The Hock Curry Comb: A Toothed Half-Circle for the Hollows

"The nature of my invention consists in the addition of a serrated semi-circular plate to the corner formed by the intersection of the top and the right-hand margin", "and also of a blade, B three fourths of an inch in width, erected upon the back, extending from the aforesaid corner, on a line with the top, to its intersection with the left-hand margin, designed as a scraper, to remove any uncleanness; both to be made of the same metal of which the body is constructed." "What I claim, is—Combining with the common curry-comb, the serrated semi-circular plate, and the scraper, in the manner described."

Wear gloves and glasses: cut sheet edges are sharp. From 1 mm aluminium sheet cut a back 10 × 12 cm and four strips 10 × 2.5 cm. On each strip mark teeth 3 mm apart along one long edge and file them with a triangular needle file. Bend a 5 mm foot along the other edge in the vice. Rivet the strips by their feet across the back, 2.5 cm apart, teeth outward. Cut a half-circle of 3 cm radius, file teeth round its curve, bend a foot on its straight side and rivet it upright at one corner. Rivet a plain blade 2 cm tall along the top edge as the scraper. Screw a hardwood handle across the back. Lay a straight row across the inside of a cut PVC pipe and read the gap under its middle with the feeler gauges; then try the half-circle in the same pipe. Measure the pipe's inside radius with the caliper and compare with the notebook.

**Thomas Wilkinson** of Cambridge, Washington County, New York, received US 3,706, dated 16 August 1844. His claim is the combination only: the curry comb itself was already "the common curry-comb". **Honest limits.** The notebook treats the hollow as part of a circle. Aluminium and rivets stand in for the metal of the period. Radii are examples; your gap readings are the result.