The Thumb-Ring Curry Comb: A Ring for the Thumb Instead of a Handle

"The manner above described of holding a curry comb with a handle of the usual kind is an inconvenient mode; and also the thumb being under the handle, necessarily raises the back bars or teeth from the coat of the horse, while only some two or three of the front bars are made effective; consequently often irritating the horse, and wearing the front bars of the comb out, while it leaves the back bars comparatively unworn, thereby rendering it less valuable than when all of the teeth are brought equally into service." "It will be readily seen that in my arrangement of a ring or loop for the placing of the thumb as represented in the drawing formed and extending from the back it allows the whole surface of the teeth to bear alike upon the coat of the horse, and at the same time the hand has an equal and convenient bearing upon the comb, and is firmly held, the thumb occupying the space usually taken up by the handle, and having full control of the comb."

**Comb.** Make a comb body of six toothed bars, as in the open-back blueprint, riveted to two end bars. **Back strap and ring.** Cut 30 cm of 20 × 3 mm flat bar. Rivet 12 cm of it across the middle of the comb's back as the strap A′, so its free end reaches past the comb's side, and bend that end round a 30 mm bar into a ring for the thumb, as one piece with the strap, as Wheeler's drawing shows. File all edges smooth. **Test.** Blacken the teeth's points with the marker. Hold the comb with the thumb in the ring and the fingers over the back, and comb a rough rug or a horse's coat with circular strokes for five minutes. Then blacken a second comb with an ordinary handle behind and use it the same way. See how much black is worn off each bar on each comb.

**William Wheeler** of Troy, Rensselaer County, New York, received US 9,605, dated 1 March 1853. He wrote that the ring made the comb cheaper and more durable than one with a wooden handle in a socket, and that the ring or loop could vary in form or be formed from the end pieces B, B, but should in each case be one continuous piece with the back strap A′. His claim is a ring, loop or fixture on a currycomb for the thumb, made in one piece with the back strap. **Honest limits.** A riveted sheet-steel body and flat bar stand in for his comb and strap. The notebook treats the comb as rigid on a uniform springy coat; its force, spacing and positions are examples. Your wear marks are the result.