IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CASKS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Stokes Cressey, of High Street, Homerton,
in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CASKS."
Sealed the 10th May 1859, and dated the 19th November 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Stokes Cressey
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th November 1858.
I, THOMAS STOKES CRESSEY, of High Street, Homerton, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CASES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery used in the
manufacture of casks. For these purposes, in order to cut the edges of a
stave to the proper curve and bevil, a circular saw bench is used, on which a
bar is fixed longitudinally, and to this bar is applied a flexible template of
steel, or other suitable material, by means of screws and nuts, in such manner.
as to admit of the flexible template being varied in its curvature to suit the
size and make of cask desired. The wood for making a stave is fixed on a
carriage, which is caused to move past the circular saw. This carriage has
an arm at each end, to each of which a roller or truck is applied, which
comes against the flexible template as the carriage is moved past the circular
saw. The upper surface of the carriage is hinged at its inner edge to the
bed plate or frame of the carriage, so that it may be made to assume an

page_text: inclined position, according to the degree of bevil desired to be given to the
edge of a stave, and the degree of inclination of the upper surface of the
carriage is adjusted by a wedge-formed guage, which is graduated for different
sizes of casks, and according as such adjusting guage is passed more or less
under the upper surface of the carriage on which the wood for a stave is fixed,
so will be the degree of bevil produced on the wood when it has been moved
past the circular saw. The wood is held on the upper surface of the carriage
by its ends in any suitable manner, and it is correctly placed on the carriage
by the aid of an adjustable stop or stops on the saw bench, and a spring and
adjusting frame on the upper surface of the carriage.
In order to hollow the interior surface of a stave it is fixed on a carriage
on which there is a bed of the curvature desired, on which the stave is bent,
so as to cause the inner surface of the stave to assume a convex form, and in
this state its ends are held down by suitable clamping levers. The carriage
is arranged to be moved to and fro by means of a screw and nut, or it may
be moved by other convenient means. The cutting of the wood in order to
hollow the same is performed by two cutters or adzing instruments, which are
so worked as to make their cuts alternately from the outer edges of the stave
across the grain, and towards the centre of the stave. The two cutting or adzing
instruments are suspended on two arms, and the cutting edges are towards
each other; and these two arms are caused to swing to and fro by a con-
necting rod and crank, or other suitable movement. The carriage is moved
slowly past the cutters, which hollow out the centre of the stave, and by
reason of the stave being bent, the cutters remove a larger quantity at the
middle of the length of a stave, and less and less towards the ends.
In order to back a stave it is placed on five, or it may be other convenient
number of carrying rollers or discs, which carry it forwards past the cutting
instrument. The rollers or discs are mounted on three axes parallel to each
other, and when using five discs or rollers there are on the first axis two of
such discs or rollers, on the second axis one such roller or disc, and on the
third axis two of such rollers or discs. Motion is communicated from a
steam engine or other power to the first axis, and from it by suitable cog
wheels to the third axis. The axes of these rollers or discs are carried by
a frame, which at its four corners is capable of moving on four uprights; and
there are four springs employed at the four corners of the frame, to lift it
and the rollers or discs upwards towards the cutters used for rounding the
back of the stave. The cutting apparatus I prefer for this machine consists
of a double plane, which is moved to and fro by a connecting rod and crank,
or other suitable motion, and is guided by curved guides, of a curvature

page_text: agreeable to the curvature to be given to the back of the stave; and the
cutters are arranged to act alternately transversely across the grain of the
wood, the cutters cutting from the outer edges of the stave to the centre
thereof.
In order to cut the grooves at the ends of a stave to receive the head of a
cask, the end of a stave is held by means of two nuts on a right and left-
handed screw shaft; and such screw shaft is carried by a slide moving between
guides, and is so arranged that it may be raised to the exact height desired by
a pinion and toothed rack, or by other convenient means.
The cutting
apparatus used consists of two arms, moving or swinging to and fro on an
axis above. These two cutters have their cutting edges towards each other,
and cut from the outer edges of the stave to the centre, so as to hollow out
the ends of the stave beyond the groove; and the groove is cut by means of a
cutter consisting of two rows of parallel sharp lancet teeth, having other teeth
between them, to plough out or remove the wood between the two cuts made
by the rows of lancet teeth.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Stokes Cressey in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 19th May 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
STOKES CRESSEY, of High Street, Homerton, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Thomas Stokes Cressey, Her special licence that I, the
said Thomas Stokes Cressey, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Thomas Stokes Cressey, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY USED IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF CASKS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Thomas Stokes Cressey, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in

