Improvements in Machinery or Apparatus for Carving Wood, Stone, or other Material.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 8th July, 1896
Complete Specification Left, 8th Apr., 1897-Accepted, 15th May, 1897
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machinery or Apparatus for Carving Wood, Stone,
or other Material.
I, JOHN POLLOCK, of Beith, in the County of Ayr North Britain, Cabinet Maker,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to machinery for carving wood, stone, or other material,
copies or reproductions of designs or ornaments, and has for its object the
attainment in such machines of so much automatic action that when adjusted and
started to operate on the material to be carved they continue to perform all the
movements necessary for completing the work without requiring hand labour or
personal attention during the time the work is being executed.
Further this machine has for its object to produce a number of copies at one
operation, and can also reproduce the same designs on a larger or smaller scale than
the original, exact in proportions and with the same rapidity and accuracy.
A machine constructed according to this invention consists of two main parts
namely, a bed-plate or carriage for carrying the patterns or designs to be reproduced
and the articles or pieces of wood, stone or other material or substance upon which
the said patterns or designs are to be so reproduced; and an upper part supported
upon and turning in bearings carried upon columns or other suitable framework. The
bed-plate or carriage is made in three separate parts and has a backward and forward
motion imparted to each part separately. And they also move in combination in a
manner similar to that by which such motions are imparted to the bed of an iron
planing machine. And such backward and forward motions are made to differ in
speed of travel by change wheels and screws or other suitable gearing similar to that
which is used in ordinary self-acting screw cutting lathes or other similar machines
by which means the carvings are reduced or enlarged with perfect accuracy. The
upper part has also a motion imparted to it which crosses the bed-plate or carriage,
and is also made in three parts to move separately and in combination by change
wheels and screws or any other suitable gearing such as is used in ordinary screw-
cutting lathes or other similar machines by which means the carvings can be reduced
or extended in breadth or width with perfect accuracy, and forms in their joint action
a motion similar to that of an ordinary compound slide rest and otherwise consists
of a framing mounted upon sleeves or centres turning in bearings on columns or a
framework as aforesaid, the upper part being pivoted in the centre, and the overhanging
arm equally balanced on its centre.
By this invention a number of copies of the same designs can be reproduced at the
same time either to the size of the original pattern or to a larger or smaller scale
exact in proportion and with the same rapidity and accuracy. This action is achieved
by the said arm on the upper part, having crossheads for carrying a guiding point and
a number of spindles which hold the carving tools. Each spindle carrying the carving
tools is provided with a pulley by which the said spindles are driven by bands or cords
at a high speed through pulleys on a driving shaft passing through the sleeves upon
which the upper part turns, and by such means the motion of the shaft and the upper
part will not interfere with each other, and which operate on the wood, stone or other
material or substance to be carved both in the forward and backward motion of the
underpart and quite independently of each other. At the termination of each traverse
of the table the crossheads of the upper part carrying the guiding point and

page_text: carving tools which are pivoted in the centre and raised and lowered alternately
by an automatic action which gives at each alternate stroke a slight preponderance
sufficient to allow the carving tools to penetrate the wood, stone, or other material or
substance being operated upon, and at the same time to allow the carving tools to
follow easily and surely the depressions and elevations of the pattern being
reproduced.
The patterns from which carvings are to be made may be formed in metal or
other hard substance, and is fixed upon the bed-plate under the guiding point, and
upon the table under each spindle carrying the carving tools are secured by clamps
or by other suitable means the articles or pieces of wood, stone or other material or
substance upon which the reproductions are to be made. The bed-plate or carriage
is brought to such a position that the guiding point is at one side of the pattern
underneath it, and each carving tool at a corresponding side of the article or piece of
wood or other material or substance to be operated upon. The travelling of the
bed-plate or carriage causes the pattern to be carried under the guiding point, and
consequently the materials upon which the reproductions are to be made to be carried
under the carving tools in longitudinal lines, the said guiding point and the cross-
head upon which it is fixed rising and falling by turning upon its sleeves as aforesaid
following the elevations and depressions of the pattern beneath it, and giving the
like falling and rising motion to the carving tools.
