CARVING BY MACHINERY 739 



or differently coloured material a number of thin pieces which -will fit these recesses, 

 and these nro produced in the same way from templets which will fit the various 

 apertures of that first used ; these pieces are next glued into the recesses, and tho 

 surface when planed and polished exhibits the pattern in the various colours used. 

 For inlaying it is important that the cutting edge of the tool should travel in the 

 same radius as the cylindrical shaft, which is kept against the edge of the templet ; 

 but if the tool is a moulded one, a counterpart of its mouldings will be produced in 

 the work, while tho pattern, in planes parallel to that of the panel, will have the form 

 of the apertures in the templet used. In this way, by great care in the preparation 

 of the templets and the tools, much of the gothic tracery used in church architecture 

 may be produced, but the process is more applicable to Bath stone than to wood when 

 moulded tools are requisite. 



Mr. Irving's patents for cutting ornamental forms in wood and stone are identical 

 in principles of action and in all important points of construction with the arrange- 

 ments previously described. In that of 1843 he particularly claims all combinations 

 for accomplishing the purpose, ' provided the swing frame which carries the cutter, 

 and also the table on which the article to be wrought is placed, have both the means 

 of circular motion.' The pierced templet is the guiding power, and tho work and 

 templet are fixed on a circular iron table, which is at liberty to revolve on its axis. 

 The swing frame which carries the cutter is single, as in Mr. Gibbs's curved moulding 

 machine, and its radius so adjusted, that an arc drawn by the tool would pass over 

 the centre of the circular table. The mode of operating with this machine was to 

 keep the shaft of the tool against the guiding edge of the templet, by the joint move- 

 ments of the table on its centre, and of the swing frame about its shaft ; and it will 

 be obvious that by this means any point of the table could be reached by the tool, and 

 therefore any pattern of moulded work within its range produced, in the way already 

 described in speaking of Mr. Gibbs's machinery. But as these modifications of the 

 original idea are not, strictly speaking, carving machines, seeing that they only pro- 

 duced curved mouldings, we need not further describe them. 



Perhaps the most perfect carving machine which has been made for strictly artistic 

 works is that used by Mr. Cheverton for obtaining his admirable miniature reduc- 

 tions of life-sized statuary ; but we can only judge of the perfection of this machine 

 by its work, seeing that the inventor has more faith in secrecy than patents, and has 

 not made it public. 



The carving machinery which is best known, and has been most extensively used, 

 is that invented by Mr. Jordan and patented in 1845, and was used in producing the 

 carved decorations of the interior of the Houses of Parliament. 



Its principle of action and its construction are widely different from that above 

 described, and it is capable of copying any carved design which can be produced, so 

 far as that is possible by revolving tools ; the smoothness of surface and sharpness of 

 finish is neither possible nor desirable, because a keen edge guided by a practised 

 hand will not only produce a better finish, but it will accomplish this part of the work 

 at less cost ; the only object of using machinery is to lessen the cost of production, or 

 to save time ; and in approaching towards the finish of a piece of carving, there is a 

 time when further progress of the work on the machine would be more expensive 

 than to finish it by hand. This arises from the necessity of using smaller tools 

 towards tho finish of the work to penetrate into its sharp recesses, and the neces- 

 sarily slow rate at which these cut away the material ; it is consequently a matter of 

 commercial calculation, how far it is desirable to finish on the machine, and when to 

 deliver it into the hands of the artist, so as to secure the greatest economy. This 

 depends in a great measure on the hardness of the material ; rosewood, ebony, box, 

 ivory, and statuary marble, should be wrought very nearly to a finish ; but lime, deal, 

 and other soft woods should only be roughly pointed. 



Fig. 436 is a plan of the machine, fig. 437 a front elevation, and fig. 438 a side 

 elevation. Tho same letters indicate the same parts in all the figures. The carving 

 machine consists of two distinct parts, each having its own peculiar motions quite in- 

 dependent of the other, but each capable of acting simultaneously and in unison with 

 the other. The first, or horizontal part, is the bod plate, ' floating-table,' &c., on 

 which the pattern and work are fixed ; all the motions of this part are horizontal. 

 The second, or vertical part, is that which carries^ the cutters and tracer, the only 

 motion of which, except the revolution of the tools, is vertical. 



Tho horizontal part consists of three castings : The bed plate A, B, c, D, which is 

 a railway supported on piers from the floor and fixed strictly level. The carrying 

 frame, i, J, K, L, mounted on wheels and travelling on the bed plate (the long sides of 

 this frame are planed into (v) rails), and the ' floating-table,' M, N, o, p, which is also 

 mounted on wheels to travel on the rails of the carrying frame. It is called the 

 1 floating-table ' because it can be moved in any horizontal direction with almoit as 



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