466 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



every part of tlie stock is formed, and every perforation, groove, cavity, 

 and socket is cut in it, by machines tliat do their work witli such perfec- 

 tion as to awaken in all who witness the process a feeling- of astonishmeut 

 and deliglit. 



The general principle on which this machinery operates may perhaps be 

 made intelligible to the reader by description; but the great charm in 

 these processes consists in the high perfection and finish of the machines, 

 the smoothness, grace, and rapidity of their motions, and in the seemingly 

 miraculous character of the performances which they execute. 



The entire action of the various machines is regulated and guided by 

 patterns, which are models in iron of the various parts of the stock which 

 it is intended to form. 



The first machine in the stocking-room cuts the sides of the stock to the 

 proper form for turning. The second saws off the butt-end and cuts a 

 diagonal line at the breech. The third is armed with two circular saws, 

 which cut the upper part of the stock to the form of the finished arm. An 

 iron pattern of the stock is placed in the machine directly under the stock 

 to be turned, upon which rests a guide wheel, corresponding in size and 

 shape to the two saws above. The whole is then made to revolve very 

 rapidly, the guide-wheel controlling the action of the cutters, the result 

 being an exact wooden counterpart of the iron pattern. The fourth machine 

 forms the butt of the stock in the same manner. The next simply planes 

 three or four places upon the sides of the stock, for the purpose of affording 

 the subsequent machines certain fixed and accurate points for holding it in 

 the frames. This operation is called spotting. The next machine performs 

 six separate operations, namely: grooving for the barrel, breech-pin, and 

 tang, heading-down, milling, and finish-grooving. These various opera- 

 tions complete the stock for the exact fitting-in of the barrel. The next 

 machine planes the top, bottom and sides of the stock, and the succeeding 

 two are occupied in shaping and bedding for the butt plates. The next 

 machine is designed for fitting in the lock and is the most wonderful of all. 

 It contains two bits and three cutters pendent from a movable steel frame 

 situated above the stock. These cutters or borers are made to revolve 

 with immense velocity, and are susceptible of various other motions at the 

 pleasure of the workman. The inevitable iron pattern — the exact counter- 

 part of the cavity which is designed to be made for the reception of the 

 lock — is situated in close proximity to the stock, and a guide in the form 

 of the borer is inserted within the pattern, and controls the movements of 

 the borer. This is effected by causing tlie tool to revolve by means of 

 small machinery within the frame, while the frame and all within it move 

 together in the vertical and lateral motions. All that the workman has to 

 do is to bring the guide down into the pattern and move it about the cir- 

 cumference and through the center of it, the cutting tool imitating precisely 

 the motions of the guide, entering the wood and cutting its way in the most 

 perfect manner and with incredible rapidity, forming an exact duplicate of 

 the cavity in the pattern. It is on this principle, substantially, that all the 

 machines of the stocking-shop are constructed — every process, of course, 

 requiring its own peculiar mechanism. The next machine cuts for the 



