IMPROVEMENTS IN MORTISING BY POWER
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Atkinson, of Shipley, in the County of
York, Foreman Joiner, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MORTISING BY POWER."
Sealed the 21st March 1876, and dated the 22nd September 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Atkinson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd September 1875.
I, JOHN ATKINSON, of Shipley, in the County of York, Foreman
Joiner, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "In-
PROVEMENTS IN MORTISING BY POWER," to be as follows:-
The mode of mortising timber usually adopted by joiners has been by
hand, or with a machine having a chisel fixed in a slide worked in a
vertical direction by means of a lever, which operation causes great
waste in consequence of the wood splitting.
The object of my Invention is to cut out the mortise in knotty or any
other kind of timber without splitting the same, and with greater
regularity than hitherto. This I accomplish in the following manner :-
To one end of an ordinary circular saw shaft, or any other shaft revolving

page_text: at the proper speed and driven in the usual manner, I attach a chuck
or bore a hole longitudinal up the centre of the shaft, as the case may
be, in which is secured the mortising tool, the section of which is two
or more gouges forged in one piece and placed back to back. The
number of gouges forged together are regulated by the width of holo'
required to be mortised. At a convenient distance under the mortising
tool I fix a slide longitudinally and parallel to the axes of saw or other
shaft. On to the top of this last-named slide, and at right angles to it,
I place another slide, to which is attached an ordinary cramp or cramps
for securing the timber to the top of last-named slide during the
operation of mortising.
It will be easily understood that when the timber is secured to the
top slide and pressed against the mortising tool revolving at the requisite
speed the tool will cut or bore away the timber. The attendent moving
the top slide, which is at right angles to the tool, gives the length of the
mortise, and the bottom slide gives the depth of the mortise.
My Invention can be applied in various ways. A machine can be
made expressly for mortising, but in order to save expense I prefer to
apply my Invention to one end of a circular saw spindle or any other
shaft connected with existing wood-cutting machinery, and fix tho
slides, which are in principle the same as the ordinary compound rest
used in a slide lathe.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Atkinson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 22nd March 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
ATKINSON, of Shipley, in the County of York, Foreman Joiner, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five, in the thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs
and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Atkinson,
Her special licence that I, the said John Atkinson, my exccutors,

page_text: administrators, and assigns, or such others as 1, the sala Jonn
Atkinson, 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 MORTISING BY POWER," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said John Atkinson, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain 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 John Atkinson, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascor-
tained in and by the following statement and accompanying Sheet of
Drawings:-
The mode of mortising timber usually adopted by joiners has been
with a machine having a chisel fixed in a slide worked in a vertical
direction by means of a lever or connecting rod, which operation causes
great waste in consequence of the wood splitting.
The object of my Invention is to cut out the mortice in knotty or
other kinds of timber without splitting the same by means of a revolving
tool. This I accomplish in the following manner:-To one end of an
ordinary circular saw shaft, or any other shaft. revolving at the proper
speed and driven in the usual manner, I attach a chuck or bore a hole
longitudinal up the centre of the shaft, as the case may be, in which is
secured the mortising tool, the section of which is two or more gouges
forged in one piece and placed back to back. The number of gouges
forged together are regulated by the width of the hole required to be
morticed, and the cutting end of the tool is made the same or near the
same distance across from the edge of one gouge to the edge of the
other gouge. opposite, as the width of the mortice hole required; but
from the point or cutting end to the back end of the tool is made taper,
in order that when the cutting part of the tool has entered the wood the
back part will be clear of the sides of the mortised hole, by which

page_text: mcans the wood will not be cut away from the sides of the hole and
made wider at the top or outside than the bottom, but will be parallel.
At a convenient distance under the mortising tool I fix a slide longitu-
dinally and parallel to the axis of the saw or other shaft. On to the top
of the last-named slide, and at right angles to it, I place another slide, to
which is attached an ordinary cramp or cramps for securing the timber
to the top of the last-named slide during the operation of mortising.
It will be easily understood that when the timber is secured to the
top slide and pressed against the mortising tool revolving at the requisite
spced the tool will cut or bore away the timber. The attendant moving
the top slide, which is at right angles to the tool gives the length of the
mortice, and the bottom slide gives the depth of the mortice. I elevate
or lower the aforesaid slides to the required height for the timber to be
mortised by means of a screw and hand wheel secured to a stud or
bracket attached to the framework of machine.
In addition to mortising my Invention can also be applied for grooving
or trenching in various ways. A machine can be made expressly for
mortising, grooving, or trenching, but in order to save expense I prefer
to apply my Invention to one end of a circular saw spindle or any other
shaft connected with existing wood-cutting machinery, and fix the
slides, which are in principle the same as the ordinary compound rest
used in a slide lathe.
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-before described and repre-
sented in the Drawings, as the same may be varied without departing
from the nature of my Invention; but I claim as my Invention a tool,
the section of which is two or more gouges, forged together in such a
manner that the distance from the edge of one gouge to the edge of the
gouge opposite is greater at the point or cutting end than at the back
end of the tool; and also the use in combination with such mortising
tool a compound slide rest, which gives a longitudinal and transverso
motion to the wood operated upon, which said tool and compound rest
are illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.

page_text: tool and compound slide attached; Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same;
Fig. 3 is a plan.
Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of my improved tool; Fig. 5 is a section of
the same.
A is the framework of an ordinary saw bench; B, the saw shaft
revolving in journals A', A'. On the shaft are fast and loose pullies C
and C¹ for driving the same. At one end of B, marked B¹, is a chuck D,
in which is secured my improved tool E, shewn more clearly in the
enlarged Drawings, Fig. 4 and Fig. 5. F is the bottom portion of
compound slide fixed longitudinally to the axis of the saw, shaft, and
secured in a vertical slide G at end of framework A, and is elevated or
lowered by means of screw H and wheel H¹. Passing through bracket J
on the top of F is slide K grooved to receive transverse slide L, and
to which is secured cramp L' with screw L' and stop M for holding
the timber in position until the same is mortised.
In Fig. 4 the tool is shewn in detail, and is taper from the cutting,
end E¹ to the end E³, in order that no part of the tool will cut the wood
except the cutting end E'.
except the cutting end F.
ACTION OF APPARATUS.
When the timber is secured on slide L, and the slides clevated to the
required height by means of screw H, by pressing the timber against the
revolving tool E the same will cut the wood, and on the attendant
travelling the respective slides the tool will cut the hole to the length
and depth required.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Atkinson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-first day of March, One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
Witness,
JOHN WAUGH,
Engineer & Patent Agent,
29, Tyrrel St.,
Bradford.
JOHN ATKINSON. (L.S.)