IMPROVEMENTS IN STONE-CUTTING APPARATUS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Sir William Fothergill Cooke, Knight, of Branksca
Lodge, Tooting, in the County of Surrey, and George Hunter, of
Aberdovey, in the County of Merioneth, North Wales, Engineer, for
the Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN STONE-CUTTING APPARATUS.
Scaled the 14th June 1870, and dated the 26th April 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Sir William Fothergill
Cooke and George Hunter at the Office of the Commissioners: of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 26th April 1870.
We, Sir WILLIAM FOTHERGILL COOKE, Knight, of Branksea Lodge,
Tooting, in the County of Surrey, and GEORGE HUNTER, of Aberdovey,
in the County of Merioneth, North Wales, Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STONE-CUTTING
APPARATUS," to be as follows:-
:—
Our Invention relates to apparatus for eutting, moulding, facing, or
otherwise dressing stones, slates, or other materials employed in building,
and consists chiefly of modifications in the construction and arrangement

page_text: of the machinery and tools for this purpose, for improvements in which
a Patent was granted to us, dated the 25th August 1866, No. 2192. In
the Specification of the said Patent we described a machine for cutting,
facing, or moulding stone, which consisted of one or more tables
carrying the stone made to traverse under a rotating barrel armed with
cutters.
One part of our present improvements applics to the construction
of such rotating cutting instrument. We fit side by side on the rotating
shaft a number of plates, each of which carries two or more cutting
tools. These plates are of various lengths, so that the cutters fitted at
their extremities are more or less distant from the axis of the rotating
shaft, and are thus adjusted to the greater or less depth to which they
are required to cut the stone. Instead of preparing a special cutting
barrel for every special moulding, as heretofore, we build up such a
cutting barrel of plates of various sizes selected to suit the moulding to
be produced. For fitting the cutters into these plates we prefer to make
the plates with oblique-sided gaps or jaws at their ends, and to secure
the cutters in these gaps or jaws by means of screws and wedge-shaped
pieces, inserting two cutters between the oblique sides of each gap and
the oblique faces of the wedges within it, and holding them firmly by
tightening the screw of the wedge piece. Instead of making the gap or
jaws in the plate itself, we sometimes make it in a separate piece made
to slide into a recess in the plate. This sliding piece can be adjusted to
the required distance from the axis, and secured by a screw or rivet to
the plate. Also the cutters may be secured in the plates or in adjustable
pieces fitted to the plates by any of the methods described in the
Specification of the Patent above referred to.
We find it convenient sometimes to, use, cutters made of bars of steel
of triangular, rectangular, or rhomboidal section, with their cutting ends
ground off to an angle. When we employ such cutters we make the
sockets for holding them of depths graduated by successive steps.
When the cutters are blunted by use we grind them to a fresh edge by
fixing them in a socket rest and bearing them against a grindstone,
grinding off an equal length in each case. When the amount ground
off is equivalent to one of the steps in the graduation of the sockets the
cutter previously employed in a socket of certain depth is at once fitted
after grinding for the socket next less in depth, without necessity, for
packing or adjustment.

