Mr. Law was one of the early innovators of machines for cutting and jointing barrel staves; he developed a pair of machines, designed so that the output of the stave dresser fed directly into the stave jointer.

In January 1848 a letter from Judson & Pardee claimed that they had developed machines substantially similar to Mr. Law's, and had sold several of them, including to Wilmington, NC. They are "inclined to think" that Mr. Law got his ideas from seeing their machine. Six months earlier, the editors of Scientific American published a cryptic note to "H. L. of N. C." that read, "You will have perceived the description and drawing of Judson and Pardee's Stave Machine, and you will be the best judge what course to pursue."

Shortly after the Judson & Pardee letter was printed, Law wrote a response, itemizing the differences between the machines. For example, the Law jointer joints both edges simultaneously, where the Judson & Pardee machine requires two separate passes.

A December 1848 article in Scientific American said, "For working sawed staves we have seen in operation the stave dressing machine of Mr. [A.] Smith of Lockport, and three years ago we saw the one belonging to Mr. Randal in Albany, and we have likewise seen the ingenious machine of Judson & Pardee, of New Haven, Conn. for split staves but Mr. Law’s is entirely different in its construction and operation from these, and it does its work handsomely, finishing about 8 or 9 staves per minute."

Law also patented a planer that used a series of moving plane-blades; the cutting motion imitated that of hand-planes. Despite the lack of resemblance to the Woodworth planer, Law was one of four makers sued by the holders of the Woodworth patent; the others were Enos G. Allen, George W. Beardslee, and Nelson Barlow. Apparently Law, like the others, prevailed, because an ad from late 1853 Scientific American says that Law's planing machines were available from prominent New York dealer S. C. Hills.

Sometime between 1849 and 1864—and probably before 1853—Law relocated from North Carolina to New Jersey.

Information Sources

• Articles in 1848-1849 issues of Scientific American.