IMPROVEMENTS IN MILL BILLS AND PICKS FOR DRESSING MILLSTONES, AND FOR DRESSING STONE FOR OTHER PURPOSES." PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Cornelius Whitehouse, of Bridgtown, near
Cannock, in the County of Stafford, Edge Tool and Auger Maker,
in the Employ of William Gilpin, senior, and Company, of Wedges-
mills and Churchbridge, Cannock, aforesaid, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MILL BILLS AND PICKS FOR DRESSING MILLSTONES, AND
FOR DRESSING STONE FOR OTHER PURPOSES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Cornelius Whitehouse
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 22nd June 1868.
I, CORNELIUS WHITEHOUSE, of Bridgtown, near Cannock, in the
County of Stafford, Edge Tool and Auger Maker, in the Employ of
William Gilpin, senior, and Company, of Wedgesmills and Churchbridge,
Cannock, aforesaid, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention

page_text: for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MILL BILLS AND PICKS FOR DRESSING MILLSTONES, AND FOR
DRESSING STONE FOR OTHER PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
Mill bills for dressing millstones, as ordinarily constructed, consist of
a head made of steel, the said head having a wooden handle; each end
of the head is ground to a sharp chisel edge; after the edges have been
worn by use the ends require to be drawn out by a smith and rehardened
and ground. This requires to be done repeatedly, and is not only
troublesome and expensive, but frequently results in injury to the steel
and consequent imperfection in the implement.
In making mill bills, according to my Invention I make the ends or
acting portions separate from the head. I make the said ends of flat bars
of steel, the acting end being ground to a chisel edge, and the other end
having an enlargement or head upon it. These chisel ends are inserted
and fixed in the head of the mill bill in the following manner :-The
said head of the bill is nearly of the ordinary form, but is made hollow
and divided in the direction of its length in a plane at right angles to
the handle. The top half of the head is fixed to the handle, and the
other half is capable of sliding on the handle so as to be brought in
contact with or separated from the other half. In fixing the chisel ends
of the bill head the two parts of the head are separated and the ends are
placed between them, so that their acting ends project about an inch
from the head; the moveable part of the head is then closed upon the
fixed part and secured in its place by a wedge passed through the handle,
the chisel ends being fixed, gripped, and held between the two parts of
the head. The inner faces of the two parts of the head are provided
with notches, into which two enlargements or heads on the chisel ends
fit, and which prevent the said ends being forced during use into the
head of the bill. When the chisel edges of the ends are worn they are
removed from the head of the bill by unwedging the moveable part, and
by simply grinding them they are restored to a proper working condition,
no heating, forging, and hardening of the ends being necessary; instead
of fixing the moveable part of the head by means of a wedge it may be
fixed by a screw or otherwise. In making mill and other picks according
to my Invention I substitute flat bars of steel having points instead of
chisel edges. Bills and picks made according to my Invention may also
be employed for dressing stone for various purposes.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Cornelius Whitehouse in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 21st December 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CORNELIUS
WHITEHOUSE, of Bridgtown, near Cannock, in the County of Stafford,
Edge Tool and Auger Maker, in the Employ of William Gilpin, senior,
and Company, of Wedgesmills and Churchbridge, Cannock, aforesaid,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Cornelius Whitehouse, Her special licence
that I, the said Cornelius Whitehouse, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Cornelius Whitehouse, 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
MILL BILLS AND PICKS FOR DRESSING MILLSTONES, AND FOR DRESSING STONE
FOR OTHER PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Cornelius Whitehouse, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, should particularly describe 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 immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
"
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Cornelius Whitehouse, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
Mill bills for dressing millstones as ordinarily constructed consist
of a head made of steel, the said head having a wooden handle. Each
end of the head is ground to a sharp chisel edge. After the edges have
been worn by use the ends require to be drawn out by a smith and

