BERNARD LEVINE'S KNIFE LORE NUMBER 56 MARCH 1993 (c)1993 Bernard Levine, exclusive to the NKCA PERRET on TOOLS In the January 1993 "Knife Lore" we visited with Parisian master cutler Jean Jacques Perret, by means of a chapter from his 1771 book, The Art of the Cutler. I asked then if you wanted to hear more from Monsieur Perret, who was arguably the greatest knifemaker who ever lived. The most enthusiastic response came from NKCA member D. G. Wiseman of Tennessee. He writes, "Yes! Mr. Levine, translate more of M. Perret's views (works and sketches) in your column. Anyone who can draw a 1/6 inch wire 6 inches in length and drill a hole 1/12 inch in diameter [through it the long way] is an artisan indeed, and we should know more. How about his tools, for making the knives?" In fact a large part of The Art of the Cutler is devoted to knifemaking tools and equipment, including how to make every tool a cutler might need from scratch, how to arrange them all in the shop, and how actually to use all of this advanced 18th century technology to make cutlery. The actual order of the chapters is pretty much arbitrary; Perret jumps around from topic to topic, although eventually he does cover everything. Therefore I will take the liberty of jumping around in the book, as well, and translate this month his Chapter 7 and part of Chapter 8, pertaining to the making and using of basic cutler's tools. PL. X [PLATE 10] SHOULD GO NEAR HERE AT 100% OR LARGER. CHAPTER 7 On Several Basic Tools Which Serve a Variety of Purposes [Note: the scale (Echelle) at the bottom center of Plate X is 6 pouces or French Royal inches in length, equivalent to 6-1/2 of our English inches.] The first figure in Plate X shows the bow that turns the drill which is used to pierce all sorts of materials. This bow includes a wooden handle A and a cord B. The main body of the bow is made from an old epee or foil (fencing sword) blade, at the tip of which one drills a hole C, to attach one end of the cord. At the opposite end is a metal ring to attach the other end of the cord, at D. Figure 2 shows the Palette which serves as the breast- plate, pressed against one's chest [the breast-plate is the rest and bearing for the back end of the drill bit]. It's body A-A is made of wood, to which one affixes a piece of steel B, which is drilled with several holes, using only a countermarking bit (this bit is shown below, in the next plate, as figure 43). [It is sort of a cross between a center-punch and a countersink bit.] Figure 3 shows the "horse" (Chevalet) or stand which holds the drill that is used for making holes [the long way] in the handles of sheath knives, etc. One sees these horses made in a variety of different ways, but they all come down to the same thing. Essentially, the two uprights should be made of iron. One of them, E, is drilled with several holes, but only with the countermarking bit, in order for it to hold the base of the drill. The other upright should be split in half and hinged at F, so that it can be opened sufficiently to insert the drill. This split upright should be held shut at the top, G, either by a screw or by a spring catch. Figure 4 shows a "drill box" [drive spindle]. One should make this out of walnut, or out of some other hard wood, such as boxwood. [The actual operations of the bow drill and the following tools are explained below, in Chapter 8.] Figure 5 shows a scraper. This is a tool made out of fine steel, forged with four flat sides. One hardens it by quenching it in very fresh water, having heated it a bit past the color of cherries, and does not temper it at all. Next one fits it with a file handle. Then one grinds it so its angles will be sharp. Figure 6 shows a thread-drawing die for metals. It is made out of fine steel, quenched at cherry color and not tempered. It is used for applying decorative threading [raised parallel lines] to many instruments, such as to the backs of knife blades, etc. Figure 7 is a threading die for ivory, tortoiseshell, wood, etc., with which one may shape a raised thread in one pass. It is curved at the end, as shown in Figure 8, which is its side view. One may skip hardening it, but if one does harden it, one should then temper it to a violet color. Figure 9 shows another type of thread-drawing die. It is used for forming a raised edge on pocketknife handles. Figure 10 is a reamer, for enlarging and rounding holes. It is made of hardened steel, tempered to the color of gold. It needs to have six or eight flat sides. Figure 11 is a drill bit that is proper for piercing iron or steel. It should be quenched after heating to cherry red, and then tempered to the color of straw. Figure 12 is a drill bit proper for use in a Chevalet stand, for drilling ivory, tortoiseshell, wood, horn, etc. It does not need to be hardened, but if one does harden it, one must then draw it back to blue, because otherwise there is a risk that it will get stuck in the hole being drilled and break off at the base. It needs nothing more than a bevel on each side to form the actual cutting edge. Figure 13 shows a drill proper for piercing gold, silver, and copper. It should have four bevels so that the sharp part will be located in the center. It should be hardened and then tempered to violet color. This is because those three metals (especially silver) are tough to drill. This means