IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING JOINTS FOR BOXES, DRAWERS, AND OTHER RECEPTACLES OF WOOD
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Greenwood, of Leeds, in the County of
York, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING
JOINTS FOR BOXES, DRAWERS, AND OTHER RECEPTACLES OF WOOD."
Sealed the 13th July 1869, and dated the 1st May 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Greenwood
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 1st May 1869.
I, THOMAS GREENWOOD, of Leeds, in the County of York, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
POR CUTTING JOINTS FOR BOXES, DRAWERS, AND OTHER RECEPTACLES OF WOOD,"
to be as follows:-
My Invention has reference to an arrangement of machinery for
which Letters Patent were granted to R. H. Leese, dated 29 December
1864, No. 3228, whereby a dovetail and mitre joint was formed by
cutting at one operation two mitre surfaces and a dovetail tongue
running along one such surface, and a corresponding dovetail groove
running along the other such surface.

page_text: This operation was performed either entirely by a series of travelling
cutters operating with a drawing cut, or entirely by a series of travelling
rotary cutters. This machine has several disadvantages, among which
are the complicated nature and form of the cutting tools, their liability
to get out of order and to produce inaccurate work, and the impossibility
of gauging the parts on which the joint was to be cut, so as to make
these, when finished, of the exact dimensions required.
Now my present Invention consists in an improved arrangement of
machinery for forming such mitre or angular dovetail joints, whereby
the said defects are obviated, and the principal distinguishing features of
which consist in operating upon the two pieces of wood for forming the
joint separately from each other and by a separate series of cutters, some
of which act with a drawing cut, while others act as rotary cutters, each
such piece of wood being accurately gauged when placed in the machine,
so as to be of the exact required dimensions when finished. Further-
more, instead of making the wood to be acted upon stationary, as in the
previous machine, and causing the cutters to travel along it, the cutters
are by preference arranged stationary in my improved machine, and the
material to be acted upon is fed up to them. For these purposes I
construct a framing or bed having slides formed along each side, upon
which slides a table holding the two pieces of wood to be acted upon.
This table has two opposite adjustable inclined surfaces placed at any
desired angle to each other, depending upon the angle at which the
two boards require to be joined together. Upon these inclined surfaces
are placed the said boards on which the dovetail joint is to be cut,
which boards have previously had a true edge formed, to be acted upon
by the cutters. The exact required length of the boards is determined
by causing such edges of the board in passing down the inclined surfaces
to come against adjustable gauge blocks with inclined surfaces situated
upon a transverse bar carried by the bed of the machine. When in this
position the boards are held securely against the adjustable angular
surfaces of the table by two lever cramps made to act by means of a
screw upon a saddle piece resting on the board, or any other convenient
known mode of cramping may be employed. The table is caused to
travel along the bed of the machine by means of two screws mounted
in the framing or bed, and rotated simultaneously by means of a hand
wheel and suitable gearing, or by a self-acting feed motion. The table
being thus made to travel from one end of the bed of the machine

page_text: towards the other end, the edges of the boards carried thereby are first
brought in contact with two rotary cutters upon a horizontal spindle
carried in suitable journals on the lower side of the bed of the machine,
which respectively cut the ends of the boards to the required bevil. By
the further motion of the table the angular edge of the one board is
then brought against a horizontal rotary cutter or circular saw mounted
upon a vertical spindle, which cuts a longitudinal groove along the
bevilled surface. This groove is then undercut, so as to form the dove-
tail groove by means of two knives or blades acting with a drawing cut
secured in an adjustable manner upon a block so as to cross each other
at an angle corresponding to the angle of the dovetail. Lastly, this
board is brought against another fixed cutter, which enters the dovetail
groove and ploughs out the chips. By the motion of the table the
bevilled surface of the other board is also first brought against a fixed
lancet-pointed knife, which makes a longitudinal incision on the angular
surface of the board corresponding with the outer edge of the dovetail
tongue. As the table moves along the dovetail tongue is then cut by
means of two rotary cutters mounted upon separate horizontal spindles;
the periphery of each of these cutters is formed with a bevil corre-
sponding to the bevil of the tongue. One of these cutters acts upon
the upper surface of the inclined board, and the other acts upon the
under side thereof, each cutting away so much of the original bevil
surface as to leave the dovetail tongue standing between them, and to
form the new bevil surface at the bottom of the tongue, which tongue is
made to correspond exactly with the dovetail groove formed as above
described on the other board. The whole of the cutters, with the
exception of those first described for forming the mitre surfaces, are
carried in an adjustable manner by means of a transverse frame fixed
to the under side of the bed of the machine. The rotary cutters are
driven from a shaft at one end of the machine carrying a fast and loose
pulley, by which the shaft receives its motion from a steam engine or
mill shaft; at the other end it carries a pulley driving the spindle
carrying the cutters for forming the bevilled surfaces, while in the
middle it carries a pulley having two bands for driving the spindles of
the two cutters forming the dovetail tongue, and in a grooved rim
between these it carries a gut, by which it drives the spindle of the
saw that cuts the groove along the one bevilled surface.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Greenwood in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 30th October 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
GREENWOOD, of Leeds, in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Greenwood, Her special
licence that I, the said Thomas Greenwood, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas Greenwood,
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 CUTTING JOINTS FOR BOXES, DRAWERS, AND
OTHER RECEPTACLES or Wood," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Thomas Greenwood, 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 Thomas Greenwood, 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 thereof, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that
is to say :-
My Invention has reference to an arrangement of machinery for
which Letters Patent were granted to R. H. Leese, dated 29th December
1864, No. 3228, whereby a dovetail and mitre joint was formed by

