AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR CUTTING CYLINDRICAL CORES FROM NATURAL STONES, AND FOR THE PREPARATION OF HOLLOW NATURAL STONES FOR BUILDING AND OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES."
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Gazeley, of Watervleit, in the County of Albany
and State of New York, United States of America, for an Invention of "AN
IMPROVED MACHINE FOR CUTTING CYLINDRICAL CORES FROM NATURAL
STONES, AND FOR THE PREPARATION OF HOLLOW NATURAL STONES FOR
BUILDING AND OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES."
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said James Gazeley at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 16th May 1881.
JAMES GAZELEY, of Watervleit, in the County of Albany and State of New
York, United States of America. "AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR CUTTING
CYLINDRICAL CORES FROM NATURAL STONES, AND FOR THE PREPARATION OF
HOLLOW NATURAL STONES FOR BUILDING AND OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES."
Figure 1 is a front elevation of my machine.
Figure 2, a horizontal section of same at the line x, x.
Figure 3, a side elevation of a tubular cutting device.
Figure 4, a finishing cutting device fitted with segmental blades having curved
spring ends arranged to produce a contracted termination of the cylindrical
core.
Figure 5, the same with the blades arranged to produce an enlarged termination
of the core.
Figure 6, a perspective view of a cuboidal block of stone with a cylindrical core
removed therefrom.
Figure 7, a perspective view of the cylindrical core after it is removed from the
block shewn in Figure 6.
Figure 8, a vertical section through the line y, y, of Figure 6, and
Figure 9, a vertical section through the centre line of a cuboidal block, shewing
a cylindrical core with a contracted termination before it is removed from its
position in the block.
My Invention relates to machinery for cutting stones into cylindrical forms,
either as pine cylinders or as cylinders terminating in either contracted or enlarged
Din 21

page_text: ends; and the object of my improvements is to provide a machine adapted for
cutting out perfect cylinders of stone for columns, etc., for removing cylindrical
cores from large stones used for building and other purposes, so that the weight of
such stones may be reduced and the cores utilized for any purpose they can be
applied to, and for producing concave recesses, niches, etc., by first removing a
cylindrical core from the stones and then separating them through the centre line
of the circular opening. This object I attain by means of the mechanism illus-
trated in the accompanying Drawings.
As represented in the Drawings A indicates the framework of the machine,
having movable posts a adapted to be adjusted by means of mortises a¹ to and
from the centre of the machine; B, a vertical shaft fixed at the centre of the
machine, and revolved by gearing or other suitable means for the purpose of
carrying the cutting mechanism, which consists of the following:-A circular
cutter-head C is fitted to the shaft B in such manner that it will slide freely up
and down thereon, but will positively revolve with said shaft, and is provided
with a series of segmental cutters D that fit into recesses formed in the periphery
of the said cutter-head. The lower ends of the cutters D should be made of soft
wrought-iron or other ductile metal that will afford a sufficiently retentive hold
for the abrading material used, in conjunction with the cutters, for producing the
cuts in the stone. The length of each cutter must be more than sufficient to
extend through the stone on which it is to operate, and each is provided with a
slotted opening d (for receiving the bolts E by which the cutters are secured to the
head C) to permit the cutters to be adjusted vertically on the cutter-head as
required by the progress of the work.
A circular steadying piece F for holding the upper ends of the cutters is fitted to
slide freely on the shaft B, and is provided with recesses around its periphery for
receiving the cutters so as to preserve an unbroken circular outline. The concave
bearers G are fitted or adjusted against the steadying piece F for the purpose of
preserving the centrality of the upper end of the cutting mechanism; said
bearers are attached by means of a swivel-joint to the screws g, whereby the
bearers may be adjusted to fit against cutting mechanism of different diameters.
The screws g run through bosses formed ou the slides H, which are vertically
adjustable on the posts a to suit the different elevations at which the steadying
piece F may be used. The slides H are secured in place by the set-screws h.
The operation of my improved machine is as follows:-The stone marked I in
Fig. 1 and 2 has a centre drilled in its upper face for receiving the lower end
of the shaft B, as indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 1, and is fixed in position
in the machine. The shaft B and its attached cutting mechanism is arranged in
place on top of the stone, and the bearers G are adjusted in the required positions
for maintaining the upper part of the cutting device in a true central position, and
preventing it from running with a wabbling motion at the beginning of the cutting,
by which motion the character of the work will be greatly impaired. The shaft B
is then set in motion to revolve the cutting device, and the abrading material and
water are constantly fed around the path of the cutters; for cutting marble and the
softer grades of stone, gravel, and sharp sand will suffice for the abrading material,
but for granite and the harder grades the agency of granulated chilled iron or other
kindred substance will be required, and by this means a narrow annular incision
is made downward into the body of the stone. After the cut is fairly started into
the stone the use of the bearers G may be dispensed with. By frequently shifting
the cutter-head C upward in respect to the cutting ends of the cutters D, to obtain
sufficient working length of said cutters for the continuance of the work, the
quality of the work will be much improved, and this lengthening out of the cutters
must be continued by successive degrees until the cutters extend down far enough
to complete the work. In cutting through blocks of stone of considerable depth I
find it advisable in order that the cutters may be kept cool to deliver the water or
other liquid at or near the bottom of the cut. This I effect by feeding the liquid
through one or several small pipes fixed in a vertical position in the openings

