TAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CRATES MADE OF WOOD FOR THE USE OF POTTERS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas West Walker, of Hanley, in the
County of Stafford, Potters' Manager, for the Invention of "CER-
TAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CRATES MADE OF WOOD
FOR THE USE OF POTTERS."
Scaled the 18th March 1854, and dated the 22nd September 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas West
Walker at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 22nd September 1853.
I, THOMAS WEST WALKER, of Hanley, in the County of Stafford,
Potters' Manager, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CRATES MADE OF
WOOD FOR THE USE OF POTTERS" to be as follows:-
I saw the wood with an up and down web saw worked by machinery,
which may or may not be driven by steam power. I bore the holes
in the wood with one or more cutters, as may be requisite, by ma-
chinery driven by the lathe or by steam power. I chop or cut the
stays and wedges with knives or cutters affixed to machinery worked.
by a lever or other mechanical apparatus, or driven by steam power.
I soften the stays and rods with hot water or steam previous to crushing,

page_text: twisting, and bending them into form. I pass the rods for witheing
through rollers worked by machinery to be crushed and twisted, so as
to divide the fibres and render them supple.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas West Walker in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 22nd March 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
THOMAS WEST WALKER, of Hanley, in the County of Stafford, Potter,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellant Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, dated the Twenty-second day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the seven-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Thomas West Walker, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas West
Walker, my executors, administrators, or 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 the Isle of Man, an Inven-
tion for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CRATES MADE OF
WOOD FOR THE USE OF POTTERS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Thomas West Walker, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, 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 High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas West Walker, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement (that is to say):
The object of my Invention is to bore or drill the wood used for

page_text: making potters crates with the well-known vertical and horizontal
drills driven by steam power, to apply steam to soften and render
supple the wood previous to crushing, bending, and twisting it, and to
dress the wood with the circular saw into the required form or shape.
In order to give the best information in my power for enabling a
workman to carry out my Invention I will describe the process or
means used by me. I soften the wood and render it supple by placing
it in a steam vat or box, made of wood of suitable size, bound closely
and firmly together with iron pins; into one end of the vat I insert a
pipe from a steam boiler, by which I turn on the steam as required,
and into the other end I insert a tap to allow a small vent, and to let
the steam off previous to opening the vat. I then place the wood in
the vat, and close it up and turn on the steam, and leave it so until the
wood is brought to the required degree of softness. This takes up a
space of time from fifteen to twenty minutes, according to the softness,
hardness, or thickness of the rods, and about half an hour for the
woods used for heads and ends, owing to their greater thickness. The
woods I use for rods and heads and ends are those commonly used for
crate making purposes, and the above I find to be an average time for
softening them. As soon as the rods have been brought to the re-
quired degree of softness I take them out and stave the crate while
they are pliable; I also writhe the withing rods to divide the fibres
while they are supple, and immediately before the rods so twisted are
cold I withe the crates. The wood used for heads and ends I take out
in like manner as soon as it is softened, and while it is soft I straighten
it ready for use. I dress the wood either before or after it is softened
into the required shape and form with the circular saw, and use the
well-known vertical and horizontal drill with the following additions:
Near the drill I fasten a stationary pointer, which, however, is ad-
justable, by which I divide the holes to the required distances; under
the drill is a transverse waggon or slide, and screwed fast to the
waggon is an upright pin three inches long, and the same size as the
drill I bore with. After the first hole is bored I place the upright
pin, which is fast to the waggon, through the hole to prevent the wood
from twisting. The upright pin being opposite the pointer, the wood is

page_text: at the right distance for the second hole which I bore; I then push the
waggon on until the hole bored last is opposite the pointer. That
being the distance required, I bore again, and so on until the number,
of holes required is completed.
I would have it understood that I do not claim the application of
steam or the use of the circular saw, or of the vertical and horizontal
drills, for softening, dressing, or drilling respectively any wood but that
used for making for making potters' crates; and that what I do claim
as my Invention is, the application of steam for softening the wood used
for making potters' crates, and the use of the circular saw and vertical
and horizontal drills, with the additions above described, for the purpose
of dressing and drilling the wood used for making potters' crates.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas West Walker, have
heretofore set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of March,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty- 1
four.
THOMAS WEST (L.s.) WALKER.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by
the within-named Thomas West
Walker in the presence of
JOHN SENIOR,
Accountant,
Stafford.