IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN FORMING AND STAFFING THE FURROWS OF MILLSTONES
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Smith, of Titchfield, near Fareham, in the County
of Hants, Miller, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS USED
IN FORMING AND STAFFING THE FURROWS OF MILLSTONES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Smith at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 8th January 1880.
HENRY SMITH, of Titchfield, near Fareham, in the County of Hants, Miller.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN FORMING AND STAFFING THE FURROWS
OF MILLSTONES."
My Invention consists of apparatus constructed as herein after described to be
used in forming and stuffing the furrows of millstones, by the use of which
apparatus the furrows of millstones are formed and staffed with a facility and
accuracy unattainable by the apparatus ordinarily employed.
Apparatus constructed according to my Invention consists essentially of a staff
or gauge for gauging the depth of the furrows and enabling the operator to make
the furrows of one uniform depth from the face of the stone, and of a compound
bar to be fixed as a diameter upon the stone for determining the proper angle of
the furrows, and thereby to render unnecessary the ordinary method of marking
the furrows on the stone, the said compound bar also serving as a guide for the
furrow-staff to work against. The furrow-staff consists of a short oblong bar of
wood fixed in a metallic frame. The under surface of this bar has a figure the
exact counterpart of the furrows to be made or staffed in the millstone. It is fixed
in its metallic frame by set screws at such a height that its lower face is situated
below the edges of the frame at a depth equal to the depth of the furrows. The
staff is accurately fixed in its frame by the use of a prover. This prover consists
of a bar having a furrow in it exactly resembling the furrows to be made. By
placing the staff and its frame on the prover and loosening the set screws, the staff
may be accurately adjusted in its frame to the furrow in the prover, and then fixed
by the set screws. The compound bar consists of a metallic ring of about five
inches in diameter. To opposite points of this ring thin broad strips of hard wood
are fixed the combined length of the strips and ring somewhat exceeding the
diameter of the millstone. This compound bar in use is placed across the mill-
stone to be operated upon, a middle line on the face of the strips coinciding
accurately with a diameter of the millstone.

page_text: The compound bar is fixed to the millstone in the following manner :-On the
iron band or hoop of the millstone vertical notches are cut at equi-distant and
opposite points corresponding to the ten or other number of quarters or divisions
into which the face of the millstone is divided for the reception of the different
sets of furrows. On the underside of each end of the compound bar is a small
bracket carrying a pointed serew. When the compound bar is laid across the
millstone and the points of the said pointed screws are made to engage in the
opposite notches in the hoop of the millstone, the compound bar is fixed to the
The
millstone with its line accurately coinciding with a diameter of the stone.
strips of the compound bar are each furnished with a supplementary strip con-
nected to the principal strip by slotted plates on the latter engaging with headed
pins or screws on the former. The said supplementary strips can be moved parallel
to a greater or less distance from the principal strips, so as to regulate the amount
of draught. The supplementary strips are on opposite sides of their principal
strips.
After the first furrow has been cut or dressed its depth is tested by the furrow
staff being moved against the edge of the compound bar, the underface of the staff
being provided with black, red, or other pigment in the ordinary way. After the
first furrow has been cut or dressed to the required depth, a spline or filling piece
equal to the breadth of one of the furrows, and "lands" of the millstone is placed
against the compound bar, and a second furrow is cut or dressed and staved; a
second spline or filling piece is placed against the first and another furrow is made
or dressed, and so on until all the furrows of one quarter have been made or
dressed. The compound bar is then adjusted to another quarter of the millstone,
when its furrows are made or dressed in the manner described, and so on till the
whole of the face of the millstone has been operated upon.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Henry Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 22nd June
1880.
HENRY SMITH, of Titchfield, near Fareham, in the County of Hants, Miller.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN FORMING AND STAFFING THE FURROWS
OF MILLSTONES."
My Invention consists of apparatus constructed as herein after described to be
used in forming and staffing the furrows of millstones, by the use of which
apparatus the furrows of millstones are formed and staffed with a facility and
accuracy unattainable by the apparatus ordinarily employed.
Apparatus constructed according to my Invention consists essentially of a staff or
gauge for gauging the depth of the furrows and enabling the operator to make the
furrows of one uniform depth from the face of the stone, and of a compound bar to

page_text: be fixed as a diameter upon the stone for determining the proper angle of the
furrows, and thereby to render unnecessary the ordinary method of marking the
furrows on the stone; the said compound bar also serving as a guide for the furrow
staff to work against.