While at the termination of each traverse the upper part which carries the cross-
head pointer and carving tools receives a slight side movement as in a planing machine
which will bring a fresh portion of the material being operated upon underneath the
carving tools. The same movement will take place continuously until the guiding
point has travelled in longitudinal parallel lines over the whole of the surface of
the pattern, and consequently until the carving tools have cut or carved by the
revolving motion imparted to them through the bands as aforesaid and by the
travelling motion of the bed-plate or carriage and crosshead a reproduction of the said
pattern or on a larger or smaller scale as desired on the articles or pieces of wood
or other material beneath them.
Dated this 7th day of July 1896.
BOTTOMLEY & LIDDLE,
154, St. Vincent Street, Glasgow, Applicant's Agents.
Improvements in Machinery or Apparatus for Carving Wood, Stone,
or other Material.
1, JOHN POLLOCK, of Beith, in the County of Ayr, North Britain, Cabinet Maker,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same
is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :---
This invention relates to machinery for carving wood, stone, or other material
either flat, curved or round in form, copies or reproductions of designs or ornaments,
and has for its object the attainment in such machines of so much automatic action
that when adjusted and started to operate on the material to be carved they continue
to perform all the movements necessary for completing the work without requiring
hand labour or personal attention during the time the work is being executed.
Further this machine has for its object to produce a number of copies at one
operation, and can also reproduce the same designs on a larger or smaller scale than
the original and also increasing and diminishing the depth of the carvings or larger
or smaller as may be desired either as regards their length or breadth or width with
the same rapidity and accuracy.

page_text: A machine constructed according to this invention consists of two main parts
namely, a bed-plate or carriage for carrying the patterns or designs to be reproduced
and the articles or pieces of wood, stone, or other material or substance upon which
the said patterns or designs are to be so reproduced, and an upper part supported
upon and turning in bearings carried upon columns or other suitable frame-work.
The bed-plate or carriage is made in three separate parts and has a backward and
forward motion imparted to each part, separately when increasing or reducing the
carvings from the original. And they also move in combination in a manner similar to
that by which such motions are imparted to the bed of an iron planing machine. And
such backward and forward motions are made to differ in speed of travel by change
wheels and screws or other suitable gearing similar to that which is used in ordinary
self-acting screw cutting lathes or other similar machines by which means the
carvings are made longer or shorter as desired with perfect accuracy. The upper
part has also a motion imparted to it which crosses the bed-plate or carriage, and is
also made in three parts to move separately when reducing or increasing the carvings
from the original and also in combination, by change wheels and screws or any other
suitable gearing such as is used in ordinary screw-cutting lathes or other similar
machines by which means the carvings can be reduced or extended in depth and
breadth or width with perfect accuracy, and forms in their joint action a motion
similar to that of an ordinary compound slide rest and otherwise consists of a framing
mounted upon sleeves or centres turning in bearings on columns or a framework as
aforesaid, the upper part being pivoted in the centre, and the overhanging arm equally
balanced on its centre.
By this invention a number of copies of the same designs can be reproduced at the
same time either to the size of the original pattern or larger or smaller as may be
desired either as regards their length or breadth or width and with the same rapidity
and accuracy. This action is achieved by the said arm on the upper part, having
crossheads for carrying a guiding point and a number of spindles which hold the
carving tools. Each spindle carrying the carving tools is provided with a pulley by
which the said spindles are driven by bands or cords at a high speed through pulleys
on a driving shaft passing through the sleeves upon which the upper part turns.
The guiding point moves in a bar fitted on the crosshead and lengthens and shortens
the arm on its centre and thus increases or diminishes the depth of the carvings as
desired and by such means the motion of the shaft and the upper part will not
interfere with each other, and which operate on the wood, stone, or other material or
substance to be carved both in the forward and backward motion of the underpart
and quite independently of each other. At the termination of each traverse of the
table the crossheads of the upper part carrying the guiding point and carving. tools
which are pivoted in the centre and raised and lowered alternately by an automatic
action which gives at each alternate stroke a slight preponderance sufficient to allow
the carving tools to penetrate the wood, stone, or other material or substance being
operated upon, and at same time to allow the carving tools to follow easily and surely
the depressions and elevations of the pattern being reproduced.
The patterns from which carvings are to be made may be formed in metal or other
hard substance, and are fixed upon the bed-plate under the guiding point, and upon
the table under each spindle carrying the carving tools, are secured by clamps or by
other suitable means, the articles or pieces of wood, stone, or other material or
substance upon which the reproductions are to be made. The bed-plate or carriage is
brought to such a position that the guiding point is at one side of the pattern
underneath it, and each carving tool at a corresponding side of the article or piece of
wood or other material or substance to be operated upon.
