The Ice Pick: A Chisel, a Point and a Sliding Weighted Handle

"My invention relates to ice-picks; and it consists in constructing the tool in such a manner as to combine in one tool an ice-chisel, with a sliding handle and weight for operating it, a hammer, and a pick or point, all as hereinafter more fully set forth." "To cut ice into regular-shaped pieces the blade C is held upon it and struck with the weighted handle, the blade C being moved along without raising it from the ice. The point a serves to break the ice into irregular lumps, while the flat face E serves to pulverize it when required, the implement thus serving all the various purposes for which, ordinarily, several tools are required." "I am aware that a sliding weighted handle has been used on an ice-pick, and also that a flat cutting-blade has been used in various ways, and therefore I do not claim these features separately".

Freeze water in two loaf pans overnight and turn the blocks out onto a folded towel on a firm surface. Wear safety glasses and gloves: chips fly. Score a line across the first block with the chisel end, moving it along without lifting as Russell describes, then tap along the line until it splits. Count the blows. Split the second block with the point alone, striking at random, and count those. Compare the pieces: regular along the scored line, irregular lumps from the point. Keep the free hand well away from the point.

**William C. Russell** of Philadelphia filed US 161,282 on 9 September 1874; it is dated 23 March 1875. He did not claim the sliding weight or the flat blade separately, only the combination. **Honest limits.** The patent gives no weights or sizes. Handle mass, speeds, edge size and blow force are examples; the ice fracture values are order-of-magnitude figures, and the textbook minimum is far below what splitting really takes.