Left: Circular Planing Machine. Right: Detail showing cutter. The Illustrated London News (7 December 1850): 433. Source: An Internet Archive online version of a copy in the University of Michigan Library. Click on image to enlarge it.
Planing and Adzing Machinery. Text from The Illustrated London News
The Machinery . . . is fixed on a long deal bench, breast-high from the floor, supported on square deal legs and cross-bearers, the whole being about 23 feet long. At the back of the bench is a longitudinal rail of deal,adjustable by vertical iron guides or fences, by which the boards, planks, or battens are kept in their proper position on the bench, while passing forward to undergo the process of planing or thicknessing. One of the attendants, who places the plank on the bench, also presses his hand against the outer edge, so us to keep the other edge close to the fence. One plank follows close to another, until a given number are completed. The plank is pulled forward towards the plane by means of an endless chain composed of 6-inch open links. This chain passes, at one end of the bench, over a 9-inch vertical pulley running in proper bearings placed in an upright frame of wood; and, at the other end, the links fit into eight tappets, which project from a solid circular wheel of the same diameter as that of the pulley: by means of proper dogs, or claws, the planks are connected with the chain. When the first plank to be planed reaches the roller-carriage, which is above the planes, it passes under six pressure-rollers, each of 5 1/2 inches diameter, the whole being adjusted by a lever and weight. Beneath the roller-carriage are set in the bench three planes, each at an angle of about 5 decrees, by which the under surface of the plank or batten is thoroughly planed. The plank is then carried forward to be cut (if required) to its proper width, by means of two vertical saws, one on either side of the bench, and adjusted to the required gauge.
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Last modified 21 August 2017