When it is desired to increase or diminish the carvings, change wheels such as are
used in ordinary screw cutting lathes are applied to the bed-plate and crossheal thus
increasing or diminishing the speed of the centre part of the bed-plate which carries
the pattern under the guiding point, and also increasing or diminishing the centre part
of the crosshead which gives greater or less feed to produce the same.
The travelling of the bed-plate or carriage causes the pattern to be carried under

page_text: the guiding point, and consequently the materials, upon which the reproductions are
to be made, to be carried under the carving tools in longitudinal lines, the said
guiding point and the crosshead upon which it is fixed rising and falling by turning
upon its sleeves as aforesaid following the elevations and depressions of the pattern
beneath it, and giving the like falling and rising motion to the carving tool.
While at the termination of each traverse the upper part which carries the
crosshead pointer and carving tools receives a slight side movement as in a planing
machine which will bring a fresh portion of the material being operated upon
underneath the carving tools. The same movement will take place continuously until
the guiding point has travelled in longitudinal parallel lines over the whole of the
surface of the pattern, and consequently until the carving tools have cut or carved by
the revolving motion imparted to them through the bands as aforesaid and by the
travelling motion of the bed-plate or carriage and crosshead, a reproduction of the
said pattern, or on a larger or smaller scale as desired on the articles or pieces of
wood or other material beneath them by the separate motion given to the bed-plate
and crosshead by change wheels and screws necessary to produce the same.
In order that my invention may be properly understood and readily carried into
effect, I have hereunto appended two sheets of drawings in the several figures of
which corresponding parts are marked with the same letters of reference.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings represents a side elevation of a singlo
acting carving machine constructed and made in accordance with and constituting
my said invention.
Figure 2 is a front elevation of the machine.
Figure 3 is a plan of Figure 1, and Figure 4 is a part side elevation and plan
respectively of an arrangement for carving the panels of stone, wood, or other
material to the same size as the pattern they are intended to represent or increasing
or diminishing the carving, as hereafter more fully referred to.
The table or carriage marked A is formed of three separate pieces A1, A2, A3,
mounted and capable of sliding in V-shaped grooves as is the bed-plate of an
ordinary planing machine such as is used for planing metals. The parts marked A',
and A3, move in common or together with each other by means of a screwed
shaft B placed centrally and longitudinally with the machine and upon which they
are mounted while the part marked A2 is moved independently by means of a separate
shaft C placed above and parallel with the first named to which a motion relative
with or at a different rate of speed from that to which the parts A' and A³ of the
carriage or table aforesaid is imparted. Motion is communicated to the shaft B
from a main or driving shaft D, by means of a bevel gearing E and this motion
whether it be increased or diminished by the use of change wheels is transmitted
to the shaft C and imparted to the carriage or table marked A2 which carries the
pattern or model to be carved. Consequently if table marked A² be geared by the
change wheels to travel quicker than A and A³ then the carvings will be reduced
accordingly and if geared to travel slower the carvings will be increased.
The motion of the table A and the several parts constituting it is outward and in
the direction of the arrow; the position shewn in Figure 1 illustrates the table in the
midway position.
Each of the two positions A¹ and A³ respectively is capable of carrying four panels
-but any number may be used--each of which as to size and position can be adjusted
by means of the clamping screws a.
The upper part of the machine consists of a rocking framework or beam F
mounted upon the conical centres marked G. The fore part Ft of the said framework
or beam overhangs the table or carriage A and terminates with V-projections in
which corresponding V-recesses formed in a crosshead or crossheads H work and
which are capable of a lateral motion crossing the bed-plate of the machine as will be
hereafter more fully referred to. The crossheads H, H', and H2, are provided with
suitable brackets for carrying the carving tools I and a guiding point I' and its
respective spindle. Each spindle carrying the carving tools is provided with a pulley J,
by which the said spindles are driven through bands or cords K upon pulleys L mounted

page_text: on a transverse driving shaft M, which receives its motion from a main or other driving
shaft.
The opposite end of the beam or overhanging framework is provided with a weight
or counterpoise N for balancing the beam and allowing it to rise and fall commensurate
with the depressions and projections formed on the face of the pattern or model and
the carving required to be performed.
