1845.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



121 



driving agricultural and other machines. Figs. 8, 9, and 10, show a sido 

 view, a plan and an end view of one ol the machines ; it is mounted on wheels 

 or rollers, to facilitate its transportation from one place to another and its 

 adaptation to various kinds of work ; it has a strong wooden or iron framing 

 n, which carries a liorizontal crank sliaft b ; one end carries a large fly wheel 

 d, and the other end a band or drivii g wheel i-. There is also a horizontal 

 lever/, connected at i ne end by means of a vertical rod It, to the crank of tlie 

 shaft, and at its opposite extremity to tlie lower end of a vertical rod /; which 

 is moved up and down in guides^, liNed to the framework of the machine by 

 means of vibrating arms or levers t, and chains or straps wi. Tlio patentee 

 proposes to increase the speed of the engine by gearing consisting of a large 

 joothed wheel », on the crank shaft, wliicli takes into and drives a pinion o, 

 on another shafl p, which carries a band wheel to drive thrasliing or other 

 machinery, in place of the band wheel on the before-mentioned cranked shaft. 

 The lovers have a vertical action of 35 to 40 sirukes per minute. The fly 

 wheel revolves on anti-friction wheels ; which nearly prevents all friction. 

 The power is attached to the machine by means of a clutch on the driving 

 shaft b, to which is affixed a driving rod, universal joint, and friction couple ; 

 the friction coupling is to prev.-nt the machine being injured, should any 

 hard substance get into it, in which case the coupling revolves round the 

 shaft without driung the mill. The drum for a thrashing machine driven by 

 this power is two feet six in. in len'»ili, and 18 in. in diameter, and can thrash 

 120 bushels of barley or oats in 10 hours, and a proportionate quantity of 

 wheat, according to the yielding and length of straw. The specificalion 

 shows other modifications of the machine in one, there are two cranks shonn 

 on the driving shaft b, by which means a regular and powerful motion is 

 communicated to the machine, one of the levers being alternately in full ac- 

 tion. 



GLAS3 fiU.\RRIES. 



Arthur Powell and N.vthaniel Powell, of Whilefriars Glass Works, 

 London, glass manufacturers, for " Improvements in the manufacture ofqunrries 

 and other panes of glass for ujinrfowj."— Granted July 30, 1844; Enrolled Jan. 

 1845. 



Instead of blowing glassinto globular or cylindrical forms by the ordinary 

 process, llie patentees propose to make quarries or other panes of glass either 

 jdain or ornamental by casting the glass "metal'' into iron or brass moulds 

 with a sinking of the proposed ornament, and afterwards pressing it under a 

 fly press, when a quarry or pane with a plain surface on one side and an or- 

 namental surface on the other is produced ; the glass is then annealed in the 

 usual manner, and the rough edges trimmed. 



The claim is for the manufacture of ((uarries, or panes of glass, with plain 

 or ornamental surfaces for windows by means of dies and pressure. 



MACHINERY FOR CARVING. 



A patent having been taken out some time since for a method of carving 

 wood and stone by machinery, a large manufactory has been established by 

 Mr. Piatt, of Bond Street, at Pimlico, for the purpose of working it. The 

 uses to which it is at present princiiially applied are to carve elaborate foliated 

 tracery, crockets, finials, &c., require I tor external and internal paneling in 

 wood and stone for churches. The rapidity and consequent economy with 

 which the work is effected are astonishing. We saw, on a recent visit a small 

 piece of trefoil panelling in stone finished in 15 minutes, which by the ordi- 

 nary processes would employ a skilful workman a whole day. Nor is the 

 rapidity of execution detrimental to the accuracy and finish of the workman- 

 ship. We carefully examined a great number of the specimens, and were 

 satisfied that the materials were not susceptible of more perfect finish. In 

 the crockets, finials, bosses, and other solid work, inded, much has to be done 

 by hand after the mechanical work is finished, The mechanism here only 

 cuts away the larger parts, and prepares a ground for the hand ot the carver. 

 But in panelling little or nothinfj is left to manual skill ; all that is requisite 

 is to retouch some of the aculer angles of the tracery. 



The machinery by which these wonderful processes arc effected is, like 

 all valuable machinery, very simple. Many of our readers have probably 

 seen the experiment, which used to be performed in the Adelaide Gallery, of 

 cutting through the hardest steel files by a circular disc of soft iron which 

 revolved with very great velocity. This principle of increasing the efficiency 

 of cutting tools by making them revolve with great rapidity is utilised in the 

 present patent. Drills of various shapes are caused by steam power tu revolve 

 rapidly in a vertical position. The extremities of the drills are serrated, and 

 it is therefore obvious that they will rapidly cut through wood or stone when 

 presented to them. By guiding the wood or stone in a proper manner the 

 drills may be made to cut them into any form required. 



