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Manufacturers Index - L. D. Howard

L. D. Howard
St. Johnsbury, VT, U.S.A.
Manufacturer Class: Wood Working Machinery & Metal Working Machinery

Patents
This page contains information on patents issued to this manufacturer.

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Patent Number Date Title Name City Description
70,570 Nov. 05, 1867 Improvement in bevels Leonard D. Howard St. Johnsbury, VT Typical bevel with the patented item the screw and nut recessed to be flush with the bevel surface as well as the "cup" that they are contained in.
This bevel was made by the Star Tool Co. and, according to the EAIA Directory of American Toolmakers, some bevels were reported marked with Howard's name.
Known examples (pictures 3 and 5) manufactured with bronze body. Known example (picture 4) with graduations on blade
92,970 Jul. 27, 1869 Improved shutter-fastener Leonard D. Howard St. Johnsbury, VT
96,700 Nov. 09, 1869 Improvement in tool for opening boxes Leonard D. Howard St. Johnsbury, VT Of interest because Howard manufactured both woodworking tools (a sliding bevel) and woodworking machines (a miter-cutting tablesaw).
103,335 May. 24, 1870 Improvement in saw-bucks Leonard D. Howard St. Johnsbury, VT
111,746 Feb. 14, 1871 Improvement in adjustable bevels Leonard D. Howard St. Johnsbury, VT
111,747 Feb. 14, 1871 Improvement in clothes-driers Leonard D. Howard St. Johnsbury, VT Of interest because Howard manufactured both woodworking tools (a sliding bevel) and woodworking machines (a miter-cutting tablesaw).
126,549 May. 07, 1872 Improvement in rein-holders for carriages Leonard D. Howard St. Johnsbury, VT
2,120 Mar. 01, 1873 Rein-holder Leonard D. Howard St. Johnsbury, VT "Constructed of brass or other metal and attached to the dasher of a carriage. It consists of a pair of serrated jaws pivoted to a plate and geared together so as to operate in unison and combined with springs which cause them to grip the reins."
Patent term was 5 years.
183,397 Oct. 17, 1876 Improvement in mitering-machines Leonard D. Howard St. Johnsbury, VT This tilting-arbor sliding table saw design uses a "trunnion" on the outboard end of the arbor, which is moved to adjust the angle. The end of the arbor nearer the blade pivots about a shaft. A pulley on the shaft receives power via a flat belt from a large pulley at the rear (outfeed) of the saw, an arrangement that did not work well because as the saw was tilted the belt would get tighter on one edge and looser on the other, which led to the belt migrating off the arbor pulley. We are told that most users gave up on tilting the blade and kept it at right angles to the top so that the belt tracked properly.
Like all other tilting-arbor designs of the day, the Howard patent saw was ultimately obsoleted by John Connell's 1878 invention of the tablesaw trunnion that maintained a fixed line of intersection between the tabletop and one surface of the tilting sawblade; see patent 210,100. But it took a while for the superiority of the Connell design to be understood and in the meantime L. D. Howard had good success with his saw.
314,843 Mar. 31, 1885 Miter-sawing machine Leonard D. Howard St. Johnsbury, VT The innovation in this design is that as the blade is raised and lowered, the arbor remains a fixed distance from the plane defining the front edge of the table. The design was later improved in patent 356,642.
324,323 Aug. 11, 1885 Combined try-square and bevel Leonard D. Howard St. Johnsbury, VT
356,642 Jan. 25, 1887 Machine-table Leonard D. Howard St. Johnsbury, VT Improvements to patent 314,843.
513,326 Jan. 23, 1894 Power-hammer Leonard D. Howard St. Johnsbury, VT
657,114 Sep. 04, 1900 Power-hammer Leonard D. Howard St. Johnsbury, VT
709,577 Sep. 23, 1902 Drop-hammer Leonard D. Howard St. Johnsbury, VT