C. 1860s Rotating Wood and Cast Iron Meat Chopper

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c. 1862; Gregory W. Dechant - Berrysburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States

Large hand-cranked rotating sausage meat chopper constructed of … Read more c. 1862; Gregory W. Dechant - Berrysburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States

Large hand-cranked rotating sausage meat chopper constructed of a painted wood frame with iron gearing and hardware. The machine centers around a circular chopping block encircled by a ring of radial wooden cogs that index the block forward as the operator turns the side crank. Above the block rises a set of four vertical knife assemblies guided through a wooden frame; as the crank rotates, the gearing lifts and drops the knife banks while the cog wheel advances the chopping surface in measured increments. A broad wooden shovel plate at the front helps turn the meat beneath the descending blades, allowing the machine to repeatedly strike the surface in parallel strokes while the block rotates a fixed distance between cycles.

Patented April 22, 1862 by Gregory W. Dechant of Berrysburg, Pennsylvania, this "Improved Rotating Meat-Chopper" was designed to efficiently mince sausage meat through alternating intervals of motion and rest. The mechanism lifts the knife frames through geared arms and allows them to fall by gravity and spring tension, striking the chopping block while the indexing cog system advances the circular platform in quarter-turn increments. The heavy timber construction, large spoked iron drive wheel, and hand-operated crank reflect mid-19th-century butcher-shop engineering-simple, rugged, and built to withstand continuous use in small commercial meat processing operations. See less