that the bit tends to hang up quite readily, and then break off in the hole. It is necessary that the drill bit be able to resist this. Figure 14 shows a "square-cap," or a four-sided boring bit. Its face is shown above, in Figure 15. This is an excellent tool for squaring up a hole. Many workers are not familiar with it, but it is nonetheless very handy. As it is made for forming a hole which one will then thread, one makes this bit precisely to fit the hole in one's screw-plate, but only as deep in that hole as the first thread. One can then be sure to thread the hole cleanly, without accidental breakage. This square-cap cannot drill a hole by itself. It is necessary to start the hole with an ordinary drill bit, as shown in Figure 11. Then one applies the square-cap, to give the hole uniform width from top to bottom, so that the thread will not be any tighter at the bottom of the hole than it is at the entry. I have only illustrated four drill bits here, but it will be of great advantage for you to have many more bits, not so much of other types, but rather of various lengths and diameters. Also, when I show how to make an article which requires a special sort of drill bit, I illustrate that bit in the same Plate as the piece. Figure 16 shows a punch for piercing iron and steel. It needs to be well tempered and drawn to the color of gold. One may use it for cold piercing small pieces, such as the rivet burrs on kitchen knives. We show, below this punch, a thin piece of steel pierced with several holes, Figure 17. Figure 18 shows a draw-knife or two-handled knife. It is used for thinning down wood when it has been split rather than sawn. Figure 19 shows a large burnisher. Its base H is made of wood. To this is riveted an iron ring I, which holds the extremity K of the burnishing arm. The part L burnishes the workpiece. That part L must be hardened steel which is not tempered, but which is well polished with emery and rock dust [probably tripoli or rouge]. There is also another type of burnisher, which is called a hand burnisher. Figures 20 and 21 show two rasps [Ecouaines]. One is flat, Figure 20, and the other is triangular, Figure 21. They are used for shaping the decorative moulding on ivory, tortoiseshell, and wood. Their teeth are shaped with a file, much as are saw teeth, but they must be very even. Neither one of them should be hardened. Figures 22-26 show different shapes of gravers suitable for carving and engraving steel, as well as iron. They must be hardened at a cherry color, and then drawn to the color of straw, or at most the color of gold. Figure 27 lets you see an eight-sided stamp, for simultaneously forming and cutting out a metal cap for covering a ferrule with a cross-section like No. 3, below. Figure 28 shows the form of cap that is called a la Turque, for covering the three-sided ferrule, No. 2, below. Figure 29 shows the form of a mandrel used for shaping ferrules. It is necessary to have several different styles, such as those drawn in section as Nos. 1-4. It is essential that these tools be carefully smoothed, and that their faces be even and uniform. It is a good idea to harden them, but it is then necessary to temper them at least to blue. Every cutler has his mark or punch for marking all of his work. In addition one may also apply one's name and that of one's city. Either type [of marking die] is made out of the best steel, well hardened to the color of cherries, and drawn to the color of gold. This way he can mark either hot or cold without his stamp being either chipped or blurred. The two types of stamp are shown. Figure 30 is a cutler's mark [Perret's own cup or goblet mark]. Figure 31 is the name of a master, and that of his town, all on one punch. The way it is made is shown in Figure 32 [it reads, in backwards letters, PERRET/ A PARIS]. PLATE 11 [PL XI] GOES NEAR HERE 100% OR LARGER PLATE XI. Figure 33 is a little anvil that one clamps in the vise, and upon which one places work which one wishes to mark cold. Figure 34 is a screw-plate for making screws. It is an excellent instrument when it is well made. There is no doubt that it must be made of the best steel, and it is perhaps best to build it up out of three sheets of steel forge welded together. It should be hardened at a cherry color, and drawn to the color of gold. The thick end of this instrument should be at m, and it should taper to n, as shown in the profile M N. It is easy to see that the bigger a hole is, the stronger the thread will have to be, in order to resist being stripped by a thick screw. Thus one drills the largest holes in the thickest part of the screw- plate; and in proportion as the plate grows thinner, the holes diminish in diameter. There are many varieties of screw-plate. To learn more about them consult the work [in the same series] by M. Hulot (The Art of the Turner) where they are treated with all possible precision. To be complete a screw-plate should have its calibre [gauge]. By calibre I mean a location o o where there are holes less wide than those of the screw-plate proper, but precisely the width across the bottoms of the threads of the screw. Thus when a piece which requires a screw exactly matches the hole in the calibre, it will be just the right size for its threads to engage, and not break. Now, for this hole to be similar, it is necessary that the