AN EXTENSIBLE ARCHING PLANE
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Germain Abeillou, of Toulouse, a Town of France,
Joiners' Tool Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN EXTENSIBLE ARCHING
PLANE."
Sealed the 7th October 1859, and dated the 15th April 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Germain Abeillou at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 15th
April 1859.
I, GERMAIN ABEILLOU, of Toulouse, a Town of France, Joiners' Tool Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN EXTEN-
SIBLE ARCHING PLANE," to be as follows:-
The said plane is intended to plane arches of any curvature, the middle
part of it being fitted with a common double plane cutter as usual, and both
ends being composed of a set of moveable pieces which can be shifted to suit
the curved line of any radius; these pieces are then squeezed tight by means
of setting screws, and they are then ready for working.
The annexed Drawing will give an idea of my extensible arching plane.
Fig. 1 is a front view, & Fig. 2 an end view. A, middle part into which
the cutter is fitted; a, b, c, d, adjustable end pieces; grooves are cut at a
right angle through the said pieces, as shewn Fig. 2, to allow them to be

page_text: shifted up and down and sideways, so that the plane can work either on the
edge or on the face of the arches.
The principle of my extensible arching plane can be applied to the plough
or grooving plane as shewn Fig. 3, which is a front view, and Fig. 4 & 5,
which are end views of such a plane.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Germain Abeillou in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
12th October 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GERMAIN
ABEILLOU, of Toulouse, in the Empire of France, Joiners' Tool Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Germain Abeillou, Her special licence that I, the said Germain Abeillou, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Germain
Abeillou, 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 EXTENSIBLE ARCHING
PLANE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Germain
Abeillou, 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 immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Germain Abeillou, 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 fol-
lowing statement:-
The advantages of this extensible plane are, that it can be used when
necessary as a common plane, or else for planing arcs of any curvature, and it

page_text: can work in all directions. An idea of this extensible plane will be conveyed
by the annexed Drawing, Sheet 1st, in which it is represented full size.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the plane fitted to work inside of an arch;
Fig. 2 is an end view, shewing the front; Fig. 3, a similar view, shewing the
back; Fig. 4 is a plan of the top, and Fig. 5 a plan of the bottom; Fig. 6 is
a cross section through the line E, F. The body A of the plane is cut through
with a slanting mortice C, as in common planes, for lodging the iron or
cutting tool, which is held fast by a wedge, and is composed of a double iron,
as usual. Each end of the stock A of the plane is furnished with an iron
cross piece m, Fig. 6, let in, and fastened with screws; the central hole of
this piece is taped to receive the set screw S, shewn separately, Fig. 10; this
screw is to maintain fast the dovetailed end slide pieces i, j, k, l, which can be
shifted at pleasure to suit the curvature of the arch to be planed, either inside,
as shewn Fig. 1, or outside. Each one of the slide pieces i, j, k, l, are cut
across with dovetailed grooves to receive perpendicular sliding pieces a, b, c, d,
allowing the plane to be set for planing arches sideways. All the end slide
pieces a, b, c, d, and i, j, k, l, intended to be used for modifying the shape of
the plane to suit several curvatures are cut through with mortices g, h, Fig. 2
and 3, for allowing them to be shifted in all directions, as shewn, Fig. 1, 2, 3,
where the plane is fitted for planing inside of an arch, or in Fig. 8, 9,
where it is fitted for planing sideways. Fig. 7 is the side elevation corre-
sponding to Figs. 8 and 9; the shape and arrangement of the end slide
pieces are plainly shewn in all the Figures; they are made with two small pieces
of wood glued together in crossways. The cross iron pieces m let in the ends
of the body of the plane are provided with side taped holes 1, 2, in which the
screw S can be engaged for allowing the shifting of the guiding slide pieces in
the case of arches of a short radius, and one or two of them may be left off
and a shorter screw provided to hold them fast. To plane with this tool on a
piece of wood intended for an arch the arch must previously be marked on the
said piece of wood, and then sawed off with a sweep saw, taking care to
preserve the curvilinear mark, and the plane is set so as to have its middle
part and the ends of the slide pieces touching the curved line, then the screws S
being tightened, one may proceed planing as on a straight surface. Such
planes can be manufactured for planing only either edgeways on the outside
or inside of the arch, or they can be manufactured for planing only sideways
by making separate planes of that kind; the body of the plane need not to be
round shaped on both sides for edge planes, as set Fig. 1, nor to be round
shaped down for planing sideways, as set Fig. 5, which in that case is very

