English and American Tool Builders

SUBJECT AREA: Mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic engineering

[br]

[br]

[br]

Edward Payson Bullard served his apprenticeship at the Whitin Machine Works, Whitinsville, Massachusetts, and worked at the Colt Armory in Hartford, Connecticut, until 1863; he then entered the employ of Pratt \& Whitney, also in Hartford. He later formed a partnership with J.H.Prest and William Parsons manufacturing millwork and tools, the firm being known as Bullard \& Prest. In 1866 Bullard organized the Norwalk Iron Works Company of Norwalk, Connecticut, but afterwards withdrew and continued the business in Hartford. In 1868 the firm of Bullard \& Prest was dissolved and Bullard became Superintendent of a large machine shop in Athens, Georgia. He later organized the machine tool department of Post \& Co. at Cincinnati, and in 1872 he was made General Superintendent of the Gill Car Works at Columbus, Ohio. In 1875 he established a machinery business in Beekman Street, New York, under the name of Allis, Bullard \& Co. Mr Allis withdrew in 1877, and the Bullard Machine Company was organized.

In 1880 Bullard secured entire control of the business and also became owner of the Bridgeport Machine Tool Works, Bridgeport, Connecticut. In 1883 he designed his first vertical boring and turning mill with a single head and belt feed and a 37 in. (94 cm) capacity; this was the first small boring machine designed to do the accurate work previously done on the face plate of a lathe. In 1889 Bullard gave up his New York interests and concentrated his entire attention on manufacturing at Bridgeport, the business being incorporated in 1894 as the Bullard Machine Tool Company. The company specialized in the construction of boring machines, the design being developed so that it became essentially a vertical turret lathe. After Bullard's death, his son Edward Payson Bullard II (b. 10 July 1872 Columbus, Ohio, USA; d. 26 June 1953 Fairfield, Connecticut, USA) continued as head of the company and further developed the boring machine into a vertical multi-spindle automatic lathe which he called the "Mult-au-matic" lathe. Both father and son were members of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

[br]

SUBJECT AREA: Mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic engineering

[br]

[br]

[br]

Joseph Rogers Brown was the eldest son of David Brown, who was modestly established as a maker of and dealer in clocks and watches. Joseph assisted his father during school vacations and at the age of 17 left to obtain training as a machinist. In 1829 he joined his father in the manufacture of tower clocks at Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and two years later went into business for himself in Pawtucket making lathes and small tools. In 1833 he rejoined his father in Providence, Rhode Island, as a partner in the manufacture of docks, watches and surveying and mathematical instruments. David Brown retired in 1841.

J.R.Brown invented and built in 1850 a linear dividing engine which was the first automatic machine for graduating rules in the United States. In 1851 he brought out the vernier calliper, the first application of a vernier scale in a workshop measuring tool. Lucian Sharpe was taken into partnership in 1853 and the firm became J.R.Brown \& Sharpe; in 1868 the firm was incorporated as the Brown \& Sharpe Manufacturing Company.

In 1855 Brown invented a precision gear-cutting machine to make clock gears. The firm obtained in 1861 a contract to make Wilcox \& Gibbs sewing machines and gave up the manufacture of clocks. At about this time F.W. Howe of the Providence Tool Company arranged for Brown \& Sharpe to make a turret lathe required for the manufacture of muskets. This was basically Howe's design, but Brown added a few features, and it was the first machine tool built for sale by the Brown \& Sharpe Company. It was followed in 1862 by the universal milling machine invented by Brown initially for making twist drills. Particularly for cutting gear teeth, Brown invented in 1864 a formed milling cutter which could be sharpened without changing its profile. In 1867 the need for an instrument for checking the thickness of sheet material became apparent, and in August of that year J.R.Brown and L.Sharpe visited the Paris Exhibition and saw a micrometer calliper invented by Jean Laurent Palmer in 1848. They recognized its possibilities and with a few developments marketed it as a convenient, hand-held measuring instrument. Grinding lathes were made by Brown \& Sharpe in the early 1860s, and from 1868 a universal grinding machine was developed, with the first one being completed in 1876. The patent for this machine was granted after Brown's sudden death while on holiday.

