IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR DRESSING FLAGS AND STONE AND OTHER HARD MATERIALS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Fogg, of Edgeworth, in the County of
Lancaster, Quarry Master, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR DRESSING FLAGS AND STONE AND OTHER HARD MATERIALS."
Sealed the 20th May 1870, and dated the 24th November 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Fogg at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th November 1869.
I, JAMES FOGG, of Edgeworth, in the County of Lancaster, Quarry
Master, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR DRESSING FLAGS AND STONE AND OTHER HARD
MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
The flag or stone intended to be dressed is laid upon and affixed by
clamps or otherwise to a moveable or traversing table resting upon a
foundation plate or bed, a continuous slide motion being given to the
table in the ordinary way. Above the table and at right angles with its
motion is placed a cast-iron cross head supported by two uprights or
fixings bolted to and one on each side of the foundation or bed plate;

page_text: this cross head has recesses in front for the purpose of receiving a
number of chisels, the face of the cross head with its recesses being
placed so that the chisels are inclined at the proper cutting angle suit-
able for the material intended to be operated upon. Upon the upper
part of each of the chisels is a collar, which by resting upon or coming
in contact with the top portion of the cross head regulates the fall or
descent of the chisel. The chisels may be wholly of steel or iron. Chisel
holders may be used made with sockets at their lower ends so as to
receive short steel chisels of the form and strength suitable for the work,
the cutting edges of such steel chisels being set so as to be in a perfectly
straight line when the collars of the chisels or chisel holders are resting
upon the top part of the cross head. The chisels are so fixed in the
chisel holder sockets that they cannot twist or swerve from the position
in which they are set. Attached to the cross head and at each end of it
is a cast-iron fixing prepared so as to support a wrought-iron shaft with
its pedestals, driving pulleys, and feed motion for the moveable table.
Upon this shaft are fastened in a spiral direction as many cams or wipers
as the cross head contains chisels, such cams or wipers being for the
purpose of raising certain hammer heads keyed on to iron levers, and of
such a form that the hammers after being so raised are suddenly released
and fall by their own gravity upon the upper ends of the chisels or
chisel holders, by which momentum the chisels are driven in a down..
ward direction, so that the collars at their upper ends come in contact
with the top edge of the cross head, the cutting edge of the chisels thus
dressing or facing off the stone to a straight line. The iron levers upon
one end of which are keyed the hammers move or rock in small journals
at their opposite ends. The cross head with its chisels, the cam shaft,
levers, and hammers being all connected in one framing are suspended
from a round bar or shaft upon which is cut a screw or thread by means
of which a lateral or side motion is given to the cross head and framing
referred to, this arrangement being for the purpose of altering the
position of the chisels with respect to the stone worked upon after they
have traversed and completed their first cut across the stone, thus
placing the chisels directly over the part not previously operated upon,
so that they can dress or work off the ridges or projections left by the
first cut, thereby completing the dressing of the whole surface of the
stone. Immediately after each blow or stroke of the hammers the chisels.
are slightly elevated from the face of the stone by means of spiral or
other springs. The lever of the hammer may be also cushioned by a

page_text: rubber or other spring so as to relieve the chisel from its weight on the
completion of its blow. The hammer heads may be made of cast iron
with steel or other metal faces, or with hard wood faces; or the chisel
holders may have hard wood fitted into their upper ends. The cross
head with its chisel holders and chisels, and its framing, wipers, and.
wiper shaft, hammers, &c. has three motions given to it, first a vertical
or up-and-down motion, which may be used for raising or lowering the
cutting edge of chisels from the moveable table so as to suit the
dimensions of the stone to be worked, and also for the purpose of
increasing or diminishing the depth of the cut of the chisels without
altering their angle or inclination; second, a radiating motion, by which
the angle or inclination of the chisels may be varied so as to suit the
stone or other material to be worked; third, a lateral or side motion by
which the ridges or intervening parts left after the first cut may be faced
or dressed off without elevating or depressing the cutting edges of the
chisels. The said cross head may be so made that more than one set of
chisels can be operated upon at the same time, and the chisels may be so
placed that one set will work off the intervening spaces left by the other
or more advanced set, by this means dispensing with the lateral motion
above referred to and dressing the whole surface of the stone, at one
operation; this may be also effected by one set of chisels by making
the cutting edge of every alternate chisel slightly in advance of the
adjoining ones,
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Fogg in, the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 24th May 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
FOGG, of Edgeworth, in the County of Lancaster, Quarry Master, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors;
give and grant. unto me, the said James Fogg, Her special license that
I, the said James Fogg, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or

