IMPROVEMENTS IN SAWING, CUTTING, BORING, AND SHAPING WOOD
Year: 1850

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, FREDERICK
ROSENBORG, of Albemarle Street, in the County of Middlesex, Esquire, and
CONRAD MONTGOMERY, of the Army and Navy Club, Saint James' Square, in
the said County of Middlesex, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen. Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Seventh day of March,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty, in the thirteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Frederick Rosenborg and Conrad Montgomery, our exors, adñors, and
assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
we, the said Frederick Rosenborg and Conrad Montgomery, our exors,
adñiors, and assigns, and such others as we, the said Frederick Rosenborg
and Conrad Montgomery, our exors, admiors, 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 expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
and in the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and in
all Her said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, our Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SAWING, CUTTING, BORING, AND SHAPING WOOD;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that we, the said Frederick
Rosenborg and Conrad Montgomery, or one of us, should cause a particular
description of the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under our hands and

page_text: seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, to be inrolled in Her said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and imme-
diately 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, we, the said
Frederick Rosenborg and Conrad Montgomery, hereby declare that the nature
of our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
are fully described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof,
reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed; that is to say:-
Firstly, our Invention consists of an improved machine for sawing wood
into pieces of suitable size and form for being afterwards made into staves for
casks and barrels.
Figure 1 is a side elevation, Figure 2 a longitudinal section, and
Figure 3 a plan of this machine. A is the framework. B is a shaft which
carries a frame C, in which are fixed a number of serrated segments or
segmental saws W, W. D is a crank on the shaft B, by means of which
crank an oscillating motion is given to the shaft B, to the frame C, and to the
saws W, W. E is an elevated frame which carries two face plates F, F,
rollers G, G, and levers H, H. I, I, are racks toothed underneath, which are
worked by pinions K, K. L, L, are ratchet wheels mounted on the same
shaft as the pinions K, K. M, M, are levers which carry at one end pauls
N, N, and are at the other end attached through the connecting rods 0, 0,
to the levers P, P. Q, Q, are connecting rods which connect the levers P, P,
to the lever R, which is mounted on the oscillating shaft B. S, S, are
brackets firmly secured to the racks I, I. T, T, are rollers, on which is placed
the wood to be operated upon. U and V are cords and weights attached to
the levers H, H.
A top plan of the saws W, W, and frame C, is given separately in
Figure 4, a vertical section of the same in Figure 5, a front view in Figure 6,
and a back view in Figure 7. The saws are secured in the frame by means
of wedges 1, 1, which are passed through from the back, and fastened by
transverse pins 2, 2. The principal parts of the machine, it will be observed,
are in duplicate, so that two blocks of wood may be cut at one time, but it
may, if required, be employed to cut one block at a time only.
The mode in which both or either of the sets of parts is worked is as follows:-
The racks I, I, being brought sufficiently back, the block of wood to be cut
or sawn is placed over one of the sets of rollers T, T, with one end betwixt the
pressing roller G and the face plate F, and the other end abutting against the
bracket S on the rack I. The crank D being put in motion will give an

