Scientific American Supplement, No. 620 | Page 6

render the same
services in sawing stone as in working wood and metals, for the reason
that quite a great stress is necessary to cause the advance of the stone
(which is in most cases very heavy) against the blade. Mr. A. Auguste,
however, has not stopped at such a consideration, or, better, he has got
round the difficulty by holding the block stationary and making the

blade act horizontally. Fig. 1 gives a general view of the apparatus; Fig.
2 gives a plan view; Fig. 3 is a transverse section; Fig. 4 is an end view;
Figs. 5, 6, and 7 show details of the water and sand distributer; and Figs.
8, 9, and 10 show the pulleys arranged for obtaining several slabs at
once.
[Illustration: FIG. 1 AUGUSTE'S STONE SAW.]
[Illustration: FIG. 2 AUGUSTE'S STONE SAW.]
[Illustration: FIGS. 3 and 4 AUGUSTE'S STONE SAW.]
[Illustration: FIGS. 5 through 10 AUGUSTE'S STONE SAW.]
The machine is wholly of cast iron. The frame consists of four columns,
A, bolted to a rectangular bed plate, A', and connected above by a
frame, B, that forms a table for the support of the transmission pieces,
as well as the iron ladders, a, and the platform, b, that supports the
water reservoirs, C, and sand receptacles, C'.
Between the two columns at the ends of the machine there are two
crosspieces, D and D', so arranged that they can move vertically, like
carriages. These pieces carry the axles of the pulleys, P and P', around
which the band saw, S, passes. In the center of the bed plate, A', which
is cast in two pieces connected by bolts, there are ties to which are
screwed iron rails, e, which form a railway over which the platform car,
E, carrying the stone is made to advance beneath the saw.
The saw consists of an endless band of steel, either smooth or provided
with teeth that are spaced according to the nature of the material to be
worked. It passes around the pulleys, P and P', which are each encircled
by a wide and stout band of rubber to cause the blade to adhere, and
which are likewise provided with two flanges. Of the latter, the upper
one is cast in a piece with the pulley, and the lower one is formed of
sections of a circle connected by screws. The pulley, P, is fast, and
carries along the saw; the other, P', is loose, and its hub is provided
with a bronze socket (Figs. 1 and 4). It is through this second pulley
that the blade is given the desired tension, and to this effect its axle is

forged with a small disk adjusted in a frame and traversed by a screw,
_d'_, which is maneuvered through a hand wheel. The extremities of
the crosspieces, D and D', are provided with brass sockets through
which the pieces slide up and down the columns, with slight friction,
under the action of the vertical screws, g and _g'_, within the columns.
A rotary motion is communicated to the four screws simultaneously by
the transmission arranged upon the frame. To this effect, the pulley, P,
which receives the motion and transmits it to the saw, has its axle, f,
prolonged, and grooved throughout its length in order that it may
always be carried along, whatever be the place it occupies, by the
hollow shaft, F, which is provided at the upper extremity with a bevel
wheel and two keys placed at the level of the bronze collars of its
support, G. The slider, D, is cast in a piece with the pillow block that
supports the shaft, f, and the bronze bushing of this pillow block is
arranged to receive a shoulder and an annular projection, both forged
with the shaft and designed to carry it, as well as the pulley, P, keyed to
its extremity. Now the latter, by its weight, exerts a pressure which
determines a sensible friction upon the bushing through this shoulder
and projection, and, in order to diminish the same, the bushing is
continuously moistened with a solution of soap and water through the
pipe, g, which runs from the reservoir, G'.
The saw is kept from deviating from its course by movable guides
placed on the sliders, D and D'. These guides, H and H', each consist of
a cast iron box fixed by a nut to the extremity of the arms, h and _h'_,
and coupled by crosspieces, j and _j'_, which keep them apart and give
the guides the necessary rigidity.
The shaft, m, mounted in pillow blocks fixed to the left extremity of the
frame, receives motion from the motor through the pulley, p, at the side
of which is mounted the loose pulley, p. This motion is transmitted by