738 



CARVING BY MACHINERY 



CARVING BY MACHINERY is an art of comparatively modern date, nearly, 

 if not the whole of the originators and improvers of it, being men of the present 

 day. It is true that the Medallion Lathe and many other appliances for ornamental 

 turning and drilling can claim a much earlier origin, but these can scarcely be called 

 carving machines, and are altogether incapable of aiding the economy of producing 

 architectural decorations of any kind. We are not aware of any practical scheme 

 for accomplishing this object prior to the patent of Mr. Joseph Gibbs, in 1829, 

 which wo believe was used by Mr. Nash in ornamenting some of the floors of Buck- 

 ingham Palace, and on many other works of inlaying and tracery. The cutting of 

 ornamental forms in low relief seems to have been the principal object of the in- 

 ventor ; and this he accomplished satisfactorily by a series of ingenious mechanical 

 arrangements, which greatly reduced the cost, while securing unusual accuracy in 

 this kind of work. Some modifications of machinery for copying busts, bosses, and 

 other works in bold relief are also described in Mr. Gibbs's patents, but these were 

 never carried into successful practice. The tracery and inlaying machine is illus- 

 trated by fig. 436, which is a plan of the machine. A is a shaft capable of vertical 

 motion in its bearings, which are in the fixed framing of the machine ; u, c, and 

 D, E, are swing frames jointed together by a short vertical shaft a, and securely 

 keyed to the shaft A. The point b is the axis of a revolving tool, which is driven 



435 



by the belts c, d, e, and the compound pullies / g, h, which increase the speed at each 

 step ; F, G, H, is the table on which the work is fixed ; i, K, the work ; and Jc, I, a templet 

 of brass pierced with the horizontal form of the pattern to be produced in the wood ; 

 this templet is securely fixed on the top of the work, or over it, and the machine is 

 adjusted for action. 



There is a treadle, not shown in the figure, which enables the workman to lift or 

 depress the shaft A, and the swing frames and tool attaehed to it ; he can thus com- 

 mand the vertical position of the tool with his foot, and its horizontal position with 

 his hand by the handles m, n, which turn freely on a collar of the swing frame 

 surrounding the mandril or tool holder. The tool having been brought over one of 

 the apertures of the templet when in rapid action, is allowed to sink to a proper 

 depth in the wood underneath, and the smooth part of its shaft is then kept in contact 

 with the guiding edges of the templet and passed round and over the entire surface 

 of the figure, until a recess of tho exact size and form of that opening in the temp- 

 let is produced ; this process is repeated for every other opening, and thus a series of 

 recesses are formed in the oak flooring-planks which correspond with tho design of 

 the templets used. To complete the work it is requisite to cut out of some darker 



