IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING WOOD
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Hugh Smith, of the Firm of Smith, Brothers, and
Company, Engineers and Millwrights, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR CUTTING WOOD."
Sealed the 11th October 1860, and dated the 12th April 1860..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Hugh Smith at the,
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 12th
April 1860.
I, HUGH SMITH, of the Firm of Smith, Brothers, and Company, Engineers
and Millwrights, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
CUTTING WOOD," to be, as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention relates to various improvements in machinery for cutting
wood, having for object increased efficiency, durability, and other practical
advantages..
In a modification of planing machine, embodying a portion of the improve-
ments, there are five pairs of horizontal rollers which carry the board to be
planed through the machine, and which are driven entirely by means of spur.
gearing (in preference to bevil gearing). The framing in this instance
comprises three pairs of standards placed slightly apart, but connected by

page_text: intermediate pieces, and mounted upon a single sole frame to form one con-
tinuous range. The middle pair of standards carries two pairs of the feed
rollers, two pairs being also carried by the standards at the entering end of the
machine, whilst the standards at the other end carry a pair of feed rollers, and
the horizontal "scutcher" for acting on the top surface of the board. The
planes for acting upon the under surface of the board are situated between the
middle standards and those at the entering end, and the rotating cutters for
acting on the edges of the board are situated between the middle standards
and those at the delivery end. The feed rollers are all driven by means of
spur wheels fixed on their spindles, and these spur wheels in the case of the
lower line of rollers are in gear with pinions on three shafts projecting outside
the framing on one side, and having spur wheels fixed on their outer ends. The
spur wheels of the upper line of rollers are in gear with three pinions revolving
on studs, and fast to spur wheels gearing with spur wheels on the three pinion
shafts below. The spur wheel on the middle pinion shaft is in gear with
a pinion on a shaft having fast on it a coned or stepped pulley, to which a
driving belt is applied from a pulley on the first-motion shaft, this last having
the usual fast-and-loose pulley arrangement. Motion is communicated from
the middle pinion shaft to those on either side by means of intermediate spur
wheels carried on studs, and gearing with the spur wheels on the pinion shafts.
The top feed rollers require to be adjusted as to height according to the thick-
ness of board to be passed through the machine, and for this purpose the
bearings of each roller are connected by rods to a cross head, from which links
or rods pass down to weighted levers below. The outer ends of these levers
bear upon stops, whilst the centres on which the levers are capable of turning
are fixed eccentrically on circular bosses turning in sockets in the framing.
The bosses have worm wheels fixed upon them, and are all simultaneously
adjusted by a spindle running the entire length of the machine, having fast on
it worms gearing with these worm wheels. A spring connection is introduced
between the weights and the levers to render the action easy when inequalities
in the boards come between the rollers. The means of adjusting the upper
feed rollers is made applicable to the pressure rollers which hold the board
down against the planes by attaching the frame carrying these pressure rollers
to the bearings or cross heads of the feed rollers. In the same way the top-
surface scutcher with the down-pressing rollers on each side of it may be
adjusted the same movement, or by a separate movement. The machine
may be modified in extent and details, and may be rendered suitable for
operating upon boards with various cutting tools.
A further portion of the present improvements is applicable to reciprocatory

page_text: sawing machines, modifications thereof being more particularly designed for
cutting veneers by a reciprocating sawing action. In one modification, in
which the reciprocating action is vertical, the saw frame consists of a central
bar or stretcher with a cross head mounted upon each end. On each cross.
head is mounted a slide block working in guide grooves formed upon the
frame, standard, or pillar of the machine, whilst the upper slide block has
jointed to it the lower end of a connecting rod, which has its upper end jointed
on a crank pin on a disc mounted on an overhead shaft. The back ends of
the saw frame cross heads are connected by a tension rod, also connected at
its middle to the central bar, whilst the saw blade or blades are stretched upon
the front ends of the cross heads, the edges of the blades being presented at
right angles to the plane passing through the cross heads. The blades are
held laterally by clips standing out from the central frame bar independently
of the cross heads, and also work between stationary guides fixed immediately
above and below the wood being sawn. This arrangement with a number of
saw blades is suitable for sawing wood into comparatively thin boards, but in
cutting veneers a single blade only is used, and this is strengthened by a metal
back of a knife-shaped cross section. The block of wood to be cut into
veneers is fixed upon a carriage which is moved laterally on rails as the sawing
proceeds by a suitable feed motion, whilst the backward or forward adjust-
ment which determines the thickness of veneer is obtained by a combination
of screws.
It is preferred to apply an improved feed motion to the machine last
described, this feed motion being also applicable to other sawing and wood-
cutting machines. In a modification of this arrangement the motion is derived
from an eccentric on the main shaft, the rod of this eccentric being jointed to
a lever on a fixed stud. From a stud on this lever, capable of adjustment by
a screw and hand wheel, so as to give more or less motion, a link or rod passes
to the outer end of a short lever carried by a pair of radial arms loose on the
shaft or boss of the feed wheel. The inner end of the short lever has fixed or
jointed to it a friction piece, which, when the link is drawn in one direction
bites or holds upon the rim of the wheel, being freed therefrom by the action
of the short lever when moved by the link in the opposite direction. To
insure a bite or hold between the friction piece and wheel rim, the two surfaces
are finely grooved, fluted, or serrated. A second similar friction piece carried
by a short lever jointed on a fixed stud is provided to prevent the feed wheel
from moving backwards. In the case of the veneer machine the shaft of the
feed wheel carries a pinion capable of being shifted out of or into gear with. a
spur wheel which communicates the motion through a suitable train to the

