IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CUTTING STAVES FOR CASKS AND BARRELS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Hadfield, of Carlisle, in the County of Cum-
berland, Varnish Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY
FOR CUTTING STAVES FOR CASKS AND BARRELS."
Sealed the 27th April 1860, and dated the 8th November 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Hadfield at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th November 1859.
I, GEORGE HADFIELD, of Carlisle, in the County of Cumberland, Varnish
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CUTTING STAVES FOR CASKS AND BARRELS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to a novel arrangement of machinery whereby the
staves for casks and barrels may be cut with great accuracy and expedition.'
The wood to be formed into staves having been prepared in any approved,
manner is brought, say, in the form of straight pieces, with parallel edges, and
placed in the improved machine on an elastic steel bed provided to receive it.
This elastic steel bed is supported on adjustable blocks, which, according as they
are placed nearer to or further from the middle of the bed, will vary its curve,
and consequently that of the pieces of wood intended to form the staves, which.
are severally to be held down in contact with the bed while the operation of
shaping the stave is proceeding. The steel bed and its adjustable blocks are
carried by a swinging frame, which is intended to present the opposite edges,

page_text: of the stave in succession to the action of a traversing circular saw mounted
on a carriage, which slides in guides on the bed of the machine, and is
traversed after the manner of a slide rest. The stave is held down on the steel
bed by a pressing block, which is operated by a hand lever and cam. The
swinging frame works on adjustable centres or fulcrum pins, which have their
bearings in a bracket frame that embraces the swinging frame. This bracket
frame is itself made adjustable, it being carried by a screw supported in a cast-
iron pedestal forming part of the main framing of the machine. The connection
between the swinging and the bracket frame is effected through a pair of
vertical screws, to which axial motion is imparted simultaneously through
bevil gearing when it is required to adjust the swinging frame according to the
work in hand, it being necessary to cause the centres or fulcrum pins of the
swinging frame to approach nearer to or recede further from the elastic bed
which carries the stave, according to the variation in the diameter of the casks
required to be made. The swinging frame moves between two adjustable
stops to suit varying widths of stave, and hangs at an angle to the vertical
while the cutting is proceeding. As the saw moves forward it will make a
downward cut into the wood, and cut the edge of the bent stave to the required
bevil and taper. When one edge is thus shaped the frame is rocked to a
corresponding angle at the opposite side of a vertical line drawn through the
axis of the fulcrum pins, and the next cut of the saw will shape the other edge
of the stave.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Hadfield in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 8th
May 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
HADFIELD, of Carlisle, in the County of Cumberland, Varnish Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said George Hadfield, Her special license that I, the said George Hadfield, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George
Hadfield, 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

page_text: 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 "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR CUTTING
STAVES FOR CASKS AND BARRELS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said George Hadfield, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain, the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 George Hadfield, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly 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):-
=
This Invention relates to a novel arrangement of machinery, whereby the
staves for casks or barrels may be cut with great accuracy and despatch to
suit any given diameter and taper or convexity of barrel.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 represents the improved machine
in side elevation; Fig. 2 is a plan view; and Fig. 3 is an end view of the
same..
In operating with this machine, the wood which it is intended to convert
into staves is first prepared in any approved manner, say, in the form of
straight pieces with parallel edges, and of the thickness required for, the stave,
and placed in the machine on an elastic steel bed provided to receive it... This
elastic bed.is mounted in a swinging frame, and blocked to the curve which
the staves to be cut are intended to take when put together to. form a cask,
and upon the bed the strips or pieces of wood to be converted into 'staves
(which may be termed the stave blanks) are pressed down in succession, and
held firmly while their opposite sides are presented alternately to a rotary saw,
to be bevilled and tapered.
.
... I will now proceed to describe in detail the construction of the improved
stave-cutting machine.....
.A, A, is the bed of. the machine, formed somewhat like a lathe bed, and
fitted with a saddle piece B, which travels over the planed face of the bed.A..
On this saddle-piece is mounted (in suitable bearings) a shaft B', which carries
at its front end a circular saw and near its hinder end a belt pulley C³, for
driving the same. On the opposite sides of this shaft B¹ are placed. belt
pullies D, D, which are carried by stud axles secured in bracket standards on
the saddle piece. Between these pullies C₁ and. D, D, passes the driving

