head-block
(ˈhɛdblɒk)
† 1. A log put at the back of the chimney to keep the fire in by night: cf. head-brand in head n.1 74.
| 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. v. xix. 439 These Nether⁓lands being like the head-block in the chimney, where the fire of warre is alwayes kept in (though out every where else). |
2. In a saw-mill: The device for holding the log upon the carriage, while it is sawn.
| 1864 Webster, Head-block (Saw-mill), the movable cross⁓piece of a carriage on which the log rests. 1878 Sci. Amer. XXXVIII. 291 An improved head block..for saw mills. |
3. The piece which connects the wheel-plate or ‘fifth wheel’ of a carriage with the fore-body.
| 1875 in Knight Dict. Mech. 1884 Ibid. Suppl., Head Block Plate (Carriage), an iron resting on the fore-axle and supporting the head block. |
4. (See quot. 1905.)
| 1853 Trans. Mich. Agric. Soc. IV. 35 G. S. Snyder, Lancaster O. improved head block for setting logs on saw mills. 1905 Terms Forestry & Logging 39 Head block, the log placed under the front end of the skids in a skid⁓way to raise them to the desired height. |