IMPROVEMENTS IN SAWING
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Lee, of 31, Northampton Square,
in the County of Middlesex, Ornamental Sawyer, for the Invention
of IMPROVEMENTS IN SAWING."
Sealed the 13th April 1853, and dated the 13th October 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry
Lec at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 13th October 1852.
I, JOHN HENRY LEE, of 31, Northampton Square, in the County of
Middlesex, Ornamental Sawyer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SAWING" to be as follows:-
The principle of my Invention consists in moving the saw to the
work, instead of moving the work to the saw, as in the ordinary
methods of ornamental sawing and shaping.
To accomplish this I suspend a strong frame perpendicularly on
points or centres, to move backwards or forwards (as a door moves on
its hinges); to the extremity of this frame, and at right angles with it,
I suspend another frame, also on points or centres, which second frame
carries the necessary fittings of an up and down saw, the saw frame
and slides and crank or excentric to give the up and down motion.

page_text: The motion is communicated to the crank or excentric by means of cog
wheels with shafts, the bearings of which are fixed to and moving with
the frames, the wheels working into each other exactly over the centres
on which the frames are hung, the first wheel receiving its motion from
a wheel with stationary bearings, with shaft carrying a fixed and a
loose rigger for a band from the driving wheel. An up and down saw
so suspended may be carried with perfect case over any part of an area
proportioned in extent to the length of the frames from their supporting
points or centres.
To guide and turn the saw there is attached to each of the chops
a small rigger, with pins at short distances round it, and directly over
the saw; on the outer frame is a handle with a rigger exactly
corresponding to those on the chops.
At the extreme end of the outer frame there is an upright shaft,
moving on centres and fitted with three riggers, which correspond to
those on the chops and the one on the handle at the top of the frame.
There are three bands, with eyelet holes to match with the pins on the
riggers, the upper one running from the rigger on the handle to the
top rigger on the shaft, the other two from the riggers on the chops to
the corresponding riggers on the shaft. By turning the handle the
shaft is turned, and the shaft turns the two chops which hold each end
of the saw, so that the saw and chops are turned in any direction
although in rapid motion.
To counterbalance the side long pulling of the bands from the shaft
to the chops there are two fixed bands on the opposite side, which, as
the saw frame and chops move up and down, pull with an equal force
against the opposite bands.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the
sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Hei heirs, and suc
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said John Henry Lec, Her
special licence that I, the said John Henry Lee, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henry
Lee, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any tinie
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SAWING," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John Henry Lee, by an instrument 'in writing
under my hand and seal, 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 Pateiit.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Henry Lee, 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 thereof, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say:
My Invention consists in adapting and applying the reciprocating
saw frame to ornamental and curvilinear sawing, in which the wood is
fixed and remains stationary while the saw is caused to move to the
wood, and to describe and cut out the various shapes and forms
delineated upon the surface of the wood. The Drawings hereunto
annexed represent a saw frame constructed according to my improve-
ments. Figure 1, is a front elevation; and Figure 2, a plan. A, A,
is a floor, the surface of which is made level, and covered with slate or
other suitable material, pláned smooth and even. B, B, is the ceiling,
which is also covered with an even and smooth surface, and laid
perfectly parallel in all parts with the floor A. C, is a socket or

page_text: 65
bracket bolted to the ceiling B; and D, a similar socket upon the floor
A. In each of these sockets are pivotted the centres E, and F, upon
which the frames G, and II, are free to turn. In the ends of the
frames G, and H, are also centred two other frames I, and J, which
carry the saw frame K. The saw frame K, is free to slide up and
-down upon reciprocating motion being communicated to it. It is
retained in its vertical position by the guide rods a, a, a, a, which pass
through holes in the upper and lower portion of the saw frame. L, is
-the saw, which is made of any required breadth to suit the different
varieties of work to be cut. The saw is held firmly between the
chops" b, b, which have jam nuts at the back of them so as to stretch
the saw L. M, is the wooden board to be cut; it is supported upon
end frames and fixed stationary. The design or pattern to be cut is
delineated upon the surface of the board. N, is a vertical shaft in the
end of the saw frame, upon which are keyed strap pulleys n, n, provided
with projecting points which take into corresponding holes in the
straps N'. O, O, are other pulleys, similar in size to the pulleys n, n,
and also provided with points. The pulleys O, O, are keyed upon the
spindle of the saw. P, is another pulley upon the vertical shaft N,
and connected by the strap B, to the pulley Q, which is provided with
handle c, by the turning of which, through the intervention of the
straps and pulleys abovo referred to, a circular motion is communicated
to the saw L, upon its centre. S, S, are two other straps, which serve
to counteract the pull of the straps N¹, and R. The necessary recipro-
cating motion is imparted to the saw frame K, and saw L, by means
of the connecting rod T, one end of which is attached to the saw frame,
while the other end is connected to an eccentric pin d, in the disc U,
keyed upon the horizontal shaft U', which is caused to revolve by the
pulley U2, set in motion by the strap Us, from the pulley U¹, turning
upon centres which exactly coincide with the centre upon which the
saw frame K, works. Motion is communicated to the pulley U', from
the pulley Us, on the centres which carry the frame II, through the
medium of the strap U. The pulley U³, is set in motion by a driving
belt from a steam engine or other prime mover. Upon the centre which
carries the pulley U³, is also placed a loose pulley for receiving the

page_text: driving strap when it is desired to stop the machine. W, W, are two
supports which are fixed to the upper and lower portions of the saw
frame, and bear against the floor A, and ceiling B; these supports
travel with the saw frame, and serve to keep it steady and free from
vibration. The action of the machine is as follows:-The wood being
fixed in its relative position to the saw, and the ornamental design
drawn upon it, a hole is first drilled through the wood of the breadth
of the saw, and the saw L, passed through and fixed in the saw frame
between the "chops" b, b. The necessary reciprocating motion is then
imparted to the saw and frame by throwing the driving belt upon the
fast pulley. When the workmen takes hold of the handle c, in one hand
and the saw frame in the other, and is enabled from the saw frame
being hinged to the frames G, and H, which are also free to turn upon
their centres, to cause the saw to traverse in and cut out the path or
line delineated upon the wood, the handle c, also enables him to keep
the teeth of the saw always in the direction of the line to be cut.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I declare that I claini
the general arrangement and combination of machinery for ornamental
and curvilinear sawing herein-before described, and represented in the
Drawings hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Lee, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of April, One thou-
sand eight hundred and fifty-three.
J. H. LEE. (L.S.)