AN IMPROVED SAW-FILING APPARATUS
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander" Melville Clark of the firm of A Mand
W Clark of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agents,
for an Invention of AN IMPROVED SAW-FILING APPARATUS Communicated
to him from abroad by Charles Manning Elkins of Matteawan in the County
of Dutchess and State of New York, Manufacturer and Wilbur H Weston, of
Newburgh in the County of Orange, also in the State of New York, United
States of America, Merchant
86
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville Clark
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 1st August-1882.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK of the firm of A M and W Clark, of
53 Chancery Lane in the County of Middlesex Patent Agents AN IMPROVED
SAW-FILING APPARATUS [Communicated to him from abroad by Charles
Manning Elkins of Matteawan in the County of Dutchess and State of New
York, Manufacturer and Wilbur H Weston, of Newburgh in the County of Orange,
also in the State of New York, United States of America, Merchant]
"
The object of this invention is to provide a device by means of which unskilled
as well as skilled persons may file a saw properly and with little trouble. The
device is adapted to be attached to a bench or other support and is composed
mainly of two jaws for clamping the blade of the saw and of a longitudinally.
sliding and laterally adjustable stock or handle for holding and operating the file,
the stock being axially adjustable for giving the proper slant to the file, and
mounted in a guide or holder which is laterally adjustable for shifting the file
from one tooth to another and which is so pivoted that it may be adjusted. hori-
zontally to any desired angle for filing both sides of the saw teeth, means being
provided for ensuring the bevelling of both sides alike. The rod on which the
guide or holder for the stock travels is held parallel with the jaws in suitable
supports which are vertically adjustable for giving the file any desired vertical

page_text: inclination with respect to the teeth of the saw. The rod may be plain, or screw-
threaded when great accuracy is required and one rod may be substituted for the
other-
The jaws may or may not be as long as an ordinary saw blade; they have
return ends by which they are hinged together and are clamped together upon the
saw blade by thumb screws. The rod upon which the guide for the file stock is
carried, is held parallel with the jaws on arms pivoted to the ends of the jaws and
fixed by set screws or otherwise so that the height of the rod may be varied for
changing the position of the file relatively to the saw blade. The file stock is a
long square shank with a handle at one end and a central socket at the other in
which the tang of the file is fixed. This shank slides through a bush of corre-
sponding shape held in a socket on the end of the guide bracket or holder, and
capable of turning therein for adjusting the stock axially in order to make the
cutting face of the file suit the slant of the saw teeth, the bush being fixed in the
desired position. This guide bracket or. holder is furnished with ears or sockets
fitting on the rod along which the said guide or holder is movable and the said
bracket or holder is jointed at about the middle of its length on a vertical axis the
joint being made by two circular plates clamped together by a thumbscrew and
provided with graduations and a pointer for indicating the horizontal angle.
If great accuracy be required in the size and shape of the teeth this guide
bracket is carried on a screwthreaded rod instead of a plain one, its ears or sockets
being correspondingly threaded and it is traversed along the said rod by turning
latter by means of a crank handle so that the file may be shifted with great
accuracy

page_text: (
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 1st February 1883.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK of the Firm of A, M, and W, Clark of
53 Chancery Lane in the County of Middlesex Patent Agents "AN IMPROVED
SAW FILING APPARATUS." A communication to me from abroad by Charles Manning
Elkins of Matteawan in the County of Dutchess and State of New York, Manu-
facturer, and Wilbur. H. Weston of Newburgh in the County of Orange also in
the State of New York, United States of America, Merchant
The
The object of this Invention is to provide a device by means of which unskilled
as well as skilled persons may file a saw properly and with little trouble.
device is adapted to be attached to a bench or other support and is composed
mainly of two jaws for clamping the blade of the saw, and of a longitudinally
sliding and laterally adjustable stock or handle for holding and operating the file,
the stock being axially adjustable for giving the proper slant to the file, and
mounted in a guide which is laterally adjustable for shifting the file from one
tooth to another, and which is so pivoted that it may be adjusted horizontally to
any desired angle for filing both sides of the saw teeth graduations being provided
for ensuring the setting of the guide so that both sides of the teeth shall be bevelled
alike. The rod on which the guide or holder for the stock travels is held parallel
with the jaws in suitable supports which are vertically adjustable for giving the
file any desired vertical inclination with respect to the teeth of the saw and which
are capable of being dismounted for removing and replacing the rod. The rod
may be plain or screwthreaded when great accuracy in the lateral adjustment of
the guide is required and the rods are interchangeable so that one rod may be
substituted for the other.
In order that the Invention may be more readily understood I have illustrated
it in the accompanying drawings and will proceed to describe it with reference
thereto. Figure 1 is a perspective view of the new and improved saw filing device
or implement. Figure 2 is a plan view partly in section of the stock as applied
to a screwed rod, and Figure 3 is a sectional elevation of the pivot plate of the
stock or holder. The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all these
figures.
A A¹ are the jaws; they have upwardly projecting arms b by which they are
hinged together as shown, and are clamped together upon the saw blade by thumb
screws g which pass through the arms as shown. D is the rod upon which the
guide for the file stock is carried. It is held parallel with the jaws A A¹ in arms d
pivoted on gudgeons e formed on projections E E on the ends of the jaw A¹-and
are fixed by set screws f so that the height of the rod D may be varied for
changing the position of the file relatively to the saw blade. The rod D is held
in the arms by pins i or by set screws and the arms are removable from the
gudgeons for changing the rod D for another when desired. The file stock B is a
long square shank h with a handle at one end and a central socket at the other
(as shown in dotted lines in Figure 2) in which the tang of the file is fixed by
means of a thumb screw n. This shank h slides through a correspondingly shaped
opening in a bush-N which is cylindrical externally and is held in a corresponding
socket L on the end of the guide bracket F and is capable of being turned therein
for adjusting the stock B axially in order to make the cutting face of the file suit
the slant of the saw teeth. The bush is fixed in the desired position by a set
screw q. This guide bracket is furnished with ears a fitting on the rod D along

