AN IMPROVED GUAGE-CUTTING MACHINE
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Player Miles, of 4, Dartmouth Villas, Perry
Vale, Sydenham, in the County of Kent, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVED GUAGE-CUTTING MACHINE."
Sealed the 23rd October 1857, and dated the 9th May 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Player Miles at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th May 1857.
I, WILLIAM PLAYER MILES, of 4, Dartmouth Villas, Perry Vale, Syden-
ham, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
GUAGE-CUTTING MACHINE," to be as follows:-
I cause a bow or cutter holder of iron or other suitable material, something
like the bow of the common saw used for cutting iron, and of sufficient length
and strength to hold the cutters to traverse backwards and forwards between
two uprights, which keep the bow or cutter holder steady and in its place
whilst in action, and allow the bow or holder to work on different levels to
the bow or holder cutters, according to the size and number of cuts to be
made are affixed. The bow is worked backwards and forwards by means of an
eccentric motion or by other suitable means, the article to be cut being placed
in a suitable position to allow of the action of the cutters, according to the size

page_text: and shape of the articles and of the cut required. The articles to be cut may
be held in suitable holders, or the cutters may remain stationary and the
article be made to move backwards and forwards, the weight of the cutter-
holder or bow in both cases being sufficient to keep it upon its work. By means
of this apparatus a cut or cuts of exactly the same guage may be produced, as
the cutters and articles to be cut move backwards and forwards in contact
with each other respectively.
In the above apparatus arrangments are introduced for giving a circular
motion to the articles to be cut, also for varying the setting of the cutters so
as to produce a series of cuts, some deeper than others.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Player Miles in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
7th November 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
PLAYER MILES, of 4, Dartmouth Villas, near the Forest Hill Station, London
and Brighton Railway, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Player Miles, Her special licence that I, the said William Player
Miles, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Player Miles, 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 "AN
IMPROVED GUAGE-CUTTING MACHINE," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Player Miles, 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 Inven-
tion, 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 William Player Miles, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is

page_text: to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement and accompanying Drawings, that is to say:-
I cause a bow or cutter holder of iron or other suitable material, something
like the bow of the common saw used for cutting iron, and of sufficient length
and strength to hold the cutters to traverse backwards and forwards between
two uprights, which keep the bow or cutter holder steady and in its place
whilst in action, and allow the bow to work on different levels to the bow or
holder cutters, according to the size and number of cuts to be made, are
affixed. The bow is worked backwards and forwards by means of an eccentric
motion or by other suitable means, the article or articles to be cut being
placed in a suitable position to allow of the action of the cutters, according
to the size and shape of the article or articles and of the cut required. The
article or articles to be cut being held in suitable holders, the cutters may
remain stationary and the article or articles be made to move backwards and
forwards, or motion may be given to both, the weight of the cutter holder or
bow in any case being sufficient to keep it upon its work. By means of this
apparatus a cut or cuts of exactly the same guage may be produced, as the
cutters and the article or articles to be cut move backwards and forwards in
contact with each other respectively.
In the above apparatus arrangements are introduced for cutting surfaces
having a hollow centre or centres, also for varying the setting of the cutters so
as to produce a series of cuts, some deeper than others.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Fig. A is the base, with uprights at either end, and front upright for shaft
attached. a, a, base; b, b, end uprights; c, front upright to carry shaft;
d,,d, d, d, bolts connecting same; e, shaft bearing.
Fig. B is the back view, showing second upright c, to carry shaft with end
uprights b, b, and the end sand nuts of carriers f, f, f, f; d, d, d, are bolts
fixing same to base; a, a, the base.
Fig. C, front view of bow. A, A, A, A, A, A, holes to shift the part in
which lifting eccentric works; B, the said part; C, C, aperture in bow to
allow the position of B to be shifted; D, D, D, D, screw holes for screws to
screw up against cutters to hold them secure and straight; E, E, holder holes
to hold ends of cutters; F, F, pieces on face of bow, which are kept in posi-
tion by screws or rivets through holes in their sides, and having play sufficient
according to the width of the required shift, and having a hole for the shift to
pass and to be worked in ; G, G, apertures for lightness.

page_text: Fig. D, back view of bow. A, A, A, A, A, A, holes corresponding with
front view; B, the part in which the eccentric for giving side movement
works; C, C, apertures corresponding with front view D, D, D, D; E, E;
F, F, correspond with front view of bow.
Fig. E, crank piece, worked backwards and forwards by crank, giving the
necessary action to carriers; A, aperture or slot in which the crank works;
B, B, are side pieces to form the same; C, C, C, C, are carrier holders
working on the carriers E, E, E, E, to be shaped to hold the work to which
motion is to be given; D, D, is piece, having intermediate pieces between it
and F, so as to allow the tops of carrier holders to pass between; E, E, E, E,
front ends of carriers, by which means the surface of work having a hollow
centre or centres may be kept in its place; F, F, base of crank piece work-
ing between uprights G; G, G, uprights, having slots in them, through which
the base of crank piece works; H, H, part of back base piece; I, I, I, I,
pins passing through D and E, and by which the carrier holders C, C, C, C,
are worked.
Fig. F, cylinder or shaft, having upon it two eccentrics and a crank. a is
screw for nut to fix handle; b, space to put handle on; c, c, c, shoulders to
bearings; d, d, bearings; e, eccentric to give the side actions; f, crank; g is
the lift to ease the teeth after the cutting stroko has been made, and to save
them from extra wear on the return stroke.
Fig. G, plan.
Fig. H, side view of slotted standards or uprights.
Fig. I is sectional front of B.
Fig. K is side view of carrier holder.
Fig. L is end view of bow, showing groove H, which runs through the
length of the bow to receive the cutters.
Fig. M shows end view of Fig. E.
Fig. N shows the shift piece which is inserted into the holes in cutters b, b,
its greatest width, on which face the cuts or notches are made, being laid
parallel to the length of the said hole or holes, enabling the said piece or
pieces to be pushed through said holes the desired distance; the piece or pieces
is then turned to right angles with said first position, when the width of the
holes being only the same as the thickness of the stuff or material of said
piece, the projections force each cutter into one of the notches or cuts opposite
to itself, and thereby raise or depress the cutters relatively to each other,
should such description of cuts be required; or the cutting edges of the cutters
may be made to maintain one level and cut, and projection be produced by

page_text: setting a blank piece, or piece without teeth, alongside a cutter or piece with
teeth, or vice versa, always varying these arrangements in size and thickness
and proportions according to the work required to be performed.
Fig. O shows a cutter. a, a, are slots through which the holding pins pass,
corresponding to the holder holes E, E, of bow; b, b, are holes, made
wider on two sides to allow the piece Fig. N to pass, and the other sides of
such width as shall enable the said piece to do its work.
Fig. N, full size, shows the piece N, having the cuts and projections varied
as much as possible, so as to vary the cuts as much as possible in any given
piece of work required to be done by the machine.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Player Miles, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventh day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
D MILES
W. P. MILES. (2.6.)