Cutlery, the general name given to such cutting instruments as knives, forks, scissors, razors, &c. The making of larger objects of this nature, such as axes, chisels, and saws, is rather the business of the tool-maker than of the cutler. Shells, flints, and other sharp-edged stones formed the rudest and most ancient cutting instruments, and the earliest traces of human existence in Britain and elsewhere are associated with stone 'celts' and other weapons and cutting implements. These were followed by bronze weapons and other articles, including reaping-hooks. In the museum of Bologna there are ancient Etruscan bronze knives carved in form somewhat like modern reaping-hooks, and in the great Naples collection of objects from Pompeii and Herculaneum, there are sickles, bill-hooks, knives, lancets, and spring-shears, some of which are made of iron or steel, as well as of bronze. These are of course ancient Roman.
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 resembling 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. Before that, people fed themselves with their fingers, as is still the practice in the East. The Persians so much prefer this custom that they contemptuously 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 incorporation 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 tempering, 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 heating 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 dispensing 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 thweytel 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 'fied'—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; while 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 Egyptians 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. Grinding and smoothing of the blade follow, and then the two are screwed together. If they work smoothly, they are ready for hardening and tempering, but the screw is first removed and the two halves wired together. Afterwards the scissors are ground and passed through the finishing processes already described.
In describing briefly the manufacture of the several articles of cutlery noticed above, only the more important processes have been mentioned. The subdivision of labour is very fully carried out in the cutlery trade, so much so, that the man who forges the pen-blades does not forge the larger blades for the same knife. It is the same with those who grind the blades. Including those of a comparatively trivial nature, an ordinary three-bladed pocket-knife goes through more than a hundred processes.
The grinders in former years suffered so much from the fine particles of stone and metal which pervaded the atmosphere of the workshops that their average age did not exceed twenty-nine. This was especially the case with those engaged in dry-grinding, which, for example, was that used for forks. The evil has been lessened in recent years by the adoption in some establishments of wet-grinding, the water on the stone preventing the escape of particles of matter through the room. Another plan has been a good many years in use—namely, the application of a fan with a properly constructed flue, which withdraws by suction the grit and steel dust as it is produced.
A few of the leading manufacturers at Sheffield prepare hafting material such as ivory, wood, and horn on their own premises; but the manufacture of 'scales,' as these hafts are called, is to a large extent a separate trade. Ivory was long so popular a material for knife-handles that Sheffield has in some years consumed the tusks of 20,000 elephants; but owing to its increasing scarcity and price, various substitutes are now employed. In trading with savage people it is curious how they will sometimes unexpectedly reject a useful article on account of its colour. For example, the Fiji Islanders a few years ago, if not now, would on no account accept in barter a white-handled knife, but would readily take one with a black handle.
In cutlery France and Germany are now competing with England in many foreign markets; but the trade has again shown a tendency to increase in Sheffield. The manufacture is now also extensively carried on in the United States. In France the headquarters of cutlery are at Thiers, Langres, Nogent, Châtellerault, and Paris, where the finest surgical instruments are made. Solingen is called 'the German Sheffield;' but Remscheid, Suhl, Schmalkalden, and many other towns produce knives and the like. Swedish razors are famous. See also SWORD.