IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR TURNING AND OTHERWISE CUTTING, WORKING, OR SILAPING WOOD
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltino, Lake,
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for an Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR TURNING AND OTHERWISE CUTTING,
WORKING, OR SILAPING WOOD." A communication from abroad by Freeman
Hanson, of Hollis, Maine, United States of America, Mechanic.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 1st April 1880.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR TURNING
AND OTHERWISE CUTTING, WORKING, OR SHAPING WOOD." [A communication
from abroad by Freeman Hanson, of Hollis, Maine, United States of America,
Mechanic.]
This Invention relates to improvements in wood-turning machines, in which by
giving peculiar motions to the wood to be cut, or to the cutting tool, or to both,
the wood may be formed into crescents, ovals, ships' blocks, buttons, or discs with
any desired number of scallops, points, or sides; or into any other desired shape of
regular or irregular surface and outline; or in which any desired number of holes
or indentations of square, polygonal, oval, or other required form, may be cut in the
wood at regular or irregular intervals.
It also relates to improved mechanism in which the wood to be cut is made to
present a predetermined part of its surface to the action of the cutting device at
proper intervals, and the mechanism which operates the cutting device is so adjusted
that it acts only when that part of the surface is presented to it, thus causing solid
objects to be cut with the desired number of edges, sides, indentations, scallops, or
other devices.
It also relates to the boring of square holes in wheel hubs or naves and other
articles; this is effected by a peculiar combination of the rotation of the hub itself
with the motions of the tool.
For some of the above operations a constant rotation of the wood is demanded,
for others an intermittent rotation, and for others both motions alternately. The
main parts of the machine remain the same, while these desired changes are mado
by altering the mechanism at the gear-wheel end.

page_text: In carrying the said Invention into practice I provide a table or frame-work,
which supports the moving parts of the machine. The bed-plate may bo
stationary or movable in guide-cleats as desired. There is a sliding cutter-head.
.
Power is applied to a shaft by pulleys and belting. This shaft turns in the
frame-work, and carries two pulleys, a wheel, and a slotted socket-head; one
pulley is a cone-pulley, and is connected by a belt with another cone-pulley on
another shaft, which also turns in the fraine-work. The second pulley on the first-
named shaft is connected by a belt with a fast and loose pulley on another
shaft, which also turns in the frame-work; there is a wheel having two crank-rods
or excentrics fastened to it by a pin. Tho throw of these excentrics may be
altered by changing the position of the pin upon the wheel; one crank-rod is
pivotted to a lever which is fastened to a reciprocating arm, the other end of which
is fastened to the aforesaid sliding-cutter head when it is desired to have the
cutter-head slide in a slot between guide cleats; the other crank-rod is fastened
at one end to an elbow-lever pivotted to the frame-work, the other end of the
elbow lever being fastened to the cutter head when it is desired to have it slide at
right angles to its former motion, which it does in a slot if the guide cleats are
arranged at right angles to their former position. Thus the sliding cutter-head is
made to slide either in the direction of the length of the machine, or across it at
right angles, accordingly as connection is made with the elbow-lever or the
reciprocating arm. This sliding cutter-head consists of a bed-plate which rests
upon guides running in the guide-cleats and a post or head which carries a
rotating arbor. This head is pivotted by set-screws to posts which rise from the
bed-plate, and is also provided with a handle, by which the operator can give it a
rocking motion without interfering with the sliding motion of the bed; a pin may
be inserted in one post when it is desired to provent the head from rocking.
The said arbor in addition to its rotation is made capable of sliding forward and
backward when such motion is desirable. This is done by the hand of the operator,
and is particularly important in mortising hubs. This arbor carries the cutting
tool, which differs for the different operations.
When the cutter-head slides across the plane of the machine's length, that is to
say, at right angles to the wood to be cut, the arbor carries a turning chisel or
knife. When the cutter-head slides parallel to the wood to be cut, that is to say,
slides in the plane of the machine's length, the arbor carries a circular saw or an
auger. The length of slido of the cutter-head is obviously determined by the
adjustment of a connecting pin and the rods and levers.
