the whole is to be cooled by 

 being immersed in cold -water. 



Mr. Thomason's patent improvements consist in the adaptation of steel edges to 

 the blades of gold and silver knives. These steel edges are to be attached to the 

 other metal, of whatever quality it may be, of which the knife, &c., is made, by means 

 of solder, in the ordinary mode of effecting that process. After the edge of steel is 

 thus attached to the gold, silver, &c., it is to be ground, polished, and tempered by 

 immersion in cold water, or oil, after being heated. This process being finished, the 

 other parts of the knife are then wrought and ornamented by the engraver or chaser, 

 as usual. 



A patent was obtained in 1827, by Mr. Smith of Sheffield, for rolling out knifes 

 at one operation. 



In the ordinary mode of making knives, a sheet of steel being provided, the blades 

 are cut out of the sheet, and the backs, shoulders, and tangs, of wrought iron, are 

 attached to the steel blades, by welding at the forge. The knife is then ground to 

 the proper shape, and the blade polished and hardened. 



Instead of this welding process, the patentee proposes to make the knives entirely 

 of steel, and to form them by rolling in a heated state between massive rollers ; the 

 shoulders or bolsters, and the tangs for the handles being produced by suitable 

 recesses in the peripheries of the rollers, just as railway rails are formed. When 

 the knife is to be made with what is called a scale tang, that is, a broad flat tang, to 

 which the handle is to be attached in two pieces, riveted on the sides of the tang, the 



