An Improved Machine for Squaring, Bevelling, Mitreing, or Trimming Wood.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Sept., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 7th June, 1890-Accepted, 12th July, 1890
"
TRUVIDIONAL DEFICATION.
An Improved Machine for Squaring, Bevelling, Mitreing, or
Trimming Wood.
I, JOHN HERBERT KIRK, of Rashcliffe Iron Works, Huddersfield, in the County
of York, Machine Maker, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention relates to wood-working machinery and comprises an improved
machine for performing the operations of squaring, bevelling, mitreing and trimming.
According to my said invention the piece to be operated on is supported on a trued
bed plate or table and held at the desired angle by an adjustable guide, and the
cutting or trimming knife, attached to a knife plate, is worked backwards and
forwards by hand within suitable grooves or channels formed in the bed plate and in a
guide rail attached thereto.
The plane of the said knife is quite square with the bed plate, but if it is desired to
vary this angle an additional taper table for supporting the work may be superimposed
on the bed plate.
I preferably cast the bed plate and the guide rail for supporting and guiding the
upper end of the knife plate in one piece, and to actuate the knife plate I prefer to
provide a rack and pinion arrangement of the type well known in connection with
printing machinery. For this purpose a rack is cast on the back of the knife plate
and a second parallel rack is cast on the bed plate, and gearing with both racks is a
pinion provided with a long detachable handle for giving the requisite purchase to
rotate the same. By this means the teeth of the stationary rack are utilised as fulcra
for the pinion in a well known manner.
Adjoining the end standards which carry the knife plate guide rail I provide
vertical swivelling angle plates which form bearing plates for the work to rest against
whilst being shaped. The said angle plates when moved are constrained to rotate
around the vertical working edge so as to always maintain this edge flush with the
plane of the cutting knife. To accomplish this I prefer to form a segmental circular
bearing at the upper end of each plate and I provide a stop on the knife plate guide
rail for the said bearing to rest against. The fixed end standard also forms a support
for the angle plate. The angle plates may be clamped to the bed plate or table in a
position square with the direction of motion of the cutting knife, or at an angle of
45° with the same, or at any intermediate position by a bolt and thumb nut working
in a circular groove formed in the bed plate. A spring is attached to the end
standard and to the angle plate to maintain the latter against the standard when its
position is being adjusted, and lines may be drawn on the bed plate to indicate
any common angle as 45°, 60°, 75° so as facilitate setting of the angle plate.
An angle plate is provided at each end of the machine, and a knife is fixed to
each end of the knife plate so that cuts may be taken in either direction. The
knives are detachable from the knife plate for grinding purposes and when in position
are set at an angle to facilitate cutting and to force the work down on the bed plate.
I provide guards for the blades to prevent injury to the operator.
For forming core prints and the like I provide an additional table which may be
hinged to the front edge of the bed plate so as to be capable of being turned over to
lie on the bed plate. The said table is taper being thinner at the forward edge, which
when the table is turned over lies close to the cutting knife, than at the rear edge, and
consequently any work shaped on this inclined surface will have a taper equal to that
of the table.
Dated this 6th do of Chatrouba 1000
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Machine for Squaring, Bevelling, Mitreing, or
Trimming Wood.
I, JOHN HERBERT KIRK, of Huddersfield, in the County of York, Machine
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 :-
My invention relates to an improved wood-working machine for performing the
operations of squaring, bevelling, mitreing and trimming.
According to my said invention I provide a flat table or bed plate for supporting
the wood to be operated upon, and a cutting or trimming knife or knives carried by a
slide which works in suitable guide ways formed in the bed plate and in a rail or
bracket fixed thereto. The plane of the cutting knife is at right angles to that of the
bed plate, and the said knife is actuated by means of a rack and pinion arrangement
operated by a convenient handle. Moreover I provide vertical swivelling angle plates
at each end of the bed plate for supporting the work at the proper angle for squaring,
mitreing, or bevelling. The said angle plates may be swivelled and secured at any
desired angle within convenient limits, and the construction is such that the plates
turn round the vertical working edges as axes so that the said edges are always
maintained at the same distance from the cutting knives in every position of the plates.
The cutting knife or knives is or are detachable from the knife plate or slide for
grinding purposes, and, when in position, they are fixed at an angle to facilitate cutting,
and to force the work down on the bed plate. I may moreover provide an additional
table, thinner at the front edge than at the back, hinged to the bed plate in such a
manner as to be turned over when desired to lie on the bed plate and thus form an
inclined table for supporting the work. Any work shaped on this inclined table will
have a taper equal to that of the table.
In the accompanying drawings I have shown how my said invention may be
conveniently and advantageously carried into practice.
Fig. 1 is a rear elevation of a wood-working machine constructed according to my
said invention.
Fig. 2 is a plan of the bed plate or table, the upper knife-plate guide-rail and the
swivelling end plates being removed.
Fig. 3 is an end view looking from the right of fig. 1.
Figs. 4 and 5 are separate elevation and plan respectively of the swivelling
end plate.
Fig. 6 is a detached view of the cutting knives and knife plate, and
Figs. 7 and 8 are detached views of the handle and pinion for actuating the knife
plate.
Like letters of reference represent corresponding parts in all the figures.