page_text: carriage. The shaft of this spur wheel carries one fast and a couple of loose
pulleys receiving open and crossed belts from a revolving shaft, so that on the
frictional feed motion being put out of gear a quick movement may be given
to the carriage in either direction.
The Invention also comprehends an improved arrangement of spring presser
for sawing machines, in which arrangement the pressure is applied to the wood
by a roller carried in the forked arm of a bell-crank lever, the other arm of
which is connected to or acted upon by a cylindrical box containing a spring.
A spindle fixed to the framing of the machine passes through the spring box,
and has its end screwed to receive a hand wheel with a screwed eye, this
wheel having a boss which compresses the spring against the other end of the
box, the wheel thus serving to adjust the degree of spring pressure applied.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Hugh Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
12th October 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HUGH
SMITH, of the Firm of Smith, Brothers, and Company, Engineers and Mill-
wrights, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Hugh Smith, Her special licence that I, the said Hugh Smith,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Hugh Smith, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter 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 Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING WOOD," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Hugh Smith, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Hugh Smith, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the fol-
lowing statement in writing, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to various improvements in machinery for cutting
wood, having for object increased efficiency, durability, and other practical
advantages.
And in order that the same may be properly understood and carried into
effect, I have delineated upon three Sheets of explanatory Drawings hereunto
appended éxamples of wood-cutting machinery embodying the improvements,"
and I shall particularly describe the said improvements, referring to the said
Drawings as I proceed.
In a modification of planing machine, embodying a portion of the improve-
ments, there are five pairs of horizontal rollers, which carry the board to be
planed through the machine, and which are driven entirely by means of spur
gearing (in preference to bevil gearing). The framing in this instance
comprises three pairs of standards placed slightly apart, but connected by
intermediate pieces and mounted upon a single sole frame to form onė con-
tinuous range. The middle pair of standards carries two pairs of the feed
rollers, two pairs being also carried by the standards at the entering end of the
machine, whilst the standards at the other end carry a pair of feed rollers and
the horizontal "scutcher" for acting upon the top surface of the board. The
planes for acting upon the under surface of the board are situated between the
middle standards and those at the entering end, and the rotating cutters for
acting on the edges of the board are situated between the middle standards
and those at the delivery end. The feed rollers are all driven by means of
spur wheels fixed on their spindles, and these spur wheels in the case of the
lower line of rollers are in gear with pinions on three shafts projecting out-
side the framing on one side, and having spur wheels fixed on their outer ends.
The spur wheels of the upper line of rollers are inside the standards and gear
with three pinions on studs or shafts and fast to spur wheels gearing with spur
wheels on the three pinion shafts below. The spur wheel on the middle pinion
shaft is in gear with a pinion on a shaft having fast on it a coned or stepped
pulley, to which a driving belt is applied from a pulley on a first-motion shaft,
this last having the usual fast-and-loose pulley arrangement. Motion.is.com-
municated from the middle pinion shaft. to those on either side by means of
intermediate spur wheels carried on studs and gearing with the spur wheels on
the pinion shafts. The top feed rollers require to be adjusted as to height,