[br]

SUBJECT AREA: Mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic engineering, Weapons and armour

[br]

[br]

[br]

Frederick W.Howe attended local schools until the age of 16 and then entered the machine shop of Gay \& Silver at North Chelmsford, Massachusetts, as an apprentice and remained with that firm for nine years. He then joined Robbins, Kendall \& Lawrence of Windsor, Vermont, as Assistant to Richard S. Lawrence in designing machine tools. A year later (1848) he was made Plant Superintendent. During his time with this firm, Howe designed a profiling machine which was used in all gun shops in the United States: a barrel-drilling and rifling machine, and the first commercially successful milling machine. Robbins \& Lawrence took to the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London, England, a set of rifles built on the interchangeable system. The interest this created resulted in a visit of some members of the British Royal Small Arms Commission to America and subsequently in an order for 150 machine tools, jigs and fixtures from Robbins \& Lawrence, to be installed at the small-arms factory at Enfield. From 1853 to 1856 Howe was in charge of the design and building of these machines. In 1856 he established his own armoury at Newark, New Jersey, but transferred after two years to Middletown, Connecticut, where he continued the manufacture of small arms until the outbreak of the Civil War. He then became Superintendent of the armoury of the Providence Tool Company at Providence, Rhode Island, and served in that capacity until the end of the war. In 1865 he went to Bridgeport, Connecticut, to assist Elias Howe with the manufacture of his sewing machine. After the death of Elias Howe, Frederick Howe returned to Providence to join the Brown \& Sharpe Manufacturing Company. As Superintendent of that establishment he worked with Joseph R. Brown in the development of many of the firm's products, including machinery for the Wilcox \& Gibbs sewing machine then being made by Brown \& Sharpe. From 1876 Howe was in business on his own account as a consulting mechanical engineer and in his later years he was engaged in the development of shoe machinery and in designing a one-finger typewriter, which, however, was never completed. He was granted several patents, mainly in the fields of machine tools and firearms. As a designer, Howe was said to have been a perfectionist, making frequent improvements; when completed, his designs were always sound.

[br]

SUBJECT AREA: Mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic engineering, Weapons and armour

[br]

[br]

[br]

Francis A.Pratt served an apprenticeship as a machinist with Warren Aldrich, and on completing it in 1848 he entered the Gloucester Machine Works as a journeyman machinist. From 1852 to 1854 he worked at the Colt Armory in Hartford, Connecticut, where he met his future partner, Amos Whitney. He then became Superintendent of the Phoenix Iron Works, also at Hartford and run by George S.Lincoln \& Company. While there he designed the well-known "Lincoln" miller, which was first produced in 1855. This was a development of the milling machine built by Robbins \& Lawrence and designed by F.W. Howe, and incorporated a screw drive for the table instead of the rack and pinion used in the earlier machine.

Whitney also moved to the Phoenix Iron Works, and in 1860 the two men started in a small way doing machine work on their own account. In 1862 they took a third partner, Monroe Stannard, and enlarged their workshop. The business continued to expand, but Pratt and Whitney remained at the Phoenix Iron Works until 1864 and in the following year they built their first new factory. The Pratt \& Whitney Company was incorporated in 1869 with a capital of $350,000, F.A.Pratt being elected President. The firm specialized in making machine tools and tools particularly for the armament industry. In the 1870s Pratt made no less than ten trips to Europe gaining orders for equipping armouries in many different countries. Pratt \& Whitney was one of the leading firms developing the system of interchangeable manufacture which led to the need to establish national standards of measurement. The Rogers-Bond Comparator, developed with the backing of Pratt \& Whitney, played an important part in the establishment of these standards, which formed the basis of the gauges of many various types made by the firm. Pratt remained President of the company until 1898, after which he served as their Consulting Engineer for a short time before retiring from professional life. He was granted a number of patents relating to machine tools. He was a founder member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1880 and was elected a vice-president in 1881. He was an alderman of the city of Hartford.

[br]

SUBJECT AREA: Mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic engineering, Weapons and armour

[br]

[br]

[br]

Amos Whitney was a member of the same distinguished family as Eli Whitney. His father was a locksmith and machinist and he was apprenticed at the age of 14 to the Essex Machine Company of Lawrence, Massachusetts. In 1850 both he and his father were working at the Colt Armory in Hartford, Connecticut, where he first met his future partner, F.A. Pratt. They both subsequently moved to the Phoenix Iron Works, also at Hartford, and in 1860 they started in a small way doing machine work on their own account. In 1862 they took a third partner, Monroe Stannard, and enlarged their workshop. The business continued to expand, but Pratt and Whitney remained at the Phoenix Iron Works until 1864 and in the following year they built their first new factory. The Pratt \& Whitney Company was incorporated in 1869 with a capital of $350,000, Amos Whitney being appointed General Superintendent. The firm specialized in making machine tools and tools particularly for the armament industry. Pratt \& Whitney was one of the leading firms developing the system of interchangeable manufacture which led to the need to establish national standards of measurement. The Rogers-Bond Comparator, developed with the backing of Pratt \& Whitney, played an important part in the establishment of these standards, which formed the basis of the gauges of many various types made by the firm.

Amos Whitney was made Vice-President of Pratt \& Whitney Company in 1893 and was President from 1898 until 1901, when the company was acquired by the Niles- Bement-Pond Company: he then remained as one of the directors. He was elected a Member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1913.

