IMPROVEMENTS IN TOOLS FOR CUTTING AND SHAPING METALS, AND IN THE MEANS OF KEEPING THE SAME COOL WHILE IN USE
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clay, of Birkenhead, in the County of
Chester, Iron Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
TOOLS FOR CUTTING AND SHAPING METALS, AND IN THE MEANS OF KEEPING
THE SAME COOL WHILE IN USE."
Sealed the 4th October 1872, and dated the 5th April 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clay at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th April 1872.
I, WILLIAM CLAY, of Birkenhead, in the County of Chester, Iron
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN TOOLS FOR CUTTING AND SHAPING METALS, AND IN THE MEANS
OF KEEPING THE SAME COOL WHILE IN. USE," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to admit of the cutting and shaping
machinery used for turning, planing, drilling, and otherwise cutting and
O shaping metals being driven at a greater speed than heretofore, so that
an increased amount of work may be obtained in a given time. This

page_text: object is attained by keeping the cutting point or edge of the tool cool
in a more effectual manner than has hitherto been done by merely
dropping water on to the part of the article that is being operated
upon.
The object I have in view is effected either by making the cutting
tool hollow and then forcing a jet of water, steam, or current of air
through the same so as to impinge upon or near to the cutting point or
edge of the tool, or if the nature of the work precludes the use of a
hollow tool, then I arrange a jet or stream of water or air or steam
in such a manner as to cause it to impinge on the outside (by pre- 1
ference the under or reverse side) of the cutting point or edge of the
tool, and thus carry off the frictional or other heat that is produced by
the operation of the cutting tool on the metal.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
:
filed by the said William Clay in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 5th October 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLAY, of Birkenhead, in the County of Chester, Iron Manufacturer,
send greeting.
.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Clay, Her special licence that I,
the said William Clay, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Clay, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TOOLS FOR CUTTING
AND SHAPING METALS, AND IN THE MEANS OF KEEPING THE SAME COOL WHILE.IN
USE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Clay, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
'

page_text: and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the
Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Clay, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
The object of my Invention is to admit of the cutting and shaping
machinery used for turning, planing, and otherwise cutting and shaping
metals being driven at a greater speed than heretofore, so that an
increased amount of work may be obtained in a given time. This object
is attained by keeping the cutting point or edge of the tool cool in a
more effectual manner than has hitherto been done by merely dropping
water on to the part of the article that is being operated upon.
In turning metals (wrought iron for instance) a slow drip of water
is usually allowed to drop upon the metal shaving that is being turned
off. A portion of this water afterwards finds its way on to the tool in a
tardy manner, but the shaving being in the way the water hardly ever
finds its way to the precise cutting edge or point of the tool, and there-
fore considerable difficulty is experienced in keeping this cutting edge
or point cool, the consequence is that the machine can only be driven
at a very limited velocity, whereas if the cutting edge or point were
kept cool the speed of the turning or cutting operation may be very
considerably increased.
The object of my Invention is effected either by making the cutting
tool hollow and then forcing a jet of water, steam, or current of air
through the same, so as to impinge upon or near to the cutting point
or edge of the tool, or if the nature of the work precludes the use of a
hollow tool, then I arrange a jet or stream of water or air or steam or
other cooling medium in such a manner as to cause it to impinge on
the outside of the cutting point or edge of the tool, care being taken as
far as possible to cause the water to strike between the cutting tool and
the shaving that is being cut off the mass. By this means the frictional
or other heat that is produced by the operation of the cutting tool on
.