page_text: according to the thickness of board to be passed through the machine, and for
this purpose the bearings of each roller are connected by rods to a cross head,:
from which links or rods pass down to weighted levers below. The outer ends:
of these levers bear upon stops, whilst the centres on which the levers are
capable of turning are fixed eccentrically on circular bosses turning in sockets
in the framing. The bosses have worm wheels fixed upon them, and are all
simultaneously adjusted by a spindle running the entire length of the machine,
having fast on it worms gearing with these worm wheels. A spring connec-
tion is introduced between the weights and the levers to render the action
easy when inequalities in the boards come between the rollers, or when the
board enters or leaves them. The means of adjusting the upper feed rollers is
made applicable to the pressure rollers which hold the board down against the
planes, by attaching the frame carrying these pressure rollers to the bearings
or cross heads of the feed rollers. In the same way the top-surface scutcher
with the down-pressing rollers on each side of it may be adjusted by the same
movement, or by a separate movement. The machine may be modified in
extent and details, and may be rendered suitable for operating upon boards
with various cutting tools; and as an example, embodying this portion of my
improvements, I have selected for delineation a machine comprising four pairs
of standards with corresponding details.
This machine is represented upon Sheet 1 of the accompanying Drawings,
Figure 1 being a side elevation, with one of the standards removed to show
inner parts; Figure 2 being a plan, corresponding; whilst Figures 3 and 4
represent modifications of details, herein-after more particularly referred to.
The plank A enters at the right-hand end of the machine, passing first between
two pairs of feed rollers B, carried by the first pair of standards C'. In
passing on to the second pair of standards C, with its two pairs of feed rollers
B, the plank A is subjected to the action on its under side of rotating tools
carried by the transverse horizontal spindle D¹, such tools being arranged to
give a first-rough scutching preparatory to the planing action, or to act on the
under surface in some other way. The brackets d carrying the scutcher
spindle D¹ are made adjustable on the standards C2 by means of vertical
screws d¹, actuated by bevil wheels and a horizontal spindle d2, with its hand
wheel d³. The plank is kept from rising from the tools by a pair of pressing
rollers E above. These pressing rollers E' are acted upon by springs c, and
are carried by a frame e¹ extending between the standards C¹ and C³, and
attached to the bushes of the adjacent upper feed rollers B, so as to be
adjusted in height along with these rollers. These pressing rollers. E' consist
by preference of rings loose on the spindles. Between the second standards

page_text: Cand third standards C³ the plank A is subjected to the action of planing.
ools F, which finish the under side, the plank being held firmly down at this
art by pressing rollers E², arranged and mounted like those (E¹) already.
lescribed. The plank is earried onwards by two pairs of feed rollers B in the:
hird standards C³, and on leaving these, has its edges acted upon by tools:
carried by the vertical spindles G. These spindles are mounted upon sliding>
frames g, made adjustable by screws both horizontally and vertically and fitted'
each with an adjustable bracket g¹, which carries a small pressing roller g², to.
act on the top of the plank close to the edge. Each roller is carried by a
forked spindle, which is acted upon by a spring in a socket formed in the
bracket g. The next and last tool to which in this machine the plank A is
subjected, is a rotating scutcher D2, acting on the upper surface. The
brackets d of this scutcher are made adjustable like those of the under
scutcher D'. A pressing roller E³, consisting, in this instance, of separate loose
pieces on a spindle, is carried in adjustable brackets &², attached to the scutcher
brackets d, so as to hold down the plank just as it enters beneath the scutcher,
the pressure being obtained by springs in sockets formed in the brackets e². The
plank A finally passes between two more pairs of feed rollers B, carried by the
fourth pair of standards C, which standards also carry the top scutcher details.
D2, d, d, d, d. The four pairs of standards C¹, C2, C3, C4, are placed slightly
apart, being mounted upon a single sole frame H to form a continuous range,
whilst the individuals of each pair are firmly connected and tied together by
transverse bars I. The feed rollers B are carried in bushes set in vertical
slots in the standards C, the upper bushes being acted upon by vertical rods j
passing up through the standards to cross heads J, which are connected by
links k to weighted levers K below, or the levers K may be directly connected.
by the links to the upper bushes, as shown in Fig. 3. The weighted;
levers K may be centred upon spindles L, formed with eccentric bushes 1, set:
in sockets in the standards C, and one bush of each spindle has fixed to it
externally a worm wheel ', the several worm wheels being acted upon by
worms m, on a longitudinal spindle M, fitted with a hand wheel m¹. By
turning the spindle M, the bushes are all simultaneously moved round, thereby
raising or lowering the spindles Land adjusting the feed rollers to the thickness
of plank to be passed through the machine. After adjusting the eccentric
bushes 1, they are fixed by pinching screws or otherwise. In some cases
arrangements may be made for adjusting the several weighted levers indepen-
dently of each other. Stops N are provided beneath the outer ends of the
levers K to support the weights when the plank is not between the rollers.
The-weights P are connected to the levers K by links.p, cach link, passing into

