CERTAIN APPARATUS FOR RAISING AND PLANISHING METALS
Year: 1862

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Soutter at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th August
1862.
I, WILLIAM SOUTTER, Coppersmith, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention for "CERTAIN
APPARATUS FOR RAISING AND PLANISHING METALS," to be as follows (that is to
say) :-
My apparatus consists of a stand in which a spindle is fitted, with split or
other collars, similar to the head of a common lathe, and upon the spindle a
fast and loose pulley is fitted for receiving the band by which the apparatus
is intended to be worked, or stopped and put in motion as required
(herein-after to be referred to) and on the same spindle are a series
of fixed or adjustable projections. This apparatus may be fitted to a bed,
suitable for receiving the one or any continuous number, as space and circum-
stances may require, and in the front of the apparatus an adjustable socket is
fitted, capable of being moved and set in its horizontal range, and into this
socket the haft or handle of a hammer is fitted in such a way that it may be
pushed in or out, and held with set screws. The inner end of the haft I pur-
pose terminating with a steel or other suitable hard metal cap, for the purpose
of protecting it from undue wear, as this part is brought continuously in the

page_text: process of working in contact with the projections before referred to on the
spindle, producing a tilting motion to the hammer, the socket before described
being the fulcrum of its motion. At the outer end of the handle the hammer
is to be fixed in any desirable way, and at a suitable height from the ground,
and in radial position with the action of the hammer and the socket (in which
it works) the bed, or what is technically termed the "horse," is placed. This
part may be described as being composed of a suitable compact body of steel,
or iron and steel polished on its upper surface, forming the counter-surface
with the face of the hammer.
In setting this apparatus to work, I, by preference, use a treadle, so that it
may be put in motion or stopped by the foot, thereby leaving the hands of the
operator entirely free. This I effect with a sliding bar, fitted at the back, to
which is connected a projecting fork for clipping the band; one end of this
sliding bar is fitted with a common bell or spiral spring or other equivalent;
and to the other end of the bar, I connect a bell-crank lever, to which is
.attached a connecting rod, to connect this lever with the treadle. From this
it will be seen-that when the operator sits down to work, the metal to be pla-
nished or raised is placed beneath the hammer on the bed or "horse," and by
putting the foot on the treadle, a traversing motion is given to the bar and
fork, which conveys the band from the loose to the fast pulley, and the work
commences by the hammer being tilted and let drop on the work as many
times at each revolution of the spindle as there are projections for tilting the
hammer. The work being completed, or the withdrawal of the foot from the
treadle, will be sufficient to stay the operation as it would be injurious to allow
the polished surfaces of the face of the hammer and bed to beat in contact.
This description applies to the process of what is technically called planishing,
which may be done by the apparatus thus described, very süperior, and at one
fourth the cost of hand labour.
When this apparatus is used for raising, it is only necessary to apply a
hammer with a suitable face and bed or counterpart, to correspond, which in
some cases is not necessarily essential to be of metal, as would be well under-
stood by skilled workmen, accustomed to such work.
The speed of the apparatus may be varied and regulated by the relative size
of the pulleys, or back gearing may be used in the manner in which the motion
of lathes is regulated, or in any other suitable manner, and the momentum or
force of the blow I purpose regulating by means of the socket in which the
hammer haft is secured, that is to say, by setting the hammer haft further in
the socket, the greater amount of lift or tilt will be obtained.

page_text: This general description will admit of much diversification of detail, without
affecting the object of my improvement, which is that of working a hammer
or hammers by steam, water, or other auxiliary power, for the purpose of
planishing and raising metals, whereby much economy of labour, and superior
work is produced.