page_text: the metal will be carried off by the water or other cooling medium so
that the machine may be driven at increased speed.
The improvements may be carried out in various ways, depending
upon the nature of the operation and the material to be operated upon.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 represents in plan one mode of -
adapting the Invention to a lathe. a is the piece of metal to be operated
upon; 6 is one of my improved hollow cutting tools shewn detached in
elevation at Fig. 2, in which the point is shewn in section on the line
-X, X, of Fig. 1. The tool is fixed in the usual manner, as shewn in the
Drawing. It will be seen that the tool 6 is bored out longitudinally.
from end to end (or the bore may be arrested at the exit hole nearest to
the point of the tool if preferred), and to one end of it is adapted a
flexible tube d made of india-rubber or other suitable material, and
connected with a water can, tank, or other water supply, so that a jet
of water may be made to pass along the inside of the cutting tool and
run over the cutting edge thereof between this cutting edge and the
shaving that is being removed from the mass a.
In order that the water should issue from the exit opening with
sufficient force and velocity, and in order moreover to avoid weakening
the tool the exit opening or openings (as there may be more than one) at
the cutting end of the tool is or are contracted or made small, as shewn
in the Figure.
The main water channel is bored or otherwise made
longitudinally right through the tool and is plugged at the working end.
The exit opening or openings are then drilled or otherwise made in a
diagonal direction into the main channel so as to cause the water or
other cooling medium to issue as near the cutting edge as possible, and
after striking the under part of the shaving to impinge on or flow over
the cutting edge.
Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of one of my improved hollow cutting
tools fixed in an improved holder. The tool 6 is made with a shoulder b',
the tail end of the tool being less in diameter than the forward end; and
this shoulder b¹ rests on a corresponding shoulder made in the socket of
the tool holder, so that any possibility of the tool being forced back in
the holder will be effectually prevented. c is a pin or cotter to hold the
tool securely. When the cutting end of the tool has been worn down
to such an extent as will render it necessary to raise up the tool in-the
holder, this can be effected by placing one or more washers under the

page_text: .
shoulder: 61 as indicated in the Drawing. The water is supplied to
the channel in the tool through a flexible pipe d as in the former
instance. Instead of boring out the tool 6 in the manner described it
may be made of a piece of steel tube, the working end of which may
be plugged as seen at Fig. 4 with a plug of wood, metal, or other suitable
material through which the exit opening for the issue of the water is
made, as shewn in the detached sectional view, Fig. 4. When the tool
cannot be conveniently made hollow the water may be supplied in a
jet which is made to impinge as nearly as possible on the cutting edge,
care being always taken that the water is made to impinge between the
shaving or metal to be operated upon and the cutting edge of the tool.
In some cases it may be found convenient to combine the two plans,
that is to cause a stream of water to pass through the cutting tool and
another stream or jet of water to impinge upon the outside of the cutter.
In cases where it will be inconvenient to use water as the cooling
medium I sometimes use a blast or current of air or steam which will
be made to impinge on, pass through, or flow over the heated working
parts of the cutting tools, and thereby carry off therefrom the heat
or a portion of the heat generated by the friction of the tool on the
surface to be operated upon. If desired soap, soda, or other chemical
substance may be mixed with the water for the purpose of assisting in
lubricating the rubbing surfaces or facilitating the cutting operation.
As most workshops have their own peculiarities in reference to the form
and size of the cutting or shaping tools used therein it will be impossible
to describe every mode of carrying out the Invention.
It will be evident that the form, arrangement, and mode of adapting
my improvements may be variously modified without departing from
the nature and object of my Invention; the arrangements above shewn
or described as applied to lathes will however be sufficient to set forth
the principle upon which my Invention is based, and any intelligent
mechanic will be enabled to adapt the same to any planing or other
shaping machine to which it may be applicable.
Having now described my Invention of "Improvements in Tools for
Cutting and Shaping Metals, and in the Means of Keeping the same Cool
while in Use," and having explained the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as
aforesaid, the mode or modes above shown and described of supplying
water, air, steam, or other cooling medium to the cutting edge or point

page_text: of the cutting tools (used in machinery for planing, turning, or otherwise
shaping metals) for the purpose of keeping such tools cool while in use
so that the machinery may be driven at an increased speed, as herein set
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clay, have hereunto set my 5
hand and seal, the Fifth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
WILLIAM CLAY. (L.S.).