IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PARTS KNOWN AS THE TRAVERSE MOTIONS OF A LATHE, AND ALSO IN APPARATUS FOR CUTTING KEY BEDS IN SHAFTS OF MACHINERY, & FOR OTHER PURPOSES."
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas White, junior, of Number 24, Hyde Park
Terrace, Headingley, near Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer and
Machine Maker, for an Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PARTS
KNOWN AS THE TRAVERSE MOTIONS OF A LATHE, AND ALSO IN APPARATUS
FOR CUTTING KEY BEDS IN SHAFTS OF MACHINERY, & FOR OTHER
PURPOSES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas White at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd November 1881.
THOMAS WHITE, junior, of Number 24, Hyde Park Terrace, Headingley, near
Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer and Machine Maker. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE PARTS KNOWN AS THE TRAVERSE MOTIONS OF A LATHIE, AND ALSO IN THE
APPARATUS FOR CUTTING KEY BEDS IN SHAFTS OF MACHINERY & FOR OTHER
PURPOSES."
This Invention relates more especially to the cutting of key beds in shafts of
machinery, or in anything requiring a key; but it may also be used for cutting
slot or cotter holes, and there are many other kinds of work which may be dono
in a lathe by the application of my Invention.
For the purpose of cutting key beds I use the several parts of my Invention in
combination, but they may be used separately when applied to other purposes.
My Invention consists,―
First. In an improvement in the means of regulating and reversing the traverse
motion of the saddle and slide rest, in which in lathes the cutting tool is fixed.
This Invention can and is intended to be applied to all kinds of lathes, whether
old or new. 1 shall describe the nature of the Invention as applied to a screw
cutting lathe, but as lathes are made in great variety the details of its application
must also vary, and 1 therefore do not confine myself to the details here described.
I take the first motion of this part of my Invention from the end of the screw (and
when the lathe is not a screw cutting one a special shaft instead of the screw may
be used), which screw takes its motion from the fixed headstock of the lathe in the

page_text: usual way. On the end of this screw I place a bevil wheel made so as to slide out
of gear when the apparatus hereinafter described is not required to be used. This
bevil wheel works into another of the same kind (thus forming a pair which I
will call No. 1), which is fixed on the end of a worm shaft hereinafter described
running in proper bearings attached to or forming part of the main casting for the
purpose of holding the several parts of this Invention. At the other end of the
worm shaft is one of another pair of bevil wheels (No. 2), the other of which pair
is fixed on the end of a vertical shaft. This shaft carries two other bevil wheels
which revolve freely upon it, one facing downwards and the other upwards, with
a moveable clutch between, and these wheels are made to take into a third bevil
fixed on a stud in the main casting or other suitable bearing. The clutch is made
to revolve with the shaft. Behind this third bevil wheel, and keyed to it by a
socket in the usual way, is an ordinary spur wheel which gears into others of
different sizes suitably mounted, the last of which works into one on the end of
the back shaft. These last two wheels are interchangeable either with themselves
or with others, and by this means the length of traverse given to the saddle or slide
rest can be determined. At present I gear the spur wheel behind the last men-
tioned or third bevil wheel into another spur wheel mounted on a radial plate,
which in its turn gears into another spur wheel mounted on the end of a short
shaft, which has its bearing in the end of the radial plate. At the other end of
the short shaft another spur wheel is keyed on, and this works into another on the
end of and so transmits motion to the back shaft. The reversing motion is obtained
as follows: On the worm shaft before mentioned is a worm which works into a
worm wheel. Behind this wheel is a small spur wheel which gears into another
spur wheel, which carries on its side a cam having a groove cut into it. Within
this groove there works a roller mounted at the end of a lever, the other end of
which lever is forked and connected with the before mentioned moveable clutch.