page_text: handy, because the stock of the plane is bearing full over the wood whilst the
slide pieces i, j, k, l, bear sideways against the curved line.
Planes of various descriptions can be established by the same principle; for
instance, ploughs, grooving, and moulding planes, with tools directed either to
the right or left. A screw plough or moulding plane, built on this principle is
represented in Sheet II.; this tool can be made like the straight plane just
described, so as to be set for arch planing on the four sides. Fig. 1 is a front
view, Figs. 2 and 3 end views of the said plane, set for grooving or moulding
edgeways inside of an arch; Fig. 4 is the shifting guiding part B of the plane;
Fig. 5 is a top view of the plane. The stock C is connected with the guide B
by means of the setting screw V, shewn alone full size, Fig. 6. This is an
iron screw instead of two wooden screws used in common groovers; it is
furnished with two nuts m and n, used for regulating the position of the
guide B.
The nut n is notched around for allowing its screwing up. The
screw V is grooved lengthways at q, and the small plate, Fig. 6 bis, let in
the guide, is fastened to the said guide B with screws, and the small bit or
tongue c of the plate z entering the groove 9, prevents the guide turning round
when it is shifted.
The Figs. 7, 8, 9, are front end end views of the same grooving or
moulding plane, fitted for working sideways; Fig. 11, top view, and Fig. 10
side elevation of the guide. The said plane is not built as the former one for
arch planing in all directions, the one Fig. 1 for planing edgeways is furnished
with vertical guide pieces a, a, a, a, whilst the one shewn, Fig. 7, for planing
sideways is provided with horizontal guide pieces b, b, b, b. The guide pieces
a, a, and b, b, are held fast by the setting screws S, S. The thin part d of the
screw V, as shewn Fig. 6, is not in straight line with that screw; it is on one
side, which allows fixing the plate f, Fig. 1 and 7, on the middle of the stock
with screws; the plate i, Fig. 6, is fixed on the opposite side of the stock; the
thin part of the adjusting screw V is square shaped, fitting in the plate i;
the notched nut n bears on the plate i, whilst the thumbscrew o bears on the
plate f; again, as the shaving mortice g is slanting, the thin part d of the
screw V will not run through it, nor through the hole of the shifting piece v,
Fig. 14. Fig. 7 bis, shows the iron strengthening of the guide pieces a, a,
and Fig. 13 those of the guide pieces b, b. The nut o being unscrewed, the
particular shaped iron plate h, h, Fig. 12, of the plane can be removed for
changing the fittings and other tools of any other description put in the plane
for the purpose of arch grooving, lightening, moulding, &c., at any required
shape and radius,

page_text: My Invention being now entirely described, I wish to have it well under-
stood that I claim the general arrangement here above described in the
construction of planes with shifting guide pieces fitted at both ends of the stock
so as to obtain extensible arching planes for planing any radius, grooving, or
moulding arches of any description and radius, either edgeways inside or
outside, or sideways on the right or left side.
In witness whereof I, the said Germain Abeillou, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this
in the year of our
Lond
day of
thousand eight hundred and fifty ning
Signed and sealed in the presence of
L. D'AUBREVILLE, C.E.,
Boulevart de Strasbourg, 60,
Paris.
G. ABEILLOU. (L.S.)