Lemuel Hedge was a rule maker who had several patents. Most were related to rule-making; some, including one for a planing machine, may or may not have been intended for use in his rule-making operations. The text pages of this patent are missing from the USPTO's online database, but Paul Kebabian has discovered the missing pages. Hedge had some patents that were not reconstructed after the 1836 patent-office fire: “Spring pen ruler”, 1814-06-21; “Revolving ruler” (for drawing parallel lines on writing paper), 1817-03-03; “Machine for dying Morocco leather, etc.,” 1819-07-22. Cliff Fales provided the information on the manufacture of this design, and also provided the photos. The example in the photo is marked, “Clark & Co.”; some are marked “C & Co.” and some examples are unmarked. If you follow the link to the “Old Woodworking Machines” entry on Lemuel Hedge, you will find a link to a Cliff Fales article on this rule joint.

(To be filled in.)

• USPTO pdf
• "Vintage Machinery" entry for Lemuel Hedge