CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SAWING MACHINERY
Year: 1845

page_text: TO. ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
HARVEY, of Halesworth, in the County of Suffolk, Cabinet Maker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Seventh day of June, One thousand eight hundred and forty-five,
in the eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Samuel Harvey, my exors, admors, and
assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said Samuel Harvey, my exors, adiñors, or assigns, or such others as I,
the said Samuel Harvey, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exer-
cise and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
my Invention of CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SAWING MACHINERY;" in which
said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso that I, the said Samuel
Harvey, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her
said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and
by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Samuel Harvey, hereby declare that the nature of my said invented improve-
ments in sawing machinery consists in adapting or better adapting the same to
the cutting of wood into curvilineal forms, such as segments of circles, concave
or convex, of any longitudinal dimensions, and to the cutting of articles and
things of curvilineal forms and of all lengths out of wood, such as ships' masts
or spars, pillars, pedestals, rails, ballusters, chair backs, mouldings, &c. And
the manner in which the same is to be performed is fully represented and
described in the Sheets of Drawings marked I., II., and III., hereunto
annexed, reference being thereunto had, and in the following explanation
thereof:-
The principal instrument which I employ in the production of such curvili-
neal forms, or articles and things of curvilineal forms, is a cylindrical saw,
fitted, adjusted, and worked in the manner shewn in Sheet No. I. of the
said Drawings, where it is represented as applied to the cutting of a square log
of wood into curved pieces, such as 1, 2, and 3; suitable for subsequent con-
version or combination into ships' masts or spars. Figure 1 is an end eleva-
vation, Figure 2 a side elevation, and Figure 3 a plan of the machinery of
which this saw is a part. The saw (A) consists of a blade or ribbon of steel,
set round the circumference of a chuck C, which has two fifths or thereabouts
of its periphery removed, in order that each portion of wood as it is cut off may
pass through the space left between the cutting portion of the saw and the
body of the chuck itself. B, the frame, is composed of two cheeks or end
pieces connected by a bed plate 6 and an upper plate c, and stiffened by
wrought-iron stays and ties. The saw A is carried by arms D, D, which turn
on a joint in the carriage E, so that they may be set in any required position
above or below the axis of that joint by means of the quadrants F, in which
position they are retained by means of keys G, which raise the curved pieces
H into contact with the quadrants. An oscillating movement is given to the
saw by the lever I, which derives its motion through the medium of a con-
necting rod from the crank on the end of the main shaft K, this shaft K is
driven by the fast and loose pullies thereon, being assisted in its motion by the
fly wheel L. Upon the outer end of the shaft K is keyed a mitre wheel M,
which takes into another upon the cross shaft N, which has an eccentric O on
the end thereof next the work, for the purpose of moving the ratchet wheel P
by the pall Q. The shaft carrying the ratchet wheel has also upon it a pinion
R, which takes into the rack S, attached to the sliding carriage T, and gives
thereby the feed to the log. The carriage slides along the Vguides, bolted to
the timber framework as shewn. The log under the operation of the saw is

page_text: supported at each end by chucks, capable of revolving in adjustable centres, one
of which, shewn at U, is furnished with a worm wheel and screw, to admit of the
log being turned on its axis, and set at any part of its revolution. A driving
pulley V on the outer end of the shaft N gives motion to the circular saw W
by a pair of fast and loose pulleys on its axis. The office of this saw W is to
remove the edges or angles of the log prior to its being cut by the cylindrical
saw A; and for this purpose the log is fed forward' by the gut pullies J, J,
and the rack and pinion R, S, before mentioned. .To. accomodate the length
of the connecting rod to the different positions of the axis of the cylindrical.
saw A the rod itself is varied correspondingly in length by a screwed coupling
thereon. Figure 4 represents the curved pieces 1, 2, 3, after being detached
from one corner of the log; Figure 5 the centre piece which remains after each
of the other corners has been treated in the same way, and which centre piece
is then cut into two, as indicated by the dotted line m, m. Figure 6 repre-
sents the whole of the pieces into which the log has been thus cut, combined.
into the form of a mast or spar. The pieces 1, 1, are first brought all together,
then the pieces 2, 2, outside of 1, and next the pieces 3, 3, outside of 2, so
that the three sets form a series of concentric circles; with but a small hollow.
space o left in the centre, and every joint in each series is broken or crossed.
by a solid piece coming opposite to it. The two pieces r, s, cut from the heart
of the log, serve as fishes to the mast or spar, one on each side. The whole of
the square log is thus converted without any waste of stuff into a circular mast
or spar, which will be found of greater strength than any circular mast or spar
of one piece.
The Drawings in Sheet No. 2, of which Fig. 1 is a side elevation, Fig. 2.
a front elevation, Fig. 3 a back elevation, Figs. 4 and 5 plans, and Fig. 6
a transverse section through the line a, b, of Fig. 4, represent a set of sawing
machinery, constructed on the same principle as the preceding, adapted to the
cutting of chair backs. The saw in this case is carried in a manner similar to
that before described, only that the compensation for shifting the axis of the
saw is effected by raising or depressing the driving shaft. The framing is
composed of four columns, mounted upon a sole plate, and supporting an upper
plate or bed c. The slab of wood to be cut. is laid upon the plate T, turning
upon a centre K, which, when set in the longitudinal mortice therein, form's a
centre to the required radius of the curve. of the shape when cut. The centre
K is the axis of a vertical spindle L, turning in a step in the bracket M, and-
in a bearing N, at its upper part. The carriage or bracket M is permanently
fixed to the revolving plate T. by the screw bolts 8. When these bolts are
slackened the spindle with its frame may be shifted. in the dovetail mortice by