[br]

SUBJECT AREA: Mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic engineering

[br]

[br]

[br]

William Sellers was educated at a private school that had been established by his father and other relatives for their children, and at the age of 14 he was apprenticed for seven years to the machinist's trade with his uncle. At the end of his apprenticeship in 1845 he took charge of the machine shop of Fairbanks, Bancroft \& Co. in Providence, Rhode Island. In 1848 he established his own factory manufacturing machine tools and mill gearing in Philadelphia, where he was soon joined by Edward Bancroft, the firm becoming Bancroft \& Sellers. After Bancroft's death the name was changed in 1856 to William Sellers \& Co. and Sellers served as President until the end of his life. His machine tools were characterized by their robust construction and absence of decorative embellishments. In 1868 he formed the Edgemoor Iron Company, of which he was President. This company supplied the structural ironwork for the Centennial Exhibition buildings and much of the material for the Brooklyn Bridge. In 1873 he reorganized the William Butcher Steel Works, renaming it the Midvale Steel Company, and under his presidency it became a leader in the production of heavy ordnance. It was at the Midvale Steel Company that Frederick W. Taylor began, with the encouragement of Sellers, his experiments on cutting tools.

In 1860 Sellers obtained the American rights of the patent for the Giffard injector for feeding steam boilers. He later invented his own improvements to the injector, which numbered among his many other patents, most of which related to machine tools. Probably Sellers's most important contribution to the engineering industry was his proposal for a system of screw threads made in 1864 and later adopted as the American national standard.

Sellers was a founder member in 1880 of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and was also a member of many other learned societies in America and other countries, including, in Britain, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the Iron and Steel Institute.

[br]

SUBJECT AREA: Mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic engineering, Weapons and armour

[br]

[br]

[br]

After an elementary education, Elisha K.Root was apprenticed as a machinist and worked in that occupation at Ware and Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts. In 1832 he went to Collinsville, Connecticut, to join the Collins Company, manufacturers of axes. He started as a lathe hand but soon became Foreman and, in 1845, Superintendent. While with the company, he devised and patented special-purpose machinery for forming axes which transformed the establishment from a primitive workshop to a modern factory.

In 1849 Root was offered positions by four different manufacturers and accepted the post of Superintendent of the armoury then being planned at Hartford, Connecticut, by Samuel Colt for the manufacture of his revolver pistol, which he had invented in 1835. Initial acceptance of the revolver was slow, but by the mid1840s Colt had received sufficient orders to justify the establishment of a new factory and Root was engaged to design and install the machinery. The principle of interchangeable manufacture was adopted, and Root devised special machines for boring, rifling, making cartridges, etc., and a system of jigs, fixtures, tools and gauges. One of these special machines was a drop hammer that he invented and patented in 1853 and which established the art of die-forging on a modern basis. He was also associated with F.A. Pratt in the design of the "Lincoln" milling machine in 1855.

When Colt died in 1862, Root became President of the company and continued in that capacity until his own death. It was said that he was one of the ablest and most highly paid mechanics from New England and that he was largely responsible for the success of both the Collins and the Colt companies.

[br]

SUBJECT AREA: Weapons and armour

[br]

[br]

[br]

Richard S.Lawrence received only an elementary education and as a young man worked on local farms and later in a woodworking shop. His work there included making carpenters' and joiners' tools and he spent some of his spare time in a local gunsmith's shop. After a brief period of service in the Army, he obtained employment in 1838 with N.Kendall \& Co. of Windsor, Vermont, making guns at the Windsor prison. Within six months he was put in charge of the work, continuing in this position until 1842 when the gun-making ceased; he remained at the prison for a time in charge of the carriage shop. In 1843 he opened a gun shop in Windsor in partnership with Kendall, and the next year S.E. Robbins, a businessman, helped them obtain a contract from the Federal Government for 10,000 rifles. A new company, Robbins, Kendall \& Lawrence, was formed and a factory was built at Windsor. Three years later Kendall's share of the business was purchased by his partners and the firm became Robbins \& Lawrence. Lawrence supervised the design and production and, to improve methods of manufacture, developed new machine tools with the aid of F.W. Howe. In 1850 Lawrence introduced the lubrication of bullets, which practice ensured the success of the breech-loading rifle. Also in 1850, the company undertook to manufacture railway cars, but this involved them in a considerable financial loss. The company took to the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London, England, a set of rifles built on the interchangeable system. The interest this created resulted in a visit of some members of the British Royal Small Arms Commission to America and subsequently an order for 150 machine tools, jigs and fixtures from Robbins \& Lawrence, to be installed at the small-arms factory at Enfield. In 1852 the company contracted to manufacture Sharps rifles and carbines at a new factory to be built at Hartford, Connecticut. Lawrence moved to Hartford in 1853 to superintend the building and equipment of the plant. Shortly afterwards, however, a promised order for a large number of rifles failed to materialize and, following its earlier financial difficulties, Robbins \& Lawrence was forced into bankruptcy. The Hartford plant was acquired by the Sharps Rifle Company in 1856 and Lawrence remained there as Superintendent until 1872. From then he was for many years Superintendent of Streets in the city of Hartford and he also served on the Water Board, the Board of Aldermen and as Chairman of the Fire Board.