page_text: such others as I, the said James Fogg, 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 MACHINERY FOR DRESSING
FLAGS AND STONE AND OTHER HARD MATERIALS," upon the condition, amongst
others, that I, the said James Fogg, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, 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 Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Fogg, 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 figures on
the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters of reference
marked thercon (that is to say):-
The flag or stone intended to be dressed is laid upon and affixed by
clamps or otherwise to a table resting upon straight surfaces formed on
a strong bed or frame, there being a feed motion given to the table in
the ordinary way when the machine is set to work. Above the table
and at right angles with its motion is placed a cast-iron cross head
supported by two uprights or fixings bolted to each side of the bed, and
at the front of this cross head there is a number of chisels. The face of
the cross head is so formed that the chisels are inclined at thé proper
cutting angle suitable for the material intended to be operated upon,
and at the upper end of each chisel there is a square collar which in its
descent comes in contact with an upper part of the cross head and
determines the fall or descent of the chisel. The chisels may be wholly
of steel, or iron chisel holders may be used made with sockets at their
lower ends so as to receive short steel chisels of the form and strength
suitable for the work, the cutting edges of such steel chisels being set so
as to be in a perfectly straight line when the collars of the chisels or
chisel holders are resting upon the upper part of the cross head, and
when chisel holders are used the chisels are so fixed in the sockets that

page_text: they cannot twist or swerve from the position in which they are set. To
each end of the cross head is attached a cast-iron fixing or wing plate
arranged to support a wrought-iron shaft, with its pedestals, driving
pulleys, and feed motion for the moveable table, and on this shaft are
fastened in a spiral direction as many cams as the cross head contains
chisels, such cams being for the purpose of raising hammer heads keyed
to iron levers, the cams being of such a form that the hammers after
being raised are suddenly released and fall by their own gravity upon
the upper ends of the chisels or chisel holders, by which momentum the
chisels are driven in a downward direction until the collars at their
upper ends come in contact with the upper part of the cross head and
the cutting edges of the chisels dress or face off the stone to a straight
line. The iron levers, upon one end of which are keyed the hammers,
move or rock on a stationary bar held in small pedestals at the tops of
the wing plates fixed to the cross head, which with its chisels, the cam
shaft, levers, and hammers being all connected in one framing are sus-
pended from a round bar or shaft upon which is cut, a screw by means
of which a lateral motion is given to the cross head and parts connected
with it for the purpose of altering the position of the chisels with respect
to the stone worked upon after they have traversed and completed their
first cut across the stone, thus placing the chisels directly over the part
not previously operated upon, so that they can dress or work off. the
ridges or projections left by the first cut and thereby complete the
dressing of the whole surface of the stone in a very efficient manner,
Immediately after each blow or stroke of the hammers the chisels are
slightly elevated from the face of the stone by means of spiral or other
springs, and the levers of the hammers may be also cushioned by rubber
or other springs so as to raise the chisels immediately after completion
of the blows. The hammer heads may be made of cast iron with steel
or other metal faces, or with hard wood faces, or the chisel holders may
have hard wood fitted into their upper ends. The cross head carrying
the chisels or chisel holders and wing plates and other parts has three
motions given to it, first, an up-and-down motion, which is used for
raising or lowering the cutting edge of the chisels from the moveable
table so as to suit the dimensions of the stone to be worked, and also
for the purpose of increasing or diminishing the depth of the cut of the
chisels without altering their cutting angle; secondly, a radiating
motion, by which the angle of the chisels may be varied to suit the
stone or other material to be worked; and, thirdly, a lateral motion, by

page_text: which the ridges or intervening parts left after the first cut may be faced
or dressed off without elevating or depressing the cutting edges of the
chisels. The said cross head may be so made that more than one set of
chisels can be operated upon at the same time, and the chisels may be so
placed that one set will work off the intervening spaces left by the other
or more advanced set, and thus dispense with the lateral motion above
refered to, and dressing the whole surface of the stone at one operation;
and this may be also effected by one set of chisels by making the cut-
ting edge of every alternate chisel slightly in advance of the adjoining
ones.
On the accompanying Sheet of Drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation
partly in section, Fig. 2 a plan, and Fig. 3 an end elevation of a machine
designed to work with 19 hammers and chisels, but to prevent confusion
only two of the hammers are shewn in the Drawings; Fig. 4 is a front
elevation enlarged of part of the cross head with chisels and other parts
in connection with them; Fig. 5, an enlarged plan shewing the tops of
the chisels and square collars; and Fig. 6, an enlarged transverse section
of the cross head with a chisel, spring, and parts in connection with
them. And in all the Figures similar letters and marks of reference
refer to similar parts.
On an iron bed or frame a fixed to a stone or other suitable foundation
is placed a cast-iron table b, to which is fixed by clamps the flags or
stone c intended to be operated upon, and to the under side of and fixed
to the table is a toothed rack d, into which is geared a pinion e keyed to
the shaft, which shaft projects from one side of the bed and carries at
its outer end a worm wheel g gearing into a worm 7 fixed on one end of
a small shaft i having at its outer end a small bevil wheel geared into
a bevil wheel k. On the boss of this wheel is fixed a small pulley / to
which revolving motion is given by a belt or strap from the main shaft
of the machine, the said toothed rack and other parts just described
being for the purpose of giving the feed motion to the table b, the return
of which is given by a hand wheel on the shaft f. To each side of the
bed a is fixed an upright standard m, each carrying at the front a slide
platen so arranged that by means of the screws o, worm wheels p, and
worms the plates can be raised in a vertical direction further from or
lowered nearer to the table A. The plates n carry a strong cast-iron
cross head having at each end an axis or journal & fitted into a suitable
bearing on the lower part of the said slide plates 24, and near each of the