This is the general principle. The following ia the manner in wliich it is 



carried into effect for carving an oak panel. A slab of solid oak is' firmly 

 fixed to a flat table which is capable of turning on its centre. On the slab is 

 closely screwed a template of iron, in which apertures are cut corresponding 

 in form with the parts tu be incised in the oak. The revolving drill is sup- 

 ported by a radial bracket, which can swing horizontally, and can be raised 

 I r lowered as may be desired when set to work. The workman depresses the 

 drill and brings it to bear on one of the portions of the slab which appears 

 through the apertures of the template; and by slightly turning either the 

 bracket of the drill or the table, he can bring the drill to act on any part of 

 the slab. Consequently by guiding the drill all round the edge of the aper- 

 ture of the template, he speedily cuts away the wood to an uniform depth and 

 of the exact shape of the pattern. The wood has now been pierced through 

 to the rei|uisite pattern, but the edges of the parts inci-sed are plain and per- 

 pendicular to the sunken. These plain edges must be converted into mould- 

 ings, and for this purpose fresh drills are substituted, the template still remain- 

 ing. These drills vary in shape according to the moulding required ; they 

 are, as before, worked round the edges of the pattern, and by under-cutting 

 laterally produce the desired forms. 



The invention is capable of extension to many purposes beyond those to 

 which it Is at present confined ; chimney pieces, furniture of elaborate pat- 

 tern, and articles of slate may be produced at a greatly diminished cost. 

 Carved furniture and panelling which have hitherto been confined to the 

 palace and the mansion, may by these means find place in far humbler dwel- 

 lings. 



The mechanism which Mr. Pratt has constructed for such important objects 

 must be valuable in every respect ; and we deem it no small part of the benefit 

 arising from the construction of a great public work like the Palace at West- 

 minster, that men are thereby stimulated to the discovery of such inventions 

 as the present. We should state that the invention is due to a Mr. Irving, 

 who attends to the working of the machinery, Mr. Pratt is now engaged in 

 constructing a roof for Great Malvern Abbey, full of tracery, including the 

 tie beams and spandrels ; the dimensions of the roof are 00ft. in length and 

 30 ft. in breadtli ; the cost, including the wainscot, will not be more than 

 £1500, and it is to be finished within 8 months after the order was given. 

 The cost of such a roof constructed by manual labour would be at least from 

 £5000 to i'fiOOO. A piece of tracery containing 2 square feet and 2 inches thick 

 will not cost more than 14s., including 'he oak. We must not omit to men- 

 tion that Mr. Pratt has engaged Mr. Billings, well knovvn by his works con- 

 nected with Gothic Architecture, to attend to the architectural department. 



We are informed that the principal part of the decorations in oak of the 

 interior of the New Houses of Parliament is to be executed by the aid of 

 this machinery. 



VANGUARD STEAM SHIP WRECK. 

 This magnificent vessel, the property of the Dublin, Glasgow and Cork 

 Steam Packet Company, which was wrecked on the south coast of Ireland, 

 has happily been rescued from her perilous situation ; she was on her passage 

 from Dublin to Cork when the unfortunate occurrence took place. The mo- 

 ment the Captain discovered the proximity of the vessel to the rocks, from 

 the breakers a-head, an order was given to reverse the engines, but a heavy 

 sea striking her at the moment, threw her with fearful violence on a sharp 

 reef of rocks, which so injured her that little hope was entertained of getting 

 her off ; it was the opinion of several naval men who saw her, that from the 

 exposed position in which she lay, together with the injuries she had re- 

 ceived, all endeavours to save her would prove futile. In consequence the 

 cirgo was discharged as quickly as possible, and evi ry thing that could be 

 removed, even her cabin fittings, were taken away. In the mean time the agents 

 to the Company arrived from Dublin, and solicited the assistance of several 

 neighbouring shipwrights to get ofl the vessel ; some, however, conceived it 

 impracticable, whilst others refused to undertake it for less than 4 or 5000/. 

 In this yate of things. Captain White, the Harbour Master of Cork was ap- 

 plied to, in consequence of his having succeeded on former occasions in getting 

 off vessels very similarly circumstance 1. On his acceding to the wishes of 

 the agents, the following plan was put into execution under his direclio i ; it 

 may be well to premise that the Vanguard is built of iron, and fitted with 

 three water-tight hulk-heads; the latter much facilitated the subsequent ope- 

 rations. On ascertaining the amount of injury the vessel had received, which 

 w-is principally in the stern, the stern-post being carried away, and the bot- 

 tom much broken, it was deemed advisable to putin her a false timber bottom 

 from the stern-post to the first bulk-head, this was well caulked and shored 

 down by means of cross pieces and struts from the beams above ; under this 

 false bottom was placed a number of empty bags, which were on board the 

 vessel, these being well trampled down, stoiiped some of the smaller holes, 

 and thus assisted in keeping out the water ; from the extreme narrowness of 

 the stern it was difficult to stop thoroughly all the leaks, in con.sequence one 

 of the ship's sails was lowered over the side filleil with oakum, and being 