drill bit, or even better the "square-cap," that makes the hole not fit into the hole in the screw-plate, but rather that it be too large by exactly the width of the screw thread. It is a good idea on a screw-plate to have at least two of each size of hole, especially of the smaller holes. This way if a piece that you are threading breaks off in one hole, you will have another similar hole for finishing the job. Also, all of the holes in the screw-plate are numbered to indicate size. Figures 35 and 36 show two screw taps. These should have numbers corresponding to those on the screw-plate. The best way to heat-treat a tap is, when it is cherry colored, to quench it in fresh water. Then dry it off well and dip it in oil. Lay it on hot coals in the forge. Watch it carefully, and the instant that the oil begins to burn, pull it quickly from the fire. Hold it in the open air with your tongs until the oil has finished burning, then throw it in the water. This tempering will be a perfect violet, and it is a very handy method for small taps. When you heat-treat a large tap, which is not as prone to breakage as a small one, you can allow it to remain a little bit harder. In this case you would plunge the tap into the water just as the oil begins to burn. It will then come out harder, no more than the color of gold, or at most the color of red copper. In this condition it will be able to thread twice as many holes, because being harder, it resists longer the wear of threading. Small holes are always tapped by hand, holding the workpiece with pliers. But when a larger hole is to be threaded, one taps it held in the vise. Then one puts the tang of the tap P into the slot Q in the "Turn-to-left," Figure 37. Then one turns it lightly, so as not to overcome the resistance save by the least shock, always of course conditioned upon the size of the tap. Note that one must never tap dry, but should always use oil, applying it at least three times per turn. As the thread is cut, the metal heats up. The heat will cause the metal to expand, to the point where one can very suddenly encounter resistance, especially without oil. One thing or another is sure to break then, either the tap or the workpiece. Figure 38 shows a "saw knife." It is ordinarily made out of the blade of an old razor or knife. This tool is fitted with a file handle, and on its cutting edge one makes little teeth by rapping it with the edge of a scraper or a triangular file. The tool is used for quickly sawing off the ends of [pocketknife and razor] pivot pins which are too long for their joints. [It's funny how things change after two centuries. Today we sometimes make knives out of old hacksaw blades and old files. In 1771 Perret made his hacksaw blades and knife-edge files out of old knives. This is not especially surprising, however. When knives, saws, and files were all hand-made, saws and files were much more difficult and time-consuming to make than plain knives, and therefore they were more valuable.] Figure 39 is a small hand saw. It is used to trim the ends of handles, but especially to lengthen the slot in razor handles, when the blade proves too long for the handle. Figure 40 shows a small pair of pliers proper for working on pen knives, etc. It has flat jaws, as shown in Figure 41. One also needs needle-nose pliers, as shown in Figure 42. Figure 43 shows a countermarking bit. It must be made of steel, and hardened without tempering. Figures 44 and 45 let you see two "strawberry" countersink bits. These allow you to countersink a hole for a flush rivet, or for a screw with a tapered head, as shown in Figure 48. The countersink shown in Figure 44 is square; its four cutting edges are shaped on the grinding wheel. It must be hardened but not tempered. The countersink shown in Figure 45 is made like a file. For this effect it is necessary that it be forged and filed round. After that one makes teeth all around and along it with a triangular file. [Figure 46 is not identified in the text. It may be a countersinking reamer.] Figure 47 shows a counterborer, made in the form of a drill bit. It has a spindle [at the tip]. Figure 49 shows the type of screw with which it is used. Figure 50 shows a special hammer used for straightening heat treated work. This tool is made up of a handle, r, and its body, s s, which is pure steel of the finest and hardest grade. It has two heads of equal length and thickness, on each of which one forms a short bevel on each side so that the edge comes out in the center, as shown in Figure 51. This hammer must be hardened exactly to cherry color, a little more hot rather than less, and must not be tempered at all. This is because its heads must be even harder than a razor which was quenched very hard, but which was tempered slightly. Even such a razor can be cut into by a tool which is not tempered at all. Figure 52 shows a round-headed anvil used [with the hammer] for straightening heat treated work. These are my feelings about the straightening of heat treated items. It is best if this anvil not be hardened, because if it were hard it would oppose the action of straightening. It would force the material to elongate on the convex side, although it properly should only be made to elongate on the concave side. Figure 53 shows a thickness caliper. It is useful for measuring, for example, the diameter of a ball. When the pivot pin is well placed in the center, and when one wants to check the thickness of some object that is hollow at the center but thick at the sides, then one carries part R [at the left] on to the place one wishes to measure, and the part S [at the right] indicates the true thickness at that place. * * * PLATE 14 [PL XIV] GOES NEAR HERE 100% OR LARGER CHAPTER VIII, PARTS IV-X Using the Tools [Notes: 1) The scale (Echelle) at the bottom center of Plate XI is 12 pouces or French Royal inches in length, equivalent to 13 of our English inches. 