IMPROVEMENTS IN CUTTING & SHAPING WOOD
Year: 1855

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by James Bunten and George Lamb
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition, on
the 22nd February 1855.
We, JAMES BUNTEN, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Timber Merchant, and GEORGE LAMB, of the same place, Joiner, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CUTTING &
SHAPING WOOD" to be as follows, that is to say:
This Invention relates, in the first place, to certain improvements in mor-
tising machines for cutting mortices in wood, these improvements consisting
chiefly of a contrivance for turning the cutting tool with facility, without stop-
ping the movement of the machine. The cutting tool is held in a small frame
formed with slides, and working between a pair of vertical guides, a recipro-
cating motion being given to the frame by a crank or eccentric movement over-
head. The crank or eccentric shaft, and a pulley for driving it by, are carried
by a frame, which is capable of traversing vertically, so as to bring the tool
more deeply into the wood beneath as the formation of the mortice progresses.
This depressing action is effected by means of a foot lever, connected by a rod
to the sliding frame above. The cutting tool is attached to a spindle, which is
capable of turning in bearings in the lower reciprocating frame. This spindle
has fast upon it a small pinion in gear with a short rack working in a slot
across the frame, and a pin upon the rack projects behind through the slot and

page_text: carries a friction pulley, upon which a transverse sliding piece is made to act
when the tool is required to turn; this sliding piece works transversely in slots
in the stationary framing, and has two double inclined pieces upon it for
effecting the reversing action, which can be done without stopping the machine.
When the tool is to be turned, the sliding piece in the frame is thrust to one
side, and if the friction roller carried by the rack happens at the moment
to be directly opposite to the inclined piece, the rack is at once forced across
and turns the tool. If the rack is above or below the sliding piece, its next
descent or ascent brings the friction roller upon the incline, and the rack is
similarly forced across by the incline, and turns the tool. When the tool is to
be turned again the sliding piece is shifted across back again, and the friction
roller carried by the rack is acted upon by the inclined piece on the other side.
The tool is held accurately square in each position when turned by a spring
fixed to the frame, the blade of which spring presses upon a flat or planed
portion of the tooled holder spindle, this spindle pressing back the blade in
turning.
The second part of this Invention relates to an improved arrangement of
mechanical details for cutting tenons upon wood. In these improvements it
has been an object to save the wood cut from the sides of the tenon as much
as possible, whilst at the same time the pieces cut away are made of uniform
thickness, to render them more suitable for any purpose to which they may be
applied. The board or piece of wood to be cut is secured upon a holding frame,
similar to a lathe slide rest, and capable of traversing upon V slides. The
end of the wood upon which the tenon is to be formed is presented laterally
to the cutting action, & traversed past four horizontal revolving circular
saws, fixed upon a vertical spindle and driven at a rapid rate in any convenient
manner. The two inner saws cut into the wood, and separate the side pieces
from the central portion, which will constitute the actual tenon. The two
outer saws are merely for thicknessing the side pieces to be cut away, and
may be dispensed with if these side pieces are not to be used for any purpose
requiring such thicknessing; various numbers of horizontal saws may be used,
according to the particular manner in which it is wished to shape the tenon,
or the pieces cut from it. Cutters of various descriptions may likewise be
substituted for the saws, or may be used in combination with them, as for
producing mouldings, for example; as the wood is traversed past the horizontal
saws it enters between two rapidly revolving spindles carrying cutters, which
act vertically, and cut off the upper and under side pieces previously separated
by the horizontal saws from the central tenon piece which remains, and this
completes the operation of the machine. Saws revolving vertically, that is to

page_text: say, upon horizontal spindles, may be substituted for the revolving cutters
described, as for giving the final separating cut to the pieces taken from the
sides of the tenon, or the vertically revolving cutters may be shaped so as to
produce mouldings upon the wood acted upon by them. The spindles of these
cutters or saws are carried in bearings in the ends of arms or cranks fast on
spindles held in fixed bearings. These spindles are capable of adjustment so
as to set the arms at any angle, and thereby vary the distance between the
cutters or saws, as may be required. It will be obvious that the positions of
the cutting apparatus of the tenoning machine may be modified, as may be
convenient, provided their relative positions are maintained, as described, that
is to say, provided the two sets of cutters or saws are made to act in directions
at right angles to each other.