As the cam revolves it moves the lever, and so causes the clutch to take into, first,
the upper, and then the lower of the bevil wheels working on the same shaft and
geared into the third bevil wheel, and thereby at each change reverses the
direction of the revolution of that wheel, and so reverses the traverse of the saddle
by reversing the notion of the back shaft. The apparatus herein before described
may be employed not only for the purpose of causing the saddle to traverse the
lathe longitudinally, but also for the purpose of imparting a movement across the
lathe to the cross slide, which is part of the saddle arrangement. I use this move-
ment of the cross slide for the purpose of doing a kind of work known as milling,
for shaping nuts, &c. In this case the articles to be operated upon are fixed upon
the cross slide in the saddle of the lathe, and are moved by the screw in the cross
slide being acted upon by the back shaft, which is made to reverse as before
(lescribed. The cutting tool or tools used in this operation are mounted on a
spindle or short shaft placed between the centres of the lathe, to which motion is
imparted in the ordinary method used in turning. The cutting tool I use consists
of a kind of disc with cutters fixed in or on the side of the periphery of the disc.
One or more discs may be used. If two or more are used their distance apart is
regulated by means of washers and nuts to keep them in their place.
Second. In the employment of a revolving cutting tool fixed into that part of
the saddle called the rest or slide rest of a lathe. The cutting tool is fixed in a
suitable holder, which is generally a square piece of iron of a suitable length having
a spindle running through it. This spindle may be driven by a belt acting directly
upon it, or by means of suitable gearing. I mostly use a pulley. At a short
distance from the end of the spindle, and into the part projecting beyond the
pulley, the cutting tool is fixed. One method of. fixing the cutting tool is to bore
up the end of the spindle and insert the tool in the hole thus formed, and hold
it fast by means of a screw or other appliance. Another method I use is to split
the end of the spindle for the purpose of holding a cutting tool made in two parts,
so that they can be taken out and ground or sharpened. In this case I use two
nuts on the part so split up, which is chased or screwed for the purpose of making

page_text: fast the cutting tool or tools in the spindle. The apparatus for holding the cutting
tool is maile to fix into the rest of the lathe in the place of and instead of the
I use the screw of
turning tool, and is secured in its place by the same means.
the rest as the means of setting up the cutting tool, which may be set up either
by hand or automatically by means of a catch wheel. The cutting tool obtains
its notion from a belt driven by a wooden cylinder or other suitable apparatus
overhead. I sometimes use two cutters, one on each side of the work to be
operated upon, and I do not limit myself to the number of cutting tools which may
be at work at one time in the same lathe.
Third. In an improved method of constructing what are known as rose cutters.
This improvement consists in making the cutter in two parts.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, and of
an Order of the Lord Chancellor, filed by the said Thomas White in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 26th May 1882.
THOMAS WHITE, junior. of Number 24, Hyde Park Terrace, Headingley, near
Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer and Machine Maker. "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE PARTS KNOWN AS THE TRAVERSE MOTIONS OF A LATHE, AND ALSO IN
APPARATUS FOR CUTTING KEY-BEDS IN SHAFTS OF MACHINERY AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES."
My Invention relates more especially to the cutting of key-beds in shafts of
machinery or in anything requiring a key, but it may also be used for cutting slot
or cotter-holes, and there are many other kinds of work which may be done in
a lathe by the application of my Invention.
For the purpose of cutting key-beds the several parts of my Invention are used
in combination, but they may be used separately when applied to other purposes.
My Invention consists,―
First. In an improvement in the means of regulating and reversing the traverse
motion of the saddle and slide rest in which, in lathes, the cutting tool is fixed.
This Invention can and is intended to be applied to all kinds of lathes, whether
old or new.
