The Sun.
London, England, 1857-12-01 00:00:00

INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.

At the the meeting on the 117th, the paper read was
" On the Conversion of Wood by Machinery, by Mr.
G. L. Molesworth, Assoc. Inst. C. E.
In briefly glancing at the history of wood conversion,
the author noticed the early application of machinery for
the purpose, and also the introduction of the circular
saw, the planing machine, and the band saw. The in-
ventions of Bentham and Brunel were mentioned, as
'having contributed largely to the advance of this branch
of engineering.
A comparison was then drawn, chewing the more
rapid progress of wood conversion in America than in
England. This was ascribed to the greater cheapness of
material and the scarcity of skilled labour in the former
,country, which gave a stimulus to invention ; whilst in
England the case' was different, the material was
"'comparatively expensive, and skilled artisans were
'abundant. Nor was the system of the subdivision of
'labour as yet fully carried out, the conver.:on of wood
'being Litherto in the hands of a eaos who could not
employ much capital in machinery, or keep it con-
stantly at work to the greatest advantage; even when
they had it ; and, at the same time.time the prejudices
of foremen and the oembinations of workmen had ope-
rated powerfully against the introduction of new ma-
chines. Many of the machines of English construction
had been of too costly a character, and in designing
' them sufficient attention had not been given to economy
of the converted material. The cheap and simple cha-
'ranter of the American machines was mentioned, and
some of their characteristic details were described.
An account of the different kinds of saws, as well as
the form of teeth, the modes of setting them, and the ve-
locities adopted in England and America was given, and
the silent friction feed, the American " Muley" saw, the
author's arrangement of a .revolving wedge, the me-
thods of cross cutting, the pendulous saw, Bfacdowall's
circular saw, the pendulum, the dished saw, the scroll
'and the band saws were briefly described, and mention
was made of Mr. Exali's improvements in the band saw.
The author then proceeded to enumerate the varieties
of planing machines, which .he classified under fire
heads, viz.:-
1: The reciprocating plane ;
2. The fixed cutter plane ;
3. The rotatory cutters, on Muir's principle ;
4. Ditto with vertical axis, on Bramah's plan ; •
5. The socket plane.
In describing these machines, the action-of the car-
penter's plane was compared with that of the machines,
and some of the methods were mentioned by which its
action had been attempted to be assimilated in the ma-
chines.
The planing machines were shortly described, as well
as the different forms and speeds adopted in England and
America.

It was argued, that in order to produce good work
the conditions to be fulfi'led were, a high velocity of
cutters, not too rapid travel of work, a solid bed to
• cut against, the working parts well balanced,
the bearings steady, and the angles of the cut-
ters properly determ'ned. The author condemned the
usual empirical method of determining the angles
of the cutters, and insisted upon the desirability of
taking into consideration the nature of the material
as well as the character of the work, and the diameter of
the cutters, in fixing upon the proper angle. He then
stated those angles which he considered beet far different
kinds of woods and varieties of work.
Brief descriptions and diagrams illustrative of the
principles of the fell° ?Aug processes and machines were
then given :-
1. The American shaping machine, with pattern and
concentricel collar guide, for planing irregular work.
2. The different methods of tenoning with chisels, or
with an assemblage of circular saws, or with the ordi-
nary tenoning matters.
3 Toe copying machine for producing fac-similes of a
cast-iron pattern of wry irregular shape, by means of
rotatory cutters made to recede, or advance by the pat-
tern, which revolves simultaneously with the work.
4. Hughes' spoke machine witn tubular cutter-F.haft,
and moveable, cutters, acted upon by a traversing pattern.
5. The railway key machine, invented by the author,
for cutting the taper simultaneously on two sides of the
key.

