Paper knife

“ Where there is much cutting to be done and the machine is in constant use, it is well to keep extra knives on hand to allow one to be sharpened while the other is being used.
A specially tempered knife is best for boards or varnished paper. Gummed and varnished stock are likely to break small pieces off the knife edge. The double shear motion for the knife now furnished on the new automatic rapid production cutting machines practically eliminates this trouble.
The first place to look when work is not cut true, after making sure there is correct clamping pressure, is the knife. ”

“ Hone the knife only on the bevel. To remove the wire edge burrs along the edge lay the hone flat on the face and rub gently so as not to round over the edge.
A knife will sometimes cut better after it has been ground the first time. A polished knife will give a better surface to the cut. The cutting of the same kind of stock will often vary with different makes of knives. An oily rag tied to a stick kept handy and passed along the bevel of the knife before cutting hard stock will improve the cut. A blunt bevel is preferred for hard stock; a long, thin bevel for soft stock. ”

“ For safe clearance the knife should be a few thousandths of an inch thinner at the top than the distance from its back to the line of its cutting edge.
The knife bolts should always be screwed up snug, so that the cutting edge of the knife will have the correct pitch in relation to the pile. The top or back edge of a knife should be held absolutely straight to get a firm thrust—bearing all along the knife-bar. Knives abutting against adjusting screws for this reason are not apt to give so good results as knives that abut against a solid shoulder all across the knife-bar. ”

“ If there is too much packing the knife will cut below the edge of the press, and if too little, it will cut above.
“Packing” is paper inserted between the knife and the metal plate on the plough, to correct the position of the knife. When by experiment the exact thickness of paper necessary for any given [140] knife is found, the packing should be carefully kept when the knife is taken out for grinding, and put back with it into the plough.
The first edge to be cut is the top, and the first thing to do is to place the boards in the position they will hold when the book is bound. ”

“ Knife-Bar Motion—A mechanical way of imitating the action of a draw shave in pulling down the knife. The nearer it is to the hand method, the more simple and successful it is. Rods connected to each end of the knife-bar and pulled down by simple cranks at each end approach nearest to the method of human hands.
Lift—The pile of paper or other stock cut and handled at one time.
Marker—A part of the clamp on some machines, separate from the pressing part, that may be pulled down by a treadle to show where the knife is going to cut. ”

“ When the required length of the sheet is drawn from the rolls, a cast-iron clamp, placed close to the dead cross-cut knife, descends and firmly holds the paper until the movable cross-cut knife has cut off the sheets, which fall on a second endless felt, and are placed by the catchers in the usual manner. ”

“ After having been slit into the proper widths by the revolving knives, ordinary flat and book papers are cut into sheets by a straight knife revolving at proper intervals on a horizontal drum. The paper, in sheets, is carried by a traveling apron onto a receiving table at the end of the machine, where the sheets as they fall are carefully examined by experts, usually women, who remove any that may be imperfect. ”

“ The best paper-cutting machine is designed with a knife motion operated by cranks which give an endwise pull to the knife; with the table of medium height; with quick and accurate adjustments for the knife; with a foot treadle for bringing the clamp down to the pile when desired to see exactly where the knife will strike; with an accurate and dependable device for moving the back gage and the pile and measuring quickly the widths to be cut; with starting handles easily reachable without bending ”

“ The double-shear cuts more like a pair of scissors, the knife edge entering each sheet at its side and gradually cutting across it. Its advantages are less power required to cut, less strain on the machine and the knife, a more perfectly cut edge and a smoother face to the pile. ”

“ The plough must be held firm in the groove or guides of the press, to prevent the knife jumping or cutting the edges uneven; and, should the knife be found to run up or down, the defect must be remedied by removing some of the paper or boards placed under the knife where it is fastened to the plough. If there should be none required to bring the knife even with the plough, then a piece must be placed on whichever side of the bolt the defect may require. The head being cut, the same operation is repeated for the tail.
Much precaution is necessary in cutting the fore-edge. ”

“ Having prepared the paper, the process of cutting out will be found to demand the greatest care, and, above all, well ground and sharpened tools. Have an oil-stone within reach, therefore, and use it frequently. It is quite useless going to work with a blunt knife. There is much
Fig. 93.
diversity of opinion as to the most suitable blade for stencil cutting. The ordinary penknife blade is scarcely graduated enough for the purpose, for sweeping round the curve in the pattern shape. ”

“ Some spent all their money for knives owning as high as five or six at one time. Their interest centres in the number and sharpness of the blades. Each boy's knife must be sharper than those of others, and comparison of knives with respect to sharpness is common. The blades are tested by cutting into hard material, by seeing which can cut the largest shavings or chips from wood, or by trying to cut paper or a hair. ”

“ Ground glue. Best, 18 cents a pound.
Gummed paper. Paper and cloth ready gummed and other useful repair material can be bought of Gaylord Bros., Emerson Building, Syracuse, N. Y., and also of Holden Patent Book Cover Co., Springfield, Mass.
Japanese mending paper. Handmade Japanese Window or Shoji Paper used for mending and guarding can be obtained from Japan Paper Co., 34 Union Sq., N. Y. Price $5.00 per ream of 500 sheets 16×22. This is the best of all mending papers for repairing torn leaves.
Knife. A good knife is what is called a shoemaker’s knife, a long blade, square at the end. ”

“ Where there is no board-cutting machine, the boards must be cut to size with the knife upon a cutting-board, using a straight edge for the line.
The knife used is the well-known bookbinder's knife—Henckel Bros.' Solingen make is the best. These knives—both in fixed and removable wooden handles—are made of "glass hard" steel. If the point is worn away, a piece about 1/2 cm. long is knocked off with a hammer on an iron edge, thus making a fresh edge. ”