page_text: For facing or moulding the edge of a stone we fix the stone on the
rectilineally sliding horizontal bed, and we mount by the side of the bed
a vertical shaft carrying a cutting head or barrel, which revolves while
the edge of the stone is caused to slide past it, and thereby cuts the edge
to the required profile..
For cutting mouldings or facing stones to circular outlines, as for the
stones of arches, we fix the stone on a table or slide, which is mounted
and traverses on a bed curved to an arc of a circle. The stone is thus
made to move in a circular sweep, while the rotating cutters acts upon
its face and cut it to a sweep concentric with the curvature of the bed.
Such circular sliding tables and their beds we make to different radii, so
as to suit different curvatures required, and we adjust the stone and the
revolving cutter to a greater or less distance from the faces of the
circular bed, so as to suit the radius of curvature required. We also
make such circular beds so that they can be fixed on the table of the
machine employed for straight work.
In some cases in place of using the curved bed we control the table
on which the stone is fixed by means of radius rods, and so cause it as it
moves to travel in the arc of a circle.
We also work stones to circular or curved sweeps or to oblique faces,
in the following manner :-The machine for cutting straight work as
described in the Specification of the Patent above referred to as a table
moved horizontally by a screw, and also a rotating cutting barrel, which
can be moved vertically upwards or downwards by means of screws.
We gear
the horizontal screw of the table to the vertical screws of the
cutting barrel, using change wheels for adjusting their relative velocities
of rotation, or while the table is moved horizontally we cause the
rotating cutting barrel to be moved vertically, guiding its shaft along a
mould of given form fixed on the table. The combination of the two
movements, the horizontal movement of the table with the vertical
movement of the cutter, causes the latter to face or mould the stone to
the required sweep or obliquity.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Sir William Fothergill Cooke and George Hunter
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 26th October 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, Sir
WILLIAM FOTHERGILL COOKE, Knight, of Branksea Lodge, Tooting, in
the County of Surrey, and GEORGE HUNTER, of Aberdovey, in the
County of Merioneth, North Wales, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said William Fothergill Cooke and George
Hunter, Her special licence that we, the said William Fothergill
Cooke and George Hunter, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said William Fothergill Cooke and George
Hunter, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STONE-CUTTING APPARATUS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said William Fothergill Cooke and George
Hunter, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under our or their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of
us or them, 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 William Fothergill Cooke, on behalf
of myself and the said George Hunter, do hereby declare the nature of
the 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, that is to say :-
Our Invention relates to apparatus for cutting, moulding, facing, or

page_text: otherwise dressing stones, slates, or other materials employed in building,
and consists chiefly of modifications in the construction and arrangements
of the machinery and tools for this purpose, for improvements in which a
Patent was granted to us, dated the 25th August 1866, No. 2192. In
the Specification of the said Patent we described a machine for cutting,
facing, or moulding stone, which consisted of one or more tables carrying
the stone made to traverse under a rotating barrel armed with cutters.
One part of our present improvements applies to the construction of
such rotating cutting instrument. We fit side by side on the rotating
shaft, a number of plates, each of which carries two or more cutting
tools. These plates are of various lengths, so that the cutters fitted at
their extremities are more or less distant from the axis of the rotating
shaft, and are thus adjusted to the greater or less depth to which they
are required to cut the stone. Instead of preparing a special cutting
barrel for every special moulding, as heretofore, we build up such a
cutting barrel of plates of various sizes selected to suit the moulding to
be produced. For fitting the cutters into these plates we prefer to make
the plates with oblique-sided gaps or jaws at their ends, and to secure
the cutters in these gaps or jaws by means of screws and wedge-shaped
pieces, inserting two cutters between the oblique sides of each gap
the oblique faces of the wedge within it, and holding them firmly by
tightening the screw of the wedge piece. Instead of making the gap or
jaws in the plate itself we sometimes make it in a separate piece made
to slide into a recess in the plate. This sliding piece can be adjusted to
the required distance from the axis, and secured by a screw or rivet to
the plate. Also the cutters may be secured in the plates or in adjustable
pieces fitted to the plates by any of the methods described in the
Specification of the Patent above referred to.
and
We find it convenient sometimes to use cutters made of bars of steel
of triangular, rectangular, or rhomboidal section, with their cutting ends
ground off to an angle. When we employ such cutters we make the sockets
for holding. them of depths graduated by successive steps. When the
cutters are blunted by use we grind them to a fresh edge by fixing them
in a socket rest, and bearing them against a grindstone, grinding off an
equal length in each case. When the amount ground off is equivalent
to one of the steps in the graduation of the sockets, the cutter previously.
employed in a socket of certain depth, it is at once fitted after grinding,