page_text: a socket or box inside the weight, and having a spring Q applied to it to ease
the action of the weight when any concussion takes place. The part of the
weight to which the spring and link p is connected, is shaped to receive
additional loose pieces to increase the pressure, these pieces being held on by
flanges or ribs, as shown in the detail plan marked P'. Powerful springs
connected to fixtures in the foundation may be substituted for the weights P.
The upper feed rollers of each pair of standards C have spur wheels b on their
spindles, driven by a pinion r on an upper middle shaft R, this shaft being
driven from a lower middle shaft R' by equal sized wheels. On the lower,
shaft R there is a pinion 2, driving spur wheels b¹ on the spindles of the two
lower feed rollers B; and this shaft R' has also fast on its outer end a spur
wheel S, by means of which it is driven. The spur wheels 6 of the upper feed;
rollers are inside the standard C, whilst those of the lower feed rollers are
outside the standard, which arrangement admits of very convenient proportions
and disposition of the gearing. Gearing like that just described is applied to
each pair of side standards C, to drive the respective feed rollers. The
wheels S of the three first standards C³, C, and C³, are geared together by.
intermediate spur wheels T, carried upon studs fixed to frame pieces or
brackets inserted between the standards C. Motion is communicated to the
entire range of feed-roller gearing by a shaft U, having fast on it a pinion in
gear with the wheel S, carried by the second standard C2, the wheel S of the.
fourth standard C+ being driven by a pinion on a shaft u, receiving motion by
a belt and pulleys u' from the shaft U. This shaft U carries fast-and-loose
pulleys u, and is driven by a belt from a second-motion shaft V, connected by
a belt and cone pulleys v, with the first-motion shaft W. From this first-
motion shaft a belt w drives the under scutcher D¹, and another belt w¹ drives
a shaft X, from which a belt a drives the upper scutcher D2, and two belts a¹
drive the edge-cutter spindles G. These edge cutters are shown as mounted
in an improved manner; further modifications being shown in plan and side
elevation in Figure 4.
In all the modifications, the tool holder or head g' is made of malleable or
other iron case-hardened, and is shaped to receive various tools or cutters.
The one represented as in the machine is shown with two chisels fitted in slots
through the head, and fixed by pinching screws, and the head has dovetail
grooves at the sides to receive bolts to clamp on broad chisels instead of those
shown. The tool holder shown in plan and elevation at g', Figure 4, is lighter,
having only slots for a pair of comparatively narrow chisels, whilst that shown
at g' is shaped to receive improved saw-shaped cutters for producing a narrow
groove in the edge of the board. With reference to the planing machine, it

page_text: remains merely to mention that the front bushes of the upper feed rollers are:
made closed or solid to sustain the end pressure of the roller spindles, due to'
the pressure of the board against the fence which keeps it in position in passing
through the machine.
A further portion of the present improvements is applicable to reciprocatory:
sawing machines, modifications thereof being more particularly designed for.
cutting veneers by a reciprocating sawing action. The saw or saws may be
made to work either vertically or horizontally, and I have in the accompanying,
Drawings delineated an example of each variety.
In the modification represented in Sheet 2, the sawing action is vertical;
Figure 5 being a front elevation of the machine without the wood carriage;
Figure 6, a sectional side elevation with the carriage; and Figure 7, a plan of
the carriage; whilst Fig. 8 is an elevation of the saw blade detached. In this
modification the saw frame consists of a central stile or stretcher A, with a
cross head a, a', mounted upon each end. On each cross head there is mounted-
a slide block a², a³, working in guide grooves B of rectangular section, formed:
upon the frame, standard, or pillar C of the machine, whilst the upper slide.
block a² has jointed to it the lower end of a connecting rod D, which has its
upper.
end jointed on a crank-pin e on a disc E, mounted on an overhead shaft
F. The back ends of the saw-frame cross heads a, a', are connected by a
tension rod a, also connected at its middle to the central bar or stile A, whilst.
the saw blades or blade G is stretched by means of buckles g, g', between the
front ends of the cross heads a, a', the edge of the blade being presented at;
right angles to the plane, passing through the cross heads, shown detached in.
'face view in Figure 8. The blade G is held laterally by clips a standing out:
from the central frame bar A, independently of the cross heads a, a¹, and also:
works between stationary guides H, fixed immediately above and below the
wood I, being sawn. This arrangement of saw frame is suitable for receiving,
a number of blades to saw wood into comparatively thin boards, or one blade,
as shown in the Drawing, may be used for that purpose, one blade only being*
used for cutting veneers, and which blade is in some cases strengthened by:
attaching to it a metal back of a knife-shaped cross section, or instead thereof.
the saw blade may work over a fixed knife-shaped guide.
Another modification of saw frame is shown in front and side elevation in
5. Figures 9 and 10; the blade being shown in its place in the latter but not in
the former Figure. In this modification the saw blade G is stretched in a
secondary frame, which is again. fixed in the main saw frame A, a, a'. The.
secondary frame consists of a bar K, capable of being fixed between the main
frame cross heads a, a', and fitted with cross heads or levers k, k¹, to receive;

