IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING WOOD
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to August Pentzlin, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, Veneer and Marquetry Merchant, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING WOOD."-A communi-
cation from chrood 1.
cation from abread by Theodor Andreas Prale, residing at Hamburgh.
aled the 6th July 1860, and dated the 29th March 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said August Pentzlin at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th March 1860.
I, AUGUST PENTZLIN, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Veneer and Marquetry Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CUTTING WOOD," to be as
follows, that is to say:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in machinery for cutting
wood, portions or modifications of such improvements having for object the
cutting of veneers in a superior and economical manner, whilst other portions
or modifications are suitable for sawing planks or boards of various thick-
nesses.
In a veneer-cutting machine embodying a modification of the improve-
ments a reciprocating saw blade is used, placed, and working by preference
horizontally and with its cutting edge directed upwards. This saw blade is
stretched in a frame and is made to reciprocate by means of a revolving crank
pin and connecting rod. The reciprocating motion is not perfectly rectilinear,
the frame slides and guide grooves being formed with a slight curvature,
which imparts a peculiar motion to the saw blade and makes it in practice
act more uniformly and efficiently than with the ordinary rectilinear re-
ciprocating motion, and equally in both directions of its motion; a regulated

page_text: supply of oil is applied to the guide grooves by means of pumps to insure
uniform lubrication. The saw blade is kept steady and true by means of a
stationary knife-shaped guide within and against which it works, the veneer
as it is cut passing off outside the knife-shaped guide. The block or log
froin which the veneer is being cut is mounted on a moveable frame which is
guided by fixed standards, and is adjusted forwards or backwards by a screw
provided with an index to give the requisite thickness of veneer, whilst the
lowering movement for feeding the block down to the saw comprises a
screw actuated by cone pulleys. A quick motion is] also provided to be
thrown into gear when a cut is completed to elevate the block for the com-
mencement of a fresh cut. As some woods, such as mahogany, contain resin,
which becomes melted by the heat due to the friction and abrading action of
the saw, and causes the action to be injuriously impeded, the saw must in
such cases be moistened with water containing in solution salts of lemon or
other ingredient of like property. The various movements of the machine
are controlled by hand levers, all of which are disposed so that the attendant
can actuate them without changing his place.
In a sawing machine, embodying another modification of the improvements,
the wood log is fixed upon a wooden carriage mounted on wheels which run
on rails fixed to or formed upon the base plate of the machine. The carriage
is moved forward by means of a screw feed motion, and carries the log
between vertical guides having connections above the log and carrying a roller
which holds the log down. The saw (blades or) blade is placed and works
by preference horizontally, its cutting edge being also directed horizontally,
and it is worked by means of a revolving crank pin and connecting rod. As
in the veneer-cutting machine the frame slides and guide grooves are slightly
curved to modify the motion of the saw blade or blades with the view of
rendering its action more uniform and efficient throughout the entire length
of the cut, and in both directions of its motion. The lubricating oil is also
supplied to the guide grooves by means of pumps.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said August Pentzlin in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th September 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AUGUST
PENTZLIN, sometime designing myself as of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, now of Edinburgh, Veneer and Marquetry Merchant,
send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of March, 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 August Pentzlin, Her special licence that I, the said August Pentzlin,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
August Pentzlin, 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, exer-
cise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR CUTTING WOOD," communicated to me, the said August Pentzlin,
from abroad by Theodor Andreas Prale, residing at Hamburgh, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said August Pentzlin, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
bands 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said August Pentzlin, 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 following
statement in writing, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
The said Invention relates to certain improvements in machinery for
cutting wood, portions or modifications of such improvements having for
object the cutting of veneers in a superior and economical manner, whilst
other portions or modifications are suitable for sawing planks or boards of
various thicknesses.
And in order that the said Invention may be properly understood and
carried into effect, I have delineated upon the two accompanying Sheets of
explanatory Drawings, and will herein particularly describe two examples of
wood-cutting machinery embodying modifications of the said improvements.