page_text: belt E, which receives motion from the driving pulley F at one extremity of
the machine, and is held at tension by the adjustable pulley F¹ at the other
end of the machine. The driving pulley F is keyed to a shaft: F' mounted
in bracket bearings projecting from the end of the bed A. On this shaft F
is keyed a bevil wheel Fs, which gears into a similar bevil wheel on the axle
of the fast-and-loose pullies G, G, which axle is carried by bracket arms pro-
jecting from the side of the bed A. A strap from any prime mover, passing
over the fixed pulley G, will, therefore, give rotary motion to the pulley F,
which, communicating the same to the belt E will set the saw in rotation,
and continue it in motion irrespective of the shifting position of the saddle
"piece. Midway between the extremities of the bed A, and standing up at the
back thereof, is a bracket standard H, which is intended to support the
swinging frame which carries the work. The projecting face of this.standard
is fitted to receive a vertical sliding frame I, which is provided at its extremities
with bearings for pivot axles a, a*, for supporting the swinging frame K. To
the inner ends of these axles guide pieces a¹ are affixed to receive the parallel
sides of the swinging frame, and form a support thereto, while at the same
time they allow for its vertical adjustment. Bolted to each of these guide
pieces-alis a-tapped bearing_box for receiving_vertical, adjusting screws b,_b,
which are fitted in the hollow sides of the swinging frame. These screws
carry bevil pinions, into which gear other bevil pinions, keyed to a shaft c,
extending from end to end of the frame, and supported in bracket bearings
cast on the swinging frame. By means of a crank handle attached to this
shaft, motion may be communicated to the two screws simultaneously, for the
purpose of raising and lowering the swinging frame, 'to adjust it relatively to
the axis of vibration. For raising and lowering the swinging frame without
affecting this adjustment the screw d is provided, which having its bearings
in the standard; and working into a female screw at the back of the sliding
frame I, will, when turned by the hand wheel d', raise or lower the frame I,
and with it the swinging frame K. The lower bar of this frame K serves to
carry a steel plate L, which forms the elastic bed for the stave blank.
Beneath this bed, adjustable blocks e, e, are placed, which according as they
.are placed near to or further from the middle of the bed, will vary its curve,
.and consequently that of the stave blanks, which are to be pressed down, and
held firmly against the bed during the cutting operation. Mounted in guides
in the swinging frame K is a pressing block M, which is free to slide in its
guides, being actuated by a cam N, keyed to an axle f on the frame, and
fitted with a. hand lever g. A slot is made in the cam to receive a pin
from the pressing block, for the purpose of coupling the two together. By

page_text: bringing the large radius of the cam to bear upon the upper end of the block
M, by means of the hand lever, the block will be forced down on to the wood
or stave blank on the steel bed, and hold the two firmly against the lower
bar of the swinging frame K, and on reversing the motion the finished blank
may be readily removed from the bed, and replaced by a stave blank. I have
said that the frame K is free to vibrate on its pivot axles a, a*; the object
of this movement is to present the opposite edges of the stave blank alternately
to the action of the rotary saw, which in its forward traverse will cut the edges
to the desired bevil, the frame K being canted for one cut to the right, and for
the other cut to a corresponding angle to the left of a vertical line running
through the axis of suspension of the frame. To limit the range of vibration
to any desired angle, adjustable. stops, h, h, are provided. These stops are
secured by means of clamping nuts in a rebated horizontal groove formed at
one end of the sliding frame I, and by projecting in front and rear of the
swinging frame, they form bearing points for the frame to rest against. For
the purpose of holding the swinging frame in contact with one or other of the
stops, the following arrangement is provided:-Keyed on the outer end of the
pivot axle a is a spur pinion i, into which gears a pinión k mounted on the
stud axle carried by a bracket on the frame I, and from the boss of this
pinion & projects a lever , which is weighted at its extremity. As, therefore,
the frame K is swung from one side to the other, the weighted lever will
follow that movement; and cause the frame to bear against one or other of the
stops h. The traverse of the saw up to and through the work is effected by a
horizontal screw shaft O, which extends from end to end of the machine, and
works in a nut on the under face of the saddle piece B. On this screw shaft O
are mounted three pullies 7, which are actuated by cross and open belts for
giving reverse motions to the screw shaft. The belts are guided on to and off
the driving pullies by means of the belt guide P, which is operated by a hand
lever m in the ordinary manner. The reversing of the motion may, however,
be made self-acting by causing arms n, n, standing up from the saddle piece B
to embrace a rod o, o, which is capable of sliding in supporting guides, and is
jointed to the hand lever m, and fitted with stops p. p. When therefore the
saw arrives at the end of its course in either direction, one of the arms n will
strike against a stop on the rod o, and thereby vibrate the lever m, and shift
the position of the belt guide. It will now be understood that when a blank
has been secured to the elastic bed, and the machine set in action, the saw will
move forward in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 1, and cut one edge of the
stave; the motion of the screw shaft O will thus be reversed, and the saw
quickly returned to its former position. The swinging frame is then rocked to

page_text: present the opposite edge of the stave blank to the saw, and the rotation of the
screw O being at the same time again reversed, the cutting operation will
be repeated, and thus a stave bevilled and tapered at both edges will be
obtained.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improved Machinery
for Cutting Staves for Casks and Barrels," and 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, the application to stave cutting machines
of the arrangement above described for presenting the bent stave blank to the
operation of the saw.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Hadfield, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
GEORGE HADFIELD. (L.S.)