page_text: writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 Thomas Stokes Cressey, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery used in the
manufacture of casks. For these purposes, in order to cut the edges of a
stave to the proper curve and bevil, a circular saw bench is used, on which
a bar is fixed longitudinally, and to this bar is applied a flexible template of
steel, or other suitable material, by means of screws and nuts, in such manner
as to admit of the flexible template being varied in its curvature to suit the
size and make of cask desired. The wood for making a stave is fixed on a
carriage, which is caused to move past the circular saw. This carriage has
an arm at each end, to each of which a roller or truck is applied, which
comes against the flexible template as the carriage is moved past the circular
saw. The upper surface of the carriage is hinged at its inner edge to the
bed plate or frame of the carriage, so that it may be made to assume an
inclined position, according to the degree of bevil desired to be given to the
edge of a stave, and the degree of inclination of the upper surface of the
carriage is adjusted by a wedge-formed guage, which is graduated for different
sizes of casks, and according as such adjusting guage is passed more or less
under the upper surface of the carriage on which the wood for a stave is fixed,
so will be the degree of bevil produced on the wood when it has been moved
past the circular saw. The wood is held on the upper surface of the carriage
by its ends in any suitable manner, and it is correctly placed on the carriage
by the aid of an adjustable stop or stops on the saw bench, and a spring and
adjusting frame on the upper surface of the carriage.
Figure 1 is a plan, Figure 2 a side view, and Figure 3 is an end view of
a machine arranged according to my Invention for cutting the edges of a
stave to the proper curve and bevil.
a, a, is a bench or table formed of cast iron. The upper surface of this
bench or table on each side is made as a grating to allow sawdust to fall freely
through; b, b, are axes mounted on the bench or table, and carrying circular
saws c, c, which are driven by belts passing round pulleys on the axes b, b;
d, d, are bars fixed or formed on the surface of the table a; these bars have

page_text: holes formed through them for the passage of the stems e, attached to the
flexible templates f, f; the stems e, e, have screw threads cut upon them, and
each receive nuts, one on each side of the bar d, and by turning the nuts the
template can be drawn to the required curve; g is a carriage on which the
stave to be cut is clamped; the machine is furnished with two such carriages,:
one to each saw, but one only of the carriages is shown in its place on the
machine. The construction of the carriage is clearly shown at Figures 4, 5,
6, and 7, which are on an enlarged scale. Figure 4 is an end view, Figure 5.
is a back view, and Figure 6 is a plan of the carriage; Figure 7 is also a back
view, the upper surface or flap being raised in order to show the parts beneath.
In these Figures h is the bed plate or frame of the carriage; i, i, are arms
attached to each end of the piece h, and carrying flanged rollers or trucks j, j,
and there are also other rollers or trucks k, k, mounted on studs fixed to the
back of the piece h; 1 is the upper surface or flap of the carriage; it is hinged
to the piece h at 1, 1, and the pieces h and I can be set at any required incli-
nation to each other by the wedge m, which can be accurately adjusted in
position by the screw m¹ passing through it and the nut m²; the wedge m only.
requires to be shifted when the machine is required to cut staves for casks of
a different size to that for which it was previously arranged. Underneath
the flap a metal frame o is arranged to slide in guides o', and it has slots o
formed in it on each side, and these slots receive pins or stops o³, which by
means of screws and nuts may be secured to the frame o in any required posi-
tions along the length of the slots, and these stops o project upwards through
slots in the flap 1, as is shown in the Drawing; they are employed in adjusting
the position of a stave on the carriage in the following manner :-The carriage
at the time the staves are laid on it is in the position shown in Figure 1,
opposite the guage p; this guage is mounted on a short axis or spindle p³,
carried by the bench or table a; when it is required for use the guage p is
turned by hand into an upright position, and a stave is laid up against it, as
is shown by the red lines in the Drawing; the frame o of the carriage is then
drawn back by hand, so as to bring the stops o³ beyond the edge of the stave;
the frame o is then allowed to return, and the spiral springs shown attached
to it draw it back until the stops o³ rest against the edge of the stave, which is
then clamped by the turnbuttons 9; these are loosely mounted on centres, so
that when turned round one end of the button passing up the incline r, the
other end is forced down on the top of the stave, which is thus firmly held in
position. When the carriage 9 is in its place on the machine, the trucks or
rollers j, j, rest on the template f, and the other trucks or rollers k, k, rest on
a rails, attached to the edge of the bench or table. When a stave to be cut