The Figures upon Sheet 1 of the said Drawings are different views of a
veneer-cutting machine, the same reference letters marking the same or like
parts in them all.
Figure 1 is a front elevation of the machine; Figure 2 is a plan; and
Figure 3 is a vertical section taken at right angles to Figure 1; Figure 4 is
an enlarged sectional end elevation showing the saw frame with its guides

page_text: and the apparatus for supplying a lubricant to the guides; Figure 5 is an
enlarged inside or back elevation; and Figure 6 is an enlarged vertical
section of a portion of the saw guide, saw, and wood guide. In this machine
a reciprocating saw blade A is used, placed, and working by preference
horizontally and with its cutting edge. directed downwards (not upwards as
by mistake stated in my Provisional Specification deposited on applying for
the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent.)
The saw blade A is stretched in a frame consisting of a stretcher B having
crossheads b, b', at each end, between which crossheads the saw blade A is
stretched on the inner side, whilst a tension rod 62 at the other end gives
stiffness. The saw is made to reciprocate by means of a connecting rod C
jointed to it at one end, and at the other to a crank d upon the first motion
shaft D. The reciprocating motion of the saw is not perfectly rectilinear, the
saw frame having four slides E, a pair being attached to each crosshead b, b¹,
and working in grooved guides F, to which a slight curvature is given, as.
shown in Figure 1; this curvature imparting a peculiar character to the
motion of the saw blade which makes it in practice to act more uniformly and
efficiently than with the ordinary rectilinear reciprocating motion, and equally
in both directions of its motion. A regulated supply of oil is applied to the
guide grooves F by means of pumps G to insure uniform lubrication. In the
present example a lubricating pump is provided for each guide F, the pair for
one pair of guides being shown in Figure 4. The pump barrel for the inner
guide is made slightly larger, as more oil is required for this than for the
outer guide. The piston rods g are attached to a crosshead g', which when
the machine is working, is gradually depressed by a screw spindle gå driven by
means of a worm wheel g³, in gear with which is a worm on a horizontal
spindle h² running across the machine. This spindle h² has a second worm for
actuating the pistons of the second pair of pumps G, and is actuated in
concert with the motion by which the veneer-wood block is feed to the saw, as
will be herein-after more particularly described. The spindle h² is carried in
small brackets h³, by moving which the worms can be taken out of gear from
the worm wheel g³, when it is necessary to screw up the pistons to introduce
oil into the pumps. The oil is forced by the pump action through tubes g
(shown in Figure 1) to the outsides of the guides F, reaching the grooves
through perforations drilled through the guides. The saw blade A is kept
steadily and truly in its line of action by means of a stationary knife-shaped
guide J, which is held between short brackets or standards j, bolted to the
flanges of the bench or platform plate K, the bolt holes being elongated to
admit of adjustment. In horizontal longitudinal section the lower part of the

page_text: guide J, against which the saw blade A works, shows a line which has an
extremely slight convexity inwards towards the veneer-wood block I (about
ths of an inch in the entire length), this convexity ensuring that the saw.
blade shall not leave the inside face of the guide. The cut veneer i passes up
outside the guide J, as shown in Figure 3. Immediately below the saw
guide J is the veener-wood guide L, also bolted to the flanges of the bench.
plate K, such guide consisting of a wooden block formed with dovetail
grooves to receive wedges 1, by preference, of brass, the positions of such
wedges. determining the thickness of veneer to be cut off. The block or log I
from which the veneer is being cut is mounted on a moveable frame M guided
by standards N, which are stationary or fixed during the sawing action. The
standards N are fixed upon a quadrangular iron frame O, resting and capable-
of moving forwards or backwards upon rails or guides P fixed to the main
framework of the machine. After each cut the frame O with the standards N,
moveable frame M, and veneer-wood block I are drawn forward, so as to
bring the last up to the wood guide L for a fresh cut, by means of a screw Q
tapped through a cross bar R fixed to the frame O. The screw Q which is
held in a bracket fixed to the front flange of the bench plate K, is provided.