Turning now to the other end of the machine the second shaft, as before stated,
turns in the frame-work, and is rotated by a belt which passes over one of the
cone-pulleys. On one end of this shaft is a slotted socket-head, to which is
fastened a crank-rod by a connecting pin. This connecting pin is made
adjustable in the slot of the socket-head, and by its distance from the centre of
the socket-head controls the length of throw of the crank-rod, the other end of
which is fastened to the sliding bed-plate. This sliding motion of the bed-plate
may be horizontal in the guide-cleats, in which case it is a sliding and transversely-
reciprocating bed-plate, or it may be vertical as hereafter explained. A burr
upon the other end of the shaft fits the latter to the journal case in which it turns,
but is removable to allow a gear wheel to enter the journal case for the pawl and
ratchet motion hereinafter described.
I provide a slotted elbow-arm supporting a train of four gear-wheels, one end of
the arm being hung upon the shaft, and the other end hung on a collar which turns
in the journal-case on the top of a post. One gear-wheel has a spline which enters
a slot in the shaft, and thus is made to take the motion of the same. The four
gear wheels are made adjustable in a slot of the said elbow arm by four pins, and
serve to convey motion from the shaft to a gear-wheel.
I provide posts or uprights, one at each end of the bed-plate, and supported by
it; there is also a travelling post which moves by a pinion upon a rack, which is
fastened upon the bed-plate. I provide a mandril or chuck-shaft which turns in

page_text: the journal cases in two of the posts. This chuck-shaft is slotted near its whole
length, and tlie slot receives a spline of the aforesaid collar, and thus is turned by
one of the gear-wheels without interfering with its sliding forward with the
travelling post. There is a wheel by which the operator turns the pinion in tho
underside of the travelling post, and moves the latter forward as desired. The
chuck-shaft has a chuck at the end held by the travelling post, which serves to
hold and rotate the wood or a spindle, as hereinafter explained. One of the
uprights has a collar, in which the other end of the wood is held and rotated by
teeth or prongs.
As before stated this gear-wheel mechanism gives a constant rotation to the
wood. The character of this constant rotation varies with the number of teeth
upon the respective gear-wheels, and the rate at which one of the gear wheels.
which I will call the large gear-wheel, revolves compared with the backward and
forward motion of the bed-plate. Thus if the sliding bed moves backward and
forward eight times while the said gear-wheel is making one revolution, there
will be eight scallops cut upon the periphery of the figure or block being formed.
It is obvious that by altering the position of the gear-wheels upon the slotted
elbow-arm, the number of gear-wheels or the number of teeth upon the same, a
great variety of shapes may be formed; every such change producing a different
number of backward and forward motions of the bed-plato during one revolution of
the large gear-wheel.
The aforesaid slotted socket-head on the end of the first named shaft is provided
with an adjustable crank-rod fastened to it by a connecting pin which is made
adjustable in the slot of the socket-head, and which by its distance from the centro
of the socket head controls the throw of the crank-rod. The other end of this crank-
rod is fastened to the arm or lever which carries the pawl, and is pivotted to the
centre of a ratchet-wheel. This ratchet wheel is rigidly fastened by pins, through
four holes, to the large gear-wheel, which for this operation is placed upon the
second shaft, the burr being removed. An arm with a gear-wheel is hung upon the
short shafts or collars of the large gear-wheel and of an extra gear-wheel, which is
also provided with a spline and is put upon one of the posts to turn the chuck-
shaft. Thus motion is conveyed from the ratchet-wheel to the chuck-shaft or
mandrel. This ratchet-wheel, although rigidly fastened to the large gear-wheel, is
removable from it to allow the substitution of ratchet-wheels of a different number
of teeth. The crank-rod which connects the second shaft with the bed-plate to
impart a vibratory motion to the latter is disconnected, as is also the pulley when
the pawl and ratchet device is used with the arm. If, however, it is desirable, as
in cutting certain kinds of scallops, to use a sliding instead of a stationary bed with
the intermittent motion, it is obvious that this can be done by leaving the crank-
rod connected, and using an elbow-arm instead of the rigid arm.
