IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING WOOD
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Thompson, of Charlton, in the County of
Kent, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
CUTTING WOOD."
Sealed the 14th January 1862, and dated the 23rd July 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Thompson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 23rd
July 1861.
I, ROBERT THOMPSON, of Charlton, in the County of Kent, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR CUTTING WOOD," to be as follows:-
An arrangement of machinery whereby revolving cutting tools for chasing,
grooving, moulding, and other similar work can be moved (while in operation)
in any direction required by the workman, while the wood to be cut is held
stationary. To effect this I place the cutter carrier upon a beam, along which
it can travel to and fro.
Figs. 1 and 2 represent the machine as cutting the tread and riser
chases in the string board of a stairs. The beam A is pivoted at one
end B, while the opposite end C can be held by the workman, or secured,
according to whether it is required to traverse the cutter along a curved

page_text: or straight line. The cutter carrier e can be moved along the beam either
by hand or by a wormed shaft or other similar mechanical means. A
revolving motion is communicated to the cutter by a gut or strap, first giving
motion from the driver to the pulley a, upon the axle of which is a second
pulley b, whence a gut passes round the pulley c upon the cutter holder, and
finally over the pulley d at the opposite end of the beam. By this method of
driving the cutter carrier e can traverse along the beam without interfering in
any way with the revolution of the cutter. Fig. 3 shows a modification of the
beam, in which it is pivoted so that it can radiate at right angles to instead of
parallel with the face of the work to be cut; it is also centred upon the
axle (shown in dotted lines) to allow the beam to be canted to any angle
while the machine is at work, when helical or twisted work is required. In
Fig. 3 it represents the machine as cutting out the curved moulding 9. Fig. 4
is a third arrangement, whereby still greater freedom is given to the cutter.
The beam is cylindrical, and passes through a block h, upon the top of which
block the cutter carrier e is pivoted. By the latter arrangement the beam. A
can radiate as at Fig. 3; the block h radiates upon the beam A, upon which
it can be set to any desired angle by the set screw i, and the cutter carrier e
can radiate upon the pivot k.
The principle of the Invention consists in an arrangement whereby the
cutting tool can be moved about in any direction while in operation, as herein
explained.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Thompson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
23rd January 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
THOMPSON, of Charlton, in the County of Kent, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Robert Thompson, Her special license that I, the said Robert Thompson,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Robert Thompson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times

page_text: 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 WOOD," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Robert Thompson, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain 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 Robert Thompson, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the fol-
lowing statement (that is to say):
An arrangement of machinery whereby revolving cutting tools for chasing,
grooving, moulding, and other similar work can be moved (while in the
operation of cutting or otherwise) in any direction required by the workman,
giving him complete command over the tool, to follow any line of cut traced
out, without in any way interfering with the revolving action of the cutter or
the driving power. The principle consists in mounting the cutting tools in a
carrier or traverse block, such block being free to travel along a beam,
revolving motion being communicated to the cutter by a gut or band in the
following manner :-Motion is communicated from the driving power to a
double grooved pulley revolving freely upon a shaft, upon which shaft one end
of a beam is pivoted. A second gut or band passes round the other groove of
the double pulley, thence entirely round so as to grip a pulley attached to the
cutter holder, thence round a third pulley upon the opposite end of the beam,
and back past and clear of the cutter holder pulley to the first pulley. The
traverse block or carrier can thus travel along the beam, carrying with it the
cutter without interfering with the revolution of its pulley.
In the accompanying Drawings, Sheet 1, Fig. 1, represents an elevation of
the machine with the bench supporting the work in section; Fig. 2, a vertical
cross section; and Fig. 3, a top or plan view. The letters of reference describe
the same parts in all the Figures.
A is a beam pivoted at the end B to the fixed shaft D. The beam can be
fixed at any desired height above the bench M by the collars a, a, and the set
screws b, b. The beam can move radially upon the shaft D, or it can be
The other end C of the
secured at any desired angle by the set screws c, c.