page_text: for the socket next less in depth without necessity for packing or
adjustment.
For facing or moulding the edge of a stone we fix the stone on the
retilineally sliding horizontal bed, and we mount by the side of the bed
a vertical shaft carrying a cutting head or barrel which revolves while
the edge of the stone is caused to slide past it, and thereby cuts the edge
to the required profile.
For cutting mouldings or facing stones to circular outlines, as for the
stones of arches, we fix the stone on a table or slide, which is mounted
and traverses on a bed curved to an arc of a circle. The stone is thus
made to move in a circular sweep, while the rotating cutters act upon
its face and cut it to a sweep concentric with the curvature of the
bed. Such circular sliding tables and their beds we make of different
radii, so as to suit different curvatures required, and we adjust the
stone and the revolving cutter to a greater or less distance from the
faces of the circular bed, so as to suit the radius of curvature required.
We also make such circular beds so that they can be fixed on the table
of the machine employed for straight work.
In some cases in place of using the curved bed we control the table
on which the stone is fixed by means of radius rods, and so cause it as a
it moves to travel in the arc of a circle.
We also work stones to circular or curved sweeps or to oblique faces
in the following manner:-The machine for cutting straight work, as
described in the Specification of the Patent above referred to, has a
table moved horizontally by a screw, and also a rotating cutting barrel,
which can be moved vertically upwards or downwards by means of
screws. We gear the horizontal screw of the table to the vertical screws
of the cutting barrel, using change wheels for adjusting their relative.
velocities of rotation, or while the table is moved horizontally we cause
the rotating cutting barrel to be moved vertically, guiding its shaft:
along a mould of given form fixed on the table. The combination of
the two movements, the horizontal movement of the table with the
vertical movement of the cutter, causes the latter to face or mould the
stone to the required sweep or obliquity.
In order that our said Invention may be most fully understood and 3
readily carried into effect we will proceed to describe the Drawings
hereunto annexed.

page_text: Figure 1 represents a front view of a rotating cutting instrument
constructed according to our improvements. a is the rotating shaft, and
6, 6, 63, are plates fitted thereon side by side.
.
Figure 2 represents a section of one of these plates. Each of the
plates 61, 62, 63, is fitted with cutting tools c, which may be round and
conical, as represented in front and side elevation in Figure 3; or may
be square and pyramidal, as represented in front and side elevation in
Figure 4; or they may be such as we have described in the Specification
of our Patent above referred to as cutters fitted for saws, represented
at c in Figure 1. When the cutters c, c, are used they are let
into oblique-sided gaps or jaws formed in the plates b¹³, and secured
therein by wedge-shaped pieces d, held in their places by screws d¹; or
they may be secured by any of the methods described in the Specifi-
cation of our Patent above referred to. The plates 61, 62, &c., are of
various lengths, so that the cutters c are more or less distant from the
axis of the shaft a, and thus adjusted to the greater or less depth to
which they are required to cut the stone. Thus instead of having to
prepare a special cutting barrel for every special moulding we build
up such a cutting barrel of plates b¹, b³, &c., of various sizes to suit the
profile of the moulding to be produced. The plates U, V, &c., instead
of being made to embrace the shaft a, as represented in Figure 1, may
be made with stems fixed like spokes in holes in the shaft a.
Figure 5 represents a side view, and Figure 6 a section of rotating
cutters fitted with cutting tools secured in graduated sockets. e', e*,
&c., are the cutters, which are made of different lengths, and the
sockets into which they are fitted are made of different depths, these
lengths and depths being graduted by successive steps. When the
cutters are ground, and thereby shortened to the extent of one of these
steps, each is transferred to the next step in order, as, for example,
e¹ to e², and so on successively, the relative projections of the cutters
being thus maintained. By properly forming the sockets the cutters
may be made of rectangular, triangular, or other convenient section.
Figure 7 represents a side elevation, Figure 8 an end elevation, and
Figure 9 a plan of a machine constructed according to our Invention for
facing or moulding the edge of a stone. a is the driving shaft on
which is fixed a driving pulley a², and to which are fitted two loose

