AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR CUTTING THIN BOARDS
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Florentin Garand, of Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium,
Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR CUTTING THIN
BOARDS
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Florentin Garand at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 10th May 1878.
FLORENTIN GARAND, of Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium, Engineor,
IMPROVED MACHINE FOR CUTTING THIN BOARDS.'
" AN
Numerous attempts have been made to cut wood by means of sharp cutting
blades instead of saws, the object to be arrived at being to avoid the loss incurred
by the production of sawdust, and thereby save material, but the object has not
Wood cut with a
been effected in a perfectly satisfactory and practical manner.
saw must also be smoothened by planing, thereby still further increasing the loss of
stuff.
The machine which forms the subject of the present Invention performs the
desired operation in an efficient and superior manner, and will do as much work as
ten ordinary sawing machines.
Owing to the perfect uniformity in thickness which the improved machine pro-
duces in the thin slices of wood, these latter will be found ready for use for the
manufacture of such articles as cigar boxes and small packing cases without requiring
any further labour in preparing them.
The machine consists of a strong framing in which are mounted two carriages,
one of which carries the cutting blades whereby the thin slabs of wood are cut from
the block, and the other is provided with clamps or suitable devices for holding the
block of wood steady while being operated upon by the cutters, which are thin
blades of steel (ground to a very fine and sharp cutting edge), and secured in a shoe
or holder by means of clamping screws.

page_text: A reciprocating or to-and-fro motion is imparted to the carriage (which carries
the cutters) by means of toothed pinions, which work in toothed racks connected
with the carriage.
The machine is driven by means of two straps (one of which is crossed), and
which are by means of a fork or belt shifter thrown alternately from a loose to a
fast pulley on the driving shaft; it will therefore be understood that when, say, the
straight driving band is shifted to the fast pulley it will drive the carriage in one
direction, and when this band is thrown off on to one of the loose pullies, and the
cross band is shifted on to the fast pulley, the cutter carriage will be moved in the
opposite direction.
The gearing is so arranged that the length of travel of the cutter carriage may be
varied according to the length of the block of wood to be acted upon.
The carriage on which the block of wood is secured is capable of being moved in
a direction at right angles to the line of travel of the cutter carriage. It is also
capable of rising and falling in a vertical direction, so that as the slices of wood are
cut off the block the latter may at each stroke be raised the proper distance to have
another slice cut off from it. This vertical motion is effected by means of a screw
which is actuated intermittently and to the proper extent, according to the desired
thickness of slice to be cut off.
In order that the cutter should operate properly and do good work, it is essential
that it should be held very rigidly, and rendered incapable of yielding in any direc-
tion to the pressure to which it will be subjected; it is also important that it should
act at an angle not exceeding 10° from the horizontal line.
To ensure rigidity the cutter (which is a thin blade of steel) is secured in a shoe,
which is cast with feathers to prevent it from bending. There is also a strong
⚫counter iron above the steel blade and a sole plate below it, the several parts being
firmly held together by screw bolts, so that the cutting blade is held as it were in
a vice.
From the foregoing it will be understood that the machine has two simultaneous
motions, for at the same time that the cutter carriage advances in a longitudinal
direction the other carriage (with the blocks of wood thereon) is moved in a trans-
verse direction. This compound motion will therefore produce a kind of drawing
cut.