In the description following and in the Drawings therein referred to
I describe the nature of the Invention as applied to a screw-cutting lathe, but as
lathes are made in great variety the details of its application must also vary, and
I therefore do not confine myself to the details herein described. For the purpose
of making clear my description of this part of my Invention I shall make use of
Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying Drawings, in which Figure 1 represents the
end elevation and Figure 2 the plan of the end of a lathe to which my Invention
has been applied. I take the first motion of this part of my Invention from the
end of the screw (a) (and when the lathe is not a screw-cutting one a special shaft
instead of the screw may be used) which screw takes its motion from the fixed

page_text: headstock of the lathe in the usual way. But I desire to say that I do not confino
myself to this method. The special apparatus in which my Invention consists may
be applied at the contrary end of the lathe to that shown in the Drawings, and in
that case the first motion may be taken direct from the fixed headstock. On the
end of the screw (a) I place a bevil wheel (b) made. so as to slide out of gear by the
ordinary means when the apparatus hereinafter described is not required to bo
used. This bevil-wheel works into another (61) of the same kind (thus forming
a pair) which is fixed on the end of a worm shaft (c) hereinafter described,
running in proper bearings attached to or forming part of the main casting for the
purpose of holding the several parts of this Invention. At the other end of the worm
shaft is (d) is one of another pair of bevil-wheels, the other (d') of which pair is fixed
on the end of a vertical shaft (e). This shaft carries two other bevil-wheels (ƒ)
and (1) which revolve freely upon it, one facing downwards and the other
upwards with a moveable clutch (g) between. The wheels (f) and (f¹) are made
to take into and always remain in gear with a third bevil (h) fixed on a stud (j)
in the main casting or other suitable bearing. The clutch (g) is made to revolve
with the shaft upon which it moves up or down so as to take into first the one
and then the other of the wheels (f) and (f') as may be required. Behind the
bevil wheel () and koyed to it by a socket in the usual way is an ordinary spur
wheel (k) which gears into others of different sizes suitably mounted, the last of
which works into one on the end of the backshaft (7). These last two wheels,
that is to say, the one on the end of the backshaft and the one which works into
it, are made so as to be interchangeable either with themselves or with
others, and by this means the length of traverse given to the saddle or slide rest
can be determined. The whole train of wheels working from and in connection
with the wheel () may be made interchangeable if desired. In my Provisional
Specification I in describing the means by which motion was transmitted from the
wheel (k) to the backshaft described what is known as single-gearing, but double
gearing may be used where a longer traverse is required. And any number of
wheels may be used either in single or double gear which may be deemed suitable
to regulate the speed of the traverse motion in reference to the speed of the lathe.
To return to the description of my Drawings, the spur wheel () is shown geared
into another spur wheel (¹) mounted on one end of a short shaft (7) or socket
which passes through and is fixed in the end of the radial plate (m); at the other
end of the short shaft a pinion wheel (n) is keyed on, and this works into another.
spur wheel (o) at the end of and so transmits motion to the backshaft (22). The
Drawing, Figure 2, at (o, n) and (n, o) is intended, to show both the spur wheel (o")
and the pinion wheel (n) which is immediately beneath, as shewn in Figure 1.
The reversing motion is obtained as follows:-On the worm shaft before mentioned
is a worm (r) which works into a small worm wheel (s) to the side of which is
fixed a small spur-wheel which gears into and so transmits motion to the larger
wheel (s). The wheel (s') carries on its side a cam (u) which may be either cast
solid with it or keyed to it by means of a socket. Into this cam a groove (v) is
cut; within this groove (v) there works a roller (w) mounted at the end of a
lever () working upon the fulcrum or stud (a) fixed on the main casting, the
other end of which lever is forked and connected with the before mentioned
moveable clutch (g). As the cam revolves it moves the lever and so causes the
clutch to take into first the upper and then the lower of the bevil wheels (f)
and (f) working on the same shaft and geared into the third bevil wheel (h) and
thereby at each change reverses the direction of the revolution of that wheel and
so reverses the traverse of the saddle by reversing the motion of the backshaft.
The apparatus hereinbefore described may be employed not only for the purpose
of causing the saddle to traverse the lathe longitudinally, but also for the purpose of
imparting a movement across the lathe to the cross slide which is part of the saddle
arrangement. This motion across the lathe is effected by the screw in the cross
slide being acted upon by the back shaft, which is made to reverse as before
described. I use this movement of the cross slide for the purpose of doing a kind

page_text: of work known as milling for shaping nuts, &c. The cutting tool or tools used in
this operation are mounted on a spindle or short shaft placed between the centres
of the lathe to which motion is imparted in the ordinary method used in turning.