page_text: pullies a, a. The pulley a³ has fixed to it a bevil pinion ³, and the
shaft a has fixed upon it another hevil pinion 62, both gearing into one
bevil wheel b. The driving strap, guided by a fork c while running
on a, drives the strap a and the bevil wheel b in one direction; when
it is on as it drives the wheel b, and thereby through the bevil gearing
the shaft in the opposite direction; and when it is on a² the shaft and
gearing remain at rest. 6 is a vertical shaft to which the wheel bis
fixed. This shaft carries the rotating cutting barrel, or the plates repre-
sented in Figure 1. The shaft a by means of gearing c, c³, drives a
screw d, or when c¹ is drawn out of gear and brought into gear with c³,
the screw is driven at a different speed by a band from the shaft a.
e is the bed of the machine, on which is mounted a sliding table f, which
is moved to and fro by the screw d like the table of a lathe. This table
is fitted with a transverse slide ƒ¹, on which is placed the stone to be
operated on. g is a standard which is mounted in bearings, so that it
can be turned round or raised or lowered by means of a screw and
handle g. This standard is slotted to receive a scraping tool at g², which
consists of a flat plate of steel shaped to the profile of the moulding,
and which is secured in the slot g² by set screws; or the scraping tool
may be built up of separate pieces corresponding respectively to the
different members of the moulding in a manner similar to that described
in reference to the rotating cutter. The rotation of the standard g is
limited by suitable stops, so as to bring the scraping tool against the
stone or to turn it clear from it. is a self-acting reversing bar con-
nected to the fork c by levers ', and working like that of a planing
machine.
of the stone is
The operation of the machine is as follows:-The stone to be operated
on is secured upon the slide f¹, the gearing for working the screw d
being so set as to give the table fa slow forward travel. The cutters on
the shaft b' rotating while the stone advances the edge
cut to the form determined by the profile of the cutters. The slide f¹ is
then drawn back by means of a hand screw k, so as to bring the edge of
the stone clear of the rotating cutters. The scraping tool is then
brought round by turning the standard g so that its edge is presented to
the stone, and the gearing of the screw d is altered to give the table a
quick travel. The stone is thus carried quickly past the fixed scraper,
and the operation may be repeated several times until the required finish
is given. Instead of fixing the scraping tool in a slot g² it may be held
in a slide rest fixed to the standard g, so as to be conveniently adjusted.

page_text: Instead of fixing the stone upon the slide f¹ it may be fixed on a plate
or bed mounted on a pivot on f¹ acting as a turntable. The stone
thereon being turned round may be cut cylindrically, or by turning it
through any part of a revolution its edges may be dressed to any desired
angles.
Figure 10 represents in section a modified form of the machine
represented in Figures 7, 8, and 9, which is employed when it is desired
to mould a stone on both edges, or to saw it across from both edges at
one operation. e is the bed of the machine, and the sliding table
moved along it by the travelling screw.
and are vertical shafts,
one at each side of the machine, driven either by repetition of the
gearing represent in Figures 7, 8, and 9; or one of them may be so
driven and the other geared to it so that they may revolve in opposite
directions. Each of those shafts is fitted with a rotating cutter barrel,
or when the stone has to be sawn with circular saws m, m, which nearly
touch each other in the middle. The stone being placed on the sliding
table, which advances it while the saws m, m, revolve, is separated by
their action. The saws can be adjusted vertically on these shafts, so as
to separate the stone at any desired level.
Figure 11 represents a side elevation, and Figure 12 a section of
apparatus for moulding stone to a circular sweep. a is a shaft carrying
a rotating cutter; is the stone fixed on a table or slide c, which is
mounted and traverses on a bed & curved to an arc of a circle. The edge
of the slide c is cogged and geared to a rack e, which is made to traverse
by means of a screw f driven by suitable gear for reversing and altering
speed. The screw f being turned while the shaft a revolves the stone is
cut to a sweep concentric with the curvature of the bed. The shaft a
may be adjusted vertically, and the stone may be blocked more or less
to vary the radius of the curvature. This arch-cutting apparatus may
be applied to machines such as are described in the Specification of our
Patent of the 25th August 1866, No. 2192, by mounting it on the table
of the machine, which in that case is held stationary, and driving the
rack e by the traversing screw of the machine through a slot formed in
the table thereof; or it may be applied in a horizontal attitude to the
machine represented in Figures 7, 8, and 9.
Having thus described the nature of our said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, we would have it understood that what
we claim as our improvements in stone-cutting apparatus is,-

page_text: First. The construction or building up of the cutting barrel of separate
plates or arms, substantially as described.
Second. The method of fixing two cutters in an oblique-sided gap or
jaw with a wedge-shaped piece and screw, substantially as described.
Third. The construction of the cutting barrel with tool sockets of
depths varying the one from the other by steps, substantially as
described.
Fourth. The arrangement of stone-cutting machinery with the axis of
the rotating cutter at right angles to the table, substantially as described
in respect to Figures 7, 8, 9, and 10 of the annexed Drawings.
Fifth. The arrangement of machinery for cutting stones to circular
sweeps, substantially as described in respect to Figures 11 and 12 of the
annexed Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Fothergill Cooke, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fiftlı day of October,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
WILL". FOTHERGILL COOKE. (L.S.)