AN IMPROVEMENT IN SAWs
Year: 1871

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Alexander Melville Clark at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 4th September 1871.-A communication from abroad by
George Benison Green, of Philadelphia, County of Philadelphia,
and State of Pennsylvania, United States of America.
I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN SAWs," to be as
follows:-
This Invention is applicable to saws of every description, and consists
in roughing or serrating the sides of the saw blade, substantially as
herein-after described, so that when the saw is used in the ordinary
manner it will not only cut its way through the material but will at the
same time smooth, polish, and dress the sides of the material through
which the saw cuts.
The blade of the saw is provided at its edge with any desired kind
of cutting teeth, in the usual manner, and serrations or teeth are

page_text: formed in any suitable manner upon the sides of the saw blade, so that
the points or edges of the serrations will stand out from the blade,
the said serrations or teeth being so made and arranged that when
motion is imparted to the saw the sides or surfaces of the material
cut by the cutting teeth will be simultaneously dressed, smoothed, or 5
polished by the serrations or teeth formed on the sides.
The form of the serrations or teeth may be varied at the pleasure of
the manufacturer, or to suit the requirements of the material in which
the saw is to be used. Different forms of serrations or teeth may
also be used in any desired combination or position upon the same 1
saw or blade. The serrations or teeth may be made in the form of
rasp teeth, and one portion of the saw blade may carry rasp teeth
and the other portion straight or chisel shaped teeth like file teeth.
In some kinds of saws, such as jig or scroll saws, the serrations
or teeth may be arranged in groups with smooth spaces between the 1
groups, the group of teeth on one side of the saw blade being arranged
opposite to the smooth space on the other side of the blade.
I do not limit or confine myself to any particular form, position,
arrangement, or combination of the serrations or teeth, as these may
be varied in many ways without departing from the Invention. The 2
process of manufacturing saws having this improvement combined
therewith does not materially differ from the manufacture of ordinary
saws, except that at some stage of the manipulation previous to the
tempering of the saw, I form the serrations or teeth upon the surfaces
of the sides or flats of the saw blado by punching, cutting, stamping, 2
or by any other suitable means, in such a way that the sides of
the saw when thus treated and finished have then substantially the
character of files or rasps. This roughening or punching part of the
process may be done either before or after the ordinary teeth are cut
on the edge of the saw blade.
The improvement is especially adapted to jig or scroll saws. In
sawing with the common jig saws the surfaces left by the saw teeth are
very rough, and to smooth or finish these rough surfaces ready for
painting or oiling requires considerablo labor in rasping, rubbing,
.
somning on sand nonating.
3

page_text: In sawing brackets or any kind of work having narrow or short
curves, it is often difficult to get at the rough surfaces for the purpose
of smoothening or finishing. This Invention overcomes all these
difficulties and effects a great saving of labor, because the work of
dressing and smoothing is effected by the saw as fast as it proceeds
through the material, as herein-before described.