page_text: the saw-blade buckles, and tightened by means of the back tension rod k³
Thus, if duplicate secondary saw frames are provided, a fresh saw blade may
be attached in a stretched state to the main frame immediately on the removal
of the one previously in use, much loss of time being thereby avoided. The
block of wood I to be sawn or cut into veneers is fixed upon a carriage or tra-
versing frame L, which is moved laterally on rails M, as the sawing proceeds,
by a suitable feed motion, whilst the backward or forward adjustment which
determines the thickness of board or veneer to be cut is obtained by a combi-
nation of screws. The lateral feed motion is communicated to the carriage L
by means of a shaft N, having fast on it a pinion n in gear with a rack O, fixed
along the under side of the carriage L, or a screw motion may be substituted
for this rack and pinion arrangement. The carriage L is in two parts; the
upper part, to which the wood I is fixed, being adjustable across the lower part
by means of screw spindles P, held in end bearings in the lower part and
working through screwed lugs on the upper part of the carriage; the screw
spindles P have fast on them worm wheels p, in gear with which are worms q
on a shaft Q, the turning of which by a handle effects the adjustment of the
wood to give the required thickness of cut.
It is preferred to apply an improved feed motion to the machine last
described, this feed motion being also applicable to other sawing and wood-
cutting machines. In the modification of this feed motion represented in the
Drawings (Figures 5 and 6), the motion is derived from an eccentric R on
the main shaft F, the rod r of this eccentric being jointed to a lever S centred
on a fixed stud. From a stud on this lever S, capable of adjustment by a screw
and hand wheel s, so as to give more or less motion, a link or rod t passes to
the outer end of a short lever t¹, carried by a pair of radial arms T, loose on
the shaft or boss of the feed wheel U. The inner end of the short lever t' has
(fixed or) jointed to it a friction piece t2, which, when the link t is drawn in one
direction, bites or holds upon the rim of the wheel U, being freed therefrom
by the action of the short lever t', when moved in the opposite direction. To
insure a bite or hold between the friction piece t' and the rim of the wheel U,
the two surfaces are finely grooved, fluted, or serrated, and to regulate the
action of the lever t'a screw stop t is provided; a second similar friction piece
t', carried by a short lever t³, jointed upon a fixed stud, is provided to prevent
the feed wheel U from moving backwards, the lever to being controlled by a
spring to and screw stop t'. The shaft u of the feed wheel U carries a pinion u¹,
capable of being shifted out of or into gear with a spur wheel V, fast on a
shaft v, which has also fast on it a pinion v', driving a spur wheel n¹, fast on
the shaft N, already herein referred to as actuating the carriage L. The shaft

