Details

Surgical Knife Sharpener

@KDB

Sphaera Medico (Manufacturer)

A Knife Sharpener "An ingenious instrument has been brought to our notice called "sphaera-medico." It is a knife sharpener of the finer sort. The principle is the same as that commonly employed for the quick sharpening of dinner knives, particularly those of rustless steel, where hard steel wheels are fixed in a suitable frame and the knife edge is drawn along the cleft formed between the overlapping wheel edges. In the sphaera-medico there is a double ended forceps, the blades are joined in the mid-length, and the free ends are cup-shaped; into each of the four cups is inserted a ball, so that the balls face and press against each other, a pair at each end. One pair of balls is turned from Arkansas oilstone, the other pair is of steel. For the purpose of putting a good edge on a scalpel the knife is held on the table so that the blade is back downwards and projects from the table edge. Then the instrument is held like a pair of forceps, the blades firmly together, and the knife edge is stroked from heel to point, first with the oilstone balls and then with the steel balls. The instrument must be hell firmly, otherwise the balls slip down over the edge on to the blade and no work is done. Also the operator's fingers must be kept clear of the knife. We have tried the sharpener on an ordinary scalpel which had been roughly sharpened on a coarse stone; the edge was rough and caught the skin. After a dozen strokes, first with the oilstone balls and another dozen with the steel balls, the edge was smooth and keen. The instrument may be boiled, but the balls must occasionally be greased with Vaseline. It is a useful and simple device." P.624, British Medical Journal September 20th 1924

Twentieth century, early