IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SETTING SAWS
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
TALL, of Brixton, in the County of Surrey, Builder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Nineteenth day of July, in the eleventh year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Joseph Tall, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
I, the said Joseph Tall, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and such
others as I, the said Joseph Tall, my executors, administrators, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time, and at all
times during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, and in
the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, my Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SETTING SAWS;" in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said Joseph Tall, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court
of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said in part 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
Joseph Tall, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described and

page_text: ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon
(that is to say):-
It is well known that the operation of setting saws as heretofore practised
is one which requires a considerable amount of skill and time to produce a
satisfactory result, and that the persons employed for this operation must have
continual practice in order to perform it in a proper manner.
The object of the present improvements is therefore to construct a simple
and efficient apparatus by means of which the operation of setting saws may be
performed without the aid of a skilled artizan, and by any ordinary carpenter or
workman who may be in the habit of using saws. The use of my improved
apparatus is confined to setting the teeth of the saw at a proper angle, as is well
understood, and does not relate to any mode of filing the teeth or sharpening
the saw, which is a totally distinct and subsequent operation.
In the accompanying Drawings I have shewn views of three different
apparatus to be employed for the purpose of setting the teeth of saws at their
proper angle, so as to make them clear their way through the wood to be cut.
All the apparatus shewn in the Drawing are, however, constructed much upon
the same principle, and consist in setting the teeth of the saw at their proper
angle by means of a small punch of a suitable shape, which, when struck on
the head, (the teeth of the saw being first placed beneath the die of the punch,
will bend the teeth into a proper position; and as by means of a stake or
anvil below, on which the teeth rest, the punch is prevented from bending the
teeth too much, it will be evident that these latter may be set, even by an inexpe-
rienced person, with a regularity and facility hitherto very difficult to attain.
Fig. 1 in the Drawings is a plan view of one form of apparatus which I
employ Fig. 2 is a side or edge view thereof; and Fig. 3 is a transverse
vertical section taken through the middle of the apparatus, and shewing the
mode of mounting and securing the die punch therein. a, a, is the body or
stock of the apparatus, which when in use must be held securely in a vice
by its lower end, as seen in Fig. 2. b, b, is the punch which is inserted in a
vertical rectangular hole or socket made in the body of the apparatus, as seen
in Fig. 3. The head of this punch is furnished at each side with a die of a
different shape, as seen at 1, 2, 3, and 4, in the Figures, in order to make it
suitable for setting saws of various kinds. The lower part or foot of the die
is supported by a spiral or helical spring c, which always keeps the punch
elevated. This latter is also kept in its proper place by means of a screw, stud,
or pin d, which prevents the punch from being taken out of its rectangular
socket in the stock until the said stud has been previously removed. e is a

page_text: small moveable stake or anvil, the upper edge of which supports the teeth of
the saw to be operated upon and slides in vertical grooves made in the stock
or body of the apparatus, as seen in the plan view, Fig. 1. The four sides of
this stake e are bevilled off in different manners, so as to correspend with the
four dies of the punch 6, and to suit different kinds of saws. A moveable
frame f, f, made of a straight flat bar of iron g rivetted to the ends of the
round iron rods f, f, is made to support the blade of the saw g' while under
operation, as seen best in Figures 1 and 3; and, in order that this frame may
be suitable for saws of various widths, the bars f, f, are made so as to slide in
holes through the body of the apparatus. When it is required to set the
teeth of a saw, the proper side of the stake e must be placed uppermost, and
the corresponding die of the punch 6 having been brought over it (which can be
casily done by simply removing it from the vertical socket and turning it round)
the saw g¹ is placed flat on the frame f, f, the tooth edge resting on the stake e;
then upon striking the head of the punch 6 a light blow with a small hammer
the tooth of the saw will be bent outwards to the extent required; the blade is
then moved forward, and every alternate tooth is by means of a blow on the head
of the punch bent down in the same manner and to exactly the same extent.
When the blade has passed once under the punch from end to end it is to be
turned over, and the alternate teeth that were missed in the first operation
are in their turn bent down, that is, in an opposite direction to the first set.
Figures 4 and 5 represent à side elevation and a plan view of a modification
of the plan above described. In the present instance the punch or die bis
mounted on the end of a lever h, which has its fulcrum in a bearing at the
end of an adjustable arm j, extending out from the body or stock a of the
apparatus. The spring which keeps the punch 6 elevated is seen at c, and
the stake e which supports the tooth edge of the saw is not intended to be
removed from its place, but is made adjustable horizontally by means of a
screw i, so that a greater or less bend may be given to the teeth.of the saw by
moving the stake backward or forward. The arm j, which supports the lever
that carries the punch b, is also made adjustable, so that it may be slidden
backward and forward in its socket in the body of the apparatus.
In this case,
as in the former instance, the blow is given to the punch by a small hammer
in the hands of the workman.
Fig. 6 is a sectional representation of a modification of the plan shewn
in Figures 4 and 5, in which the blow from the die 6 is given by the force
of a coiled spring c, instead of by means of the stroke of a hammer on the head
of the punch; the stake e and the arm; are made adjustable precisely in the
manner described in reference to Figures 4 and 5.
.

page_text: When the apparatus shewn in Fig. 6 is to be employed, the workman must
hold up the die or punch e with his finger or thumb, as shewn by dots in the
Drawing, until he places the teeth of the saw blade under the die, he must
then let the die descend with force on to the tooth, which will be thereby bent
in the proper manner.
Having now described various modifications of my apparatus which I have
found to answer the intended purpose, I would observe that I do not intend
to confine myself thereto, nor to the means above described of actuating the dies
or punches and causing them to bend the teeth in a proper manner, as it is
evident that the arrangement and construction of the parts may be considerably
modified, and various other modes may be devised for forcing the die or punch
down on to the teeth, as, for instance, a hammer actuated by mechanical
means may be made to depress or work the punch and cause it to strike the
teeth as they may be successively presented to it; but that which I consider
to be new, and therefore wish to claim under the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent, is, an apparatus for. setting the teeth of saws, consisting of a
fixed or moveable stake or anvil for supporting the tooth edge of the blade,
and a punch or die which may be brought down with force on to the tooth of
the said saw by means of a light blow from a hammer or a strong spring, or
any other suitable mechanical contrivance, and by that means made to bend
the tooth to the required angle.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Tall, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Nineteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Nineteenth day of
January, in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Joseph Tall came before
our Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of
the Statute in that case made and provided.