Rosette cutting machine and accessories

This machine was used for many years by Holtzapffel & Co for making rosettes for their ornamental turning lathes. By the use of various combinations of gears and cams a very large number of different contours may be produced.

The rosette is secured to the nose of a headstock which is slowly rotated through a train of gears and which can be swung through an angle of 90 degrees for cutting on either the edge or the face of the rosette. The other end of the train drives the vertical spindle No I carrying a forming cam, which is in contact with a long lever pivoted near one end and held against the cam by a spring. This lever operates the transverse slide of the cutter frame. It will thus be seen that, as the rosette rotates, the cutter moves inwards and outwards at a speed and in a manner determined by the train of gears employed and the shape of the forming cam. These two quantities, each of which can be varied, determine the general character of the design.

A further variation may be introduced by altering the amplitude of the cutter's transverse movement by shifting the fulcrum of the lever nearer to or farther from the cam, thus making the waves on the rosette shallower or deeper.

Provision is also made for forming 'flats' on the rosette by suspending the transverse movement of the cutter during a part of the revolution of the rosette, or at intervals during its revolution. This is accomplished by means of the vertical spindle No 2 on which are mounted two cams, one at the lower end which forces the lever clear of the forming cam on spindle No 1 and another at the top which then lifts the lever onto a plain circular ring mounted above the forming cam.

Yet another variation may be added by using a second forming cam above the first on spindle No 1 in place of the ring and thus two designs may be cut successively on the rosette, the amount of arc occupied by each depending on the shapes of the cams on spindle No 2.

The cutter frame is provided with longitudinal to-and-fro movement in order to take the cutting edges across the face of the work.

The machine was the only one of its kind constructed and was built largely of parts adapted from other machines.