At the beginning of each throw of the adjustable crank-rod the pawl leaves the
tooth last engaged by it, and passing over several teeth during the outward and
upward motion of the crank-rod and lever engages another tooth of the ratchet-
wheel at the moment when the crank-rod has reached the end of its upward and
outward motion. This tooth is held by the pawl, and the wheels are thereby
turned a given fraction of a revolution until the crank-rod reaches its lowest
position, when the tooth is released, and the wheels cease moving until a new tooth
is engaged as before. Thus if there are 35 teeth in the ratchet-wheel the pawl and
adjustable crank-rod may be so adjusted as to engage every fifth or every seventh
tooth, and there will be seven or five stops during one revolution of the large gear-
wheel. If the ratchet-wheel has 36 teeth there may be three, four, six, nine, or
twelve stops during one revolution, according to the adjustment.
The gear-wheel which turns the chuck-shaft has half the number of teeth of the
large gear-wheel, from which it derives its motion through one of the other gear-
wheels, which has the same number of teeth as the one which turns the chuck-
shaft. This wheel therefore makes double the number of revolutions and half the
number of stops in one revolution as compared with the large gear-wheel. It is

page_text: evident that this proportion may be varied as found convenient, according to the
number of points, scallops, or other devices to be cut upon the wood:
This pawl and ratchet mechanism imparts an intermittent rotation to the wood
to be cut, which, as before stated, is held and turned by the chuck. By disengaging
this pawl and turning three of the wheels directly by the pulley and shaft a constant
rotation may be imparted to the wood. This alternate use of the constant rotation
by the pulley and intermittent rotation by the pawl is of especial importance in
mortising hubs.
In addition to these two motions (the intermittent and the constant) imparted
to the wood by the rotation of the chuck-shaft, auxiliary motions may be given to
it by the motions of the bed-plate. I have already explained the horizontal or
transversely-reciprocating motion of the bed plate given to it by one of the crank-
rods. Instead of this-an-up and down or vertical vibration may be given to it by
placing the shaft which carries the slotted socket-head and crank-rod below the
bed-plate instead of at its side. To ensure a uniformn motion of the bed and to
preserve its horizontal position while moving the bed-plate is provided with four
vertical guides, one at each corner, and is moved by two crank-rods, one at
each end of the bed-plate. Or a lateral rocking motion may be imparted to the
bed-plate by having it fastened to and swinging with rockers hung upon posts, one
at each end of the bed-plate, so that the bed-plate, uprights, rack, and travelling
post are all moved together by one of the crank-rods. Or any other motion may
be given to the bed-plate which does not interfere with the working of the pawl
and ratchet chuck-shaft and travelling post, or with the system of genr-wheels
upon the slotted elbow-arm. These different motions of the bed-plate determine
the character of the shapes-cut-and-have for their object the bringing of the wood
into the field of the rotating knife at regular or irregular intervals;-and--from-
different directions, as desired.
I provide a handle at the cutter-head end of the frame-work for holding a circular
saw. This bandle is pivotted to a post which is fastened to the frame-work. A
short shaft turns in this handle and carries a pulley, which is connected by a belt
with a pulley on a shaft, which is rotated, as before explained, by the fast and loose
pulley. This short shaft also carries a circular saw which is rotated rapidly
whenever the belt is so shifted by the belt-shifter that the shaft is set in
rotation.
Some of the tools used in this machine not only shape the object but cut it off;
others simply cut the edges, and for these latter the circular saw is designed. It
is raised by the handle, when desired, into contact with the wood, and lowered
again by the operator after cach object is shaped, thus cutting it off and allowing
the wood to be advanced by the travelling post.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
30th September 1880.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR TURNING
AND OTHERWISE CUTTING, WORKING, OR SHAPING WOOD." A communication
from abroad by Freeman Hanson, of Hollis, Maine, United States of America,
Mechanic.
This Invention relates to improvements in wood-turning machines, in which by
giving peculiar motions to the wood to be cut or to the cutting tool, or to both, the
wood may be formed into crescents, ovals, ships' blocks, buttons, or discs with any
desired number of scallops, points, or sides, or into pieces of any other desired shape
and with regular or irregular surface and outline, and by which machines any
desired number of holes or indentations of square, polygonal, oval, or other required
form may be cut in the wood at regular or irregular intervals.
It also relates to improved mechanisın, in which the wood to be cut is made to
present a predetermined part of its surface to the action of the cutting device at
proper intervals, the mechanism which operates the cutting device being so adjusted
that it acts only when that part of the surface is presented to it, thus causing solid
objects to be cut with the desired number of edges, sides, indentations, scallops, or
the like.