with a handle q and an index dial q', the latter fixed on the screw spindle, and
the former capable of being fixed at any point of the dial; the extent to which
the bandle is shifted round on the dial showing the relative thickness of
veneer upon an enlarged scale. The weight of the veneer-wood block I and
moveable frame M is counterbalanced or partly counterbalanced by means of.
chains S passing over pulleys and down to weights T, capable of being varied
as the weight of the veneer-wood I becomes lessened. For the purpose of
feeding the veneer-wood block I as the sawing action proceeds, a rack m is fixed
upon the back of the moveable frame M, in gear with which rack is a pinion U
fast on a shaft turning in bearings carried by the frame, and having fast on it
a spur wheel u, which last is in gear with a travelling spur wheel v upon a
horizontal shaft V turning in fixed bearings. The shaft V has fast on it a
worm wheel v¹, with which there gears a screw worm W, whilst a bevil wheel
on the spindle of this last is driven by a bevil wheel fast on the spindle w of a
cone or graduated pulley w¹, driven by a strap from a cone or graduated pulley
w², on the first-motion shaft D. The screw worm W is carried by a swivelling
bracket or lever w³; and it can be thrown out of gear by means of a cord or
rod w, the actuating detail for which is situated at the front of the machine.
(though not shown in the Drawing). When the screw worm W is thrown
out of gear, a comparatively quick upward or downward movement may be
imparted to the frame M and veneer-wood block I by means of a handle v³,

page_text: fixed on the front end of the shaft V. It is from the shaft V that motion is
derived for actuating the lubricating pumps G, a cord being passed from a
pulley on it to a pulley h' on a spindle H, which last, by means of a pair of
bevil wheels, drives the spindle h², already herein referred to. The pulley h
on the shaft V is provided with a spring clutch, contrived so that the pump
motion is thrown out of or into gear in concert with the feeding screw W.
The various movements of the machine are controlled by levers or handles, all
of which are disposed so that the attendant can actuate them without changing
his place; thus the starting lever X is elongated to bring its handle into a
convenient position, this lever being centred on a short standard a, and acting
upon a slide x¹, which carries the fork or ring a³, for shifting the driving belt
from the loose to the fast pulley d¹, or vice versa.
It remains to be stated, with reference to this machine, that as some woods,
such as mahogany, contain resin which becomes softened or melted by the heat
due to the friction and abrading action of the saw, and causes the action of the
saw to be injuriously impeded, the saw is, according to this Invention, to be
moistened with water containing in solution salt of lemon, or citric acid, or
other ingredient of like property.
The Figures upon Sheet 2 of the accompanying Drawings are different views
of a log-sawing machine, embodying another modification or portion of the
improvements constituting the present Invention.
Figure 7 is a front elevation, with the log and carriage in vertical section;
Figure 8 is a plan, corresponding to Figure 7; and Figure 9 is a vertical sec-
tion taken longitudinally as regards the carriage. In this machine the details
are in many respects the same as in the veneer machine already herein
described. The log machine differs principally in the log I being disposed
horizontally upon a carriage M, moving horizontally, whilst instead of shifting
the log between each cut it is the saw frame which is so shifted. The frame-
work of the carriage M is massively constructed of wood, and in one length or
two or more lengths connected together, The carriage is mounted upon
wheels m', which run on the top surface of rails 1, fixed down to the founda-
tion, whilst horizontal wheels m² are provided to run against the inside flanges
of the rails 1, and thereby keep the carriage on the rails. The log I is held
upon the carriage M by means of iron clamps m³, held in blocks m', which
work between guide bars and are adjusted by means of screw spindles m³. The
feed or traverse motion of the carriage M is obtained by means of a rack m,
fixed along the under side of the carriage, and acted upon by a pinion U fast
on a shaft V, driven as in the veneer machine by a worm wheel v, worm W,
and cone pulleys w', w². The worm W is carried by a swivelling bracket w³,

page_text: The shaft V
with
and can be put out of gear when a quick motion is required.
