PLATE-PLANING MACHINES,- The Niles Boiler-plate Planing MUchine.—Fig. 5 shows a boiler-plate planing machine, made by the Niles Tool Works. Hamilton, 0. It will bevel the edge and square up a mu-row caulking surface, plane plates 14 to 18 ft. long at one set ting. and is arranged to plane any length by resetting the sheet. There are two separate tools on the tool post.. The cut is taken both forward and back. A large steel screw oper ates the saddle. Brackets extend out from the back of the bed, carrying rollers for sup porting the sheet and facilitating handling. A heavy clamping bar holds the plate securely in position. The bar is raised and lowered by screws at each end. No intermediate screws arc required, hence the operation of setting is quickly accomplished. The driving pulleys are 24 in. diameter for a belt, and strongly geared to the screw. The screw is of steel. 31 in. diameter. 2 in. pitch, and is supported in a continuous bearing, preventing sag or deflection. The nut is of extra length and surrounds three-fourths the diameter of the screw.
Double Plate-planing .Machine.—Fig. 6 shows the Niles double plate-planing machine, which is designed to plane on two adjoining edges of plates at the same time. When plates are to be squared or planed to bevel shapes it is of great convenience to be able to do this at one setting of the plate. In the single plate planers, when work is to be planed on the end, the plate must be set by reference to the edge of the table. If the sheet is narrow, and is to be planed to any other angle than 90°, the setting becomes a difficult matter if any degree of precision is required. These difficulties are obviated by the use of double plate planers, and at the same time the work is performed both quicker and better. The front, or long side, of this machine is similar in construction to the single machines. It has a tool carriage 54 inches long, driven by a heavy steel screw, and carries two tool heads for cutting in both directions. One of these heads has compound and angular movement, as in ordinary planers, while the other has horizontal movement only. The end bed is pivoted at the right hand of the front bed. It is clamped to a heavy T-slotted sole plate, and can be adjusted 10° either way from a right angle by means of a rack and pinion. In this movement the bed carries with it a T-slotted table for holding and clamping the end of the plate. The tool car riage is driven independently in the same manner as the front one. It has one tool head only. with compound and angular adjustment. It cuts in one direction only and has quick return. The clamping bar is a heavy box girder rigidly secured to box housings bolted to
the long bed. The housings are overhanging, so that plates of any length may be planed by resetting. The clamping bar is placed at sufficient height to clear the end tool slide, and the work is held by screw jacks. A wide T-slotted table is placed at the back of the machine, suitable for holding large plates without the aid of auxiliary tables. Each tool carriage is driven and operated independently, except that a safety belt-shipping device is provided, by means of which the front tool carriage reverses the motion of the end carriage whenever there is danger of a collision between them.
Rotary Planers.—Figs. 7 and 8 show two forms of rotary planing machine, made by the Betts Machine Co., of Wilming ton, Del. These machines are spe cially designed f o r facing plane sur faces on columns, chords, etc., in iron bridge building, ar chitectural i ron work, and many other jobs where large numbers of pieces of the same kind are used; on this class of work they have advan tages over recipro cating planers; i many eases the finished work can be removed and replaced by new work while the machine is still facing at the opposite end. The cutters are secured in a heavy plate wheel, banded with wrought iron, and driven by worm and worm-wheel; this plate wheel has a heavy steel spindle and is carried in a travelling head on the bed plate, the work remaining stationary. They have automatic variable feeds, and the heads are moved back by an independent countershaft. In the machine shown in Fig. 7 the cutters are made adjustable. The spindles have an end adjustment, so that there is no necessity for moving the work to make the cut. These machines may have a cutter plate with fixed cutters put upon them, in place of the adjustable cutters, if so desired, and can be mounted on a turn table, and be swivelled through an angle of 90° by means of a pinion and segmental rack, the driving being so arranged as to permit this movement. This feature enables the pieces to be faced off at any angle, and saves the inconvenience of setting the work at an angle on the shop floor, thus economizing mom.
_Newton's Pillow-block Planing Machine is shown in Fig. 9. It is used for planing stationary engine beds to admit the brasses, and has an automatic feed both vertical and horizontal, with a range from the finest feed for roughing to a coarse feed for finishing. The carriage CUT' be adjusted to set the work. The machine will admit, work 30 in. high by 8 ft, wide.