Beginning in 1869, Myron T. Boult received a series of patents for carving and dovetailing machines. At first he manufactured them under his own name, but by 1873 his machines were being manufactured by the Battle Creek Machine Co.
Boult's machines were really the first pin routers. The stock has a pattern fixed on top of it. The stock is placed face-down on the machine table which has a router mounted below. Above the table, and in line with the axis of the router, is a metal pin that follows the pattern on top of the stock. In this way the cutting action of the router bit is constrained to follow the pattern.
information Sources
- Mentioned in the November 1872 Manufacturer & Builder as an exhibitor at that September's Cincinnati Industrial Exposition. "...M. P. Boult, Battle Creek, Michigan, a dove-tailing machine with but one spindle and quick reverse motion...">
- An ad in a 1920 issue of The Wood-Worker lists a used Boult single-spindle carving machine. Note that the Boult-designed machines made by Battle Creek Machine Co. prominently featured Boult's name.