Wheel Cutting Engine, c.1775
Unknown
France
Watchmakers need to make many wheels (the watchmaker's term for a gear) with teeth equally spaced around their circumference. Machine's such as this made dividing and cutting these wheels simpler. The large circular disk with small dots on its surface acts as a pattern for cutting teeth. The wheel to be cut is placed on the arbor above this disk. depending on the number of teeth needed, one of the rings of dots is chosen on the dial and the extended arm is placed on the dot. One tooth is cut. The pointer is then moved to the next dot in that row rotating both the disk and the wheel. he next tooth is cut. Following this process all around the wheel will cut a chosen number of teeth equidistant from one another.
This early wheel cutting engine would have been driven by hand using a hand wheel. This particular tool is missing a piece which would have sat over the wheel to be cut. This arm would hold the wheel tightly in place.
Donated by Mary Le B. Wood NAWCC #72007
81.79.2