6. Steel's oar machine, as used at Chatham dockyard,
for roughing out the oar with swivelling circular saws,
and finishing it, by a series of Cutters acted upon by a
"feeler iron," so as to produce a varying form of blade
and " loom."
7. the methods of dovetailing on Wimshurt's plan, by
a series of rotating cutters, and on Burley's plan, by a
series of reciprocating chisels and circular saws.
8 The method adopted in America of forming the
dovetail on the mitre.
The d;fferent boring tools were then noticed,,and an
account given of the modes of mortising, by giving motion
to the chisel land reversing it, as well as the forms of
mortising chisels, and the devices for clearing the mor-
tise of chips.
The subject of timber bending was briefly mentioned,
and a description given of Hookey's mode of bending
ships' timbers, Meadows patent for bending veneers into
and around the sharp angles of mouldings, and.Blari-
chard's method of bending all kinds of timber, by ap-
plying end pressure to it, while it was wound round a
cam of the desired shape.
In conclusion the author considered, that wood con.
version was not fully developed in this country, and
hoped that this paper would direct the attention and
ingenuity of engineers to the suljeot.

At the meeting on Nov. 24 the proceedings were com-
menced by the reading of an Appendix to Mr. G. L.
Molemmata's paper "On the Conversion of Wood by
Machinery,"
The manufacture of casks by machinery was cited as
an example of branch in whica many failures had oc-
curred, in consequence of the machines having been
frequently designed without a view to effecting economy
of material, so that the waste of valuable wood was not
counterbalanced by the saving of labour. The best
machines in use for performing the following processes
in the manufacture of casks were briefly described.
The process of cutting up the " blanks" into staves,
either by circular, or by reciprocating saws, and of con-
verting without waste irregular and twisted "blanks"
into staves, by the use of weighted ro lers pressing the
work against an adjustable fence in the saw frame. The
cutting out "tonguers" and " doublets" by a travelling
template, which determined the position of the fence ;
and the plan adopted at her Majesty's D ackyard, at
Deptford, for irregular " blanks," " tonguers," and
"doublets ;" as well as the American mode of cutting
staves for ry casks. The process of jointing by moving
the stave through a curved path in the direction of its
circular saws. Robertson's mode of backing staves,
by passing them on a travelling platform under cutters ;
and Green's mode of passing them over a pair of cutters
arranged on each side of a guide collar, whilst the stave
was pressed down by a heavy fluted feed roller. The
processes of " trussing " on R,osenleorg'e principle, by
a series of radial forcing levers, actuated simultaneously
by screws, and on Robertson's principle by means of
cones into which the stay. a were forced by hydraulic
pressure. The Oen of "cr zing end chining " by turn-
ing the cask up .on a iertical lathe, after trussing ; or
by pa sing each stave separately under cutters. And
the process of finishing the heads with an oval motior,
,to allow for shrinkage of wood across the grain ; thus
completing the different processes in manufacturing.
Hamilton's machine for sawing curved ip timbers
was described as having an inner gate, and the blade so
hung as to allow of a transverse as well as a swivelling
m atm), fur curvilinear work ; the log being so arranged
as to be turned on its :axis whilst travelling, and to be
out to any desired bevel. Green's method of adapting an
indicator roller to this machine, fur cutting variable
bevels from a small scale diagram, was also mentioned,
The largest circuler saws were stated to be those used
for cutting veneers from the beg; their size, velocity,
and mode of action were given, as well as the attempt to
supersede them by a reverlying knife edge, with the
causes of its failure. Tne Russian method of cutting
veneers was briefly touched upon, as well as the reasons
for its noceadoption in England, and the French method'
with a reciprocating knife edge, was also described.
A description of Jordan's wo el carving machinery
was given, with his method of producing a speciei of
floating movement in the table carrying the pattern and
the work, under a frame furnished with a series of drill
cutters and a tracing knob, so as to produce several
copies simultaneously from ono pattern ; —the plan of
carving under-cut parts by swivelling the pattern and,
work simultaaeoudy, was also described.
-The appenceix concluded with an account of Messrs.
Ransome and :May's manufacture of compressed railway
keys and trenailse and also of the mode adopted in her.
Majesty's Dockyard Portsmouth of shaping trenails cleft
from timber of 4.regul er; or twisted grain,
A description was given of Wileoh's machinery at; the
Midland Counties Timber Company's Works at Banbury
fur the conversion of wood into mop and broom handles
of which very large quantities wore manufactured. Cy-
lindrical gouge cutters were used, so that by turning
them gradually in their sockets, they always presented a
cutting edge, which
_would work for 16 hours without
sharpening, and a tool would last three months. Tho