IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND MACHINERY FOR CUTTING IRREGULAR AND OTHER FORMS
Year: 1859

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Jehu Hollingsworth at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19th
November 1859.-Partly a communication from abroad by Charles P.
Bailey, of Zanesville, Ohio, United States of America.
I, JEHU HOLLINGSWORTH, of Cecil Street, Strand, in the City of West-
minster, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND MACHINERY FOR CUTTING IRREGULAR AND
OTHER FORMS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the application of an arrangement of lathe and feed
apparatus to the wood cutting machine, for which Letters Patent bearing date
May 15th, 1854, (No. 1085), were granted, whereby the capabilities of the
machine may be greatly increased. As originally constructed this machine
(which is fitted with removeable cutters or blades attached to vertical spindles,
against which as guides the pattern is pressed to bring the work under the
action of the cutters) is enabled by the introduction of various forms of cutters
and patterns to cut beads and mouldings on the straight, on the curve, and
irregular figures, but by giving the work an axial motion, either intermittent
or continuous, not only irregular and straight, but helical and spiral grooves
or flutes may be cut by the rotating cutters with facility.
To this end it is now proposed to apply to the table of the machine a lathe,
the bed of which will be loose on the table, and sufficiently light to allow of its
being moved endwise in front of the rotating cutter to present the work

page_text: thereto. This lathe bed is fitted with two adjustable heads, one of which is
made with two standards to receive a driving pulley, which is held to a hollow
mandril, the same being tapped at both ends to allow of tools being attached
when required. In order to cut spiral work, a suitably shaped piece of wood
is mounted between the centres of the lathe, a template or profile pattern is
attached to the bed of the lathe, and a helically grooved rod is attached to the
outer end of the hollow mandril. This rod works through an adjustable collar
or bearing carried by a head fixed to the table of the machine by a pivot bolt,
which will allow of the lateral movement of the rod and of the lathe bed,
whereby the template or pattern is brought up to and kept in contact with the
cutter spindle. As the lathe bed which forms the carriage for the work is
moved forward to bring the work up to the cutters, a tooth or guide projecting
from the adjustable collar into the helical groove will, by reason of its being
stationary, turn the rod on its axis, and consequently the work which is fixed
to the mandril. The rotating vertical cutter will thus operate upon the work
in a helical line. When one thread or flute is cut, the adjustable collar is to
be shifted in its bearing a quarter turn, or less or more according to the
number of twists required, and a fresh surface being thus brought in a line
with the cutter, the operation proceeds as before. When grooving without a
twist is required the helically grooved rod is detached, and the pattern plate,
together with a dividing plate for determining the amount of axial motion to
be given to the work after each cut, will suffice to adjust the work to the
rotating cutter.
When common turning work is required, the lathe may be clamped to the
table, and driven by a belt passing from the driving shaft pulley to the pulley
on the hollow mandril, and this mandril being fitted with a hollow cutter,
dowel pins may be cut with facility, a guide for leading the wood up to the
cutter being attached to the head of the lathe.
For facilitating the cutting of spiral and other work, a self feeder may be
used with advantage. To this end the lathe, with its appurtenances above
described, may be fixed in a sliding carriage, which will carry the work
mounted in the lathe up to the vertical cutter. This sliding carriage, in order
to keep the template up to the guide, requires to be pressed towards the cutter
by a yielding pressure that will allow of lateral movement to suit the varying
breadth of the pattern, and for this purpose, as well as for imparting the
traverse motion thereto, the carriage is acted upon by a pressing roller mounted
in a frame, which is made capable of advancing and receding as required by
the pattern, but which has a tendency (through a spring or its equivalent) to
advance towards the cutter. The pressing roller is driven by gearing, which

page_text: receives motion by a belt from a driving pulley. This sliding frame is fitted
with guides for steadying the carriage and preventing it from swaying in its
course.
If thought desirable the pressing roller may be actuated by hand through a
crank handle. By fitting the lathe heads with two or more sets of centres
one above the other, and gearing the mandrils together, two or more pieces of
spiral work may be cut at the same time, and in opposite directions if required.
Instead of mounting the lathe heads on a bed, they may be made pendent
from a round rod which slides in bracketed guides suspended over the table,
thus forming a swinging frame. In this instance three heads will be required,
the pattern being carried in a line with the work. This pattern it is proposed
to traverse over a dumb tool in order to guide the work up to the cutter,
which is set in a line with the dumb tool. When the helically grooved rod is
attached to the swinging frame, spiral or helical work will be produced, but
the substitution therefor of a dividing plate will allow of a large variety of
irregular work being produced.
To produce complex twisted work, such as a pillar with a cordage twist upon
it, it is proposed to divide the curve on the template representing one twist
into parts corresponding to the number of threads required on the column, and
when giving the work the requisite axial motion to bring a fresh surface to
the cutter, at the same time to shift the template on the bed of the lathe the
extent of one division of the twist.