Series editors' preface - Wood Tools

32 Conservation of Furniture
In 1805, Brunel took out a patent for large
circular saws particularly associated with
veneer-cutting and in 1807 developed the saw
further in association with block-making
machinery. The importance of large powered
saws for converting timber has been recognized
in the development of the timber, joinery
and furniture trades. However, one of the
most important developments was not on this
scale at all. The small circular saw of up to
seven inches diameter, often operated by a
treadle, was one of the keys to the success of
small-scale furniture-makers. This saw enabled
makers of cheap furniture to square up, mitre
and rabbet cleanly, accurately and quickly,
allowing the frames of cheap carcase work to
be simply rebated and nailed. This method of
rebating, using a circular saw, was particularly
useful for drawer-making, which was traditionally
a place for using dovetail joints. The
advantage of this cheap method was that a
dozen drawers could be made in the time it
took to dovetail joint just one. This obviously
had great advantages when such objects as
Davenports and chests were being made.
In the same way as saws, planing machines
had been developed by simply trying to replicate
the reciprocating human action and in
1776 the first machine was invented by
Leonard Hatton. Bentham improved upon this
patent, first with a reciprocating plane and then
with one based on the rotary principle. Joseph
Bramah developed a trying-up machine for use
in the Woolwich Arsenal that used a disc cutter
mounted on a vertical spindle. These
machines were called Daniels planers in the
United States and in later models all had horizontal
cutter blocks in place of the vertical
spindle. All subsequent planing machines were
then based on the rotary knife principle.
Attempts to apply machinery to joint cutting
again originated with Bentham and his comprehensive
patents of 1791 and 1793, but were
not commercially viable until the 1850s. In this
case it was the United States that led the way.
For example, the Burley dovetailing machine,
patented in 1855 was alleged to have been
able to produce seventy-five to one hundred
dovetail joints per hour. Improvements continued
to occur in these machines but one that is
worthy of special mention is the Knapp dovetailing
machine, patented in 1870. It has been
pointed out that this machine was significant
because it was the first machine that did not
attempt to reproduce the hand cut dovetail but
rather produced its own peculiar ‘modern
machined joint’. Ironically, interest in traditional
furniture towards the end of the century
contributed to the decline of this obviously
modern joint.
The development of bandsaws originated
with an invention by William Newberry in
1808. However, it was not until the success of
a Msr Perin of Paris, who produced a bandsaw
blade that lasted reasonably well, that the
machine was really viable and operated satisfactorily.
It was again the Woolwich Arsenal
that ordered some of the first to be used in
England in 1855. The fretsaw or jig or scroll
saw, developed from the simple marquetry cutter’s
saw, was one of the simplest and most
useful tools for the cabinetmaker. Often treadle-operated
with a single blade, it could cut
out intricate shapes, and satisfy the demand for
the most elaborate decoration.
The third group of machines includes two
different divisions. First, the patent processes
run by companies producing such items as
carvings, mouldings and embossed ornament
for sale to cabinetmakers (see below) and secondly,
the machines that allowed a cabinetmaker
to produce the decoration for his own
work. The most important of this second group
would seem to be the spindle or toupie moulder.
It was said that it was particularly useful
for Gothic or medieval work ‘as more chamfering
can be done by it in one hour than
could be done by handwork in a day’.
From a technical point of view the developments
in bent and laminated wood were
amongst the most innovative in the century.
Thonet, with his initial experiments in laminations
and subsequent bending of solid timber,
began the first large-scale production system
based on interchangeable parts in furnituremaking.
He introduced simple functional
designs which enabled him to have a commercial,
as well as technical success (Figure
1.21). John Henry Belter came from the same
tradition as Thonet but developed his ideas in
the United States. His patents related to the
bending of laminates of wood in two directions
around formers to shape such items as chair
backs and bed frames. Belter’s technique was
usually hidden behind a large amount of decorative
carving.