A is a bed plate or table, machined on its upper surface, to which are affixed in any
suitable manner vertical end standards B carrying a cross rail C. A groove a is
formed in the table A, and a corresponding parallel groove c in the cross rail C and
⚫ within these grooves is mounted to slide a knife plate D which can be moved therein
backwards and forwards from end to end of the machine. The ends of the said knife-
plate are inclined as shown in figs. 1 and 6 and the cutting knives E which are of
ordinary construction are detachably fixed thereto, also at an angle, by means of bolts
or otherwise. The object to be attained by inclining the knives E is that the cutting
may be facilitated and that the knives may tend to force the work down upon the
bed-plate or table: I prefer to fix a cutting knife at each end of the knife-plate so
that cutting may be performed in both directions. For traversing the knife plate, I
provide a rack & formed with or secured to the back of the knife plate D, and a corre-
sponding rack a¹ formed with the base plate A, and I mount a loose pinion F
between these two racks, the pinion being of such a diameter as to engage with both
racks at the same time. Moreover in order to prevent the pinion F from falling out

page_text: of position I prefer to shroud the teeth of both racks a¹, d on the outsides. The
pinion F may be rotated by any convenient handle attached thereto but I prefer the
following arrangement, that is to say :-1 form a taper groove f fig. 7 on the back of
the pinion and a corresponding taper end on the operating handle G. The said
handle G may be inserted in the said groove fand withdrawn as desired. It will be
readily seen that by rotating the pinion F, the said pinion is caused to roll in either
direction on the stationary rack a', and, because of the rack d, being in engagement
with the pinion F, the said rack and therefore also the knife plate D to which it is
fixed is caused to travel with the pinion, but at double the linear speed according to
a well known principle. As seen in fig. 1 the handle G is pointing in an upright
direction when the knife plate D occupies a central position, and therefore by a simple
depression of the said handle in either direction, the knife plate is caused to travel in.
the same direction. A projection may be provided on the handle G and a corre
sponding projection on the side of the base plate A to meet the projection on the
handle and act as a stop to prevent the handle moving too far, or to prevent the
trapping of the hand of the operator between the handle and the bench on which the.
machine may be placed.
During the cutting operations, the material must he supported to resist the side
thrust of the knife, and for this purpose 1 provide two end brackets H, the inner
vertical edges h of which are supported in close proximity to the plane of the knives
and form the required supports for the work. The said plates H are arranged to
swivel round the working edge h to provide for bevelling and mitreing, and for this
purpose I find the following construction very advantageous and simple, that is to
say; instead of constructing the end plates H with pivots working in sockets, I simply
provide at the upper end of each said plate a rounded projection and I provide a
stop piece c¹ formed with the cross rail for the said projection h' to bear against.
Moreover I provide that the vertical edge of each end plate H shall rest against and
be supported by the inside of the corresponding bracket B, and I connect by a
spring K or similar device the said bracket B and the plate H for maintaining the
latter in contact with the former. It will be readily understood that if the rounded
projection h is a true-segment of a circle the centre of which is in the line formed by
producing the working edge h, then if the plate H is swivelled and at the same time
maintained in contact with the stop piece or bearing c', the working edge h will
always be maintained flush with or at a uniform distance from the plane of the cutting
knives. The base of the end plate H is machined to a true right angle with the edge h.
The tail end of each plate H traverses when swivelling over a circular slot a² formed
in the base plate A, and by means of a bolt L or similar device passing through the
said slot and the plate H the latter can be clamped at any desired angle to the plane
of the knives within certain convenient limits for the purposes of bevelling and
mitreing, or by allowing the clamping boit to move out to the end of its slot, in which
position the end plate H is just square with the cutting knives, any ordinary square
trimming may be done. Lines may be drawn on the face of the table A to facilitate
setting the end plates H at common angles such as 30°, 45° or 60°, with the plane of
the knives or the face of the table may be dividel every 5° or 10° or in any desired
manner.
The operation of my improved machine will be readily understood. The material
to be trimmed is placed on the table A and against one or other of the swivelling end
plates H, the edge to be operated on being in contact with the knife, and the piece is
held there while the knife is traversed backwards and forwards by means of the
handle G, the work being fed up by hand as the shavings are removed in a well
known manner. For mitreing or bevelling, the end plate H is set to the desired
angle, and the work, being supported by the plate H, is cut or trimmed to the same
angle.
The knives E may be detached from the knife-plate D for grinding, renewal or
other purposes.
In some cases I provide guards for the knife blades to prevent injury to the
operator.

page_text: I moreover sometimes provide for cutting at an angle in the vertical direction in
addition to the horizontal direction, and this I prefer to do by hinging to the front of
the table A an additional table of varying thickness, or taper in section from front to
back, and so arranged that the said additional table may be turned over to lie on
the table A. When in this position, the thin edge of the upper table lies close to the
cutting knives, and the table being taper, its upper surface will be inclined to the
plane of the knives, and any work shaped on this inclined table or surface will have a
taper equal to that of the table.
Core prints and the like may be conveniently formed on an inclined table of the
kind herein described.
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. A machine for squaring, bevelling, mitreing and trimming wood having a table
and swivelling angle plates at one or both ends of the machine for supporting the
work at the desired angle, and a knife plate working in fixed guides and actuated by
a rack and pinion substantially as and for the purpose described.
.
2. In a machine for squaring, bevelling, mitreing and trimming wood, the means
substantially as described for actuating the knife plate.
. 3. In a machine for squaring, bevelling, mitreing and trimming wood, the
swivelling angle plates constructed and mounted substantially as and for the purpose
specified.
4. The improved machine constructed as hereinabove described and illustrated. in
the accompanying drawings and operating in the manner and for the purpose sub-
stantially as described.
Dated this 6th day of June 1890.
>
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.