2) The first three parts of chapter 8 deal with the physical layout of the cutler's shop, and I will translate these parts at a later date. 3. Note that in every figure, either the tool or the workpiece is held in the vise.] IV. Method of Drilling with the Bow Drill. Figure 19 shows the position for drilling and countersinking with the bow drill, supporting it on one's chest. [The tricorn hat and billowy smock are optional.] Whether it be iron, steel, gold, silver, copper, wood, ivory, or whatever, all these materials are drilled the same way. It is a great art to drill very straight. Even a piece with the finest forging, the finest filing, and the finest polishing will be spoiled if it has a hole that is badly drilled. The greatest care which one can bring to bear when one is drilling a hole of any depth is to change often the position of the workpiece which one is drilling. Suppose you have a thickness of 6 lignes [half an inch] to drill through. It will be necessary to turn that piece at least four times. I dare to assure you that with this method I can drill a hole 6 pouces [6-1/2 inches] long in a piece 4 lignes [a third of an inch] thick, and in steel, you understand, and this with a drill bit that is 2 lignes thick. Rarely the bit will wander as much as 1 ligne, and usually less. The Fourbet trocar [a three-faced surgical perforator which slides in a hollow tube] is the most demanding of this sort of work. It includes a hole which is perhaps the most difficult to drill in all of the mechanical arts. One must take care, in drilling, that one should raise the breast-plate slightly, because the drill has more of a tendency to climb than it does to descend. V. Method of Drilling with the Chevalet Stand. Figure 20 shows the position of drilling with the Chevalet. This method requires that the work be held firm and straight, applying pressure on the drill in proportion as one pushes the bow forward. Do not stop turning the handle [i.e. the workpiece] in your hand at each stroke of the bow, and also during the stroke. Otherwise you will note that the drill will have wandered. This is the way that one drills the handles for table knives and sheath knives with rat-tail tangs, also the handles for [fixed blade] pen knives, ink erasers, and other similar things. VI. Method of Piercing with the Punch. Figure 21 shows the method of piercing iron, steel, and all the other metals with the punch. One holds the punch between the thumb, the index finger, and the middle finger. One places it perpendicularly over the hole which has already been counter- marked [center-punched]. Under the workpiece is a length of iron drilled with many holes, to receive the little scrap that the punch cuts out, after one or two blows with the hammer. VII. Method of Scraping Handles. Figure 22 shows the method of scraping handles, after they have been filed. It is with this tool [the scraper shown in Plate X, Figure 5] that one removes file-marks from all the types of materials that are used to make handles: ivory, mother of pearl, tortoiseshell, wood, horn, etc. Figure 23 shows the method of drawing [decorative raised] threads on handles [using the thread-drawing dies shown in Plate X, Figures 6-9]. Figure 24 shows the method of grooving, carving, or engraving metal. VIII. This is What is Meant by Burnishing. Figure 25 displays the method of burnishing with the large burnisher [Plate X, Figure 19]. In one hand grasp the handle of the burnisher, which is made of wood. In the other hand, which is placed in front, one makes the burnisher operate, pressing forcefully on the workpiece. It becomes smooth and shiny. Some cutlers, to speed their work, burnish using water, and some even using saliva. Both of these methods are completely worthless. The work will start to rust almost as soon as it is finished. It is necessary that burnishing be done dry. For fine burnishing, it is essential carefully to clean both the workpiece and the tool. IX. Method of Shaping Handles with the Draw-Knife. Figure 26 shows how to shape or thin down wooden handles using the draw-knife. You should understand that this is only done when you have not gone to the trouble of sawing the wood to shape, but rather when you have split it up using a hammer and a froe or a wedge. X. Method of Shaping Ferrules with Mandrels. Figure 27 shows the method of shaping ferrules out of gold, silver, or copper [nickel silver was not invented until 39 years later, in 1810]. The mandrel is placed inside the ferrule, and the ferrule is then struck very lightly with the hammer. One must take care to strike especially lightly on the solder joint, because the solder is always more brittle than the ferrule material itself. Too brusque a hammer blow is likely to break the solder and spoil the ferrule. * * *