It also relates to the boring of square holes in wheel hubs or naves and other
articles by a peculiar combination of the rotation of the hub itself with the motions
of the tool itself.
Some of the above operations require a constant rotation of the wood, others an
intermittent rotation, and others both motions alternately. The main parts of the
machine remain the same, while these desired changes are made by altering the
nechanism at the gear wheel end of the same.
In the accompanying Drawings,-
Figure 1 is a plan of a machine provided with the constant rotation mechanism.
Figure 2 is a front elevation of the same.
Figure 3 is an end view, shewing the arrangement of gear wheels for a constant
rotation.
Figuro 4 is an end view, shewing the cutter head mechanism, and is adapted to
both constant and intermittent rotation.
Figuro 5 is a plan, showing the machine provided with the intermittent rotation
mechanism.
Figure 6 is a front elevation of the same.
Figure 7 is an end view, shewing the pawl and ratchet mechanism to produce an
intermittent rotation.
Figures 8 and 9 shew details of the mechanism.
Like letters indicate the same parts throughout the Drawings.
A is the table or frame which supports the moving parts of the machine; B is
the bed plate, which may be stationary or movable in guide cleats, as desired; C
is the sliding cutter head.
Power is applied to the shaft a by pulleys and belting not shewn. The shaft a
turns in the framework, and carries the pulleys D and D', the wheel E, and the
slotted socket-head E'; D is a conc-pulley, and is connected by the belt b with
another cone-pulley D² on the shaft a', which also turns in the framework, as
hereinafter explained. The pulley D' on the shaft a is connected by the belt bl
with the fast and loose pulley D³ on the shaft a², which also turns in the frame-
work.

page_text: The wheel E has two crank-rods or excentrics d, d', fastened to it by the pin c.
The throw of these excentrics may be altered by changing the position of the pin c
upon the wheel E. The crank rod d is pivotted at f to the lever d², which has its
fulcrum at f, and is fastened at f' to a reciprocating arın ³, the other end of
which is secured to the sliding cutter-head C when it is desired to have the cutter
head slide in the slot e between the guide cleats g, g.
The crank rod d' is fastened at one end to the elbow lever d, pivotted to the
framework at f³, the other end of the elbow lever d' being fastened to the cutter
head C. When it is desired to have it slide at right angles to its former motion it
then slides in the slot e¹, the guide-cleats being arranged at right angles to their
former position; thus the sliding cutter-head C is made to slide either in the direction
of the length of the machine or across it, accordingly as connection is made with the
elbow lever d' or the reciprocating arm d³.
This sliding cutter-head C consists of the bed-plate B¹, which rests upon guides
running in the guide-cleats g, g, and a post or head which carries a rotating arbor i.
This head is pivotted by the set-screws c, c', to the posts p, p, which rise from the
bed plate B', and is also provided with a handle h, by which the operator can give
it a rocking motion without interfering with the sliding motion of the bed. A
pin cinay be inserted in the post 2 when it is desired to prevent the head from
rocking. The rotating arbor i is made capable of sliding forward and backward
when such motion is desirable; this motion is effected by the hand of the operator,
and is particularly important in mortising hubs, as hereinafter explained. The
arbor carries the cutting tool, which differs for the different operations.
When the cutter-hoad slides across the plane of the machine's length, that is to
say, at right angles to the wood to be cut, the arbor i carries a turning chisel or
knife. When the cutter-head slides in a path parallel to the wood to be cut or in
the plane of the machino's length, the arbor i carries a circular saw or an auger.
The length of slide of the cutter-head C is obviously determined by the adjustment
of the connecting pin e and the rods and levers d, dɩ, d², d³, and d³.
The shalt a¹, as above stated, turns in the framework, and is rotated by the
belt b, which passes over the cone pulley D³. On one end of this shaft a' is a
slotted socket-head E, to which is fastened the crank-rod H by the connecting
pin c. This connecting pin c³ is made adjustable in the slot of the socket-head,
and by its distance from the centre of the socket-head controls the length of throw
of the crank-rod H, the other end of which is fastened to the sliding bed plate B.
This sliding notion of the bed-plate B may be horizontal in the guide cleats g¹, y',
in which case I call it a sliding and transversely-reciprocating bed plate, or it may
be vertical, as hereinafter explained. A burr jupon the other end of the shaft a¹
fits the shaft to the journal case, in which it turns, but is removable to allow the
gear wheel G to enter the journal case for the pawl and ratchet motion, as here-
ufter described.
