Introduction This book ‘A Brief Account of Ibbetson’s Geometric Chuck’ was printed forthe author, John Holt Ibbetson, in 1833, published by A. Hancock of Middle Row Place, Holborn,and sold by Holtzapffel & Co, for five shillings. A limited facsimile edition was produced by theSociety of Ornamental Turners in 1950; at that time it was thought that there were only threecopies of the original book still in existence. This reproduction was taken from the copy thatbelonged to Norman Tweddle, founder member and first President of the Society. The printedbook was accompanied by a manuscript believed to have been written by Charles Holtzapffelwhich has many emendations, some written by Henry Perigal Jnr. However, both the typescriptand the manuscript were insufficiently legible to be printed so, to assist the reader, the originalprinted text has been re-typed and a typed version of the manuscript has been added.

There is a scanned version of the book available on the Internet but it has several pagesmissing and it does not include Charles Holtzapffel’s manuscript and Perigal’s notes reproducedhere.

Part 2Chapter 1

IBBETSON’S GEOMETRIC CHUCK

15-06-2013

Part 2

Introduction: When George Plant of Alsager, Cheshire, brought out his Geometric Chuck,there was a great controversy as to whether it was of his own design or not; he was accused ofcopying the design from William Hartley, from whom he had bought a Chuck. A long corresp-ondence ensued, published in English Mechanic magazine. Although quite amusing for thesometimes vitriolic language, it is not included here, but it may be seen on the compact disc of‘English Mechanic Ornamental Turning References’ available from www.englishmechanic.com.This section comprises:-Several articles from English Mechanic magazine describing the Chuck and how it was made,and showing specimens of patterns cut with it. Various Tables of Settings for the Chuck aregiven in Part 4, Appendix. To fill the superfluous spaces between the magazine articles aselection of Pictures of Geometric Chuck patterns by well-known ornamental turners have beeninserted.

There follows a series of articles from Amateur Mechanics magazine entitled ‘Plant’sGeometric Chuck’ with detailed drawings; the publication commenced in March 1883. Thischapter concludes with two pictures of William Hartley’s Geometric Chuck.

Plant’s Geometric Chucks - 5 Stages - too many to be mounted horizontally?photograph courtesy of the owners

Part 2Chapter 2

PLANT’S GEOMETRIC CHUCK

IntroductionHenry Perigal Jnr was a friend of John Holt Ibbetson, the inventor of the Geometric Chuck andwith the aid of that instrument Perigal investigated and illustrated the system of curvilinearmotion. There is no bibliographical record of his writings but here are some of his publishedpapers which are reproduced by courtesy of The Society of Ornamental Turners.They were found among the collection of the late John Leggatt, co-author of the ‘Bibliography ofthe Art of Turning and Lathe and Machine Tool History’. They comprise:

Contributions to Kinematics The classification of Bi-circloids, defined ascurves of two curvatures in the same plane; the resultant of two circular movementsby H Perigal Jnr. August 1849................................................................................................................................ 286

Bi-circloids Classification of the first 200 curves resulting from two circular movementswith analytical demonstrations of the Moon’s orbital revolution and axial rotation;by H Perigal Jnr. August 1849 ................................................................................................................................286

Ellipses An explanation of Ellipses including the settings for 32 ellipses of differentratios and eccentricities; by H Perigal Jnr. October 1855 ...................................................................................291

Easy rule for forming all Epicyclical Curves by S.M.Drach, September 1848and November 1849, taken from the London, Edinburgh & Dublin Philosophical Magazine& Journal of Science, January 1850.........................................................................................................................300

Formulizing all Epicyclic Curves no date...............................................................................................301

General Equations of Bi-circloids no date...............................................................................................302

Geometric Maps Exhibiting the methods of delineating curves through theintersection of trigonometric lines; by Henry Perigal Jnr. 1853.............................................................................302

Kinematic Bi-circloids by Henry Perigal Jnr. February 1853...............................................................305

Kinematic Curves The resultant of a combination of curved movements;by Henry Perigal Jnr. April 1859...............................................................................................................................306

Enumeration of Bi-circloids classified according to the number of their loops;by Henry Perigal Jnr. August 1849...........................................................................................................................308

General Equations of Bi-circloids by Henry Perigal Jnr. February 1853..........................................308

The Magic Square of the Knight’s March by William Beverley; from theLondon, Edinburgh & Dublin Philosophical Magazine & Journal of Science, August 1848....................................308

The Misuse of Technical Terms Ambiguity of the terms ‘Rotation’ and ‘Revolution’by Henry Perigal Jnr. November 1849....................................................................................................................310

Transformation of Kinematic Bi-circloids Curves of two curvatures(in the same plane) the resultants of two circular movements. 152 figures generatedmechanically with the necessary settings for reproducing them on a Geometric Chuck...........................................311- 316