page_text: outer ends of this cross head is fixed a wing plate t, from a point in
cach of which to the top part of the slide plates n extends a strong rod u,
its upper end having a screw or thread which passes through an eye
piece swivelling at the top end of the slide plates n, and on the rods
are fitted nuts w, which by being turned change the position of the wing
plates t, and thereby vary the angle or inclination of the cross head r.
At the front face of the cross head a number of chisels are placed and
afterwards covered by strong cross bars y, z, of the shape shewn in
Fig. 4, which bars are bolted to the cross head in such a manner that
the chisels can move freely to-and-fro in an inclined direction. For
striking the heads of the chisels or chisel holders there are iron levers a¹
with hammer heads b' keyed upon their lower ends, which levers move
or rock at their upper ends upon a bar c³ carried by fixings & bolted to
the wing plates t, and there are as many levers, hammer heads, and
lifting cams as there are chisels. The driving shaft e¹ of the machine is
carried by bearings on the wing plates t, and has on one of its outer
ends the fast and loose pulleys f¹, which receive rotary motion from
a steam engine or other motive power, and on this' shaft e¹ are keyed
as many cams g' of the shape shewn in the Drawing or other required
shape as there are levers, hammers, and chisels, the said cams being
by preference set in a spiral direction, so that the hammers are lifted
successively one after the other, and not simultaneously. The bearings
of the shaft e' are so made that they can be raised or lowered by means
of the screws in order to raise and lower the shaft e with the cams
and parts connected with it so as to increase or decrease the height to
which the hammers are raised by the cams, and thereby enable the
weight or momentum of the hammers acting on the chisels to be regu-
lated to suit the work to be donc. On the opposite end of the shaft e³ is
fixed a small pulley ¹ for the purpose of driving by a belt represented
by the dotted lines the pulley and wheels k, g, in connection with the
feed motion of the table 6, and the pulleys and may be change
pulleys so as to vary the amount of feed as required. The belt passes
over guide pulleys m¹ carried by a slotted bracket n', the slot being for
the purpose of enabling the pulley's to be easily adjusted. The chisels
may be made of iron and stecled at their lower ends, or be entirely of
steel, and on their upper ends a square shoulder or collar o' is forged,
which collar is on all occasions driven by the force of the hammer until
it comes in contact with the upper part of p' of the cross head, such upper
part being made. perfectly straight. The chisels or chisel holders are all

page_text: made exactly of the same length from the under side of the shoulder or
collar to their cutting edges, and the head of the chisel above the collar
is made circular, as at q, and may be bored out so as to receive a small
plug of hard wood or other material upon which the hammer head falls
when the object sought to be obtained is to assimilate the kind of blow
given to that of the ordinary mallet used in the hand dressing of stones
or flags. To the cross bar y, Figs. 4 and 6, are connected circular steel
springs with small screws and nuts at their upper ends, and hooks at
their lower ends linked to small round iron studs & passed through holes
in the chisels to which the hooks of the springs are attached, there being
holes cast or formed in the cross head for these studs to pass through.
The springs are applied for the purpose of elevating the cutting edges
of the chisels from the face of the stone operated upon immediately after
the blows of the hammers are given, so that the chisels will not interfere
with the feed motion of the table. To regulate the height to which the
chisels are raised by the springs an iron plate &, Figs. 4, 5, and 6, is
fixed by screws to the top part of the cross bar y, and the top part of
the square collar o' on the chisels coming in contact with this iron plato
the upward motion of the chisels is arrested, tho said iron plate being
provided with slots, so that it can be moved on one side during the
operation of taking out and putting in fresh chisels. The chisels aro of
such form that after their cutting edges are blunted or dulled by the
action of the stone they can be reversed in their position, and thus
their other cutting edges may be used without requiring to be newly
sharpened. In cases where the depth of cut required to be taken is
more than can be attained by having the cutting edges of the chisels
the full width chisels may be used of the form at their cutting edges as
shewn by the dotted lines in Fig. 4, and after taking a cut across the
stone the cross head, chisels, hammers, and other parts may be moved
sideways or in a direction at right angles to the motion of the table 6 by
means of the screw and the handle or wheel c'. When a portion only
of the chisels are required to be worked the hammers belonging to the
chisels not required to bo in action can be suspended by means of small
spring catches carried by a suitable fixing extending across the top of
the standards, and the said spring catches are also used to hold the
hammers and levers when the chisels are to be removed or changed.

page_text: distinctly understood that for dressing flags and stone and other hard
materials I claim, the general arrangement and combination of ma-
chinery as herein described and illustrated in the accompanying Sheet
of Drawings, or any mere modification thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Fogg, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by
the within-named James Fogg,..
in the presence of
G. SEPTIMUS HUGHES,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.
JAMES FOGG. (L.S.)