IMPROVE- MENTS IN SADDLETREES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George McNaught, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, Saddletree Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SADDLETREES."
Sealed the 15th December 1854, and dated the 23rd September 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George M°Naught at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd September 1854.
I, GEORGE MCNAUGHT, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Saddletree Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SADDLETREES " to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the manufacture or production of saddletrees in
such a manner as to secure increased strength together with economy in the
material used, and consists in sawing the wood of which the heads and bars
of the saddletrees are formed to the required thickness in each case, and then
bending the wood to the proper shape by the aid of steam and suitable
machinery. In forming the heads of saddletrees in this manner, it is preferred
to employ two or more thin slips of wood, which are glued together, but they
can be made of single thicknesses of wood, if desirable.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George M Naught in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th March 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
MCNAUGHT, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Saddletree
Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS. Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
George McNaught, Her special license that I, the said George McNaught, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George
M*Naught, my executors, administrators, or 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 SADDLETREES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the suid George McNaught, by
an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 George M Naught, 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 following statement,
reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to the manufacture or production of saddletrees
for saddles of various kinds in such a manner as to secure increased strength
together with economy in the material used and in the labour required in the
manufacture of such articles. In describing my said Invention, and in order
that it may be the better understood, I shall herein-after refer to the several
explanatory Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto attached.
Figure 1 on the Sheet of Drawings is a side elevation, and Figure 2 is a
plan, of a saddletree as constructed according to my Invention, the saddletree
being here represented as with its constituent portions merely joined together,
but in an uncovered state-;--Figure-3, on-the same Sheet of Drawings, is a side

page_text: elevation in perspective; and Figure 4 is an end elevation of the saddletree, as
covered or canvassed.
The portions of the saddletree to which my Invention more especially
refers are the semicircular or curved head-piece A, and the two twisted
side bars B. According to the ordinary system of making saddletrees, the
head A is generally made in two portions, each portion being in one piece
with one of the downward projecting side pieces C. These two portions of the
head-piece are each shaped out of solid pieces of wood by splitting, chopping,
and cutting away the superfluous portions of the wood to bring it to the proper
form. According to this mode of proceeding, a considerable portion of the
material is cut to waste, and the labour required is excessive. Now, the
portion of my Invention relating to the head of the saddletree consists in
forming the semicircular part A out of a piece of wood, which is first cut to
the necessary thickness in a flat state, and then, after being steamed or other-
wise prepared, is bent to the required semicircular or curved form by means of
screw presses or other suitable machinery, such as is used in other manufac-
tures for bending wood with the aid of steam. Or instead of forming the
head-piece A of a single piece of wood of the full thickness required, it may be
composed of two or moro thin pieces, bent and glued, or otherwise attached or
bound together, to give the required thickness. Similarly, whilst the side bars
B are brought into the required form, according to the ordinary system of
manufacture, by cutting away portions of the wood, so as to give them a
twisted shape, under my improved system they are first cut to the necessary
thickness in the flat state, being afterwards twisted by means of suitable
machinery after being steamed or otherwise prepared, so as to bring them to
the twisted shape required in the construction of the saddletree, as indicated in
my Drawings. The back D of the saddletree is made in the usual manner,
and the several pieces A, B, C, D, being glued, or otherwise connected or
jointed together, the corners E are filled up with separate pieces, so as to
economise the width of the wood out of which the side bars B are formed, and
filling-up pieces are fitted in, in the usual way, on the inside of the pieces A
and C. The saddletree is finished externally in the usual manner, by being
covered with coarse canvas and washed with glue, or otherwise prepared, as
represented in Figures 3 and 4 on my Sheet of Drawings. I have herein-
before only referred to the manufacture of saddletrees for the ordinary descrip-
tion of men's riding saddles, but it will be obvious to the practical man that
my Invention, or a part of it, is equally applicable to the manufacture of other
varieties of saddletrees. Thus, for example, the side bars of saddletrees for
ladies' or side saddles, as also those of saddletrees for military saddles, may be

page_text: made according to my improved system of manufacture, herein-before described
in reference to the side bars B of the saddletree, represented on my Sheet of
Drawings.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I may observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself
to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe
or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without deviating from
the principles or main features of my Invention; but what I consider to be
novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the general system or mode of manufacturing saddletrees, as herein-
before described.
Second, the system or mode of forming the heads of saddletrees, by cutting
or reducing suitable pieces of wood to the required thickness, and then bending
them to the required form by means of suitable machinery, after being steamed
or otherwise prepared, as herein-before described.
Third, the application and use, in the construction of saddletree heads, of
separate sections or layers of wood combined to produce the thickness and
solidity required.
Fourth, the system or mode of forming the side bars of saddletrees, by
cutting or reducing suitable pieces of wood to the required thickness, and then
twisting or bending them to the required form by means of suitable machinery,
after being steamed or otherwise prepared, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George McNaught, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
MCNALIGHT