AN IMPROVED MODE OF CUTTING VENEERS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Gardner, of Bootle, in the County of
Lancaster, Timber Merchant, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
MODE OF CUTTING VENEERS."―A communication from abroad by
William Henry Williams, of the City of New York, in the United
States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Gardner at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th December 1869.
i
I, JOSEPH GARDNER, of Bootle, in the County of Lancaster, Timber
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED MODE OF CUTTING VENEERS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to cut veneers from half round logs
Fin a more economical manner than has heretofore been found practicable.
Hitherto it. has been customary to cut the veneers from half logs in a
direction parallel with the widest diameter of the same, so that the
more perfect veneers which were cut from the upper part of the half
Price 8d1

page_text: log were very narrow, and the wider veneers contained those defects which
are found to be incidental to the heart of most woods. By the present
improved method veneers of greater width are obtained in a more perfect state,
the defective heart is not used, and in most cases the figure or grain of the
veneers is greatly improved.
In carrying out this Invention I attach the half log to a narrow
revolving "stay log plate" by means of screws which pass through the
log plate and enter the log near the heart, and thus firmly secure the
log to the "stay log plate." The log plate is provided with trunnions,
and is carried in bearings upon a rectangular bed or framing. It is
revolved by means of spur wheels (keyed on the ends of the trunnions),
which are driven by pinions mounted on a shaft that receives its motion
from a prime mover in any ordinary
In front of the revolving
"stay log plate" is a saddle piece carried on guides formed on the bed
or frame, and upon this saddle piece is mounted the cutting knife and
also the adjustable cutters for trimming or dividing up the veneers.
The cutting knife and adjustable cutters are held securely to their places
upon the saddle piece by means of a cap or keepers and strong retaining
screws, or the latter may be secured in dovetail grooves formed in the
face of the cutter carrier. The feed is obtained by means of screw
shafts which take into lugs projecting from the saddle piece, and are rendered
simultaneous in their action by discs keyed at their outer ends and united by a
connecting rod or other well known means.

page_text: said Joseph Gardner, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Joseph Gardner, 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 "AN IMPROVED MODE OF CUTTING VENEERS,"
being a communication to me from abroad by William Henry Williams,
of the City of New York, in the United States of America, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Joseph Gardner, 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 Joseph Gardner, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say):-
My Invention relates to that class of veneer cutting machinery in
which the log to be operated upon is mounted on centres and is made to
revolve in contact with a stationary knife, whereby a thin sheet or veneer
is cut off circumferentially from the log. My Invention is applicable
for cutting all kinds of furniture veneers, and also for cutting and
creasing thin sheets of wood such as are required for making match
boxes and other boxes made of thin sheets of wood folded into the proper
form.
In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 is a plan view and Fig. 2 a
side elevation representing the general features and principal working
parts of a veneer cutting machine with my improvements adapted
thereto. a, a, is a massive cast-iron framing carrying the bearings for
the centres, on which the log A to be operated upon is mounted; a', a',
represents the gearing, whereby the log is rotated slowly on its axis.
The machine shewn in these. Figures. is intended to operate upon a half
round log, and is therefore provided with a stay log, to which the timber