page_text: cutting at one operation two mitre surfaces and a dovetail tongue
running along one such surface, and a corresponding dovetail groove
running along the other such surface.
This operation was performed either entirely by a series of travelling
cutters operating with a drawing cut, or entirely by a series of travelling
rotary cutters. This machine has several disadvantages, among which
are the complicated nature and form of the cutting tools, their liability
to get out of order and to produce inaccurate work, and the impossibility
of gauging the parts on which the joint was to be cut, so as to make
these, when finished, of the exact dimensions required.
Now my present Invention consists in an improved arrangement of
machinery for forming such mitre or angular dovetail joints, whereby
the said defects are obviated, and the principal distinguishing features
of which consist in operating upon the two pieces of wood for forming the
joint separately from each other and by a separate series of cutters, some
of which act with a drawing cut, while others act as rotary cutters, each
such piece of wood being accurately gauged when placed in the machine,
so as to be of the exact required dimensions when finished. Further-
more, instead of making the wood to be acted upon stationary, as in the
previous machine, and causing the cutters to travel along it, the cutters
are by preference arranged stationary in my improved machine, and the
material to be acted upon is fed up to them. For these purposes I
construct a framing or bed having slides formed along each side, upon.
which slides a table holding the two pieces of wood to be acted upon.
This table has two opposite inclined surfaces placed at any desired angle
to each other, depending upon the angle at which the two boards require
to be joined together, such angle formed by the inclined surfaces being
if requisite rendered adjustable. Upon these inclined surfaces are placed
the said boards on which the dovetail joint is to be cut, which boards
have previously had a true edge formed, to be acted upon by the cutters.
The exact required length of the boards is determined by causing such.
edges of the board in passing down the inclined surfaces to come against.
adjustable gauge blocks with iuclined surfaces situated upon a transverse.
bar carried by the bed of the machine. When in this position the boards
are held securely against the angular surfaces of the table by two lever.
cramps, made to act by means of a screw upon a saddle piece resting on
the board, or any other convenient known mode of cramping may be.
employed. The table is caused to travel along the bed of the machine.