page_text: v may carry, as indicated in red lines, one fast and a couple of loose pulleys,
receiving open and crossed belts from an overhead shaft, so that on the fric-
tional feed motion being put out of gear, a quick movement may be given to
the carriage in either direction; or the gearing shown in black lines may be
adopted, this gearing consisting of a cone pulley W driven from an overhead
shaft, and loose on the shaft v, although capable of driving it by means of a
clutch w when a quick motion is required. The cone pulley W has fast to it
a pinion w¹ in gear with a spur wheel X on a shaft æ, which carries a pinion*
x, capable of being put out of or into gear with the spur wheel V. This'
gearing gives a slow continuous feed motion, which may be used occasionally
instead of the intermittent feed motion already described, the machine
being provided with both, or the machine may be provided with either motion
only.
On Sheet 3 of the accompanying Drawings I have delineated an example
of machinery embodying my improvements as arranged for sawing veneers
horizontally, Figure 11 being a back elevation, partly in section; Figure 12, a
sectional plan; and Figure 13, a vertical section at right angles to Figure 11.
In this modification the saw frame A, A¹, works in angular guide grooves B
at one end of a horizontal bed plate C, at the other end of which is the
bearing for the crank or main shaft, this end of the bed plate being broken
away in the Drawing. The saw frame in this example consists of two lower
cross heads, connected by two parallel rods or stiles A¹, portions of the ends
of which are shaped to work in the guides B, as shown in the transverse
vertical section, Figure 15. A longitudinal wooden stretcher or stile A. is
bolted to the lower cross heads, and receives the upper cross heads a, a',
between which the saw blade G is stretched. This saw blade works over the
slightly convex surface of a stationary guide Z, fixed to brackets attached to
the bed plate, and shown detached and in elevation in Figure 14. The cutting
edge of the saw blade is directed downwards, the wood block I rising as the
sawing proceeds, and the veneer rising up inside the guide, which is bevilled
to a knife-shaped section for it to pass. The convexity given to the guide is'
to keep the saw blade tight, and to insure the tension being the same at all
parts of the stroke, the curve is continued in the guides B at either side, that
is to say, these guides have a slight curvature in the horizontal plane, being,
however, straight in the vertical plane; or the guides B may be straight in'
the horizontal plane, but slightly inclined to each other, so as to be tangential
to the ends of the saw-blade guide Z. The carriage L, L', to which the wood
block I is attached, moves vertically in this example, for which purpose it is

page_text: formed with top and bottom pairs of slides to work on angular guides M fixed
to timber frame pieces. The carriage is counterbalanced by means of a chain
passing over pulleys to a weight, and it is moved up or down by means of a
rack O, or of a screw acted upon by a continuous feed motion similar to that
applied to the sawing machine already herein described. The wood block I
is fixed directly to a frame L, which can be adjusted forward or backward in
the carriage L to give the required thickness of veneer by means of screws P,
actuated simultaneously by means of worm wheels p in gear with worms on
a shaft Q, which is turned by means of a handle.
The Invention also comprehends an improved arrangement of spring presser
for sawing machines of various kinds, which is shown in section in Figure 16,
Sheet 3, of the accompanying Drawings. In this arrangement the pressure is
applied to the wood by a roller a, carried in the forked arm 6 of a bell-crank
lever, the other arm c of which is connected to or acted upon by a cylindrical
box d containing a spring e. A spindle fixed to the framing of the machine
passes through the spring box d, and has its end screwed to receive a hand
wheel g, with a screwed centre piece formed with a flange, which compresses
the spring e against the other end of the box, the wheel g thus serving to
adjust the degree of spring pressure applied.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is or may be used or carried into effect, I have to state that
I do not restrict myself to the precise details herein-before described or
delineated; but that what I consider to be novel and original, and claim as
the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent, is,
First, the arranging or constructing of wood-planing machinery with the
herein-before described improvements, and more particularly,
Second, the generally arranging of the spur gearing for driving the feed
rollers, and more particularly the placing of the upper and lower feed roller
wheels on opposite sides of the frame standards, substantially as herein-before
described.
Third, the adjusting of the several feed rollers of sawing machines by one
or more movements, substantially in the manner herein-before described, and
the connecting the presser rollers to the feed rollers, so as to be adjusted
therewith.
Fourth, the effecting of the adjustment of the feed rollers by means of
eccentric spindles applied to the weighted levers, substantially as herein-before
described.

page_text: Fifth, the arranging of the weights of the feed roller levers, substantially as
herein-before described, and the acting on the levers by springs connected to
the weights or to fixtures.
Sixth, the arranging of the presser roller in connection with the top
scutcher with springs, and the adapting of the brackets carrying it to those
carrying the scutcher, so that one adjusting action serves both scutcher and
roller, substantially as herein-before described.
Seventh, the arranging or constructing of wood-sawing machinery with the
herein-before described improvements, and more particularly,
Eighth, the using of a single casting in the form of a column or bed-plate
to carry the principal parts, also with saw-frame guides formed thereon,
substantially as herein-before described.
Ninth, the constructing, mounting, or putting together of the saw frames,
substantially as herein-before described.
Tenth, the generally arranging of the feed-motion gearing, substantially as
herein-before described.
Eleventh, the applying to sawing and other wood-cutting machines of the
improved frictional feed motion, substantially as herein-before described.
Twelfth, the constructing of spring pressers for sawing machines, sub-
stantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Hugh Smith, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
HUGH SMITH. (L.S.)