AN IMPROVED STAVE JOINTING OR SHAPING MACHINE
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Grist, of Islington, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED STAVE
JOINTING OR SHAPING MACHINE."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Grist at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
10th September 1853.
I, JOHN GRIST, of Islington, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
STAVE JOINTING OR SHAPING MACHINE" to be as follows:-
I fix the blank to be formed into a stave firmly on a bed by means
of pressure, in order to prevent the wood from swerving or "buckling ;"
and I impart to the wood, by means of screw or other suitable gearing.
a slight motion on or round its centre. On one side of the blank at
one end, and on the opposite side at the other end, I mount a cutter
Both cutters or saws are caused to travel in a straight line
the whole length of the intended stave, and the motion of the wood on
its centre will present the edges thereof to be shaped and formed into
a stave.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Grist in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 10th March 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JOHN GRIST, of Islington, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the seven-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Grist, Her special licence
that I, the said Jolm Grist, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said John Grist, 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 STAVE JOINTING OR
SHAPING MACHINE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said John Grist, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said In-
vention, 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 calen-
dar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Grist, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, that is to say:
My Invention consists in fixing the blank to be formed or shaped
into a stave firmly on a bed by means of pressure, in order to prevent
the wood from swerving or "buckling;" and I impart to the wood,
by means of screw or other suitable gearing, a slight motion on or

page_text: round its centre. On one side of the blank at one end, and on the
opposite side at the other end, I mount a cutter or saw. But cutters
or saws are caused to travel in a straight line the whole length of the
intended stave, and the motion of the wood on its centre presents the
edges thereof to be shaped and formed into a stave. The Drawings
hereunto annexed represent the manner in which I carry this my
Invention into operation. Figure 1, is a side elevation; Figure 2,
a section; and Figure 3, an end view of a machine in which I use
saws for cutting or "jointing" the stave, in which the blank is made
to move, oscillate, or rock upon its centre horizontally: A, A, is the
general framework of the machine. B, is the blank, which is held
between the clamps C, C'. The lower clamp C', is caused to recede
or open from the upper clamp to admit of the insertion of the blank.
between them by means of the screws a, a, which are tapped one into
each end, and have keyed upon their upper ends small bevil wheels b, b,
into which gear similar bevil wheels c, c, keyed upon the shaft d,
mounted in bearings e, e, upon the top surface of the upper clamp C.
The shaft d, is caused to revolve by means of a winch handle fitted
upon the square ends of the spindles f, f, which have mounted upon
their opposite ends bevil wheels g, which gear into the bevil wheel h,
on the shaft d. By this means the screws a, a, are both caused to turn
simultaneously, so as to bring the clamps towards each other, or to
open them acccrding to the direction in which the spindles f, f, are
turned for the insertion of the blank or withdrawal of the cut or jointed
stave. In order to hold the blank more firmly between the clamps,
and to meet any unevenness there may be in the wood, I make use of
a series of plugs inserted into recesses i, formed in the underside of the
clamp C, and fitted with helical springs which abut against a shoulder
upon the plug, and also against a shoulder in the recess, whereby the
plugs are forced with a degree of pressure down upon the wood, and,
combined with the screws a, a, serve to hold the blank firm, and pre-
vent it from swerving during the operation of cutting. The plugs are
prevented from falling out when the clamp C', is lowered by means of
pins or screws k, passed through the upper clamp, and through slots in
the spindles of the plugs. D, D, are picces of metal, bolted firmly to