page_text: by means of two screws mounted in the framing or bed, and rotated
simultaneously by means of a hand wheel and suitable gearing, or by a
self-acting feed motion. The table being thus made to travel from one
end of the bed of the machine towards the other end, the edges of the
boards carried thereby are first brought in contact with two rotary
cutters upon a horizontal spindle carried in suitable journals on the
lower side of the bed of the machine, which respectively cut the ends of
the boards to the required bevil. By the further motion of the table
the angular edge of the one board is then brought against a horizontal
rotary cutter or circular saw mounted upon a vertical spindle, which cuts
a longitudinal groove along the bevilled surface. This groove is then
undercut, so as to form the dovetail groove, by means of two knives or
blades acting with a drawing cut secured in an adjustable manner upon
a block so as to cross each other at an angle corresponding to the angle
of the dovetail. Lastly, this board is if necessary brought against
another fixed cutter, which enters the dovetail groove and ploughs out
the chips. By the motion of the table the bevilled surface of the other
board is also first brought against a fixed lancet-pointed knife, which
makes a longitudinal incision on the angular surface of the board cor-
responding with the inner edge of the dovetail tongue. As the table
moves along the dovetail tongue is then cut by means of two rotary
cutters mounted upon separate horizontal spindles; the periphery of each
of these cutters is formed with a bevil corresponding to the bevil of the
tongue. One of these cutters acts upon the upper surface of the inclined
board, and the other acts upon the under side thereof, each cutting away
so much of the original bevil surface as to leave the dovetail tongue
standing between them, and to form the new bevil surface at the bottom
of the tongue, which tongue is made to correspond exactly with tho
dovetail groove formed as above described on the other board. The
whole of the cutters, with the exception of those first described for
forming the mitre surfaces, are carried in an adjustable manner by means
of a transverse frame fixed to the under side of the bed of the machine
The rotary cutters are driven from a shaft at one end of the machine
carrying a fast and loose pulley, by which the shaft receives its motion
from a steam engine or mill shaft; at the other end it carries a pulley
driving the spindle carrying the cutters for forming the bevilled surfaces,
while in the middle it carries a pulley having two bands for driving
the spindles of the two cutters forming the dovetail tongue, and in a
grooved rim between these it carries a gut or band, by which it drives

page_text: surface.
Having thus set forth the nature of my Invention I will now proceed
to describe more particularly the manner in which it is to be performed,
for which purpose I shall refer to the accompanying Drawings, of which
Figures 1, 2, and 3 on Sheet I. shew respectively a side elevation, a
plan, and an end elevation of the machine, while Figures 4 to 10 on
Sheets II., III., and IV. shew enlarged details thereof.
The framing or bed A. of the machine has slides A', A', fixed or formed
along each side, upon which travels the table B carrying the two pieces
of wood C, C', shown in brown lines, to be operated upon. The con-
struction of this table will be seen more clearly in the enlarged
transverse section at Figure 4, Sheet II., and in the longitudinal section
thereof at Figure 5, Sheet III. It consists of two inclined plates B', B',
(the angle formed between which is dependent upon the angle at which the
two boards C, C', are to be joined together) which are connected rigidly
together by the bridge pieces B2, B2, and which are provided at the back
with projecting flanges B³, B³, working in the guides A¹ of the frame.
Upon these inclined plates are placed the boards C, C', (having had a
true edge formed thereon) which are secured firmly in position by
means of the lever cramps D, D, on spindles D³, D', pressing by means
of saddle pieces D', D', upon the boards, for which purpose they are
operated by the screws D2, D3, bearing with their lower ends upon
bars B, B', fixed to the table B, beneath which the boards are slid on to
the plates B. The saddle pieces D', D', slide in guides in the ends of
the table and carry screw spindles D', D", by means of which the
blocks D', D', screwed thereon are moved so as to hold the side edge of
the board true against the one end surface of the table, as indicated at
Figure 5. The table B is caused to travel along the bed A for bringing
the boards under the action of the cutters, as hereafter described, by
means of two screw spindles E, E, carried at each end in bearings in the
bed A, and passing through threaded bosses B5 on the under sides of the
inclined plates, which screw spindles are rotated by means of the hand
wheel E¹ with spur wheel E in gear with spur pinions E³, Es, on the
screw spindles. The table B being at the commencement of operations in
the position on the bed shewn at Figure 1, the boards C, C₁, in being
introduced into the same slide down until their lower edges come in
contact with the adjustable gauges F, F, carried by the bar F, as shewn