Part 2Chapter 3

PERIGAL’S PAPERS

IntroductionEdwin W. Alabone published two books of fine geometric chuck patterns: ‘Multo-

Epicycloidal and Other Geometric Curves (c.1910) and ‘Poly-Cyclo-Epicycloidal and OtherGeometric Curves’ (1912). In 2007 a third book, amateur-made, containing original patterns,probably bound by Alabone himself was acquired by Steve Uphill, a member of the Societyof Ornamental Turners. According to the family it was a gift by Alabone to his wife as amemento of his work. The Compiler is indebted to Steve for scanning all the patterns toprovide digital images which he cleaned and repaired, removing foxing and other markswhere possible; so they are, in fact, clearer than they can be seen in the original book.

There is considerable duplication of patterns among the three books, but what is mostinteresting about this amateur production is that, unlike those in his published works, someof the patterns are annotated with the settings Alabone used to make them. His annotation issomewhat cryptic so may not be completely sufficient to enable the reader to replicate thepatterns.

Not all the patterns turned out perfectly, but it should be remembered that Alabone wasworking with liquid inks in reservoirs and to complete some of the patterns took more thanfour hours of steady winding of a handle.

The book is now in the library of the Society of Ornamental Turners. Some of thepatterns in the book are almost invisible because the paper has oxidised and some of thecoloured inks have faded badly.

This selection of the best patterns is reproduced here by courtesy of the Society.

See the last page in this chapter for Alabone’s settings.

A selection of patterns from the amateur-made bookby Edwin W. Alabone

Page 1 Plate 2Page 1 Plate 1

Part 2Chapter 4

ALABONE’S GEOMETRICPATTERNS

Introduction The first part of this chapter comprises: Scans of originalGeometric Chuck patterns made personally by H. S. Savory and George Plant. Savorywrote the book ‘Geometric Turning’ a descript-ion of Plant’s Chuck with prints of anddirections for making a great number of patterns. More patterns from this collection maybe seen in chapter 6, ‘The Epicycloidal Cutting Frame’.

Next is: ‘The Geometric Chuck Adapter’ an article written for Wood magazine inAugust 1951 by S G Askey, a former Vice-President of the Society of OrnamentalTurners.

Then follows 11 Plates of drawings of Suardi’s Geometric Pen and patterns madewith it, taken from the book ‘A New Instrument for the Description of Diverse Curves,Antique and Modern’ by Giambatista Suardi, of Brescia (1752). Also an incomplete copyof the text from ‘Of the Geometric Pen’ a reference from Brewster’s Cyclopaediadescribing the Geometric Pen of Suardi and with an illustration of a similar pen made byGeorge Adams (1759-1795).Then there is a short article on ‘Wilcox’s Circloidal Chuck’, probably written in 1816 butpublished in 1842 by the inventor, James Wilcox, for the Magazine of Science. Thisarticle is said to have inspired William Hartley to make his Geometric Chuck. Finally,there is the first known drawing of the Epicycloidal Chuck from Bergeron’s Manuel DuTourneur, first published in 1796.

A fine 4-stage Geometric Chuckformerly the property of E. W. Alabone

photograph by Alabone restored by Steve Uphill,the Chuck is now in the Science Museum, London.

Part 2Chapter 5

MISCELLANEOUS GEOMETRICCHUCK PAPERS

IntroductionThe first part of this section comprises: Manuscript Notes supplied by Holtzapffel & Co

to buyers of the Epicycloidal Cutting Frame. They were handwritten by a copyist andseveral different versions of the notes were produced as the master copy was altered toimprove its clarity or to cater for the special requirements of the client. For example, theversion shown here includes a table of settings for Plant’s Geometric Chuck whereas it isprobable that most customers would have bought the Ibbetson’s Geometric Chuck whichwas the type made and supplied by Holtzapffel & Co.

The second part comprises: Epicycloidal Cutting Frame Patterns from originalwoodcuts with their settings; believed to be by H. S. Savory, the author of GeometricTurning’ (1883), as they were part of a collection of Geometric Chuck patterns by him withwriting in the same hand.

Finally, there is a description of the gear-train that Holtzapffel & Co produced for aselect few customers at the end of the era; Bazley was one such. The accessory is a gear-train for connecting the Epicycloidal Cutting Frame to the Spiral Apparatus. This addition,shown at the end of this chapter, allows the Epicycloidal Cutting Frame to perform thefunction of a single stage Geometric Chuck.

Part 2Chapter 6

THE EPICYCLOIDALCUTTING FRAME

This fine Epicycloidal Cutting Frame belongs with Holtzapf-fel lathe No.2482. This lathe and all its accessories are in virtu-ally new condition; many parts being completely un-used.