not being in a suitable position to receive a handle, an inclined shaft
bevil wheels v is provided for turning the shaft V quickly. The saw blade A
is placed and works by preference horizontally, its cutting edge or teeth being
also directed horizontally, and it is worked by means of a revolving crank pin
and connecting rod C. The saw frame B, b, b', b, is the same as in the veneer
machine, and it is provided with slides E, working in the grooves of similarly
curved guides F, the curvature of the guides being adopted to render the
action of the saw more uniform and efficient throughout the entire length of
the cut, and in both directions of its motion. The guides F are fixed to a
lathe or frame 2, capable of being adjusted vertically upon the faces of two
upright standards 3, between which the carriage M. travels, and across which
the saw A works. The saw blade A is guided as near the sides of the log I
as possible by means of adjustable bracket pieces j¹ fixed to the lathe 2. The
standards 3 are securely fixed to the foundation, and are connected and
strengthened overhead by a transverse girder or frame piece 4. The lathe 2
which I may be more or less counterbalanced by means of a chain passing over
pulleys to a weight is adjusted up or down by means of vertical screw spindles
5, carried by brackets bolted to the standards 3, and arranged to work in con-
cert by means of a transverse connecting shaft 6 and bevil wheels 7. The screw
spindles 5 are actuated through bevil wheels 8 by means of short horizontal
shafts 9, carried in brackets and provided with handles. To hold the log I
firmly down close to the line at which the sawing action takes place, a pressing
roller 10 is provided, which roller with its appendages is shown detached in
elevation and section in Figures 10 and 11. The roller 10 is mounted in a
frame 11, jointed to a link 12, so as to be capable of accommodating itself to
any transverse inclination of the wood surface, the ends of the frame 11 being
confined in guide grooves in the vertical side pieces of a larger frame 13, which
last is jointed to brackets 14, attached to the main standards 3. The link 12
is acted upon by a weighted lever 15, the fulcrum of which is on the frame
13, being made adjustable as to height to suit logs of different sizes. With
this arrangement the pressure roller is made to act with uniformity and free-
dom, and with the force due to the leverage of the weight. The saw frame
guides F are supplied with lubricating oil by means of pumps G, as in the
veneer machine. These pumps are attached to the back of the lathe 2, the oil
being conveyed to the grooves by tubes. The motion for working the pumps
is derived from the feed-motion shaft V, this shaft having on it a pulley h
which is thrown out of gear along with the worm W, and from which a cord
passes to a pulley h¹, on a transverse spindle H, this last driving at each side a

page_text: vertical spindle H¹. There is on each side spindle H' a travelling bevil wheel
moving with the lathe 2 and driving a short spindle carried by the lathe, and
carrying a worm h³, which last acts on the worm wheel g³ of the pumps G.
Having thus particularly described the 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 described or delineated,
and that I do not claim as new every separate detail described and deli-
neated; but that what I consider to be new as regards the public use or
knowledge thereof in Great Britain and Ireland, and as secured to me, my exe-
cutors, administrators, or assigns, by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent, is,
First, the combining or arranging of the parts of machinery for sawing or
cutting wood, substantially as herein-before described.
Second, the forming of the saw-frame guides with a slight curvature,
substantially as herein-before described.
Third, the improved motions herein-before described for feeding the wood
to the saw, and in the veneer machine for bringing forward the wood for a
fresh cut, and at the same time measuring or determining the thickness.
Fourth, the lubricating of the saw frame guides by means of pumps, sub-
stantially as herein-before described.
Fifth, the moistening of the saw blade with acidulated water, as herein-
before described.
Sixth, the several improvements herein-before described as specially adapted
for the log-sawing machine.
In witness whereof, I, the said August Pentzlin, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT, Patent Agent,
28, St. Enoch Square,
Glasgow.
AUGUST PENTZLIN. (L.S.)