page_text: the framework, and between the planed edges of which the ends of the
top clamp C, are supported, but free to slide or oscillate between them
when acted upon in the following manner :-7, is a pin, which is firmly
fixed in one end of the upper clamp C, and passed through a slot m,
in the end framing. n, is a rod, one end of which is passed over the
end of the pin 7. This rod is supported by and free to slide in the
bracket E, and has cut upon its opposite end the thread of a screw,
which is tapped through the centre or boss of a small worm wheel o,
into the teeth of which the thread of the endless screw p, takes. The
spindle p¹, of the endless screw is passed through and supported in the
bracket p², and has keyed upon it the bevil wheel F, geared into by
the bevil wheel G, upon the main shaft G', set in motion by the
driving pulley H, which is fast upon the shaft. I, I, are loose pullies,
which are caused to revolve in opposite directions by suitable driving
belts from a steam engine or other prime mover. By this arrangement
of gearing when the machine is set in motion the clamps holding the
Tough blank, and necessarily the blank itself, are caused to rock or
turn partially upon or around the centre pin K, which is passed through
the upper portion of the framework, and centred in the upper clamp C.
L, L, are two circular saws, mounted upon the spindles q, q, turning
in the frames M, M, and driven by the strap pullies N, N. r, r,
are V pieces, which are bolted to the under side of the frames M, and
correspond to the bevilled edges of the hollow segmental plates or beds
O, O, which run the whole length of the machine, and are supported
in circular discs formed with bevil edges, and capable of being
turned so as to set the saws to any required bevil or angle, in which
position they are retained by screws or other suitable means. P, P,
are two screws, which are tapped through nuts bolted to the under side
of the frames M. These screws turn in bosses in the end framing, and
have keyed upon one end of each a bevel wheel geared into by a cor-
responding bevil wheel Q, Q, keyed upon the main shaft G', and in
such a position that when in motion they cause the screws to turn in
opposite directions, whereby, supposing the circular saws to be in the
position represented in the dotted lines in Figure 1, they are caused
to travel in a straight line from end to end of the machine, and

page_text: to pass one another at or about the centre. When they reach
the opposite end of the machine to that from which they started
the blank will have been jointed or shaped into a stave having
the requisite bulge and bevil. The saws having thus arrived at the
opposite end of the machine, the strap is thrown from off the fast pulley
and the machine thereby stopped; the finished stave is withdrawn
from the clamps, and a fresh blank inserted. The reversing strap
is then thrown upon the fast pulley, and the machine is again set in
action and the saws are caused to trasverse the length of the machine
to their former positions, and at the same time and by the same
reversing action the clamp is caused to rock or turn partially in the
opposite direction; the second blank will thus be formed into a stave.
In Figure 4, I have shewn an arrangement of machinery similar to that
herein-before described, with this exception, that choppers or cutters L,
are substituted for circular saws, similar parts being referred to by the
same letters of reference used in describing Figures 1, 2, and 3.
Figure 5, is a front elevation; Figure 6, a longitudinal section;
Figure 7, a cross section; and Figure 8, an end view of a modification
of the machine just described, in which the stave is caused to oscillate
vertically instead of horizontally. This is effected in the following
manner :-R, is a shoe or frame centred upon the stud pin 8. C, C',
are the clamps, also centred upon a pivot t. S, S, are rods attached at
one end to theclamp C, and at the other ends to the frame R. T, is
a curved plate or pattern to suit the shape of the stave to be cut,
which is secured to the shoe or frame R, by means of the screws u, u,
and oscillates with it when acted upon by the traverse of the cutters
and cutter frames, which have fixed in their lower ends a projecting
pin passing through the slot a, v, in the curved plate T, and furnished
with a friction roller u. The action of this machine is as follows:-
Upon the cutters and cutter frames being caused to traverse from end
to end of the machine, the friction roller w, depresses the curved plate
T, and through the medium of the rods S, S, communicates a like
action to the clamps C, C', and blank, and thereby causes it to oscillate
or turn upon the fulcrum t, in a vertical line between the cutters,
whereby the blank is formed into a stave having the requisite bulge and

page_text: bevil. When a stave has thus been formed or "jointed" it is withdrawn
and another blank is inserted, and the machine set in motion in the
opposite direction, and thus another stave is fashioned.
When it is desired to cut or joint staves of either a wider or of a
narrower width, I accomplish this in the machines represented in
Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, by removing the worm wheel o, and substituting
another wheel of a greater or less number of teeth according to the
required width of the stave, the spindle p¹, carrying the endless screw p,
and bevil which F, being capable of adjustment in a sliding plummer
block in the bracket p', whereby a greater or less amount of horizontal
oscillation is given to the clamps C, C³, carrying the blank. This same
object is effected in the machine represented in Figures 5, 6, 7, and 8,
by either shifting the ends of the rods S, S, connected to the frame R,
nearer to or farther from the centre s, or by inserting another pattern
plate T, cut with a curve of a greater or less radius, whereby, upon the
traverse of the cutter frames in a straight line from end to end of the
machine, a greater or less amount of oscillation is imparted vertically
to the blank between the cutters.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
The machine for jointing or shaping staves in which the blanks are
caused to oscillate, turn, or rock upon a centre, either vertically or
horizontally, between a pair of circular saws or cutters made to travel
from end to end of the machine.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Grist, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of March, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-four.
JOHN GRIST. (L.S.