The saw-steadying apparatus, with which the saw bench we illustrate is fitted, is a novel arrangement, recently patented by Mr. Casson; in the present case it is applied to two saws.
The steadying arrangement consists of accurately fitted sliding jaws mounted on the arms of a forked support, so that they can be moved and adjusted only by fine threaded screws, the jaws having their surfaces next the saws, accurately parallel with the plane of the collar of the saw spindle; these jaws, A, are fixed when the adjusting screws are at rest, and they are faced with strips of greenheart or other suitable timber, secured by countersunk screw bolts, these faces forming a perfectly true guide for the saw blades.
For a single saw the guides just described would suffice; but for two or more saws the outside guides must be supplemented by others between the saw blades.
It will be noticed that the support, F, carrying the guiding jaws, has a square stem sliding through the head of a suitable standard, and it can be readily fixed at any desired height by means of the set screw.
[Illustration: BENCH WITH SAW-STEADYING APPARATUS.]
The arrangement we have been describing is well carried out, and there can be no doubt that it will do good service, and enable thin saws to be efficiently used with a heavy feed. We have received very satisfactory reports of its performance.
I will give $200 for a machine that will bale hay in the field. Rake and press combined would be preferable, but would not object to its taking the hay in the windrow. The machine must be expeditious, executing as fast as a mower is able to cut. Must have sufficient power to make a bale suitable for commercial uses; shape of the bale immaterial; a round one preferred. Must be of light draught; one team is generally all that is available for any machine on the farm. These, with the other qualifications demanded of every machine, simplicity, durability, easy to manage, etc. If such an invention could be produced it would make a revolution in the hay field almost equal to that which the mower has made.
What an awkward, ungainly spectacle a man presents, struggling at one end of a six foot pole, with a ten pound lock of hay at the other end, endeavoring with all his might and main to elevate it 12 or 15 feet on top of a load! It is an insult to human intelligence. A load of loose hay is an uncertain quantity. You are never sure of getting it into the barn. Top heavy, one sided, too wide or too high for the doors; and even with the best of luck, a good percentage has drizzled in the wake of the wagon over the lot to the barn. A 100 or 200 lb. bale, with an inclined plane, or a pulley on side or aft of a good strong rack, and all this barbarism has succumbed to civilization.