Collier gear cutting machine, c. 1850, with a Whitworth dividing wheel, dimension 4ft x 5ft x 7ft high.

The blank is carried on the spindle of a dividing wheel mounted on a carriage sliding between vertical guides. The wheel, which has 240 teeth, is driven by a worm geared down in the ratio 2: 1, and finally set by the handle engaging in a notched plate with 12 divisions. Provision is made for changing the intermediate gear ratio. The cutter is mounted on a horizontal slide bolted to the front of the frame. An adjustable stop is provided to support the blank near the point of cutting to prevent it from flexing. The original worm wheel was replaced by J. Whitworth 8 Co in the 1880's and the cutters date from the last 15 years of the nineteenth century.