Cutler’s Hammers. Anvil.
Two persons are engaged in each room, one being called the maker or forger, the other the striker. The forger buries the end of the steel bar in the fire to the extent required; and to determine when it should be removed requires some judgment, since if it be overheated or “burnt,” it will be quite unfit for cutting purposes. On the other hand, it must be sufficiently heated to acquire the proper degree of softness for the operation of shaping the blade from it. When the end of the bar has been properly heated it is brought to the anvil, where it is fashioned by the striker into the required shape by means of a few blows of the hammer. This roughly shaped blade is then cut off from the end of the bar, which is again heated for forming the next shape, and so on to the end.
The cutting part of the blade thus rudely formed is next welded to a piece of iron, which forms the bolster, or shoulder, that is, the part that rises round the handle of the knife. To make the shoulder of the size and shape required, and to give it neatness and finish, it is introduced into a die by the side of the anvil, and a swage ([see Blacksmith]) placed upon it, to which a few smart blows in the proper direction are given by the striker.
Shoulder-iron.
The die and swage are called prints by the workpeople. Besides the bolster, the part which fastens into the handle, technically termed the tang, is also shaped from the piece of iron welded on to the cutting part of the blade. After the bolster and tang have been properly finished, the blade is heated again, and then well hammered on the anvil. This operation, which is termed smithing, requires particular care and attention. It is intended to consolidate the steel, and to render it brighter. The next process the blade has to undergo is that of marking. This is done with a broad punch made of the very best and hardest steel, and having the name and corporate or trade mark of the firm carved on the bottom end or point. The blade is heated to a dull red (worm-red, as it is termed by the workmen), and the mark cut in on one side of the blade with the punch by a single blow of the hammer. Now comes the most important process of all, viz. the hardening and tempering of the blades. Upon the effectual performance of these operations depends the practical value of the articles. The Sheffield workmen have justly and deservedly acquired the very highest reputation for peculiar skill in this most difficult department of the cutlery business. The hardening of the blade is effected by heating it to bright redness, then plunging it perpendicularly into cold water, which operation renders it extremely hard, but at the same time very brittle, which is an inconvenience, of course, requiring to be remedied. This is done by the process of tempering. To this end, the hardened blades are first rubbed with finely powdered sand, to remove scales, &c. from the surface; they are then placed on an oblong tray made of steel, and on this exposed to the fire until they acquire a bright blue tint. The workman judges of the proper degree of tempering entirely by the colour, and the utmost attention is bestowed upon this point to ensure the most perfect unanimity in this respect. The hardened and tempered blades are then submitted to the manager’s inspection, who applies various tests to them, and rejects any that may turn out imperfect in any one point.
The blades that have been examined and passed by the manager are next taken to the grinding mill, or, as it is technically termed, the wheel. Each separate shop in the building in which the grinders work is called a hull. The grinding is done on stones of various qualities and sizes, according to the kind of articles to be ground. The rough grit stones come mostly from Wickersley, near Rotherham; the finer and smoother grained stones, and the so-called whitning stones, come mostly from the more immediate neighbourhood of Sheffield. The blades of table-knives are ground on wet stones, the grinding stone being suspended, for that purpose, in an iron trough filled with water to a sufficient height to make the surface of the fluid just touch the face of the stone. The grinding stones, as well as the glazers and polishers, are turned by machinery worked by steam power. A flat stick is used by the grinder to keep the blade pressed to the surface of the stone. The ground blades are then glazed, which simply means that a higher degree of lustre and smoothness is given them by grinding on a tool termed a glazer. This consists of a wheel made of a number of pieces of wood, put together in such a manner that the edge or face always presents the end way of the wood, which is done to preserve the circular shape by preventing contraction of the parts. The grinding face of the wheel is covered with so-called emery cake, which consists of a composition of beeswax, tallow, and emery. The glazing wheels have a diameter of four feet. The tang of the blade is stuck into a temporary handle to facilitate the operation.
