Object Record
Images
Additional Images [7]
Metadata
Object Name |
Tool, Watchmaking |
Catalog Number |
81.79.2 |
Collection |
Tool |
Other Name |
Wheel Cutting Engine |
Date |
1765-1785 |
Description |
Wheel cutting tool used to cut teeth in a wheel , missing the "stationary" or "gallows". Watchmakers needed to make many wheels, the watchmakers term for a gear, with teeth equally spaced around their circumference. Machines 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 the teeth. The wheel to be cut is placed on the arbor above the disc. Depending on the number of teeth needed, one of the rings of dots is chosen on the dial and the extended arm 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 disc and the wheel. The next tooth is cut. Following this process all around the wheel will cut the chosen number of teeth equidistant from one another. This early wheel cutting engine would have been driven by hand using the crank seen on the side. 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. |
Maker |
unknown |
Material |
iron |
Place of Origin |
France |
Notes |
A 29909 3 slides in slide cabinet 1 16 1/4IN FRAME 12IN PLATE |