page_text: which gears into a spur wheel Y; this wheel Y is mounted loosely on a stud axle Z
attached to the carriage Q. Fitted to the boss of this wheel is a star wheel T in
line with a fixed stop, by means of which it is actuated. When the carriage Q is
almost at the end of its traverse, one of the points of the star wheel T will strike
the fixed stop, and being turned on its axis will drive the gearing, and cause the
screw to turn in its bearings, thereby raising the slide R with its table S to a
corresponding extent. On the table S is fixed the block of wood that is being cut,
and by this means the block will be raised the exact amount of the thickness it is
desired to cut off.
To alter the gauge of the cut, change wheels similar to those used in slide rest
lathes are employed.
Up to the present time the great difficulty in this class of wood-cutting machines
has been to give the requisite amount of rigidity or power of resistance to the
cutting instrument, so that a shaving or veneer of a certain thickness might be cut
off without any danger of its being split or broken.
In order to prevent the slice of wood or veneer from splitting or breaking, it is
desirable that the cutting tool should be at an angle not exceeding ten degrees, and
also that it should be fixed with sufficient rigidity to maintain its position in the
wood, and prevent the cutting tool from plunging into the wood or rising out of it,
otherwise the tool would cut a slice of wood of irregular thickness. It is to ensure
this object that the carriage in its traverse motion is held down to the framing of
the machine by under-cut slides, which arrangement prevents all play or deviation
of the cutting tool (when properly secured) from the cutting line.
It will be seen on referring to the enlarged detached view, Fig. 6, that to the
carriage J are fixed, first, what may be called the shoe a; this shoe (which is made
of tempered cast steel) is attached to the carriage J by a series of bolts b, which are
placed about four inches apart, and the heads of which are countersunk into the
shoe, the screw nuts being also countersunk into the carriage J; secondly, the sole
plate c (which is also of tempered cast steel) is kept in its place and regulated by a
series of bolts & placed about four inches apart, and the heads of which are counter-
sunk into the sole.
The rear part of the sole has a strip of bronze or brass e countersunk into it
throughout its whole length, the object of the strip of bronze or brass being to
prevent the wood from being scorched or blackened by the friction of the shoe c
thereon.
The cutting tool or blade f is firmly held as in a vice between the shoe a and
sole by means of the screwed bolts d, which also serve to retain the sole in its
place.
C
From the foregoing description it will be easy to see that in this machine all the
clements of success are united in order to ensure a safe and regular working.
By slackening the bolts & the grip of the shoe c will be loosened, and the blade or
cutting tool will be freed so as to adinit of its being replaced by another. These
blades are very cheaply made, and the consequence is that a very liberal supply of
sharp change tools may always be kept on hand ready for use.
The machine is stopped at either end of its stroke by means of a very simple
apparatus, consisting of a rod 3 connected at its rear end through a cranked lever
with the belt shifters V; at its other end holes or recesses are formed to receive
spring bolts, which serve to lock the rod in different positions. These spring bolts
are raised by their respective hand levers 4, 5, and the rod 3 is actuated by means
of coiled springs 6, 7, which when compressed will, on the rod being unlocked, give
it a quick endway motion in one or other direction, and thus shift the belts on the
pullies.
The rod is embraced by a lug projecting from one side of the carriage J, and as
the carriage advances, the lug will come in contact with a washer, against which the
spring 6 bears, and pressing upon it will compress the coiled spring.
On the carriage J completing its traverse the attendant will release the rod 3
from its locking bolt, and the spring 6 being now free to act will give a sudden

page_text: endway motion to the rod 3, shift the bolts, and then reverse the direction of rota-
tion of the pinions H. The attendant now letting go the hand lever, the rod will
be again locked, and by the back traverse of the carriage the lug 8 will be caused
to compress the spring 7, which so soon as it is allowed to act by the release of the
rod 3 will impart a sudden endway motion to that rod, thereby causing it to
actuate the belt shifters, and thereby again reverse the direction of rotation of the
pinion H.
The hand lever 5 serves to operate the spring bolt, which locks the rod in an
intermediate position, and thus throws the driving belts on to the loose pullies B',
by which means the motion of the machine will be arrested.
The back and forward traverse of the carriage Q, it will be also understood, is a
consequent of this shifting motion of the rod 3, the reversing of the motion of the
shaft F, from which the traverse motion of the carriage Q is derived, serving to
change the direction of motion of the pinion P, which gears into the rack W of that
carringe.
The part above described and illustrated at Fig. 6 form, together with the
transverse movement of the table, the principal features of this Invention.
The machine makes two movements at the same time, that is to say, while the
tool carrier J advances, the carriage Q (which carries the wood) moves at right
angles thereto, and thus a kind of draw cut is produced.
Having now described the nature of my Invention of "An Improved Machine for
Cutting Thin Boards," and having explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent
I claim.
First. The arrangement of machinery above described, whereby through the com-
bined action of the reciprocating cutter and of the traversing table or support which
carries the wood to be operated upon, I am enabled to obtain a clean and even
draw cut.
Second. The means, above described, securing the cutter to its carriage, and
sustaining or supporting it while in use.
In witness whereof, I, the said Florentin Garand, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Thirteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.
דנדות בת TAT AD
FLOR
DEREREN GARAND (L.S.)