AN IMPROVED STONE STAFF TO BE USED IN DRESSING MILLSTONES
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Manning, late of Cambridge, but now of Leeds,
in the County of York, Engineer, and Thomas Paul, of Houghton, in
the County of Huntingdon, Miller, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
STONE STAFF TO BE USED IN DRESSING MILLSTONES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Manning and Thomas
Paul at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 29th September 1858.
We, JOHN MANNING, of Cambridge, Engineer, and THOMAS PAUL, of
Houghton, in the County of Huntingdon, Miller, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED STONE STAFF TO BE USED IN DRESSING
MILLSTONES," to be as follows:-
This Invention of an improved stone staff to be used in dressing millstones
may with advantage be applied to any object requiring the test of a true
surface, but is more particularly adapted to "staffing
staffing" millstones, and is
intended to supersede the common straightedge or stone staff in ordinary use,
which is nothing more than a rectangular piece of wood about four feet long,
one surface of which is planed true and dressed with a colouring substance,
and is applied by hand to indicate the irregularities on the face of the mill-
stone. This is necessarily a very imperfect method of "staffing" the stones,
as everything depends on the judgment of the stone man in using the staff, he
being liable to rub the staff on the hollow as well as the high places in the

page_text: stone, and even in the most skilled hands only an approximation to a true
surface can be expected. The new staff is supported upon two metal discs
resting one upon the other, the surfaces in contact being got up perfectly
true. The upper disc carries the staff itself, with which it is made to revolve,
passing over the whole surface of the millstone in a true plane. It is therefore
impossible that the face of the staff can touch, and consequently it cannot
mark any other than the highest places on the millstone. These places when
indicated by the staff are afterwards removed with the "stone bill" in the
ordinary way, and the process of marking and removing the projecting places
is repeated until the whole surface is made perfectly true. The improved staff
is also equally applicable to conical millstones whether concave or convex, as
the discs and staff can be made to any required angle; this will remove one
great obstacle to the use of conical millstones, the difficulty of keeping their
faces dressed, so as to coincide with each other, having hitherto been very
great, but by using the patent staff the operation will be perfectly simple.
The following is a description of the instrument and its operation when
applied to a pair of ordinary millstones. A disc or plate of suitable
dimensions is provided with three lugs, to which are adapted adjusting screws
with pointed ends, that serve as feet for the entire apparatus. These feet
rest in three small cast-iron blocks fixed in and slightly below the surface of
the millstone. Another disc or plate rests and revolves upon the first men-
tioned or lower disc, and has four wings or projecting pieces cast on it, or
these wings may be made of brass or other metal and bolted on to the upper
disc: These wings serve to receive and support the staff, and are either
provided with four set screws or with screws and guides carrying trunnions on
the staff. A vertical hollow cylinder is cast on the upper disc, and serves to
keep the staff in its place, and also to allow the top of the mill spindle to pass
through.
In setting the staff to the face of the stone, a trail rod is used as follows:-
A boss is cast on the upper disc, and in this boss a trail rod" slides,
and is fastened by a thumbscrew. At the outer end of the rod is another
centre pointed thumbscrew, the point of which is set just to touch the mill-
stone, the upper disc is then turned round, and the adjusting screws altered
until the point of the screw in the trail rod touches the face of the millstone
equally at the four quarters. The trail rod may then be removed and the staff
lifted into its place ready for work; should, however, one end of the staff be a
little lower than the other, it may be levelled to the greatest nicety by
adjusting screws, and this may be proved by inserting a piece of the thinnest
tissue paper under the staff at opposite sides of the millstone.
:

page_text: The ends of the staff are made of hard wood, (or they may be of metal if
preferred,) securely screwed to the centre casting. The lower sides of them
are dressed with a colouring substance, and one revolution of the staff will shew
the high places on the face of the millstone. The staff on the entire apparatus
may be lifted off and on as many times as required during the dressing of the
millstone, and of course if the adjusting screws are not altered, the staff will
each time assume its original and proper position without re-setting.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Manning and Thomas Paul in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 29th March 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
MANNING, late of Cambridge, but now of Leeds, in the County of York,
Engineer, and THOMAS PAUL, of Houghton, in the County of Huntingdon,
Miller, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year-of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said John Manning and Thomas Paul, Her special license that we, the said
John Manning and Thomas Paul, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as we, the said John Manning and Thomas Paul, our 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 ex-
pressed, 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 "AN IMPROVED STONE STAFF TO BE USED IN DRESSING
MILLSTONES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said John
Manning and Thomas Paul, by an instrument in writing under our hands and
seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, 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 John Manning, on behalf of myself
and of the said Thomas Paul, do hereby declare the nature of our said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed; to be particularty.

