IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SMOOTHING STONE
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Sutcliffe Gabriel, of Grellier's Wharf,
Belvedere Road, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SMOOTHING STONE."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Sutcliffe
Gabriel at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 6th June 1873.
I, JOSEPH SUTCLIFFE GABRIEL, of Grellier's Wharf, Belvedere Road,
in the County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY POR SMOOTHING STONE," to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for
smoothing stone. For this purpose I employ a hollow cylinder of iron;
it is rotated in any convenient manner. Beneath the cylinder is a table;
it is adjustable to and from the cylinder, and a slow longitudinal motion
is imparted to it. The stone is held on the table, and is brought in

page_text: contact with the cylinder, which is perforated and supplied with sand
and water. The table carries the stone slowly forward, and the cylinder
grinds away the inequalities from the surface.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Sutcliffe Gabriel in the Great Seal Patent &
Office on the 6th December 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
SUTCLIFFE GABRIEL, of Grellier's Wharf, Belvedere Road, in the County
of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her:
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-sixth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Joseph Sutcliffe Gabriel, Her special license
that I, the said Joseph Sutcliffe Gabriel, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph Sutcliffe Gabriel,
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
“IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SMOOTHING STONE," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Joseph Sutcliffe Gabriel, 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 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 im-
mediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Sutcliffe Gabriel, 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 for
smoothing stone. For this purpose I employ a hollow cylinder of iron;

page_text: it is rotated in any convenient manner. Beneath the cylinder is a table;
it is adjustable to and from the cylinder, and a slow longitudinal motion
is imparted to it. The stone is held on the table, and is brought in
contact with the cylinder, which is perforated and supplied with sand
and water. The table carries the stone slowly forward, and the cylinder
grinds away the inequalities from the surface.
machine for smoothing stone constructed according to my Invention.
a, a, is a frame supporting the table 6 by means of friction rollers b₁.
The table is able to traverse along the frame, and it receives a slow
motion from a chain passing to the crab c, or in other convenient
manner; dis a cast-iron cylinder. It is perforated all over, or has
slotted holes in it; its axes are hollow, and receive pipes e, e, by which
the interior of the cylinder is supplied with sand and water; f, f, are
hoppers in which the sand is placed; and f¹, f¹, are taps by which the
water is supplied. The axes of the cylinder d are carried by the
frame 9, 9, which is supported on standards g', g¹, on which it is able to
rock; chains h, h, are attached to the frame g, and they pass to the
roller. The chains are wound upon or unwound from the roller i by
means of the crank handle k and a worm and worm wheel, as is shewn,
so as to set the under surface of the cylinder dat a distance from the
surface of the table 6 equal to the thickness to which the stone is to be
finished. The stone is clamped to the table, and is carried by it slowly
forward beneath the cylinder d.
The cylinder is driven by a belt passing around the pulley d' at a
high speed, say one hundred and fifty revolutions per minute, or
more. The cylinder rests with its own weight upon the stone, but it
is able to rise to permit a hard lump in the stone to pass beneath it.
The stone may be passed and repassed beneath the cylinder until it is
sufficiently smoothed. The chains h, h, control the descent of the
cylinder, and prevent it from too much reducing the thickness of the
stone; the cylinder d is surrounded with a guard, except on its under

page_text: side, where it comes in contact with the stone to prevent the sand and
water being thrown off during the rapid rotation of the cylinder.
For the final finishing of hard granite I sometimes employ emery and
oil in place of sand and water.
The Drawings are to a scale of one inch and a half to the foot. The
dimensions of the parts of the apparatus may however be varied.
What I claim is, the method of smoothing stone by means of a per-
forated metal cylinder, which is brought in contact with the stone, and
made to rotate rapidly whilst it is fed with sand and water, or other
grinding or polishing material, and whilst a traverse motion brings each;
portion of the surface of the stone successively in contact with the
cylinder, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Sutcliffe Gabriel, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of December, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy- -
three.
JOSEPH SUTCLIFFE GABRIEL. (L.S.)