page_text: 15 secured, as is well known, but my improvements are equally applicable
for operating upon circular logs, as shewn at Fig. 3, which represents
(drawn on an enlarged scale) such parts of the machine as are connected
with my Invention. b, Figures 1 and 2, is a carriage for holding the
knife c, whereby the thin sheet of wood is cut off from the log A. An
adjustable holder d for carrying the creasing and cutting tools e which
act across the grain of the wood, as will be hereafter explained, is also
connected with the carriage b, which is moveable on guides by means
of the long side screws f, f, which act in unison, as shewn in the Figures,
and are worked by, a round band passing round the pulleys fl on the
end of the screws f, f. In veneer cutting machines of this class the
cutting tool c is usually set at the right angle for cutting, and is with
its carriage and holder moved forward gradually as the cutting operation
proceeds, but as the diameter of the log becomes reduced by the removal
of successive sheets of wood the normal angle of the cutting tool
no longer remains the proper angle for producing good work, and ought to
be altered as the diameter of the log decreases. In Fig. 2 this object is
effected by means of the adjusting screws g, g, by means of which the
cutting tool may be canted forward at the required angle. In Fig. 3
this object is effected by a self-acting arrangement of very simple con-
struction. The holder b for the knife c rests upon horizontal guides, and
is provided at back with a tail lever b¹, which is furnished at its outer
end with an eye or fork mounted on the lever b' by means of a swivel
joint or pin, through which passes the adjustable inclined lever . This
bar or guide is jointed or hinged at hand is capable of being raised or
lowered thereon by means of a vertical adjusting screw i. The knife
holder bis drawn forward on its guides by means of the screw f, to
which it is connected by the side rods f, and as the eye or fork of the
tail lever moves along the inclined guide rod
cutting edge of the knife will be altered as will be required. For match
boxes and other boxes made of thin sheets of wood the sheets require
to be cut up into pieces of suitable length, and also require to be creased
so that they may be folded up into the form of boxes. These operations
are effected by means of adjustable cutters and creasing tools fixed in
the holder d, Fig. 3. The piece of sheet wood required to form a match
box will be from six to eight inches long, and consequently from
a log eight to ten feet long a large number of pieces may be made.
The cutters for dividing the sheet into widths suitable to form the boxes
are introduced into the groove in the holder d, as shewn detached and
the angle of the

page_text: drawn in section on an enlarged scale at Fig. 4, and when adjusted to
any point of the groove according to the lengths required to be cut
may be secured therein by clamps, tightening screws, or otherwise,
as shewn in Fig. 4, in which is one of the cutting or creasing tools
screwed into or otherwise secured to a wedge-shaped bar k. When
this latter is forced forward from behind by means of the tightening
screw the wedge will hold the tool i firmly. If it be desired to
alter the position of the tools in the groove it will only be necessary to
turn back the screw and loosen the wedge bar k, when the tool j may
be moved to any position along the groove, and may be secured there
again by tightening the screw. In combination with the adjustable
knives or cutting tools for dividing the sheet into pieces of the proper
width any desired number of creasing tools may be introduced into
the holder d and secured at the proper places; then as the log rotates
the knife c will slice off a thin sheet of wood which has been previously
scored at every six or eight inches to a sufficient depth to divide the
whole breadth of the sheet into strips of the desired width. At the same
time the creasing tools will mark the wood where it is intended to be
bent or folded, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 5, which represents
a thin strip of wood cut and creased ready for folding into the form of a
match box. In addition to the cutting and creasing instruments above
described there is a third tool consisting of a roller m provided with
projecting steel ribs, which as the log rotates will indent or mark it
across transversely, so that when the strips of wood are separated
from the log each strip will be marked across at distances sufficient to form
one box.
The long thin strips of wood thus marked. longitudinally and
transversely may, on leaving the machine, be wound up into rolls
until required to be made up into boxes, when the strips may be easily broken
up into the lengths required for match or other boxes, as shewn at
Fig. 5, by merely bending and breaking them at the transverse marks or
indentations.
Having now described my Invention, and having explained the
manner of carrying the same. into effect, I claim as the Invention
secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid, the mode herein set forth of
cutting the log up into thin sheets, veneers, or strips of suitable width
according to the purpose for which the thin sheets or veneers are intended to
be employed.
'
I claim particularly the use and application of the cutters and
creasing tools in the holder d for the purpose of cutting the veneers or

page_text: thin sheets into the required widths for cabinet making and other
purposes, and also creasing the same so as to facilitate the strips being made
up into boxes.
I further claim the mode herein set forth of adjusting the cutters or adapting
the same so that the angle of the cutting edge may vary according to the
decreasing diameter of the log.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Gardner, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Thirteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy.
JOSEPH GARDNER. (L.S.)