page_text: rehardened and ground. This requires to be done repeatedly, and is not
only troublesome and expensive, but frequently results in injury to the
steel and consequent imperfection in the implement.
In making mill bills according to my Invention I make the ends
or acting portions separate from the head. I make the said ends of flat
bars of steel, the acting end being ground to a chisel edge, and the other
end having an enlargement or head upon it. These chisel ends are
inserted and fixed in the head or frame of the mill bill in the following
manner: The said head or frame of the bill is nearly of the ordinary
form, but is made hollow and divided in the direction of its length in a
plane at right angles to the handle. The top half of the head or frame is
fixed to the handle, and the other half is capable of sliding on the handle
so as to be brought in contact with or separated from the other half.
In fixing the chisel ends in the bill head or frame the two parts of the
head or frame are separated, and the chisel ends are placed between them,
so that their acting ends project about an inch from the head or frame;
the moveable part of the head or frame is then closed upon the fixed
part and secured in its place by a wedge passed through the handle, the
chisel ends being fixed, gripped, and held between the two parts of the
head or frame. The inner faces of the two parts of the head or frame
are provided with notches, into which the enlargements or heads on the
chisel ends fit, and which prevent the said ends being forced during
use into the head or frame of the bill. When the edges of the ends are
worn they are removed from the head or frame of the bill by unwedging
the moveable part, and by simply grinding them they are restored to a
proper working condition, no heating, forging, and hardening of the
ends being necessary. Instead of fixing the moveable part of the head
or frame by means of a wedge it may be fixed by a screw or otherwise.
In making mill and other picks according to my Invention I
substitute flat bars of steel having points instead of chisel edges.
Bills and picks made according to my Invention may also be employed
for dressing stone for various purposes.
Having explained the nature of my Invention I will proceed to
describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawing, the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in elevation a mill bill for dressing millstones
constructed according to my Invention, and Figure 2 is an end
elevation of the same; Figure 3 is a longitudinal section of the same,

page_text: the handle being broken off; Figure 4 represents the two parts of the
head of the bill separated, and Figure 5 represents a plan of the inner
side of the fixed half of the bill head or frame; Figure 6 represents one
of the chisel ends of the bill separately. The same letters of reference
indicate the same parts in each Figure of the Drawing.
a, b, are the two parts or halves of the bill head or frame, the top
part or half a of which is fixed to the metallic end c of the handle c³,
and the bottom part or half 6 of which is capable of sliding on
the part of the handle so as to be brought in contact with or
separated from the top part or half a. The said halves a, b, are
hollow, so that when they are brought together a space is left of a size
proper to receive the separate chisel ends d, d; these chisel ends are
made of flat bars of steel, having a chisel edge d² on one end, and an
enlargement or head d³ on the other end. The shape of the separate
chisel ends or acting parts of the bill head or frame will be best seen by
referring to the detached view of a chisel end, Figure 6. The inner
faces of the two parts a, b, of the bill head or frame are provided with
notches marked a², 62, into which the enlargements or heads d³ of the
chisel ends are fitted, as represented in Figure 3. In fixing the chisel
ends d, d, in the bill head or frame the two parts a, b, are separated, as
illustrated in Figure 4, and the chisel ends d, d, are placed between
them, so that they project about an inch from the head, the enlarge-
ments or heads d³ of the chisel ends being dropped into the notches
of one or other of the parts a, b. The moveable part 6 of the head or
frame is then closed upon the fixed part a, and the said part b is secured
in its place by a wedge e passed through the handle c, as illustrated in
Figures 1 and 3, or by a screw or other equivalent means.
By the
closing of the moveable part 6 upon the fixed part a the chisel ends d, d,
are fixed in the notches a, b, and the flat parts of the chisel ends are
gripped and firmly held between the two parts a, b, and the mill bill is
ready for use, the chisel ends being prevented from being forced inwards
by the notches into which their heads are fitted. When the acting
edges of the chisel ends d, d, are worn the said chisel ends are removed
from the head a, b, by withdrawing the wedge e and sliding the
moveable part 6 into the position represented in Figure 4, when by
simply grinding the edges of the chisel ends they are again ready to be
refixed and used in the mill bill. As the chisel ends shorten by wear
and by the grinding their heads d³ are dropped into notches nearer to
b

page_text: the points of the bill head or frame, so as to make the chisel ends
project the required distance from the said bill head or frame.
By substituting flat bars of steel having points for the bars having
chisel ends represented in the Drawing the bill is converted into a mill
or other pick.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that
I do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illus-
trated, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of
my Invention; but I claim as my Invention the improvements in mill
bills and picks for dressing millstones and for dressing stone for other
purposes herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawing, that is to say, making the head or frame of the bill or pick of
a fixed part and a moveable part, and making the acting ends of the said
head or frame separate from the head or frame, the said moveable and
fixed parts of the head or frame and the acting ends being constructed
and the acting ends fixed, gripped, and held in the head or frame for
use, substantially as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Cornelius Whitehouse, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of December, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight.
CORNELIUS WHITEHOUSE. (L.S.)
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.