MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 85 



HUTCHINSON'S IMPROVED STAVE-JOINTER. 



Mr v C. B. Hutchinson, of Auburn, N. Y., who has heretofore devised 

 several important improvements in machines for the manufacture of staves, 

 has recently invented a machine which joints the staves entirely by sawing ; 

 and the means by which the proper swell is given to the bilge, and the 

 proper bevel to the edges of staves, of any width, make it an object of co)i- 

 siderable curiosity. A narrow stave may be succeeded by a wide one, and 

 this again by one extremely narrow, a single and easy motion of a lever 

 (supposed to be always held in the left hand of the attendant) being 

 sufficient to adapt the parts in every respect. The saws, two in number, 

 are circular, and mounted side by side, although on separate shafts or 

 arbors. Each arbor is carried in bearings on a movable carriage, so that 

 the saws may be made to approach or recede from each other. The 

 motion of the carriage is controlled by grooves bent vertically in such a 

 manner that the saws would fit face to face if brought quite together, but 

 become inclined as they separate, the upper points being always nearer 

 than the lower. These two carriages are connected by links to the afore- 

 said lever, so that they approach or recede simultaneously, from which it 

 follows, that, whatever their distance apart, the bevel in which they cut is 

 always closely approximating to that desired. The method by which the 

 bilge or swell in the middle of the stave is produced is perhaps still more 

 admirable, it being perfectly .self- adjusting. The lever, and consequently 

 the position of the saws, being held stationary during the jointing of a 

 stave of any given width, if the wood was fed up in a rectilinear line it 

 would be sawn in the proper bevel, but of equal width throughout. The 

 means by which the proper swell in the middle is attained in this machine are 

 simply that of allowing the stave to be moved forward in a curved rather 

 than a straight line. The feed apparatus is in fact a species of endless chain, 

 the links being equal to that of the longest stave ever required, and the 

 wood being held between hooks on the links, which tighten by their own 

 motion. The joints or hinges of the chain being carried in guides, nearly 

 horizontal, but curved so as to be highest in the middle position, or be- 

 tween the saws, the stave is in fact a chord of an arc, and the middle 

 passes the saws at a lower point, and where the saws are wider apart, than 

 do the ends. By properly proportioning the curve given to the guides, any 

 amount of swell may be given as required. A set of Hutchinson's ma- 

 chines, as now perfected for cutting, jointing and crozing, are stated by the 

 proprietor to make from 800 to 1,000 barrels per day. 



MELLEN'S CIRCULAR PLANER. 



It frequently occurs in the operations of the machine shop that portions 

 of cranks, arms, straps, cams, &c., requiring to be elegantly finished in a 

 curvilinear form, are so connected to other plane surfaces or projecting 

 portions as to preclude the possibility of their execution by any of the 