F is a slotted elbow-arm supporting a train of gear wheels G1, G2, G3, G+, one
end of the arm being hung upon the shaft a¹ and the other end on the collar q,
which turns in the journal case on the top of the post I. The gear wheel G' has a
splino o, which enters the slot n in the shaft a', and thus is made to take the
motion of the shaft a'. The four gear wheels G', G³, G³, G', are made adjustablo
in the slot of the elbow arm F by the pins c', c', c', c', and serve to convey inotion
from the shaft a¹ to the large gear wheel G (Figure 3.)
I, I are posts or uprights, one at each end of the bed-plate B, and supported by
it; J is a travelling post, which is moved through the pinion and the rack, which
is fastened upon the bed plate B; K is a mandrel or chuck-shaft which turns in
the journal cases in the posts I and J respectively. This chuck-shaft is slotted
nearly its whole length by the slot n', which receives the spline o' of the collar q,
and thus is turned by the gear wheel G without interfering with its sliding forward
with the post J; L is a wheel by which the operator turns the pinion 7 in the
underside of the travelling post J, and moves the latter forward as desired. The
chuck-shaft K has a chuck at the end held by the post J, which chuck serves to

page_text: hold and rotate the wood or spindlo, as hereinafter explained. The upright I' has a
collar g', in which the other end of the wood is held and rotated by the teeth or
prongs t, t.
As above stated the gear-wheel mechanism gives a constant rotation to the wood.
The character of this constant rotation varies with the number of teeth upon tho
respective gear-wheels and the rate at which the large gear wheel G revolves
compared with the backward and forward motion of the bed-plato. Thus if the
sliding bed moves backward and forward eight times while the gear wheel G is
making ono revolution there will be eight scallops cut upon the periphery of tho
figure or block being formed. It is obvious that by altering the position of the
gear-wheels upon the slotted elbow-arm, the number of gear-wheels or the number
of teeth upon the same, a great variety of shapes may be produced, every such
change producing a difforent number of backward and forward motions of the bed
plate B during one revolution of the gear wheel G.
The aforesaid slotted socket-head E on the end of the shaft a is provided with an
adjustable crank-rod H' fastened to it by the connecting pin c³, which is made
adjustable in the slot of the socket-head, and which by its distance from the centro
of the socket-head controls the throw of the crank-rod H. The other end of this
crank-rod is fastened to the arın or lever H2, which carries the pawl k, and is
pivotted at to the centre of the ratchet-wheel AI. This ratchet wheel M is
rigidly fastened by pins through the holes m to the gear wheel G, which, for this
operation, is placed upon the shaft a', the burr j being reinoved. The arm F¹, with
its gear wheel G5, is hung upon the short shafts or collars q, of the gear wheel G,
and q of the extra gear wheel G, which is also provided with a spline o², and is
put upon the post I to turn the chuck-shaft K. Thus motion is conveyed from the
ratchet wheel M to the chuck shaft or mandrel K. This ratchet wheel, although
rigidly fastened to the gear wheel G, is removable from it to allow the substitution
of ratchet wheels with a different number of teeth. The crank-rod H, which
connects the shaft a' with the bed-plate B to impart a vibratory motion to the
latter, is disconnected, as is also the pulley D when the pawl and ratchet device is
used with the arm F. If however it is desirable, as in cutting certain kinds of
scallops, to use a sliding instead of a stationary bed with the intermittent motion it
is obvious that this can be done by leaving the crank-rod H connected and using
an elbow arm instead of the rigid-arm F¹.
At the beginning of each throw of the crank-rod H¹ the pawl & leaves the tooth
last engaged by it, and passing over several teeth during the outward and upward
motion of the crank rod and lever engages another tooth of the ratchet-wheel M at
the moment when the crank-rod has reached the end of its upward and outward
motion. This tooth is held by the pawl le, and the wheels are thereby turned a
given fraction of a revolution until the crank-rod reaches its lowest position, when
the tooth is released and the wheels cease moving until a new tooth is engaged as
before. Thus if there are 35 teeth in the ratchet wheel M the pawl & and crank-
rod H' may be so adjusted as to engage every fifth or every seventh tooth, and
there will be seven or five stops during one revolution of the gear wheel G. If the
ratchet wheel has 36 teeth, may be there, four, six, nine, or twelve stops during
one revolution according to the adjustment.