page_text: which the said guide-bracket is movable, by sliding in the case of a smooth rod,
or by the screwing action when a screwthreaded rod D¹ is used. The said bracket
is jointed at about the middle of its length on a vertical axis, the joint being made
by two circular plates, one k on part F, and the other C formed with the lugs a,
these two plates being clamped together by a thumb screw 7 which passes through
a hole in plate k and screws into threaded socket s in plate C (see figure 3)
whereby the bracket is securely held with capability of adjustment.
The upper
surface
for indicatite C is provided with graduations and the bracket F has a pointer p
(1
the horizontal angle of the file relatively to the saw blade. If great
accuracy be required in the size and shape of the teeth, this guide bracket is carried
on a screwthreaded rod D as in Figure 2 instead of a plain one, its ears a being
correspondingly tapped, and it is traversed along the said rod D¹ by turning the
latter by means of a crank handle H so that the file may be shifted with great
accuracy.
The jaw A has lugs J formed in one with it for attaching the implement by
thumb screws to a bench or other support for use, or other suitable means of
attachment may be used.
In use the blade of the saw is clamped between the jaws A A', and the file
being secured in the stock, the latter is set by the thumb screw to suit the file
to the bevel of the saw teeth and by the thumb screw q to suit the slant or angle
of the teeth. The stock is then moved to and fro through the bush N until all of
the teeth are filed upon one side, the stock or holder being moved along upon the
rod as the teeth are successively finished. When the teeth of the saw are filed
upon one side, before setting the implement for filing the other side of the teeth,
the graduation indicated by the pointer p should be observed. The bracket F is
then to be turned upon its pivot until the pointer p reaches the corresponding
mark at the opposite side of the centre and set by the screw 7 and the teeth filed
as before.
The longitudinal inclination of the stock may be changed when necessary by
adjusting the height of the arms & d.
If a plain rod D is used the handle will be simply slid from tooth to tooth
without the aid of any special guide as to the proper distance of movement. For
ordinary saws such guide will not be needed, but in case great accuracy is desired
in the size and shape of the teeth, a screw rod D' as in Figure 2 will be substituted
for the plain rod D. By means of this screw rod the file may be set with great
accuracy so that all of the teeth of the saw will have a uniform width.
It will be understood that the length of the jaws A. A' may be the length of an
ordinary saw blade, or they may be much shorter. In the former case the saw
need not be moved after being once properly clamped until all of the teeth are
sharpened, but in the latter case the saw must be moved along between the jaws
at intervals after a certain number of teeth are finished. It will be noticed that
the upper surfaces of the jaws A A¹ are bevelled from the point of contact with
the saw blade outward and downward so that they may not interfere with any
desired longitudinal inclination of the file and stock.
By means of this implement or device the file after having been once set in the
proper position relative to the teeth of the saw, will maintain that position so that
all the teeth of the saw will invariably be filed alike, thus rendering the proper
filing of the saw a simple and easy task. Spiral metal springs, or preferably pieces
of rubber, will be placed upon the clamping screws g g between the arms b b of the
jaws for throwing the jaws apart when the screws are slackened back, and for
preventing all danger of dulling the saw from contact with the screws in case the
saw is carelessly forced upward between the jaws. Instead of thumb screws ff
for holding the arms d d on the gudgeons, the latter may be long enough to
protrude from the arms and be threaded to receive thumb nuts and the jaws may
be covered with leather or similar material to prevent injury to the blade of
the saw.
j
Having described the nature of the said Invention and the manner of performing

page_text: the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the
herein before in part-recited Letters Patent is.
1st. The combination with a stock or handle having shank h and a plate C
having ears a for the rod D of the bracket F having circular plate k, socket L, and
threaded socket 8, the thumb screw 7, the loose bush N and the set screw q, as and
for the purpose specified.
2nd. The combination with the saw holding jaws, of the arms d d, the jaw
projections E having gudgeons e, and the set screws f whereby the rods D D¹ may
be readily interchanged and the relation of the file handle to the saw blade
regulated as described.
3rd. The improved implement consisting in the combination with a pair of
saw holding jaws A A¹ of the guide rod D, the bracket F with its pivot joint and
sockets, the guide bush N and the stock h constructed and combined for adjustment
and operation substantially as shown and described.
In Witness whereof I the said Alexander Melville Clark have hereunto set
my hand and seal this first day of February, A.D. 1883.