“ Descended from his flint knife is the abounding variety of steel cutting tools all the way from the razor, concave on both sides, to the axe, doubly convex. As the arts have become more specialized, as artificial power has been introduced, the contrasts of the form of one tool with another have grown more and more striking. The bar which slices metal is stout of build, and rectangular in section, while a lancet is little wider or thicker than a [90] blade of grass. The knives which divide leather, rubber, and rope, differ much from one another ”

“ The blade is exceedingly sharp and honed carefully like a razor—the sharper it is the swifter it will do its work. [158] The blade must be securely fastened in the handle. The handle must be light, of comfortable shape and well balanced. In a few words, the knife must be able to get down and under the center, cutting the side segments as well as making the tough walls “fade away” easily.
DEVICES DESIGNED BY THE AUTHOR FOR KEEPING CUTLERY IN CUTTING FORM
The knives are made in stainless steel, in nickel-plated steel and in the ordinary and fine vanadium steel. ”

“ With knives like the corrugated types, there are often metal wire handles drawn out on them. The corrugations on these blades are to obviate tearing and reduce, some think, the pressure necessary in cutting.
Handles themselves are made of various things,—woods, rubberoid, celluloid, metals, stag and in the case of table knives, mother-of-pearl, shell, silver over nickel, etc.
The kitchen knife handle must be able to stand all heats, be impervious to hot water, be smooth and comfortable in shape, and must be nicely finished so as to give the worker a feeling of worth-whileness in his job. ”

“ In the purchase of a pocket knife, choose one that is small enough to be a constant companion; one, or at most two blades will be found sufficient for one handle. A very convenient description of knife is to be met with in most hardware shops. The handle is straight and flat. A stout stick-cutting blade is at one end of the haft, and a strong scalpel-shaped pen blade at the other. The miniature tool chests sold under the name of pocket knives to emigrants are jacks of all trades in their way, having all sorts of supposed capabilities, associated with a general tendency to uselessness. ”

“ Section knives, during the process of sharpening, are subjected to three distinct processes: 1, Grinding; 2, Honing; 3, Stropping.
Grinding is one of the most important, though it is probable that it will rarely be undertaken by the microscopist himself. More knives and razors are spoiled in grinding than in any other way. We have now in our possession an excellent knife, which in an evil hour we entrusted to a New York cutler, and received it back utterly ruined, the temper being entirely taken out of the blades! ”

“ Some persons prefer to turn the knife over, drawing it first from the left hand and then toward it, sharpening each surface alternately on the same edge of the steel. This is more difficult to do, as you cannot so surely keep the blade at the same angle,—and this is the most important point. If held at any other than the proper angle, either no edge is made, or it is taken off as soon as obtained. ”

“ The finished blade is then riveted into the scales or handle, which may be of ivory, bone, horn or other material; and when thereafter the razor is set on a hone it is ready for use.
The processes employed in making a table-knife do not differ essentially from those required for a razor. Table-knife blades are forged from shear and other steels, and, if they are not in one piece, a bit of malleable iron sufficient for the bolster or shoulder and tang is welded to each, often by machinery, especially in the case of the cheaper qualities. ”

“ Though the entire cost of keeping the saws in proper condition is borne by respondent, the knifemen are required to sharpen their own knives outside the scheduled shift of eight hours, and for this activity they are not compensated. The sharpening of these knives is done either before or after the work shift or during the lunch hour in a room equipped by respondent with an emery wheel and grindstone. A knifeman ordinarily sharpens from two to four knives a day. At the time a man is hired for, or promoted to, a knife job, it is understood that he will be required to sharpen knives. ”

“ It should have a handle easy to grasp, a long, thin, sharp, pointed blade, and be of a size adapted to the article to be carved and to the person using it. A lady or a child will prefer a small knife. Be as particular to have the knife sharp as to have it bright and clean; and always sharpen it before announcing the dinner. It is very annoying for a person to be obliged to wait and sharpen the knife, or to turn the meat round to get it into the right position. Never allow a carving-knife to be used to cut bread, or for any other than its legitimate purpose. ”

“ Such knives were by no means an uncommon decoration of the table at the period when this was designed: it is now a branch of art utilised until all trace of design has gone from it; for we cannot accept [9] the slight scroll work and contour of a modern silver knife-handle as a piece of art-workmanship, when we remember the beautiful objects of the kind produced in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, gorgeous in design and colour, and occasionally enriched by jewels or amber. ”

“ The kinds of knife in which the housewife is particularly interested are: carvers, vegetable slicers, parers, fruit, cleavers, etc. Subdivided, they are: paring, bread, meat, poultry, carving, cake, boning, paring (small pocket type style) , spatula, lemon, grape and orange, curved in French, German and American fashions, cleavers and scrapers.
Where it is necessary for a knife to conform to shape in paring, a flexible knife is more comfortable than a stiff one. ”

“ The housewife’s best method of sharpening or rather keeping the edges straight and keenly cutting is the steel. When the knife really gets dull it should be ground. The use of the stone or carborundum by the ordinary operator often wears the steel. However, if the use of the grinder or the stone or the carborundum is really known, time and money will be saved in the sharpening process. Sharp knives save temper, save food to a great degree, and therefore if you can’t sharpen knives yourself send them out to be taken care of once or twice a year. ”

“ A word about the care of carving knives: a fine steel knife should not come in contact with intense heat, because it destroys its temper, and therefore impairs its cutting qualities. Table carving knives should not be used in the kitchen, either around the stove, or for cutting bread, meats, vegetables, etc.; a fine whetstone should be kept for sharpening, and the knife cleaned carefully to avoid dulling its edge, all of which is quite essential to successful carving. ”