The gear wheel G6, which turns the chuck-shaft K, has half the number of teeth
of the gear-wheel G, from which it derives its motion through the gear-wheel C³,
which has the same number of teeth as Go. The wheel Go therefore makes double
the number of revolutions and half the number of stops in one revolution made
by G. It is evident that this proportion may be varied according to the number of
points, scallops, or other devices to be cut upon the wood.
This pawl and ratchet mechanism imparts an intermittent rotation to the wood
to be cut, which, as before stated, is held and turned by the chuck l. By disengaging
this pawl and turning the wheels G, G³, and G directly by the pulley D and
shaft a' a constant rotation may be imparted to the wood. This altornate use of

page_text: the constant rotation by the pulley D² and intermittent rotation of the pawl k is
of especial importance in mortising hubs, as hereinafter explained.
In addition to these two motions (intermittent and constant) imparted to the
wood by the rotation of the chuck-shaft K auxiliary motions may be given to it by
the motions of the bed-plate B. I have already explained the horizontal or trans-
versely-reciprocating motion of the bed plate B given it by the crank-rod H.
Instead of this motion an up and down or vertical vibration may be given to it by
placing the shaft which carries the slotted socket head and crank rod below the bed-
plate instead of at its side. To ensure a uniform motion of the bed, and to
preserve its horizontal position while moving, the bed plate is provided with four
vertical guides, one at each corner, and is moved by two crank-rods, the one at
cach end of the bed plate. Or a lateral rocking motion may be imparted to the
bed-plate B by having it fastened to and swinging with-rockers hung upon posts,
one at each end of the bed plate, so that the bed-plate B, uprights I and I', rack ",
and travelling post J are all moved together by the crank rod H. Or any other
motion may be given to the bed-plate B which does not interfere with the working
of the pawl and ratchet, chuck shaft, and travelling post, or with the system of
gear-wheels upon the slotted elbow arm F. These different motions of the bed-
plate determine the shapes cut, and have for their object the bringing of the wood
into the field of the rotating knife at regular or irregular intervals, and from
different directions as desired.
N is a handle at the cutter head end of the framework for holding a circular saw.
This handle is pivotted at fo to a post p² which is fastened to the frame-work. A
-short shaft a turns in this handle and carries a pulley D* connected by the belt b
with the pulley D' on the shaft a², which is rotated as above-explained by the fast
and loose pulley D³. This short shaft a³ also carries the circular saw 8, which is
rotated rapidly whenever the belt b' is so shifted by the belt shifter v that the
shaft a² is set in rotation.
Some of the tools used in this machine not only shape the object, but cut it off;
others simply cut the edges. The circular saw 8 is designed to be raised by the
handle N, when desired, into contact with the wood, and lowered again by the
operator after each object is shaped, thus cutting it off and allowing the wood to be
advanced by the travelling post J.
The operation of the aforesaid machine is as follows:-
:-
To turn dises or buttons with scalloped, pointed, regular, or irregular outlines, or
the like, by the intermittent motion the wood is intermittently rotated by the
pawl and ratchet wheel M, as above described, adjusted to make the desired
number of stops in one revolution. The cutting tool or chisel carried by the cutter-
head C, which in this case slides across the plane of the wood to be cut, is in rapid
rotation, and is brought up to the edge of the wood while stationary. When the
cutter-head C slides back from the wood the wood is turned to present another edge
to be shaped by the cutting tool when again brought forward. The whole disc
having been shaped, it is cut off and the wood moved forward by the wheel L into
position for a new disc to be formed. The edges of the disc will be straight, curved,
or hollowed, according to the supplemental notions given to the wood by the
movements of the bed-plate before described.
To cut pointed figures other than discs the cutter head C carries a circular saw in
rapid rotation, and slides parallel to the wood to be cut. In other respects the
operation is the same as above described.