page_text: beam is supported by the shaft E, the friction roller d resting upon the bed o
the bench.
e, e, are set screws for fixing that end of the beam at the sam
height as the opposite end B; F is the cutter carrier or traverse block, moving
freely when desired along the beam A; G, the cutter, held by the cutte
holder H. The spindle H' of the cutter holder passes up through the
plummer blocks f, f, and its upper end is screwed or otherwise secured to the
collar g. This collar works upon the head of the screw shaft h. A hand
wheel J is tapped to receive the screw shaft h. The collar i of the wheel J is
secured to the cross bearer k by the cap 1. By revolving the hand wheel J
the screw shaft h and with it the cutter holder and cutter are raised or lowered
as required. Motion being given to the loose double pulley m by the driving
gut n, the motion is imparted to the gut o, which passes in the direction of the
arrows from the pulley m round the pulley p, attached by a feather to the
cutter holder spindle H', thence round the loose pulley 9, and back to the first
pulley m. Revolution is thus imparted to the cutter G, while the carrier or
traverse block F is free to be moved along the beam, and the beam can
radiate around the shaft D. Any description of straight or curved lines may
thus be followed. The carrier may either be traversed by hand or by the
screw shaft K, which is screwed through the traverse block F, in the manner
of an ordinary slide rest. When desired, for fine work, a template r may be
cut to the required form, and secured upon the material to be cut, as shewn
at Fig. 2. A levers is attached to the cutter holder, carrying at its end the
spindle t and roll u; a second roll v is attached so as to revolve loosely upon
the lower end of the cutter. The workman, by holding the handle of the
lever s, can cause the roll u to follow along the curved form of the template,
the roll following parallel with it along the face of the work.
In the Figures described a moulding is being cut; the work L, under
operation, being shewn only at Fig. 2.
As it is desirable with some description of work to have the cutter holder
at right angles to the position shewn on the previously described Figures, the
holes W, w, are bored through the beam at right angles to those through
which the shafts D and E pass in the Drawings, so that the beam can be
turned a quarter round, the shaft D passed through W, and the supporting
shaft E through the smaller hole w.
I do not confine myself to any particular form of beam or traverse block, as
in some cases it is desirable that the cutter shall vary its angle of contact with
the work; and sometimes (as in twisted or helical work) to cant round
during its traverse motion, in which case a cylindrical beam may be used, the

page_text: traverse block. having a radial motion round the beam, as shewn in Fig. 9,
Sheet 2.
Fig. 4 shews the form. of cutter necessary to use for cutting dovetail
grooves; Fig. 5, a double flem cutter for cross-grain or angular cutting, such
as the tread and riser chases or grooves in the string boards of stairs; Fig. 6,
a cutter for rabbeting, grooving, mortising, tenoning, and circular work.
In Sheet 2 the Drawings shew the same machine with the double flem
cutter placed in the cutter holder in the act of cutting the tread and riser
chases in a string board of a stairs.
Fig. 7 is an elevation looking from a position square with the side of the
beam; Fig. 8, a plan looking down upon the machine.
The description of Figs. 1 and 3, Sheet 1, apply also to Figs. 7 and 8, as
the same letters of reference are used.
In this description of work the beam is secured by the set screws b, b, in a
position parallel to the tread chases a, one of which a', having been cut, the
work is moved on so as to bring the next tread chase lines a² under the
cutter, and so on until they are all cut. The beam is then moved radially,
and fixed by the set screws b, b, at right angles to its first position, or parallel
with the riser chases y. The spacing out of the distance between any parallel
grooves may be done by the use of a pall block, as shewn at P, Fig. 8,
Sheet 2, or by a divided bar temporarily clamped to the bed of the bench.
For preparing straight and square joints, a straight edge is fitted into the
slot S, Figs. 1 and 8, in the bed of the bench. The work is clamped to the
straight edge, when the work under operation and the straight edge can be
traversed together by hand or otherwise along the slot, the beam and cutter
carrier or traverse block being held stationary. A cross rail T, Fig. 1, is also
fitted into grooves at each end of the bench, with its face in a plumb line under
one face of the slot s, so that work under operation may be kept upright by
lying against the cross rail T, and one face of the slot S.
With a bench of this description the various ways in which the cutter may
be brought to bear upon the work enables almost every description of joiners'
work to be accomplished with one machine. A small circular saw or any
description of cutting tool may be used, and although the machine is designed
for cutting wood, it is obvious that any stone or similar material which can
be cut by a revolving tool could be operated upon by the same machine.
I claim, first, as new and of my Invention, the method of mounting and
guiding the cutters in a traverse block upon a beam, the cutters travelling to
and fro while the work is held stationary, as described.

page_text: Secondly, the mode of guiding the beam, either by hand alone or with the
aid of guide rolls connected to the cutter shaft, such rolls acting upon the face
or top of the material under operation, or upon the table or bench of the
machine.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Thompson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
ROBERT THOMPSON. (L.S.)
Witness,
EDWARD JAMES POWELL.