The method of doing this class of work is more particularly shewn in the accom-
panying Drawings, in which Figure 7 represents the base plan and Figure 6 a
sectional elevation of the cross slide with the work to be operated upon fixed in it,
and Figure 4 represents the cutting tool in operation. The saine letters and
numbers represent the same part in each Figure; u is the cross slide, b is the work
to be operated upon which in this case consists of a number of pieces of metal
mounted on a rod or bolt (c) held in place by the screw (d, d); e is the cutting tool
mounted and made to revolve between the centres of the lathe. The cutting tool
I use consists of a kind of disc with cutters fixed in or on the side of the periphery
of the disc. One or more discs may be used. If two or more are used their
distance apart is regulated by means of washers and nuts to keep them in
their place.
Secondly. My Invention consists in the employment of a revolving cutting tool
fixed into that part of the saddle called the rest or slide rest of a lathe. The
method by which I accomplish this will appear by the description following and
by reference to Figures 3, 5, and 8 of the accompanying Drawings. The cutting
tool is fixed in a suitable holder, which is generally a square piece of iron (a) of a
suitable length, having a spindle (b) running through it. This spindle may be
driven by a belt acting directly upon it or by means of suitable gearing. I mostly
use a pulley (c) at a short distance from the end of the spindle, and into the part
projecting beyond the pulley (b') the cutting tool (d) is fixed. One method of
fixing the cutting tool in the spindle of the holder is to bore up the end (6¹) of the
spindle and insert the tool in the hole thus formed, and hold it fast by means of a
screw or other appliance. Another method I use is to split the end of the spindle
for the purpose of holding a cutting tool made in two parts, such as is hereinafter
described, so that they can be taken out and ground or sharpened. In this caso
the part so split up is chased or screwed, and I use two nuts thereon as shewn at
(e. e) in Figure 3, for the purpose of making fast the cutting tool or tools. The
apparatus for holding the cutting tool is made to fix into the rest of the lathe in
the place of and instead of the turning tool, and is secured in its place by the
Same means. I use the screw of the rest as the means of setting up the cutting-
tool, which may be set up either by hand or automatically by incans of a catch
wheel. The cutting tool obtains its motion from a belt driven by a wooden
cylinder or other suitable apparatus overhead. I sometimes use two cutters, one
on each side of the work to be operated upon, and I do not limit myself to the
number of cutting tools which may be at work at one time in the same lathe.
Thirdly. My Invention consists in an improved method of constructing what are
known as rose cutters. A rose cutter is a sort of drill, the cutting end of which
is shaped so as to have two cutting edges with a space between them. These edges
are sharpened by filing out on the inner side, which necessitates the tool being
softened in order to be sharpened, and when sharpened hardened again. My
improvement consists in making the cutter in two or more parts. I prefer two
only. By this incans I can sharpen the tool by grinding without the necessity of
first softening it. I grind the end of each half of the tool separately to the shape
required, and when the two halves are put together it presents the same appearance
as the old form of cutter. The parts may be ground so that the outside shall have
straight ends or pointed. I do not confine myself to the shape. The accompanying
Drawing (Figure 3) will make my Invention more clearly understood. It represents
at (d) a cutting tool made in two parts fixed in the end of (b') the end of the
spindle of the revolving tool holder.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I now desire to say that what I consider to be novel and original, and

page_text: therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the hereinbefore in part
recited Letters Patent is,-
1. The use of a cam in combination with a clutch for the purpose of imparting
a reversing motion to the backshaft of a lathe and giving an alternate traverse
notion to the saddle of a lathe substantially as and for the purpose herein before
mentioned.
2. The use of interchangeable spur-wheels as a means of regulating the length
of traverse to be given to the saddlo of a lathe.
3. The general arrangement of obtaining and regulating tho traverse motions of a
lathe, substantially as herein before described.
4. The use of a revolving cutting tool working in and between the centres of a
lathe, substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore described and for other
similar purposes.
5. The use of a revolving cutting-tool capable of being fixed and used in the rest
or slide rest of a lathe, or a separate tool, in manner as and for the purposes
hereinbefore described.
6. The method of making cutting tools or roso cutters in two or more parts,
substantially as and for the reasons hereinbefore described and mentioned.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas White, the younger, have to this
my Specification, set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of May,
One thousand eight hundred and eighty two.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
said Thomas White, the younger,
in the presence of
THO. DALTON,
Solicitor,
27, Albion Street, Leeds.
THOS. WHITE, JUNR.
(L.S.)