page_text: described and ascertained in and by the following statement, reference being
had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):-
The improved stone staff to be used in dressing millstones, and which
forms the subject of the present Invention, may be employed for testing the
ruth of the surface of any object, but it is more particularly adapted to
"staffing" millstones, and is intended to supersede the common straightedge
or "stone staff" in ordinary use. The common stone staff is nothing more
than a rectangular piece of wood about four feet long, one surface of which
is planed true and dressed with a colouring substance. This instrument is
applied by hand to the millstone, and when moved over the surface the
colouring substance on the dressed edge of the staff will come off on all the
projecting parts which touch the edge, and will thereby indicate the irregu
larities on the face of the stone. This is necessarily a very imperfect method
of "staffing" the stones, as everything depends on the judgment of the stone
man in using the staff, he being liable to rub the staff on the hollow as well
as the high places on the stone, and even in the most skilled hands, only an
approximation to a true surface can be obtained.
The improved staff which forms the subject of the present Invention is
supported upon two metal discs; which rest one upon the other, the surfaces
in contact of the discs being made perfectly true. The upper disc carries the
staff itself, with which it is made to revolve so as to pass over the whole
surface of the millstone in a true plane. It is therefore impossible that the
face of the staff can touch, and consequently it cannot mark any other
than the highest places on the millstone. These places, when indicated by
the staff, are afterwards removed with the "stone bill " in the ordinary way,
and the process of marking and removing the projecting places is repeated,
until the whole surface is made perfectly true.
A stone staff constructed upon the same principle may also be adopted for
staffing conical millstones, whether concave or convex, as the discs and staff
can be made to any required angle. The use of stone staffs of this con-
struction will remove one great obstacle to the use of conical millstones, the
difficulty of keeping the faces of such stones properly dressed so as to coincide
with each other, having hitherto been very great, but by using the improved
staff the operation will be perfectly simple.
In the accompanying Drawing I have shewn various views of the improved
staff, and the manner of adapting it to a pair of ordinary millstones..
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the improved staff; Fig. 2 is a plan view of
the same; Figures 3 and 4 are similar views of a modification of the instru-

page_text: ment shewn in Figures 1 and 2, the principal difference in the two plans being
the mode of adapting or securing the arms of the staff.
A disc or plate A of suitable dimensions is provided with three lugs, to
which are adapted adjusting screws B, with pointed ends that serve as feet to
support the entire apparatus. These feet rest in three small cast-iron blocks
C, fixed in and slightly below the surface of the millstone D.
Another disc or plate E rests and revolves upon the first mentioned or
lower disc A, and has four wings or projecting pieces F cast on it, as seen
in Figures 1 and 2; these wings may, however, be made of brass or other
metal, and bolted on to the upper disc E, as shewn in Figures 3 and 4.
These wings serve to receive and support the staff G, and are either provided
with four set screws, as at H (Figures 1 and 2), or with screws and guides
carrying trunnions on the staff, as at I, in Figures 3 and 4.
A vertical hollow cylinder J is cast on the upper disc E, and serves to
keep the staff G in its place, and also to allow the top of the mill spindle to
pass through.
In setting the staff to the face of the stone a trail rod L (Fig. 5) is
adapted to the instrument, and used in the following manner:-A boss K is
cast on the upper disc E, and in this boss the trail rod L is inserted, and is
secured therein by means of a thumbscrew M. At the outer end of the rod
L is another centre pointed thumbscrew N, the point of which is set just to
touch the millstone; the upper disc is then turned round, and the adjusting
screws B altered, until the point of the screw N at the end of the trail rod
touches the face of the millstone equally at the four points or quarters of the
circle. The trail rod may then be removed, and the staff G lifted into its
Should, however, one end of the staff be a little lower
than the other, it may be levelled to the greatest nicety by means of the
adjusting screws H or I, and this may be proved by inserting a piece of the
thinnest tissue paper under the staff at opposite sides of the millstone.
place ready for work.
The arms of the staff G are made of hard wood (or they may be of metal if
preferred), and they are to be securely screwed to the centre casting. The
lower edges of the arms of the staff are dressed with a colouring substance,
and one revolution of the staff will show the high places on the face of the
millstone.
The staff G or the entire apparatus may be removed from the stone, and
replaced as many times as may be required during the dressing of the mill-
stone, and of course if the adjusting screws H are not altered, the staff will
each time assume its original and proper position without resetting.
Having now described our Invention of "An Improved Stone Staff for

page_text: Dressing Millstones," and having explained the manner of carrying the same
into effect, we claim, as the Invention secured to us by Letters Patent as
aforesaid, the mode herein shewn and described of constructing stone staffs,
and of adjusting or setting the same, and also the mode of mounting and
adapting the instrument on the millstone intended to be operated upon.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Manning, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-eighth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
C. W. WARDLE..
2, Park Square, Leeds.
JOHN MANNING. (L.S.)