The furrow staff consists of a short oblong bar of wood fixed in a metallic frame.
The underside of this bar has a figure the exact counterpart of the furrows to be
made or staffed in the millstone. It is fixed in its metallic frame by set screws at
such a height that its lower face is situated below the edges of the frame at a
depth equal to the depth of the furrows. The staff is accurately fixed in its frame
by the use of a prover; this prover consists of a bar having a furrow in it exactly
resembling the furrows to be made. By placing the staff and its frame on the
prover and loosening the set screws the staff may be accurately adjusted in its
frame to the furrow in the prover, and then fixed by the set screws.
The compound bar consists of a metallic ring of about five inches in diameter;
to opposite points of this ring thin broad strips of metal or hardwood are fixed, the
combined length of the strips and ring somewhat exceeding the diameter of the
millstone. This compound bar in use is placed across the millstone to be operated upon,
a middle line on the face of the strips coinciding accurately with a diameter of the
millstone. The compound bar is fixed to the millstone in the following manner:—
On the iron band or hoop of the millstone vertical notches are cut at equi-distant
and opposite points corresponding to the twelve or other number of "quarters" or
divisions into which the face of the millstone is divided for the reception of the
different sets of furrows. On the underside of each end of the compound bar is a
small bracket carrying a pointed screw or plate. When the compound bar is laid
across the millstone, and the points of the said pointed screws or plates are made to
engage in the opposite notches in the hoop of the millstone, the compound bar is
fixed to the millstone with its central line accurately coinciding with a diameter of
the stone. The strips of the compound bar are each furnished with a supplementary
strip connected to the principal strip by slotted plates on the latter engaging with
headed pins or screws on the former; the said supplementary strips can be moved
parallel to a greater or less distance from the principal strips so as to regulate the
amount of draught. The supplementary strips are on opposite sides of their
respective principal strips.
After the first furrow has been cut or dressed its depth is tested from time to
time by the furrow staff being moved against the edge of the compound bar, the
undersurface of the staff being provided with black, red, or other pigment in the
ordinary way. After the first furrow has been cut or dressed to the required
depth a spline or filling piece equal to the breadth of one of the furrows and
'lands" of the millstone is placed against the compound bar and a second furrow is
cut or dressed and staved; a second spline or filling piece is placed against the first
and another furrow is made or dressed, and so on until all the furrows of one
"quarter" have been made or dressed. The compound bar is then adjusted to
another "quarter" of the millstone, when its furrows are made or dressed in the
manner described, an so on till the whole of the face of the millstone has been
operated upon.
I will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings the
manner in which my Invention may be performed.
Figure 1 represents a plan and Figure 2 an end elevation of my new or improved
staff or gauge, drawn of the full size, for gauging the depth of the furrows and for
enabling the operator to make the furrows of one uniform depth from the face of
the stone; Figure 3 represents a plan of upper side, and Figure 4 an end elevation
of the prover which I use in combination with my improved furrow staff or gauge;
Figure 5 represents a plan, and Figure 6 a cross section taken on the line a, a,
Figure 5 of my improved furrow staff in combination with the prover.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
and 6.
b is the furrow staff, consisting of a short oblong bar of wood fixed in the metallio

page_text: frame c.
The underside of the wooden bar or staff 6 has a figure the counterpart
of the furrows to be made in the millstone. The bar or staff bis fixed in the
frame c by the set screws d, d, at such a height that its lower face bs is situated
below the flanges 63, 64, of the frame c at a depth equal to the depth of the
furrows to be made. The underside of the flanges 63, 6, of the metallic frame bear
upon the "lands" of the millstone during the use of the staff, and the edge of the
flange bs bears against the compound bar constituting part of my Invention, and
against the spline or filling piece during the forming and staffing of the furrows, as
herein after explained. The flange 63 bears against a rib on the prover during the
use of the prover.
The prover is marked e, and consists of a bar having a furrow on one or on
opposite faces of it, the said furrows exactly resembling the furrows to be made in
the millstone. In the Drawing I have represented a prover with two furrows f, g,
of different sizes made in its opposite faces, so that by inverting the bar either
furrow of the prover may be used with the furrow staff b. Along one edge of the
furrow is a rib h, and along one edge of the other furrow g is a similar rib i,
against which rib h or i the flange 63 of the staff frame bears when the latter is
placed on the prover e.