page_text: has been adjusted and clamped on the carriage, as already described, the
workman pushes the carriage from end to end of the bench or table a, and in
doing this he leans against the carriage to keep the trucks or rollers j con-
stantly against the template; by thus passing the carriage along the table the
stave is caused to pass the saw, and a cut is taken from its edge, which is thus
brought to the requisite form and bevil. When the carriage has been brought
back, the stave is unclamped, and it is turned round to cut its other side, or
another unfashioned stave is substituted for it. In order to hollow the interior
surface of a stave, it is fixed on a carriage, on which there is a bed of the
curvature desired, on which the stave is bent, so as to cause the inner surface
of the stave to assume a convex form; and in this state its ends are held down
by suitable clamping levers. The carriage is arranged to be moved to and fro
by means of a screw and nut, or it may be moved by other convenient means.
The cutting of the wood in order to hollow the same is performed by two
cutters or adzing instruments, which are so worked as to make their cuts
alternately from the outer edges of the stave across the grain and towards the
centre of the stave. The two cutting or adzing instruments are suspended on
two arms, and the cutting edges are towards each other; and these two arms
are caused to swing to and fro by a connecting rod and crank or other suitable
movement. The carriage is moved slowly past the cutters, which hollow out
the centre of the stave, and by reason of the stave being bent, the cutters
remove a larger quantity at the middle of the length of the stave, and less and
less towards the ends. Figure 8 is a side view, Figure 9 a plan, and Figure 10
an end view of a machine arranged in this manner. a, a, is the frame, on
which are mounted the rails b, b, and on these a carriage runs; this carriage
consists of a plate c, and carrying wheels d, d, which are mounted on armis d', d',
jointed to the plate c; and e, e, are adjusting screws for regulating the distance
of the plate c above the rails b. On the plate c is laid a wooden bed piece f
which is curved upwards in the centre to the extent to which it is desired to
bend the stave, generally about of an inch, the stave to be hollowed being
laid on the bed, and its ends placed under the claws g', g', formed at the ends
of the bent levers 9, 9.
By drawing up the ends of the levers at which handles are formed, the
claws are drawn down and the stave bent, and it is held in this position by
turning the adjustable catches h, h, jointed to the levers over the edge of the
plate c. When a stave is thus fixed in the machine, motion is given to the
carriage, and this is done by means of the screw i; and on the screw there is a
nut, which is held in a slotted projection from the under side of the plate c
so that as the nut travels along the screw it carries the carriage with it. The

page_text: nut is able to traverse in the slot into which it is fitted to allow the height of
the plate c from the rails to be adjusted, as before explained; on the end or
stem of the screw two pulleys j, j, are mounted loosely, and these are
driven by bands passing to pulleys on the main shaft k; one of the driving
bands passes direct and the other is crossed, so that the pulleys j, j, may
revolve in contrary directions; and they are alternately made fast to the screw
by a clutch, to cause the carriage to travel to and fro on the rails b. At the
centre of the machine is a standard 1, from the top of which is suspended from
a pin or axis m¹ the rocking frame m. n is a connecting rod, attaching this
frame to a crank on the main shaft k, and the rocking frame m thus receives
motion; it has fixed to it two steel cutters o, o, of a gouge-like form, about an
inch and a half or two inches broad. When the machine is in action, the
stave on the carriage is carried under these cutters, which then hollow out the
centre of the stave, as is indicated by the line p, p, in the Drawing; in con-
sequence of the bent position of the stave, the cutters do not remove anything
from it at its ends, and from the cutters moving in a circular course about the
centre m', they do not cut up to the edge of the stave on either side. I would
remark, as an important feature of this machine, that the stroke of the cutters
is so adjusted that as they enter alternately on either side they each cut up to
the centre, or slightly beyond it, and they do not cut upwards out of the wood,
as doing so would render them liable to tear up the fibre. In order to back
a stave, it is placed on five, or it may be other convenient number of carrying
rollers or discs, which carry it forwards past the cutting instrument. The
rollers or discs are mounted on three axes parallel to each other, and when
using five discs or rollers there are on the first axis two of such discs or rollers,
on the second axis one such roller or disc, and on the third axis two of such
rollers or discs; motion is communicated from a steam engine or other power
to the first axis, and from it by suitable cog wheels to the third axis. The
axes of these rollers or discs are carried by a frame, which at its four corners
is capable of moving on four uprights, and there are four springs employed at
the four corners of the frame to lift it and the rollers or discs upwards towards
the cutters used for rounding the back of the stave. The cutting apparatus
I prefer for this machine consists of a double plane, which is moved to and fro
by a connecting rod and crank or other suitable motion, and is guided by
curved guides of a curvature agreeable to the curvature to be given to the
back of the stave, and the cutters are arranged to act alternately transversely
across the grain of the wood, the cutters cutting from the outer edges of the
stave to the centre thereof.
Figure 11 is a plan, Figure 12 a side view, and Figure 13 an end view of

