A MACHINE OR ENGINE FOR CUTTING OR FASHIONING WOOD INTO CERTAIN DEFINED SHAPES OR FORMS TO FIT THE SAME MORE READILY TO VARIOUS PURPOSES AND USES;
Year: 1834

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEX-
ANDER BEATTIE SHANKLAND, of Egremont Place, in the Parish of St. Pancras,
in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS I did, by Petition, represent to His most Excellent Majesty
King William the Fourth that I was, by communication from a Foreigner
residing abroad, in possession of the knowledge of an Invention of "A
MACHINE OR ENGINE FOR CUTTING OR FASHIONING WOOD INTO CERTAIN DEFINED
SHAPES OR FORMS TO FIT THE SAME MORE READILY TO VARIOUS PURPOSES AND USES;"
and His said Majesty, being willing to encourage all useful inventions, did
issue His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Sixth day of May, in the fourth year of His reign,
whereby His said Majesty did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Alexander Beattie Shankland, His especial license
that I, the said Alexander Beattie Shankland, my exors, adiñiors, and assigns,
or such other persons as I, the said Alexander Beattie Shankland, my exors,
adiñors, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within that part of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain called England, the Dominion of Wales,
and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, the said Invention; in which said Letters
Patent there is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Alexander Beattie
Shaukland, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly
to describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner

page_text: the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be enrolled in His
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by
the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Alexander Beattie Shanland, do hereby declare that the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are described
and ascertained in the following manner, reference being had for further
illustration to the Drawings appended to the Specification, that is to say:-
The Machine or Engine for Cutting or Fashioning Wood into certain
defined Shapes or Forms, to fit the same more readily to various Purposes and
Uses, is contrived and adapted more especially to the cutting out and shaping
of wood into spokes for the wheels of carriages, but by slight modifications of
its cutters and some other parts it may be fitted for the conversion of wood to
other purposes. The machine consists, as will be understood from the per-
spective delineation thereof, of the following principal parts; namely, a framing
which supports and connects the machinery, a cutter wheel for shaping the tenon,
another cutter wheel for rounding the edges or angles of the spoke, an arbor
or shaft with a spiral worm working in the rack on a carriage which carries
forward the spoke to the cutter wheel for dressing the angles, a weight or
spring to draw back the carriage, circular saws for dressing the timber, and the
gearing by which the several acting parts are put in motion. The framing,
either of wood or iron, must be adapted in form, dimensions, and strength to
the weight, size, and power of the machinery to be supported by it The top
of the frame is covered by a table, with suitable apertures for the saws and
cutters, on which the work may be laid in some of the operations. The
cutter wheels and saws may be carried upon the same shaft or axis lying
across the middle of the upper part of the framing. Beneath the cutter wheel
for rounding off the angles of the spokes is a sliding table, moveable length-
wise of the machine betwixt V-bearers, on which the squared spokes are in
succession fixed to be brought up progressively to the cutters. The table is
moved forward by a worm and bevel or screw rack capable of being thrown in
and out of gear and brought back by a counter weight or spring. A, Figure 1,
is tho framing; B, the cutter wheel for dressing down the tenons. The cutter
wheels are circular discs of cast iron, about fifteen inches diameter and three
and a half or more in thickness on the periphery, which is grooved to admit
the work, and morticed or notched in four or more places to receive the
cutters. The section of one of theso discs is shown at X, Figure 6. The
cutters are fixed in the mortices or notches by screws or wedges, their edges

page_text: D is
projecting beyond the mortices after the manner of fixing plane irons. One
of the tenon cutters is seen on the periphery of the cutter wheel at C.
the cutter wheel for dressing down the angles of the spokes. The cutter for
this may be a flat iron notched to the proper form for the round of the spoke,
as seen at E, Figure 4, and fixed in the mortice like a plane iron; but as the
form of the notch in such a tool varies with the wearing of the cutting edge,
a better form of cutter for this purpose is shewn at A, B, Figure 4, which is a
bar of steel bent at the cutting part to the desired form, and sharpened by a
bevel from the outside of the curve, so that the cutting form of the tool does
not change by wear. This form of cutter is fixed on the periphery of the
wheel by a screw through each car or strap, the bend dropping into the groove
of the cutter wheel. When it is intended that the back and fore sides of the
spoke should be dressed to the different curves it will be necessary to have two
wheels for this purpose, or one broader wheel with two grooves, and two
cutters of the respective curves required. The work is brought up to this
cutter wheel for rounding the angles by being fixed upon the sliding table
underneath, which is brought forward by a worm and screw rack receiving
motion through a pair of bevel wheels from the driving pulley. One end of
the worm shaft rests upon a swinging bar L, which, as it is lowered or raised
by the lever M, puts the worm in or out of gear. A spring catch P, fixed on
the swinging bar L, is liberated at the proper time for stopping the action of
the cutters on the spoke by a pin moving with the sliding table. When
thrown out of gear the weight Q draws back the table; when the action of the
cutters is to recommence, the worm is brought into gear by the workman
depressing the handle of the lever M.
The construction and movement of the sliding table, and mode of fixing
the work, will be understood by reference to Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the
Drawing. The machine is driven by any first mover through the pullies,
riggers or whirls, and bands, as seen in the Drawing at R and S. Tho
operation of the machine is this:-The quartering is first squared and
brought to the proper dimensions by the circular saws; the tenon is then
formed by bringing the end of the piece of timber up to the cutters in the
tenon cutter wheel; the spoke is then fixed upon the bed of the sliding table,
the fore end adjusted to its proper height by a weight being pressed against a
pin by a screw and winch at the tenon end; when the angles of one side of the
spoke are dressed the timber is turned and dressed on the other side, either by
the same cutters or by another set if the forms of the two sides are to differ.
The Invention which I claim under the Letters Patent now granted to me
is, generally the combined machinery herein described, and especially the

page_text: apparatus for dressing down the angles of the timber, whether the several
parts be arranged, connected, and moved precisely in the manner now sct
forth, or modified in various ways to produce the same results. I do not
claim the circular saws, tenoning wheel, or other parts already in common
use, apart from the combination of mechanism described and shewn in this
Specification.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Beattie Shankland, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the First day of October, in the year One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-four.