The staff b is applied to the prover e for adjusting the said staff in its frame to
the depth of the furrows to be made in the manner represented in Figures 5 and 6,
that is to say, the metallic frame c containing the furrow staff b is placed upon the
prover e, so that the flange 63 of the frame bears against the rib h or i. The set
screws d, d, are now relaxed, when the staff b falls into and fills up the groove f
org in the prover. The set screws d, d, being driven home the staff is fixed in its
place in the frame in the position to which it has been adjusted by the prover, and
the staff may be lifted from the prover and is ready for use.
The staff prover represented may be used for proving the undersurface of the
staff frame c, and the undersurface of the staff b.
To prove the staff frame the flat true surface of the prover e is oiled and the staff
frame moved upon it. The untrue parts of the frame are thereby indicated and
the said parts are filed until made true.
In like manner the untrue parts of the staff may be indicated by fixing the staff
in its frame and moving it in the furrow which bas been made true.
My new or improved compound bar to be used in orming and staffing the
furrows of millstones is represented detached in plan in Figure 7, and combined
with a millstone, and arranged for use in conjunction with my furrow staff in plan
in Figure 8, and side elevation in Figure 9. Figures 10, 11, and 12 represent cross
sections drawn half the full size of a portion of the millstone and the compound
bar and furrow staff; Figure 10 exhibiting the manner in which the first furrow
in one of the divisions of the stone is formed and staffed; Figure 11, the manner
in which the second furrow is formed and staffed, and Figure 12, the manner in
which the third furrow is formed and staffed.
The compound bar consists of a metallic ring k, having at opposite points thin
broad strips l, m, projecting from it, the combined length of the ring and strips
somewhat exceeding the diameter of the millstone. I prefer to make the ring k
and strips l, m, of metal and in one piece by the casting process; but I do not limit
myself thereto, as the said ring and strips may be made separately and connected
together, and other material than metal may be used. On the outer end of each
of the strips l, m, and on the underside thereof is a small slide n, having a
V plate p at its end, the said slide being capable of adjustment and of being fixed
in its adjusted position by means of the set screw q. The set screw screws q, q,
work in the slots r, r, in the strips l, m. By turning the set screws 9, 9, so as to
raise their collars from the strips l, m, the slides n carrying the V plates p are
released, and may be adjusted in the slots r, r. After adjustment the set screws
q, q, are driven home, so as to bind the slides firmly to the strips as represented.
The slides carrying the V plates p, p, are for the purpose of fixing the compound
bar on the millstone, the iron band 8 (Figures 8 and 9) of the millstone being

page_text: provided with equi-distant vertical notches t, t, opposite each other into which the
V plates p of the slides take.
Instead of the slides and V plates n, p, pointed screws working in brackets
carried by the strips l, m, may be used.
Each of the strips l, m, is furnished with a supplementary strip 12, m², connected
to the principal strips by slotted plates ³, m³, on the said strips 12, m³, engaging
with headed screws u, u, on the principal strips 1, m. By means of the slotted
plates 1³, m³, and screws u, u, the supplementary strips 1, m², can be moved parallel
to a greater or less distance from the strips l, m, so as to regulate the draught of
the furrows. It will be seen that the supplementary strips 12, m³, are arranged on
opposite sides of the principal strips to which they are respectively connected.
In using the compound bar, Figure 7, it is placed across the millstone to be
operated upon in the manner represented in Figures 8 and 9, and fixed in its
position by the engaging of the V plates p, p, with opposite notches t, t, in the band
8 of the millstone. It will be seen by an examination of Figure 8 that the com-
pound bar, when fixed for use, crosses the millstone as a diameter, the middle ring
k passing over the centre bar of the stone, the compound bar, when fixed, deter-
mining the proper angle of the furrows to be cut in the particular "quarters" or
divisions at which it is situated. At the place on the stone where the first furrow
w is to be cut or dressed, as exhibited at the left hand side of the stone, Figure 8
and in Figure 10, the supplementary strip is adjusted on the principal strip l, and
during the cutting or dressing of the furrow it is tested from time to time by the
use of my furrow staff b, c, d; that is, the underside of the furrow staff b is coated
with black, red, or other pigment, and the frame of the staff is placed against the
supplementary strip 12, so that the flange 63 bears against the said strip ², the other
flange b resting on the "land" or uncut face of the millstone. By now moving the
staff b against the supplementary strip 2, so as to cause the staff to fit in the furrow
w, its depth and conformation may be tested. The manner in which the staff enters
the furrow wand the flange 6s of the staff frame bears against the supplementary
strip during the testing of the furrow will be best understood by an examination
of Figure 10.