page_text: the screw N', by which means a definite radius may be assigned to the motion
of the wood to be cut, while the saw is cutting off a portion, the section of
which is seen within the saw. The thickness of the portion so cut is deter-
mined by the feeding screw O.
by the worm wheel P, acted upon by the screw Q, the shaft carrying which is
turned by the ratchet wheel R, impelled by a shifting pall on the bar S¹,
which pall derives its motion through the bell crank J from the stud U in the
lever I. The horizontal arm of the bell crank has a slot to enable the feed to
be varied. On the spindle L is keyed a ratchet wheel V, the pall of which is
carried by the worm wheel on the same axis which allows the revolving plate
to be returned to its original position, when a fresh cut is to be taken. The
driving shaft is raised or depressed by the screws W attached to the sliding
carriages; the worm wheels X work in a recess in the framework, and are
tapped in the eyes to receive the screws W, and are turned at the same time
by the worms on the shaft Y.
The revolving motion is given to the plate T
In Figures 5, 6, and 7 of Sheet No. III.; I have shewn how, by a modifica-
tion of the machinery, it may be adapted to the sawing of ogees and curves of
a similar character, either concave or convex. The saw A is suspended from
a dovetail-edged plate D, attached to a cross beam, which passes over the
whole breadth of the machine from the one side to the other, but is not repre-
sented in the Drawing. The manner of attaching the saw to the dovetail-
edged plate D is represented partly in section in Figure 5, in plan in Figure 6,
and edgewise in Figure 7. B is a worm wheel, the teeth of which take into
an endless screw cut on the spindle C, by the turning of which the worm whee
is turned round, as also the dovetail-edged plate D, by which arrangement it
is in the power of the workman to put the saw in any required position, and at
all times to keep the line of its axis at right angles to a tangent of the curve in
which the wood is being cut. An oscillatory motion is communicated to the
saw A by the combined movements of the two cranks E and F. The crank E
is attached to the flywheel shaft, and the crank F to the shaft G, and the two
are joined by means of a connecting rod. The crank E is so much shorter
than the crank F that while the former makes one revolution the latter travels
over whatever space it is desired that the saw should travel. H is a band
pulley fixed upon the shaft G, and I a similar one fixed upon the saw spindle,
and these two pulleys are connected together by the band K, and partake of
the oscillatory motion given to the saw. L is the bed table upon which the
wood to be cut is fixed, and which is at liberty to move on the parallel V slides]
from the one side of the machine to the other. Motion is communicated to this
bed plate L by means of the rack M, the pinion N, and the ratchet O, which

page_text: ratchet is moved by arrangements which are not shewn in the Drawing, being
common to the feed apparatus of the ordinary sawing machines. P is a second
bed plate upon which the upper bed plate L is supported; it rests and is free
to move upon the V grooves Q, Q, fixed on the framework of the machine in
a direction at right angles to the line of movement of the upper bed plate L.
The movement of this latter bed plate P is regulated and directed by the guide
plate or templet R, which is bolted to the upper plate L. The guide plate or
templet R is made of a piece of metal, either cast or otherwise, formed of the
same curve which it is desired the saw should give to the cut of wood. S is
an upright spindle attached to the framework of the machine, but free to turn
on its axis. On the upper end of this spindle there are two small friction
pulley's T, T, which embrace the guide or templet R, one on each side of it.
It follows from these arrangements, that while the feed apparatus is causing
the upper bed plate to traverse from the one side of the machine to the.
other, and so to produce the cut in a longitudinal direction of the wood, the
action of the templet causes that line to be more or less curved, according as.
it is itself more or less curved. In each of the preceeding exemplifications one
saw only is represented as being employed, but instead thereof two, three, or
more saws may be affixed to the same axis, and two, three, or more cuts made
at one and the same time. For the better understanding of this I have given
in Sheet No. III., Figures 1, 2, & 3, views on an enlarged scale of a single
saw, and in Figure 4 a front view, on the same scale, of a combination of three
saws attached to one axis. In the latter case the blades or ribbonds forming
the saws may be retained in position by the intervention of separate annular
pieces, or the chuck may be cast in one piece. The saws may be all fixed
either in the same plane or the one in advance of the other, and they may also
be of any breadth required. I have throughout the preceding description
supposed wood to be the material operated upon by the machinery, but I do
not confine myself to its application thereto, as it may also be applied with
advantage to the cutting of most other materials to which sawing is adapted.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is,-
First, the sawing of wood and other materials into curvilinear forms of any
longitudinal dimensions, by means of a curved saw working in one plane, as
before exemplified and described.
Second, the sawing of wood or other materials into segments of circles or
ogees, concave or convex, by means of a curved saw actuated in manner before
described and exemplified.
Third, the sawing at one and the same time of two, three, or more curves