page_text: oscillating motion to the shaft B, and to the oscillating frame C, and to the
serrated segments or segmental saws W. The wood being brought forward
by the motion of the levers R on the shaft B, this motion being communi-
cated to the levers M, gives motion in the usual manner to the rack I, causing
the wood to advance in the same manner as in ordinary saw frames, the
pressing roller G acted upon by the lever H and the weight V keeping the
wood all the time close to the face plate F. The wood is now fed to the
oscillating frame C and the seguiental saws W (the radii of which correspond
to the curvature of the intended cask), the face plate F having been previously
adjusted to the segment required. The operation is thus continued by putting
in fresh blocks in the same manner as deals are ordinarily placed in vertical
sawing machines.
Secondly, our Invention consists of a method of or machine for converting
into staves the blocks or pieces of wood cut out by the machine before
described.
M² is a screw, which
upon the block M'.
Figure 8 represents a front elevation, Figure 9 a back elevation, Figure 10
an end view, and Figure 11 a cross section of this machine. A is the frame-
work. B, B. loose and fast driving pulleys on the main shaft C. D, D, bevil
wheels, which run loose on the shaft. E, E, vertical shafts, which revolve at
right angles to the main shaft C, and are put in motion by bevil wheels F, F.
G and H are spur wheels, which communicate motion to the vertical shaft
I, I, at the front of the machine. K is a frame which slides on the framework A,
and carries L the blank, which is to be formed into a stave.
M' is a pressing
block, which is made of a convex form on its under surface, corresponding
exactly with the interior curve of the intended stave.
is passed thoough the top bar of the frame K, and acts
N is a lever centred at n, which has a toothed segment O on one end, and a
counterweight P on the other. Qis a pinion which works into the toothed
segment O. R (see Figure 10, the end view of the machine,) is another
pinion on the same shaft as Q, which works into another toothed segment S,
and thereby gives motion to the tumbler T. U is a cord wheel, by means
of which motion is given to the toothed segment O and lever N, and
also to the tumbler T. V is a loose socket on the vertical shaft I, which
socket is kept in its place by means of two collars W, W, and has two
pins projecting from it at right angles, which work through. slots in the
eyepiece X. of the lever N, which eyepiece fits on to the shaft I. Y is a
drum which carries the chain Z over the rollers 1, 1, and being fastened to
the sliding frame K gives motion to the same. The chain drum Y receives
ts motion through the bevel wheel 2, which works into the bevel wheels Di; D',

page_text: on the main shaft C. On the other end of the shaft, which carries the bevel
wheel 2, is a pinion 3, which works into the spur wheel 4, to which spur
wheel is attached the pinion 5, which works into the spur. wheel 6 on the
shaft of the chain drum Y. 7, 7, are clutch boxes, which slide ou keys on
the main shaft C, and are worked by forked levers 8, 8, which again are
actuated by the handles 9, 9, as seen in the front view of the machine,
Figure 8. a, a, are circular saws, which are fixed to the shafts b, b, to which
shafts motion is given by the strap pulleys c. d, are loose strap pulleys on the
same shafts b, b. The shafts b, b, are mounted in frames e, e, which are made
to slide on the plates f by means of V clamps. 9, 9, are screws by which a
sliding motion is given to the frames e, the screws working in the nuts h
affixed to the frames e, e. The spindles of the screws g, g,. are mounted on
the plates f, f, and carry at their outer ends hand wheels i, i. k, k, are swivel
joints fastened underneath the plates f, f. 1, 1, are screws, the upper and
plain ends of which work into the swivels k, k, and are kept in their places by
means of pins which fit into circular grooves cut in the ends thereof. The
screws 1, 1, are also tapped through a swivel nut m, which has its bearings
in plummer blocks attached to the frame A, and have hand wheels n, n, at
their lower ends. The plates f, f, have lugs o, o, fastened on their inner ends,
which lugs work upon shafts p, p, and so form centres for the circular
motion of the plates ff. The plates f, f, are provided also underneath with
guides q, q, which work tight in the framework A. The guides q, 9, have two
screws r, r, tapped into them on each side, which work through slots s, s,
in the framework A.
The machine is worked in the following manner :-The sliding frame K
being placed at one end of the machine, so that the screw M is in the same
vertical line with the shaft I, the pressing block M' being raised close under
the top of the frame K (see dotted lines in Figure 8), the blank required to
be shaped into a stave is placed in the frame K. The handle 9* is moved
towards the left, so as to couple the clutch box 7 with one of the bevel wheels D.
Motion being now communicated to the vertical shaft I in the front of the
machine, the man takes hold of the cord handle nearest to the shaft I, and
turns 'the cord wheel U. By doing so the vertical shaft I will be lowered
down upon the square part of the screw M² (the socket of the vertical shaft I
fitting over the square top of the screw), and the tumbler T, being partly moved
over to the other side, will keep the shaft I close upon the screw M. The
screw will now turn round, and thereby bring the pressing block M
down upon the blank piece of wood, and by the motion being continued
will press it down in a curved position close against the bed of the frame K.