To cut ovals, scallops, rosettes, polygonal pieces, and the like with constant rota-
tion the rotation of the wood is derived from the gear-wheels upon the slotted
elbow-arm F. The motions of the bed-plate B to and fro bring the wood alternately
within and out of the field of the rapidly rotating chisel which is fastened to the
edge of the arbor i. The shape given to the disc depends, as above explained, upon
the relative velocity of the chuck-shaft K which rotates the wood, and of the sliding
bed-plate B. If the chuck-shaft makes two revolutions while the bed-plato slides

page_text: once backward and forward the piece cut will be oval. If three times, a triangle;
four times, a square; five times, a pentagon, and so on. The character of the sides
of these polygonal figures, whether straight, convex, or concave, depends upon the
length of the slide of the bed-plate and its speed compared with that of the cutter-
head C.
The same shapes may bo cut, whether the motions of the bed-plate are horizontal,
vertical, or rocking, as above described.
To turn crescents the pawl k is disconnected and a constant rotation is imparted
by the pulley D, as herein before described, and at the same time the operator gives
a rocking motion to the cutter head C by the handle h. By thus alternately
bringing the knife into deep or shallow contact with the wood (the bed plate being
stationary) a portion of the circle which would otherwise be formed is cut away,
leaving a crescent, which may be made full or thin, as desired. A kind of double
crescent may be made by cutting from the opposite edges of the circle towards the
centre.
To bore square holes in wheel hubs or naves the wood is carried in and rotated
by the chuck and collar q'. I will assume this rotation to bo from left to right.
The arbor i which carries the knife or chisel projecting laterally from its outer end
is parallel to the wood, and rotates from right to left; thus the end of the chisel
describes a circle of which the axis of the arbor is the contre. This rotating chisel
is brought into and away from contact with the rotating wood four times in every
revolution of the wood, and gradually eats it away from four opposite sides
until the square is formed by the junction of these four sides. In order that tho
sides of this square may be straight lines, instead of being concave, a third motion
is needed to counteract the tendency of the chisel to cut an arc of the circle which
it describes; this object is effected by the sliding or rocking motions of the aforesaid
bed-plate.
As the result of these three motions acting together will be the cutting of a square
disc, that is to say, a solid square, the reversing of these three motions will result
in a square hole or hollow square. By "reversing" these motions I mean giving to
the wood the motion which the tool previously had, and to the tool the two motions
which the wood previously had. The cutting also must be reversed, that is to say,
it must be done from the centre of the wood outward, instead of from the circum-
ference inward. This combination of motions would produce a square hole in the
end of the wood of the same size as the disc cut by the former motion. Other
shaped holes may be cut in the end of the wood to form triangles, ovals, rosettes, or
the like, by giving to the wood and the tool the "reverse "motions of those which
they had in cutting solid triangles, ovals, rosettes, and other figures.
But in boring square holes in a hub or nave the hole has to be cut on the side
of the hub, not at the end. The motions required then must be somewhat
different from those in the other operations.
The hub is carried on and rotated by a spindle which rests in the chuck / and
collar g' just as the wood rested in it in the other operation. This rotation of the
hub is from left to right, so that the cut made by the chisel or auger is made to
run vertically upwards from the point first struck. The rotation of the hub while
being bored is constant, and is derived from the pulley d³. The pawl and ratchet
wheel are thus rendered inoperative during the boring of the holo.
The cutter-head c in this operation slides in a path parallel to the spindle which
holds the hub, and the arbor i carries an auger or chisel inserted in the end
towards the hub, and rotated as an auger usually is in boring, and not carried in
a circular path, as in cutting discs. When thus used the arbor i is made capable
of (sliding to and from the hub, so as to bring the auger or chisel into and away
from contact with the hub very rapidly. The rapidity of motion and time of
contact are controlled by the operator, who moves this sliding arbor by hand, and
they determine the length and depth of the vertical cuts before stated to be caused
by the rotation of the hub. As the cutter head C slides forwards and backwards
along the side of the hub during the whole of this operation there would be a

page_text: tendency to produce horizontal cuts on the hub corresponding to the vertical cuts
made by the hub's rotation. The wood which might otherwise be left by those two
rows of straight cuts is removed by the third motion, namely, the rotation of tho
auger or chisel.
The combining of these three motions prevents the result that would be effected
by any one of them alone. Thus the rotating auger or chisel would cut a circular
hole if the wood and the arbor i were stationary, but the rotation of the hub
draws this circle out vertically, and the sliding motion of the cutter head and arbor
draws this circle out horizontally, the resultant of the three motions being a square.
