IMPROVEMENTS IN SLIDE LATHES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Muir, of the -Britannia Works, in the City
of Manchester, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SLIDE
LATHES."
Sealed the 19th August 1856, and dated the 20th February 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Muir at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 20th
February 1856.
I, WILLIAM MUIR, of the Britannia Works, in the City of Manchester,
Engineer, do hereby. declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SLIDE LATHES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in applying one or more additional slide rests to slide
lathes of the ordinary construction, each slide rest being worked independently
of the other or others by the main. screw of the lathe. The object of these
improvements is to economise time and labour in turning or screw cutting, as
two or more cutting tools may thus be employed, and each tool is capable of
being adjusted laterally and for the depth of the cut, independently of the other

page_text: or others. In cutting screws, the apparatus for withdrawing the tools and for
regulating the depth of the cut may be connected, so that both tools are with-
drawn from cutting and reinserted simultaneously.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Muir in the Great Scal Patent Office on the 20th
August 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, J, WILLIAM
MUIR, of the Britannia Works, in the City of Manchester, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Muir, Her special license that I, the said William Muir,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Muir, 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 SLIDE LATHES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Muir, 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 per-
formed, 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 William Muir, 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 (that is to say):-
The nature of my Invention consists in applying one or more additional slide
rests to slide lathes of the ordinary construction, to economise time and labour
in turning or screw cutting; and in order that my Invention may be fully
understood and readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the means

page_text: pursued by me, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing, and to the
figures and letters marked thereon.
Figure 1 is an elevation of a slide lathe of the ordinary construction, to
which my improvements are applied; Figure 2 is an end view, and Figure 3
an elevation, of a modification of my improvements. a represents the bed of
the slide lathe; b, the fast headstock; c, the loose headstock; and d, the screw by
which motion is communicated to the ordinary slide rest e and to the additional
slide rest f.
I wish to remark here, that although I have only shewn one additional slide
rest, it is evident that in long slide lathes two or more additional slide rests
may be employed.
In Figure 1 the rests e and fare shewn at a certain distance apart, and in
Figure 3 they are shewn close together, and connected by the hook 9. The
workman by turning either of the handles h can regulate the distance between
the rests, each of the said handles being in connection with a pinion taking
into the main screw d in the usual manner; but as soon as the distance between
the rests is determined, both the rests are moved simultaneously along the bed
by the main screw d. Each slide rest is furnished with a back stay and with
a cutting tool, as shewn at i in Figure 2; and as each tool is capable of
being adjusted laterally and for the depth of the cut independently of the
other or others, it is evident that in turning or sliding a shaft the first tool
will be giving the rough cut, while the other or others is or are performing the
finishing cut; by this means a considerable saving in time and labour is
effected.
5 The modification shewn in Figure 3 is particularly applicable for screw
cutting. In this arrangement the tool holders are connected by the pinion j,
which revolves on a stud fixed to the slide rest f; this pinion, when the rests
are connected together, gears into both the pinions e¹ and f, attached to the
screws of the tool holders, consequently, when the attendant turns round either
of the pinions e¹, f, or j, the requisite motion for regulating the depth of the
cut or for inserting or withdrawing the tools is performed simultaneously. The
depth of the cut is capable of being adjusted in each tool independently of the
other by the worm e² and worm wheel e. The worm e on being turned round
gives motion to the worm wheel 3, which is fast on the screw acting on the
5 tool holder, consequently, by turning the said screw round, the depth of the cut
is increased or diminished.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention and the manner of
performing the same, I wish it to be understood that I am aware slide latbes

page_text: have before been made with two slide rests, having each a tool acting on
opposite sides of the article to be turned; also, that two tools have been fixed
in the same slide rest; and that lathes with several cutting tools, each acting on
a portion of the article to be turned, have been in operation, I therefore make
no claim to the employment of more than one cutting tool; but what I-do claim
is, the use and application of one or more additional slide rests to slide lathes of
the ordinary construction in the manner and for the purposes described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Muir, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six..
Witness,
H. B. BARLOW.
Manchester.
W MUIR. (L.S.)