29
The furrow staff and compound bar may also be used for indicating on the face
of the stone where the furrows are to be cut, as well as for testing the depth and
conformation of the furrows during their formation.
In order to indicate where the furrow is to be cut on the stone the furrow staff
b, coated with a pigment on its underside, is placed against the adjusted strip l² and
moved along the said strip; a band or line of colour is thereby left on the face of
the stone where the furrow is to be cut, thereby dispensing with the usual lining
out on the stone.
After the furrow w has been formed a spline or filling piece equal to the breadth
of one of the furrows and the "land" or space between it and the next furrow to be
made is placed against the supplementary strip 12 of the compound bar, as illustrated
in cross section in Figure 11, where the spline is marked c. The second furrow y
is then cut or dressed and staved by the use of my improved staff, the flange b³ of
the staff frame being placed and moved against the edge of the spline x instead of
against the supplementary strip 2, as in making the first furrow w. After the
second furrow y has been formed a second spline or filling piece z, represented in
Figure 12, is placed against the first spline x, and a third furrow 2 is made and
tested by the staff in the manner before described.
The parts m, m2, of the compound bar at the right hand side of the millstone,
Figure 8, are used in the forming and staffing of the furrows at the division in front
of the said parts m, m², in the manner described with respect to the parts 1, . In
the right hand part of the millstone, Figure 8, the second furrow is represented in
the act of being formed, a spline or filling piece x being represented between the
supplementary strip m² and the second furrow being made.
The compound bar is next advanced to other divisions of the millstone by releasing
the slides n, n, and refixing them in another pair of notches t, t, when the apparatus

page_text: is ready, in conjunction with the staff b, to be again used in making or dressing and
staffing the furrows in the manner before described.
When it is wished to give the furrows a small draught the apparatus may be
used without the supplementary strips 12 m². In this case the broad strips l, m, of
the apparatus are made with true edges, and serve to guide the staff frame in the
same way as when the supplementary strips 12, m³, are used.
When it is wished to make angular furrows, so as to give them two draughts
instead of straight furrows with a single draught, the supplementary strips ², m³,
or the principal strips l, m, when the supplementary strips l², m², are omitted, are
made angular to suit the directions of the furrows to be formed in the millstone."
My improved apparatus may be used for forming or staffing furrows in millstones
having a different sectional figure from that represented in the Drawings, such, for
example, as furrows of a gouged shape. In this case the underside of the furrow
staff and the furrows in the prover have the shape which is required to be reproduced
in the millstone.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I claim as my Invention
of "Improvements in Apparatus used in Forming and Staffing the Furrows of
Millstones,'
First. The construction of the staff or gauge for indicating the position and for
gauging or staffing the depth and conformation of the furrows to be made or dressed
in the millstone and the prover, for accurately fixing the staff or gauge in its
frame, and for proving or testing the accuracy of the underside of the furrow staff
frame and the furrow staff, substantially as herein before described and illustrated
in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of the accompanying Drawings.
Secondly. The apparatus herein before described and illustrated in Figures 7, 8,
9, 10, 11, and 12 of the accompanying Drawings, to be fixed as a diameter upon the
stone for determining the proper angle of the furrows, and thereby rendering
unnecessary the ordinary method of marking the furrows on the stone, and for
serving as a guide for the furrow staff to work against; that is to say, apparatus
consisting essentially of a compound bar with a central ring fixed in the manner
described and illustrated as a diameter upon the stone, the said compound bar, with
or without the supplementary adjustable strips, being used in conjunction with the
splines or filling pieces described, and by preference in conjunction with my new or
improved furrow staff, substantially as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Smith, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Twenty first day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty.
Witness,
JOSEPH JORDAN, Jr.,
Blakedown Mills,
Leamington.
HENRY SMITH. (L.S.)