Guillotine cutting machine

A machine for cutting paper, on the principle of the French instrument of decapitation, from which it derives its name. This machine is of iron, with an iron or mahogany table on which to place the paper to be cut. A moveable gauge is attached to a slide, which runs in a graduated scale by which the size to be cut can be regulated to the sixteenth of an inch. When the paper is in its place it is held immovable by a platen and screw; a cog-wheel which moves in a ratchet attached to a large knife is turned, and tlu knife descends, cutting through the paper with great rapidity. The wheel is then reversed in its motion, and the knife ascends preparatory to a fresh cut.