AN IMPROVED MODE OF MANUFACTURING FILES AND RASPS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Gray, of Newcastle, Tobacco Manu-
facturer, and John Reid, of the same place, Engineer, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE OF MANUFACTURING FILES AND
RASPS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Gray and
John Reid at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 22nd July 1858.
We, THOMAS GRAY and JOHN REID, do hereby declare the nature, of
the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF MANUFACTURING, FILES
AND RASPS" to be as follows.
Our Invention relates to a mode of cutting the teeth of files and
rasps with greater dispatch than heretofore. To this end any given
number of file or rasp blanks are arranged side by side on a table
which is mounted on or slides in guides carried by the bed of the
machine. The file or rasp blanks are firmly secured to this table, and
thereby prevented from shifting their position when undergoing the
cutting operation. To the forward end of the table which carries the

page_text: blanks a leading screw is attached, its object being to give the table a
slow traverse motion for the purpose of bringing the blanks under the
action of the chisels or cutters. This movement is attained by com-
municating to the screw a slow intermittent axial motion by means of
a ratchet wheel and click or other analogous contrivance. The chisels
for cutting the teeth of the files are affixed (one for every file) to a har
which receives an up and down motion somewhat like that of a tilt
hammer, and by its weight causes the chisels to fall with considerable
force on the blanks, so as to trip up the teeth on their surface. This
motion is so timed that the fall of the chisels shall take place while the
blanks are stationary, and the traverse of the table containing the
blanks shall take place while the lift of the chisel bar is being made.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Gray and John Reid in the Great Seal
Patent Office, on the 21st January 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we,
THOMAS GRAY, of Newcastle, Tobacco Manufacturer, and Jons REID,
of the same place, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of July, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
Seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto us, the said Thomas Gray and John Reid,
Her special license that we, the said Thomas Gray and John Reid, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
Thomas Gray and John Reid, our executors, administrators, and as-
signs, 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 Islc
of Man, an Invention for AN IMPROVED MODE OF MANUFACTURING FILES
AND RASPS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
Thomas Gray and John Reid, by an instrument in writing under our

page_text: hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, should par-
ticularly 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 Scal Patent Office within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Thomas Gray and John Reid,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statenient, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say): "
Our Invention relates to a mode of cutting the teeth of files and rasps
with greater dispatch than heretofore. To this end we propose to
arrange any given number of file or rasp blanks side by side on a
table which is mounted on or slides in guides formed on the bed of the
machine. The file or rasp blanks are firmly secured to this table, and
are moved gradually forward under the action of a set of reciprocating
chisels by a screw to which a slow intermittent axial motion is imparted,
and thus by the continued traverse of the table the whole length of the
file blanks, or so much as is intended to be provided with teeth, is
subjected to the action of the chisels.
In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1, is a front elevation of an
arrangement of machinery whereby we propose to operate upon several
blanks simultaneously. Fig. 2, is a sectional plan view of the same,
taken in the fine 1, 2, of Fig. 1. Fig. 9, is a longitudinal sectional
clevation, taken at about the line 8, 4, of Figures 1, and 2.
a, is the bed plate of the machine, suitably shaped to receive a
table b, and to guide its movement. Mounted on the bed and capable
of revolving freely in its bearings is a screw,shaft c, which passes through
a threaded block d, bolted to the under side of the table b. Keyed to
the forward end of this screw shaft is a ratchet wheel e, into the teeth
of which a pawle f, takes for the purpose of communicating an inter-
mittent axial motion to the screw shaft, and by that means traversing
the table b, along the bed of the machine.
The pawle f. is carried by a slotted arm g, affixed to a rock shaft h,

page_text: which is mounted in suitable bearings on the bed of the machine. To
the rock shaft h, a lever i, for carrying the chisels or cutting tools k, is
keyed. This lever extends across the machine, and its other end is
connected to a crank rod l, which receives an up and down motion from
a crank shaft m, in connection (by means of a pulley and strap) with
the motive power machinery. As, therefore, this shaft m, rotates a
vibrating motion will be imparted to the lever i, and consequently an
up and down motion to the chisels or cutting tools.
The mode which we prefer of forming these cutting tools will be
understood by reference to the detached views, Figures 4. It will be
seen that they are severally capable of a vertical adjustment by means
of the nuts, on the threaded end of a fork, to which they are respec-
tively jointed, and that the diagonal cut which files require is produced
by putting in a twist at the lower end of the tool whereby the cutting
edge is set obliquely.
The threaded ends of the chisel fork are passed through holes made
in a ledge at the upper side of the lever i, and they are held in their
place by the binding nuts . A. plate n, is then placed over the
cutters and bolted to the lever.
Upon the table b, a block of lead o, is placed to form a bed for the
file blanks p, p, and to deaden the effect upon the machinery of the
blows of the descending chisels. These file blanks, being all of like
thickness, are laid side by side in number corresponding to the number
of chisels employed, which number will depend upon the width of the
machine and the size of the blanks to be cut; and the file blanks are
held firmly to their bed by means of clamping bars or otherwise.
The mode of operating the machine is as follows:-The table 6, with
the file blanks firmly secured thereto, is at the commencement of the
operation brought to the position shown in the Drawing, so that the
chisels may act upon the extremity of the blanks. Rotary motion is then
communicated to the crank shaft m, and by means of the connecting
rode, the chisel lever i, is vibrated, and at every descent thereof a
tooth is formed upon the several file blanks. In order to prevent the
chisels from striking twice in the same place, or, in other words, to
spread the cuts properly over the file blanks, the table is traversed