In order to have this cutting effected always at the same place upon the hub, the
clbow lever d' and connecting pin c, which control the slide of the cutter head C,
as hereinbefore stated, are so adjusted with reference to the gear wheels which
coutrol the motion of the chuck-shaft K, whereby the hub is turned, that the auger
or chisel is brought into position to act upon the hub at regular intervals, one for
every revolution of the hub. Each hole is bored in this manner to the required
depth before a new one is begun.
To secure the regular succession of holes in the hub the required distances must
be spaced off upon it; this spacing is done by the pawl and ratchet mechanism as
follows: The excentricity of the crank-rod H' is adjusted as before explained to
produce the desired number of stops in one revolution (the machine being now
motionless). It is then started and moved till the pawl k, lever H², and crank-
rod H have made one motion up and down, this brings the pawl and ratchet
mechanism to its normal starting point. The elbow lever d' and connecting pin c
are then adjusted to bring the arbor i and chisel into a position to act; the pawl
and ratchet mechanism is then disconnected, the pulley D switched on, and the
machine started. It is obvious that whenever the cutter head brings the arbor
and chisel into position to act on the hub, which it does once in every revolution
of the hub, that part of the hub which was presented to it when the machine
started will be again in position to be acted upon by the chisel. Thus the hole is
made deeper at every cut, as before described.
One hole having been made, the machine is stopped, the pawl and ratchet
mechanism switched on and turned another fraction of a revolution, that is to say,
of one up and down motion of the crank rod H¹, and then switched off by switching
on the pulley D². The position upon the hub where the second hole is to be bored
is now opposite the chisel when in position to act, and the machine being started,
the second hole is bored in the same manner as the first hole.
When the first row of holes has been made, the hub may be slightly advanced by
the travelling post J on the rack r, and after a re-adjustinent of the crank-rods, a
second row of holes interlocking with the first row may be made, then the hub is
removed and a new one put on. Though usual to bave two rows of holes in wheel-
hubs, it is sometimes found convenient to have the holes all in one row, in which
case the second adjustment and advance of the post J is not necessary.
The said machine is also designed to make or cut circular, oval, scalloped, square,
or other shaped picture frames from a piece of board. The board is first held by
its centre, and the outer edge is shaped by a chisel, as in the process of turning
oval, square, and other discs above described. The board is then held by clamps
at the edges, and the centre is cut out to form the inner edge, as hereinbefore
specified with reference to the cutting holes in the end of a piece of wood.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it under-
stood that I claim,—
First. A wood-turning or hub-mortising machine, provided with a pawl and arm
or lever moved by an adjustable crank-rod, and acting upon a ratchet wheel to
impart, through a series of gear-wheels or other suitable mechanism, an intermittent
rotation to the wood to be cut, substantially as herein before described.
Second. A hub-mortising machine, provided with a sliding and revolving arbor
armed with a rotating chisel or other suitable cutting tool, and moved upon a

page_text: sliding cutter-head towards a rotating hub and along its side simultaneously with
its rotation, as hereinbefore described and for the purposes specified.
Third. In a wood-turning and hub-mortising machine the combination of an
adjustable crank-rod, an arm or lever, a pawl, and a ratchet-wheel, to produce any
desired number of stops in one revolution of the wheels operated by thein, as herein
before described.
Fourth. The above described rocking sliding mechanism, consisting of the
bed-plate, the set-screws, the posts, and the cutter-head, provided with the handlo
and carrying a revolving arbor, substantially as hereinbefore described and for the
purpose specified.
Fifth. A wood-turning machine provided with a horizontal sliding bed-plate for
carrying the mechanism which holds and rotates the wood, and which bed-plato is
kept horizontal and made to slide horizontally or vertically by crank-rods and
guide-cleats without interfering with the rotation of the wood, substantially as and
for the purposes specified.
Sixth. The combination of the sliding cutter-head with the sliding and trans-
versely-reciprocating bed-plate, substantially as and for the purposes specified.
Seventh. The combination of the sliding cutter head with the vertically recipro-
cating bed plate, substantially as hereinbefore described and for the purposo
specified.
Eighth. The combination of the sliding and rocking cutter-head with the rocking
bed-plate, substantially as described and for the purposes specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty.
W". ROD". LAKE. (LS.)