page_text: in Figure 5, and in detached front view at Figure 6, which gauges serve
to determine the exact dimensions of the boards when finished. The
wood is then secured, as before, described, and the table B is moved
forward so as to bring the edges of the boards first against the rotary
cutters G, G, on the shaft G', which respectively cut a bevilled or mitre
edge on each board. By the continued motion of the table the mitro
edge of the board C is then brought against the horizontal rotary
cutter H, which ploughs a groove with parallel sides in it; this groove
is then undercut to form the dovetail groove by means of the fixed
cutters I, I', crossing each other at an angle corresponding with the
angle of the dovetail, as shewn in Figure 10, a lancet cutter J (Fig. 2)
being by preference applied to the lower edge of the groove to make an
incision before the cutter I acts, in order to prevent the breaking off of
such lower edge of the groove. The travelling table next brings the mitre
edge of the board C firstly against a lancet cutter K, shewn more clearly
in Figures 4 and 7, which makes an incision corresponding with the
upper edge of the dovetail tongue to be formed thereon. After which
the board passes between the bevilled rotary cutters L, L', which cut
away so much of the upper and lower surface thereof as to leave the
dovetail tongue between them, as shewn in Figure 4, while at the same
time they form the mitre edge on the board at the bottom of the tongue.
The cutters H, I, I, J, K, L, and L' are all carried in an adjustable
manner by the transverse frame A; the arrangements for the various
adjustments being shewn in back elevation and plan at Figures 4 and 7,
Sheet II., and in sectional plan, sectional elevation, and part front
elevation at Figures 8, 9, and 10, Sheet IV. The cutter H is mounted
on the spindle H' carried by the bracket H, which is held against the
frame A by the screw H³, and is adjusted vertically by the screw H*.
The cutters I, I', and J are carried by the plate I held by the screw I³,
and adjusted vertically by the two screws I', 'I', passing through bosses
on the same, and also by the screw I³ passing through the lug A³ on the
framing A, as shewn at Figures 9 and 10. The cutters L, L', are fixed
upon spindles L' and L³, of which I runs in bearings L' formed upon the
casting L. This casting slides vertically between the guides A' on the
framing A, and is adjusted by means of the screw spindle M passing
through L' and through a threaded lug A³ on the framing A*. Stops A°º,
shown in dotted lines at Figure 9, being provided on A' for limiting the
extent to which the cutter L' can be raised or lowered. The spindle L² of
the cutter L is carried in a bracket L' sliding between guides on L³, and

page_text: adjustable to or from the cutter L' (according as a thicker or thinner
dovetail tongue requires to be formed) by means of the screw N. Upon the
bracket L is also secured in an adjustable manner the lancet cutter K.
By these arrangements it will be seen that all the cutters are capable
of ready adjustment for forming the dovetail tongues and grooves of
increased or decreased dimensions according to the thickness of the
boards to be operated upon.
It will also be seen that by the above-described system of inde-
pendent and adjustable cutters I am enabled at one and the same time
to operate upon two pieces of wood of different thicknesses that may
require (for example) to be fitted together so as to make the joint
"coin" on the inside, as indicated at Figure 11, which I effect by
raising the grooving cutters so as to cut the groove on the thicker
piece, as indicated in blue lines at Figure 4. The rotary cutters
G, H, L, and L' receive their rotary motion from the driving shaft O,
carried at the back end of the machine driven by means of the
fast and loose pulleys O', 0%, and imparting motion, firstly, to the
cutter shaft G by means of the pulley G and band G³ driving the
pulley G; secondly, to the spindle H₁ of the cutter H by means of a
band H passing over guide pulleys He to the groove H7 on the pulley L'
which also imparts motion to the spindle L of the cutter L by the
band Ls and to the spindle L of the cutter L' by the band L. P is the
gear for throwing the driving strap on to the fast or loose pulley.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I
do not limit myself to the precise details of my improved machine as
described and shewn on the accompanying Drawings, as these may be
variously modified without departing from the essential features of my
Invention; but what I claim under the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent is,-
First. So arranging machinery for cutting dovetail and mitre or
angular joints that the two picces of wood that require to have the.
joints formed thereon are acted upon separately by two series of rotary
and fixed cutters, against which the pieces of wood are brought by
means of a travelling table, the cutters being stationary, substantially as
herein-before set forth.

page_text: Second. The peculiar construction of sliding table, with two opposite
inclined surfaces, upon which the wood is secured, substantially as
set forth.
Third. The employment of adjustable gauges for regulating the
exact dimensions of the wood to be operated upon, substantially as
set forth
Fourth. The peculiar arrangement of adjustable rotary and fixed
cutters for cutting, first, a mitre or bevil edge upon both boards, and
then a dovetail groove upon the one board, and a dovetail tongue upon
the other board; the cutters being capable of adjustment so as to be
enabled both to form dovetail tongues and grooves of varying dimen-
sions; as also to operate simultaneously upon two boards of different
thickness, substantially as described.
Fifth. I claim in combination the general arrangement of machinery
for cutting dovetail and mitre or angular joints, herein-before described,
with reference to the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Greenwood, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of October,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
ninc.
THOMAS GREENWOOD. (L.S.)