page_text: forward after each successive cut a distance equal to the distance which
the teeth are required to be apart. This is effected by the intermittent
axial motion given to the screw c, through its ratchet wheel e; which
ratchet wheel at every raising of the lever i, is pulled round the length
of a tooth by the pawle f, connected to the arm y, by the rock shaft h.
The distance traversed by the table after every descent of the cutters is.
determined by the number of teeth on the ratchet wheel. When,
therefore, the machine is required to be set to finer or coarser work
than that which it has produced, this may be readily done by changing
the ratchet wheel and readjusting the action of the pawle.
.
When the whole length of the file blanks to be cut has passed under
the action of the chisels the pawle f, is thrown out of contact with the
teeth of the ratchet wheel, and that wheel is rotated in the opposite
direction, so as to bring the table back into the position for repeating.
the operation. The file blanks are then turned over, and the other side
is cut in like manner. It only then remains to cut the teeth on the
edge, and for this purpose we propose to range the blanks face to facc,
and cut them in the same way as the face of the file blanks.
But, in order to provide for the unequal breadth of a certain class of
files at their extremity, we employ the following contrivance, which
consists of a slight modification of the above-described machine:-
Fig. 5, shews the arrangement in partial longitudinal section; and
Fig. 6, is a cross section of the same. The table b, which carries the
files, is provided on its under side and at its forward end with an
inclined plane, and under this table and across the bed of the
machine a bar b, is temporarily placed to carry the forward end of
the table at the commencement of the operation of cutting the edges
of the files. By means of this bar b³, the forward end of the table is
raised from its bearings on the bed of the machine, and the files are
brought sufficiently near to the cutting tools to compensate for the
diminished breadth of the files at their top end, and ensure an equable
depth of cut throughout the length of the files. As the table which-
carries forward the files under the chisels is progressed the elevation*
of the table will decrease in exact proportion with the increase in the

page_text: breadth of the files; and when the parallel edges of the files come
under the action of the chisels the table will have descended to its
lowest position, and will then move forward in a horizontal line free
of and unaffected by the bar . To permit of this rising and falling
motion of the table the threaded block d, through which the traversing
screw c, passes, must be bolted loosely to the table, so as to give it a
little play, and thereby avoid the strain to which the screw would
otherwise be subjected.
Instead of employing a vibrating lever for carrying and actuating the
tools, we may find it desirable, when the faces of large numbers of files
laid abreast of each other are required to be operated upon simulta-
neously, to use a chisel-carrying-bar, which has a parallel vertical
motion imparted to it, as by this means the same depth of cut may be
readily insured to all the files in the range. Fig. 7, shews in clevation
so much of a file-cutting machine provided with the parallel motion
as will serve to carry out this modification of the machine described
with reference to Figures 1, 2, and 3. 9,7, are standards bolted to the
bed of the machine, and forming guides for the up and down traverse
of the chisel barr.. To this bar the connecting rods, is jointed, which
is itself pendent from a crank arm on the main driving shaft, as repre-
sented at Fig. 1. When, therefore, rotary motion is communicated to
the main driving shaft of the machine a vertical reciprocating move-
ment will be communicated to the chisel bar, and the chisels will be
caused to act uniformly on all the file blanks placed beneath them.
An intermittent axial motion may be communicated to the traversing
screw, either directly from a second cam on the driving shaft, or through
the interposition of a rock shaft similar to that shewn at Fig. 1.
It will be understood that when rasps are to be cut suitably formed
cutting tools must be employed, in lieu of the straight edged cutters or
chisels shewn in the Drawing.
Having now described our Invention of "An Improved Mode of
Manufacturing Files and Rasps," we wish it to be understood that under
the above in part recited Letters Patent we claim the cutting of two or
more file or rasp blanks simultaneously by bringing thein, through the

page_text: agency of a traversing table, under the action of a set of cutters con-
nected to a reciprocating bar or lever, as above explained.
In witness whereof, we, the said Thomas Gray and John Reid,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, the Thirteenth day of
January, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-four.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
Witness,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. SANG,
61, Grey St., Newcastle.
(L.S.)
JOHN REID.
THOMAS GRAY. (L.S.)