[br]

SUBJECT AREA: Mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic engineering, Textiles, Weapons and armour

[br]

[br]

[br]

Christopher M.Spencer served an apprenticeship from 1847 to 1849 in the machine shop at the silk mills of Cheney Brothers in his native town and remained there for a few years as a journeyman machinist. In 1853 he went to Rochester, New York, to obtain experience with machinery other than that used in the textile industry. He then spent some years with the Colt Armory at Hartford, Connecticut, before returning to Cheney Brothers, where he obtained his first patent, which was for a silk-winding machine.

Spencer had long been interested in firearms and in 1860 he obtained a patent for a repeating rifle. The Spencer Repeating Rifle Company was organized for its manufacture, and before the end of the American Civil War about 200,000 rifles had been produced. He patented a number of other improvements in firearms and in 1868 was associated with Charles E.Billings (1835–1920) in the Roper Arms Company, set up at Amherst, Massachusetts, to manufacture Spencer's magazine gun. This was not a success, however, and in 1869 they moved to Hartford, Connecticut, and formed the Billings \& Spencer Company. There they developed the technology of the drop hammer and Spencer continued his inventive work, which included an automatic turret lathe for producing metal screws. The patent that he obtained for this in 1873 inexplicably failed to protect the essential feature of the machine which provided the automatic action, with the result that Spencer received no patent right on the most valuable feature of the machine.

In 1874 Spencer withdrew from active connection with Billings \& Spencer, although he remained a director, and in 1876 he formed with others the Hartford Machine Screw Company. However, he withdrew in 1882 to form the Spencer Arms Company at Windsor, Connecticut, for the manufacture of another of his inventions, a repeating shotgun. But this company failed and Spencer returned to the field of automatic lathes, and in 1893 he organized the Spencer Automatic Machine Screw Company at Windsor, where he remained until his retirement.

[br]

SUBJECT AREA: Weapons and armour

[br]

[br]

[br]

Like his father and grandfather, Simeon North began his working life as a farmer. In 1795 he started a business making scythes in an old mill adjoining his farm. He had apparently already been making some pistols for sale, and in March 1799 he secured his first government contract, for 500 horse-pistols to be delivered within one year. This was followed by further contracts for 1,500 in 1800, 2,000 in 1802, and others; by 1813 he had supplied at least 10,000 pistols and was employing forty or fifty men. In a contract for 20,000 pistols in 1813 there was a provision, which North himself recommended, that parts should be interchangeable. It is probable that he had employed the concept of interchangeability at least as early as his more famous contemporary Eli Whitney. To meet this contract he established a new factory at Middletown, Connecticut, but his original works at Berlin continued to be used until 1843. His last government order for pistols was in 1828, but from 1823 he obtained a series of contracts for rifles and carbines, with the last (1850) being completed in 1853, after his death. In developing machine tools to carry out these contracts, North was responsible for what was probably the earliest milling machine, albeit in a relatively primitive form, c. 1816 or even as early as 1808. In 1811 he was elected Lieutenant-Colonel of the 6th Connecticut Regiment; although he resigned after only two years, he was generally known thereafter as Colonel North.

[br]

SUBJECT AREA: Mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic engineering

[br]

[br]

[br]

David Wilkinson was the third son of Oziel Wilkinson (1744–1815), a blacksmith who c.1783 established at Pawtucket, Rhode Island, a plant for making farm tools and domestic utensils. This enterprise he steadily expanded with the aid of his sons, until by 1800 it was regarded as the leading iron and machinery manufacturing business in New England. At the age of 13, David Wilkinson entered his father's workshops. Their products included iron screws, and the problem of cutting the threads was one that engaged his attention. After working on it for some years he devised a screw-cutting lathe, for which he obtained a patent in 1798. In about 1800 David and his brother Daniel established their own factory at Pawtucket, known as David Wilkinson \& Co., where they specialized in the manufacture of textile machinery. Later they began to make cast cannon and installed a special boring machine for machining them. The firm prospered until 1829, when a financial crisis caused its collapse. David Wilkinson set up a new business in Cohoes, New York, but this was not a success and from 1836 he travelled around finding work chiefly in canal and bridge construction in New Jersey, Ohio and Canada. In 1848 he petitioned Congress for some reward for his invention of the screw-cutting lathe of 1798; he was awarded $10,000.

[br]