page_text: The wood will now have the shape given to it which it is required to
possess when put into its place as a stave in the formation of a cask.
When the blank has thus been bent, the same handle 9 is moved
towards the right, whereby the clutch box 7 is disengaged from the bevel
wheel D. The motion of the screw is thus stopped, and the workman, by
taking hold of the corded handle farthest from the shaft I, causes the cord
wheel U to turn round, by means of which the shaft I is disengaged from
the screw M2, and raised to its former position. The workman now takes
hold of the handle 9", which couples the chain motion, and by moving that
handle so as bring the corresponding clutch-box into gear the chain drum Y
will turn round, by means of which the slide K will be put in motion. The
circular saws a, a, being always in motion when this machine is at work, the
blank will now be brought into contact with them, and both the sides of the
blank will thereby be cut as the slide continues to move betwixt the
saws a, a. When the slide K arrives at the other end of the machine,
the handle 9b for the chain coupling is moved by the workman so as to
detach the clutch-box from the bevil wheel D, and thereby stop the motion of
the slide, which will now be in the same position at this end of the machine
as it was before at the other end, that is to say, the screw M² will be in
the same line with the vertical shaft I at this end of the machine. One of
the handles 9 is now moved by the workman pulling the shaft I at this end
of the machine in motion in the reverse direction, which being done the
workman takes hold of the corded handle nearest to the shaft I, and by
turning round the cord wheel U causes the shaft. I to descend upon the
screw M, and thereby puts that screw in motion, which causes the pressing
block M' to rise up under the top of the frame K. The workman now stops
the motion of the shaft I, but he does not disengage that shaft from the
screw M. The stave being now completed is removed from the frame K, and
a fresh blank put in, and the preceding operation repeated, but in the reverse
direction of the machine. In order to enable the workman to vary the
width of the cut staves, and also to enable him to alter the position of the
saws to cut the various bevils required for different sized casks, the saws are
adjusted in the following manner:-Having determined upon the required
width of the stave, he moves the hand wheels I, I, and by means of the
screws 9, 9, adjusts the frames e, e, and the saws a, a, to the requisite distance
from the central line of the framework K. Having done this, he moves
round the hand wheels n, n, on the screws 1, 1, and thereby causes the outer
ends of the plates f, f, to rise or fall, in order to place the saws a, a, in a
position to form the radii, or nearly so, of the circle of the cask to be made

page_text: (see the dotted lines t, t, Figure 11). He now tightens the bolts r, 1, on both
sides of the guides q, q, outside the frame A, whereby the angular position of
the plates ff, is secured. With such modifications as will readily suggest
themselves to a competent workman, the blank in its longitudinally curved
state may be submitted to a circular saw bench, to a planing or other cutting
machine, or to suitable cutting tools, in order to produce a stave with the
bevil, bilge, and taper requisite for its formation into a cask.
A stave may
thus be formed either by machine or hand power, and one or both sides may
be completed in one operation.
Thirdly, our Invention consists in a machine for boring holes in the parts
or pieces of wood forming the heads of casks, for the reception of the dowels
necessary for keeping such parts or pieces together. Figure 11ª is a plan
of the machine. A is the framework. B, B, spindles or shafts, connected
with which are fast and loose pulleys. These spindles are mounted in
plummer blocks 2, 2, 2, 2. C, C, are bitts or drills inserted in sockets
at the end of the shafts B and secured by means of set screws. D
is a table made to slide to and fro on the frame A upon the V-shaped
pieces 3, 3, fixed to the top of the frame A. E, cross bar screwed on or
secured to the sliding table D. F, the piece of wood or part of the cask-
head to be bored. The operation is as follows:-Motion being communi-
cated to the strap pulleys, the piece of wood F to be bored is placed
upon the sliding table D, so that one edge rests against the cross bar E, and
the other is presented to the drills C, C. The workman holds the piece of
wood down, and moves the sliding table against the drills or bitts, continuing
to do so until the drills have entered to a sufficient depth into the wood. He
then draws the sliding table back into its original position, and thus disengages
the wood from the drills. The wood is turned over so as to present its other
edge to the drills, and the operation repeated. We make use of 2, 3, or more
drills or bitts in the same frame.
Fourthly, our Invention consists of a method of or machine for combining
a number of staves, which have been individually cut, shaped, and bevilled as
aforesaid (or cut, shaped, and bevilled by any other suitable means), into the
aggregate shape of a cask or barrel. Figure 12 is a plan, and Figure 13 a
cross section of an apparatus adapted to this purpose. A is a foundation
plate, and C a top plate, which are connected by vertical columns B, B. D
is the head of a cask, round which the staves F, F, are placed, and held in
position by a hoop. G, G, are foot pieces for keeping the staves in position.
H, H, are screws which work through nuts I, I, the plain parts of these screws
work through plummer blocks K and L, and the plain part of each screw