When the table has traversed the desired distance or nearly so outward a projection O
formed on the overhanging framework F¹ comes in contact with an incline P' and
compels the said beam to rise with the remaining distance it has to travel and in doing
so becomes locked in the position shewn in Figure 1 by means of the projections Q
and a corresponding engaging projection Q' clamped to the lever R. The motion of
the table is now reversed by mechanism very similar to what is employed in a metal
planing machine and the table commences to travel inwards the carving tools and the
guiding point being lifted and locked in the position clear of the pattern and the panels
being carved until the said table has nearly reached its extreme inward travel. The
projection O already referred to now commences to engage the opposite incline P and
this enables the beam to be raised at a slightly higher elevation than it previously
occupied at which stage the lever R' is pushed in the direction of the arrow until the
two projections Q and Qare disengaged and the locking mechanism released.
Simultaneously with this operation a projecting bracket S on the travelling table
comes in contact with a wiper or lever T which gives motion to a vertical shaft U
which said motion is communicated through the levers u and to a pawl w engaging
the teeth of a ratchet wheel x Figures 2 and 3. The ratchet wheel x is mounted
upon the screw shaft V which actuates the lateral movement of the guiding tool I'.
Upon the end of the said screw shaft V a spur wheel is mounted which gears with a
corresponding spur wheel mounted on a shaft W parallel with and lying beneath it.
The spur wheels of the shafts V and W shewn in Figures 2 and 4 are of the
same size consequently the lateral movement imparted by the pawl and ratchet to the
shaft V of the guiding tool will be the same as that given to shaft W of the carving
spindles thus producing carvings exact as the original but when a varying side
movement is required to reduce or increase the size of the carvings spur wheels of
different sizes will be employed, to produce carvings to the required size.
By the last mentioned arrangement the table at the termination of each inward
traverse of the machine receives the requisite side movement to bring a fresh portion
of the pattern underneath the guiding point and a corresponding fresh portion of the
material being operated underneath the carving tools.
When it is desired to increase or reduce the depth of the carvings, reference being
had to Figure 4 the tracing or guiding point I' is free to be moved along a slotted
bar which depends from the crosshead H' of the overhanging framework or beam F.
When the pointer I' is in the position indicated by the letter Y the carving will be
reduced, in depth it being understood that the carving tools are occupying the
central position as shewn by I. And when the pointer or guiding tool I is moved
to the position shewn by Z being the point nearest to the centre upon which the
overhanging framework or swing frame turns it must follow the carving will be
increased in depth. This is a most important feature in this invention.
A machine to accomplish all these improvements can be made double acting viz.
to have two cutting heads instead of one as shewn in the drawings and also that this
machine by its variable movements can also increase and diminish carvings on
circular work such as stair baluster, posts, chair and table legs, etc., automatically and
with the same precision as when carving flat work.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In machines for carving wood, stone, or other material either flat, curved or
round in form, the bed-plate being made in three parts and moving in combination or
singly so that by varying the speed of each section by change wheels and screws,

page_text: copies of carvings are produced on a larger or smaller scale lengthwise, and when
moving in combination copies exactly similar to the original are produced, all
substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore described and illustrated on the
accompanying sheets of drawings.
2. In machines for carving wood, stone, or other material either flat, curved or
round in form, the upper part crossing the bed-plate carrying the pointer and
cutting spindles being made in three parts and moving in combination or separately
by change wheels and screws varying the speed of each section so that carvings are
produced exactly similar to the original in width or breadth, or on a larger or smaller
scale as desired, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore described and
illustrated on the accompanying sheets of drawings.
3. In machines for carving wood, stone, or other material either flat, curved or
round in form, the arrangement on point of tracing spindle so that the tracing or
guiding point can be put nearer to the centre of swing frame or further away
from centre, so as to produce carvings deeper or shallower than the model, substantially
as described and illustrated on the accompanying sheets of drawings.
4. In apparatus for carving wood, stone, or other material the general arrangement
and operation of the parts, substantially as and for the purposes herein before described
and illustrated on the accompanying sheets of drawings.
Dated this 6th day of April 1897.
BOTTOMLEY & LIDDLE,
154, St. Vincent Street, Glasgow, Applicant's Patent Agents.