page_text: between the cutters, said pipes being connected to an elevated tank containing the
liquid so as to obtain a sufficient head to insure the required flow through the
pipes, and in some cases it is necessary to force the liquid through the pipes by
Imeans of a force pump. For the purpose of forcing or conveying the powdered
stone from the bottom of the annular cut the cutters may be provided with spirally
arranged grooves, whereby the deposit of powdered stone will be carried out of
Baid annular cut by the rotations of the cutters and thrown on the top of the
stone.
In the modification shewn in Figure 3 the cutter D¹ is made in the form of a
tube of soft wrought-iron, which form for making annular cuts of twenty inches
diameter and under I prefer to the segmental form of cutter for the reason of its
greater rigidity.
The segmental cutters D2 (shewn in Fig. 4 and 5) are provided with spring
ends formed on a curvature. The extremities of them are made of soft iron for
the purpose herein before set forth, and the curved portions as at d are made of
spring-steel.
This form of cutter is designed to be used as a supplementary cutting device
for changing the line of the annular incision from a straight line to a curved one.
When such straight cuts have been carried to the required depth the straight
cutters (segmental or tubular) are removed from the cutter-head C, and the curved
cutters D2 substituted for them. The spring ends of said cutters are then inserted
in the annular incision in the stone, and the cutters forced down until their ends
rest on the bottom of the cut, the spring portion d' of the cutters yielding
sufficiently for this purpose, and then when the shaft B is again set in motion the
resilience of the springs causés the ends of the cutters to cut in a curved line
(inward or outward, as the cutters are set) as they progress downward. The super-
incumbent weight of the cutter-head acting upon the curved ends of the cutters
aids in inclining them to bend to a quicker curvature than they originally possess,
so that when the curvatures are arranged towards each other, as shewn in Fig. 4,
they will approach each other in cutting until the core is nearly severed from the
body of the stone, so that only a trifling force will be required to break it out. By
arranging the cutters D with the curved ends tending outward, as shewn in
Figure 5, the bottom part of the central core will be increased in diameter by
means of an outwardly-curved outline, and the outer shell of the stone will have
at its lower side a "bell-mouth" opening.
In Figs. 6 and 8 the stone I as removed from the machine is shewn with a
cylindrical hole i extending vertically through it; said hole is produced by cutting
out by means of my machine, and in the manner herein before described, a perfectly
true and smooth cylindrical core J (shewn in Fig. 7) from the central portion of
the block of stone, thereby leaving four of the exterior surfaces of the stone
intact, as cut for building, monumental, or other purposes, and the core J unim-
paired to be utilized for any purpose to which it can be applied. By removing the
core J from the interior body of a stone designed for use in building, etc., while
the stone is left in condition to fulfil the purpose for which it was intended, the
reduction of its weight materially lessens the cost for its transportation, for labor in
bandling, and in addition to this saving the core J becomes valuable for applying
to other uses. In the preparation of stones of extraordinary size for building
purposes instead of removing a single cylindrical core from the interior portion
several such cores may be taken out in the manner described for taking out a single
one, and in such cases the partitions left between the holes serve to bind together
the sides of the block. The cores J when removed from either dressed or undressed
stones can be utilized for columns, posts, balusters, and many other purposes, and
thereby a great saving in the cost of labor and material can be effected, especially
when the more costly grades of stone are used.
In Fig. 9 a vertical section of a cuboidal block of stone is shewn with a core
terminating in a rounded form, unremoved from its place in the block. This mode
of cutting is particularly adapted to preparing stones for niches having arched

page_text: tops, and for this purpose after the core J is removed the stone is divided into two
parts by cutting it vertically through a centre line drawn parallel to one of the
vertical faces of the block. My improvement is especially important for producing
cylindrical stones for straight columns and other kindred articles, which can be
cut thereby to any required length, and with such accuracy that they will require
no further dressing, and when such columns are designed more for ornamentation
than for sustaining weight, so that a tubular shell will answer the purpose, several
columns of the same length, but of different diameters, may be cut from a single
stone, only large enough in diameter to produce the largest column.
I claim as my Invention,-
1. In a machine for cutting cylindrical stones the combination with the vertical
shaft B, of the cutter-head C, having a sliding motion on and rotated with said
shaft, as herein described, said cutter-head being provided with either segmental
or tubular cutters having a vertical adjustment in respect to said cutter-head, as
herein described and for the purpose specified.
2. The combination with the shaft B, cutter-head C, and cutters D of the
adjustable bearers G, as and for the purpose herein specified.
3. In a machine for cutting cylindrical forms from stone, the combination with
the cutter-head C of segmental cutters provided with curved spring portions at or
near the cutting ends of said cutters, as and for the purpose herein specified.
4. A block of natural stone for building or other purposes having its outer
surfaces wrought into any required shapes, and having a cylindrical opening formed
therein by the removal (as an entirety) of a cylindrical core therefrom, as herein
specified.
5. The cylindrical core J removed as an entirety from the interior portion of a
solid natural stone, and without injury to the surrounding body of the stone,
substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Gazeley, have hereto set my hand and
seal, the Twenty seventh day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty-one.
JAMES GAZELEY. (L.S.)