page_text: carries a bevil pinion M, keyed to the shaft. The keys of the bevil pinions
work in the grooves made in the shafts so as to enable the bevil pinions M, M,
to turn the shafts round, while at the same time the shafts slide through them.
N is a large circular rack which works in a recess O in the top plate C, and
is toothed both on its upper and under sides. P is a bevil pinion which works
through an opening in the top plate C against the under side of the circular
rack N, and is mounted on a shaft Q, which carries three strap pulleys, R, S,
and T, of which two are fast and one loose on the shaft.
The operation of the machine is as follows:-The staves, being placed round
the head of the intended cask, are secured to the head by means of a chime
hoop. The cask in this state is placed in the centre of the machine betwixt
the foot pieces G, G. The workman now throws the strap upon one of the
fast strap pulleys, which gives motion to the shaft Q, and (through the bevil
pinion P) to the circular rack N, which last being. in motion causes all the
bevil pinions M, M, to turn round, by means of which the screws are all
worked with the same speed towards the centre of the machine. All the
screws have the same pitch, and are placed at exactly the same distance from
the centre. During this operation of the screws H, H, I, all the staves F
are equally acted upon until they are all brought together in close con-
tact, which being done the workman throws the strap on to the loose pulley,
and thereby stops any further motion of the screws. Before the staves
are brought into close contact, the workman, having a head for this end of
the cask ready, places it opposite to a groove previously cut in the staves, by
means of which the head is secured in its proper place at the time the staves
are being brought in close contact. A chime hoop is now placed over the
end of the cask. The workman then places the strap on the opposite fast
pulley, and thereby gives to all the screws an opposite motion, by which they
are withdrawn from the cask, which, being now in a complete state, is removed
from the machine.
And having now described the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, we declare that the improvements which
we claim as constituting our said Invention are as follows:-
First, we claim the machine for sawing or cutting wood into pieces or
blanks suitable for being afterwards formed into staves for casks or barrels,
before described, but in so far only as regards the manner in which the
serrated segments or segmental saws are mounted on the opposite sides of an
oscillating frame, so as to form a balance on the shaft thereof, and whereby
any one, two, or more segments or saws in each set can be worked at one
and the same time.*

page_text: Second, we claim the method of or machine for converting the pieces of
wood sawn out into blanks as aforesaid into staves for casks or barrels, as before
described, that is to say, in so far as regards the peculiar contrivances, arrange-
ments, and combinations by which the pieces of wood have first a curvature
given to them longitudinally corresponding to that of the staves into which
they are afterwards formed, and are then, while in that state of curvature,
shaped into staves, each with its required bevil, bilge, and taper.
Third, we claim giving the required longitudinal curvature to blanks or
pieces of wood, prévious to their being cut or formed into staves, however such
curvature may be produced.
Fourth, we claim the shaping and forming of blanks or pieces of wood,
after having been curved longitudinally, into staves, each with the bevil, bilge,
and taper necessary for their formation into casks or barrels, whatever may be
the tools employed.
Fifth, we claim the machine for boring the parts or pieces of which the
heads of casks or barrels are formed, for the admission of the dowels, as
herein-before described.
And last, we claim, the method of or machine for combining a number of
staves into the aggregate shape and form of a cask or barrel, in the general
arrangement and combination of parts and processes of which the same
consists, as before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Rosenborg, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventh day of September, in the year of our
1 sight hundred and fifty