page_text: a machine for backing staves arranged according to my Invention. a, a, is
the frame of the machine. In this frame are fixed four bolts b, b, over which
pass four lugs c¹, c¹, projecting from the cradle or frame c, c; and d, d, are
spiral springs by which this cradle or frame is supported; it has formed in it
bearings for the axes e', e, e', which carry the rollersf,f; these rollers are geared
together, and are driven by a band passing from a pulley on the end of one of
them to a driving pulley conveniently placed. Over these rollers are other
rollers g, g, carried by short standards h, h, from the bed of the machine; and
these standards also carry guides i, i, made to a curve corresponding with that
to which it is desired to reduce the exterior of the stave. In the spaces between
these guides projections from the sides of the cutter block j enter.
A longi-
tudinal section of this block is shewn at Figure 14; it is connected by a rod k
to a crank l, which is driven by a belt, so as to communicate to the cutter
block a to-and-fro motion. The stave to be backed is fed in between the
rollers fand g, and is drawn forward by them under the cutter block, which is
furnished with two plane-like cutters j³, 1, and the stroke of the cutter block
is so adjusted that the cutters each cut from one edge up to the centre of the
stave, as already explained. The upper rollers g, g, are adjustable, so that the
machine may be set to take more or less off the stave, as may be required;
these upper rollers may be driven as well as the lower rollers, if found
necessary, when the cutters are set to take a heavy cut. In order to cut the
grooves at the ends of a stave to receive the head of a cask, the end of a stave
is held by means of two nuts on a right and left handed screw shaft, and such
screw shaft is carried by a slide moving between guides, and is so arranged
that it may be raised to the exact height desired by a pinion and toothed rack,
or by other convenient means. The cutting apparatus used consists of two
arms moving or swinging to and fro on an axis above; these two cutters have
their cutting edges towards each other, and cut from the outer edges of the
stave to the centre, so as to hollow out the ends of the stave beyond the groove,
and the groove is cut by means of a cutter consisting of two rows of parallel
sharp lancet teeth, having other teeth between them to plough out or remove
the wood between the two cuts made by the rows of lancet teeth.
Figure 15 is a side view, Figure 16 an end view, and Figure 17 a plan of
a machine arranged in this manner. a, a, is the frame; and 6 is an axis
mounted on it; this axis is driven in any convenient manner; it has a crank
at its end, and by a connecting rod c it gives motion to the swinging frame d,
which carries two gouge-like cutters d', d', about an inch and a half broad,
which groove out the wood, as is shown at Figure 18, which is a section of the
end of a stave which has been grooved by this machine. The swinging

page_text: frame d also carries a cutter då for making the groove e to receive the head;
the form of this cutter is shewn at Figures 19. The stave to be operated on
is held in the following manner :-On the front of the frame a is bolted a
plate f, and this has fixed to it the guides g, g, into which the slide h is fitted;
the construction of this slide is clearly shown at Figure 20, which is a section
taken through these parts. i is an axis mounted at the upper edge of the
slide; it has a right and left handed screw cut on it, and carries two nuts i¹, ¹,
which are prevented from turning by fitting into a recess at the top of the
slide, so that by turning the hand wheel on the end of the axis i, the nuts
are drawn together; between these nuts the end of the stave to be grooved is
placed, and is nipped between them; the slide is then raised to the cutters, and
the grooving is effected. The slide is raised by the hand wheel mounted on
an axis j, carried in bearings on the frame a; this axis passes through an
opening in the slide h, and has a pinion mounted on it, which gears with a
rack bolted to the slide. In order that the slide may not be raised too far,
and too much of the stave cut away, an adjustable stop k is fixed in a groove
formed in the front of the slide h, and this, by coming in contact with one of
the spokes of the hand wheel ", stops it at the required point. A similar stop
is employed to limit the motion of the hand wheel when the slide descends.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Stokes Cressey, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
THOMAS STOKES CRESSEY. (L.S.)