| 1200 - 1299 |
Horizontal bench lathe appears, using foot treadle to rotate object. |
| 1485 |
Evidence of vertical grinding wheel with treadle and crank. |
| 1550 |
Windmill driven saw. (Low Countries) |
| 1568 |
Simple mandrel lathe shown on woodcut of Hartman Schopper. |
| 1569 |
THEATRE DES INSTRUMENTS ET MACHINES written: includes modified center lathe and other guides. (Jacques Besson, France) |
| 1569 - 1578 |
Improved (screw) lathe described in THEATRUM INSTRUMENTORUM: tool held rigidly and moved axially forward by lead screw. (Jacques Besson, France) |
| 1588 |
LE DIVERSE ET ARTIFICIOSA MACHINE describes 16th century machines: includes various metal pumps. (Agostino Ramelli, Italy, France) |
| 1662 |
Water-driven boring mill with guided auger for pump logs illustrated. (Bockler, Britain) |
| 1671 |
Machine invented for cutting clock wheels: developed by 1784 into commercial availability. (Robert Hooke, Britain) |
| 1700 |
Earliest accurate metal-working lathes in use. |
| 1700 ca. |
Iron mandrel lathes start to replace wood versions: written 1698, published 1701. (Father Plumier) |
| 1700 - 1799 |
Metal, especially cast iron, replaces wood for machine parts. |
| 1750 |
Lathe with tool holder carriage invented: early use screw drive for precision machinery. (Thiout, Europe) |
| 1750 |
Mechanical slide rest for lathe appears. (Britain) |
| 1760 |
First metal-cylinder blowing engine built at Carron Ironworks: use of cast iron in machines led end of wooden construction in power machinery. (John Smeaton, Scotland) |
| 1770 |
Screw-cutting lathe invented: first to get satisfactory results. (Jesse Ramsden, Britain) |
| 1775 - 1776 |
Horizotal boring mill invented: bores 57-inch steam cylinder 'correct within the thickness of . . . shilling'. (John Wilkinson, Britain) |
| 1783 |
Grinder for tools and cutters invented. (Samuel Rehe, France) |
| 1785 |
Interchangeable musket locks produced with jigs (idea exported via Thomas Jefferson). (France) |
| 1790 ca. |
Nail-making machine with toggle joint invented. (Jacob Perkins, Massachusetts) |
| 1793 |
Woodworking machinery patented: includes planing machines with rotary cutters. (Bentham, Britain) |
| 1794 |
Compound slide rest developed. (Henry Maudslay, Britain) |
| 1794 - 1945 |
Springfield Armory established for US govt manufacturing: includes research and development, gauges, metal working, etc. (Warner, Thomas Blanchard, Springfield, Mass) |
| 1795 - 1798 |
Assembly process machines to produce interchangeable gun parts developed (independent of French work). (Whitney and Bentham, New Haven, Conn) |
| 1797 |
All-metal screw-turning lathe for precision machining introduced (1794—X3). (Henry Maudslay, Britain) |
| 1798 |
Slide-rest lathe for cutting screw threads patented. (David Wilkinson, Pawtucket, RI) |
|
top 19th Century |
| 1808 |
Machines devised to make pulley blocks for British Navy: produced by Maudsley. (Marc I Brunel, Britain) |
| 1808 ca. |
Power compressor used to drive workshop tools: apparently for the first time. (Wm Murdock, Britain) |
| 1810 |
Lead screw adapted to lathe, leading to large-quantity machine-tool construction. (Henry Maudslay, Britain) |
| 1816 |
Milling machine invented to reduce hand filing of intricate shapes. (Simeon North, Harpers Ferry Armory) |
| 1817 |
Metal planing machine. (Roberts, Britain) |
| 1818 |
Milling machine invented. (Eli Whitney, US) |
| 1818 - 1836 |
Machine to copy wooden shapes invented; woodworking machines made (several patented). (Thomas Blanchard, Worcester, Mass) |
| 1820 ca. |
Steam engine (especially marine) and iron furnaces spur machine shop development: lead to development of coal and iron. |
| 1820 - 1849 |
Lathes, drilling, boring machines and planers -- most primary machine tools -- refined. |
| 1826 |
Steel-arm filing machine introduced. (James Nasmyth) |
| 1830 |
Gear-cutting machine with involute cutters and geared indexing improved. (Joseph Whitworth, Britain) |
| 1830 - 1839 |
Steam engines for locomotives spur machine-shop growth. (US) |
| 1830 - 1859 |
Milling machines, shapers, grinding machines. (US) |
| 1831 |
Surface-grinding machine patented. (J W Stone, Washington, DC) |
| 1834 |
Grinding machine developed: perhaps first. (Wheaton, Providence, RI) |
| 1836 |
Shaping machine invented: Whitworth soon added crank mechanism. (James Nasmyth, Britain) |
| 1840 ca. |
Vertical pillar drill with power drive and feed in use (originated in 1750). |
| 1840 - 1844 |
Rotary drills with metal bits used: English patent by Beart; 1887 Chapman update. (Robt Beart (English), France)
|
| 1842 |
Self-acting power-driven planing machine introduced. (Joseph Whitworth, Britain) |
| 1842 |
Gear-generating machine for cutting cycloidal teeth developed. (Joseph Saxton, US) |
| 1845 |
Disc-grinding machines devised. (James Nasmyth, Britain) |
| 1846 |
Whitney (cylinder) wood-planing machine built. (Baxter Whitney, Massachusetts) |
| 1850 |
Commercially successful universal milling machine designed (Robbins and Lawrence): first US. (Frederick W Howe, Windsor, Vt) |
| 1850 - 1885 |
Synthetic grinding wheels developed: introduces surface grinding over hand scraping. (US) |
| 1853 |
Surface grinder patented. (S Darling, US) |
| 1854 ca. |
Commercial vertical turret lathe built for Robbins and Lawrence by R W Howe and Henry Stone. (Stone, Howe, Lawrence, Windsor, Vt) |
| 1855 |
Precision gear-cutter produced: accurate gears, drill index plates, and circular graduating. (Joseph R Brown, Providence, RI) |
| 1856 |
Hobbing process for making gears: effective with involute-shaped gear that superceded cycloidal in 1880s. (Christian Schiele, US) |
| 1857 |
Whitney gauge lathe built. (Baxter Whitney, Massachusetts)
|
| 1860 |
Twist drill (for flutes) introduced: increases speed of drilling, leads to Brown and Sharpe universal milling machine. (US) |
| 1860 - 1869 |
First cylindrical grinder made in US: replaces single-point tool of engine lathe. (US) |
| 1860 - 1879 |
Universal milling (1861-65) and universal grinding machines (1876) produced. (Joseph Brown and L Sharpe, Providence, RI) |
| 1860 - 1910 |
Precise metal-working machine tools for mass production grow, requiring standardization. (US) |
| 1863 - 1868 |
Thread-rolling machines for screw threads built. (Joseph Tanye, Britain) |
| 1869 |
Machine for planing metal patented: production of fine gear work promotes standardized gauges. (Francis Pratt, Hartford, Conn) |
| 1870 |
Factories producing heavy machinery appear. (US) |
| 1871 - 1873 |
Sand blasting developed and introduced for fettling iron castings. (B C Tilghman, Britain) |
| 1873 |
Automatic screw machine invented (1893, produced finished screws from coiled wire--A2). (C M Spencer, Connecticut) |
| 1878 |
Spur gears manufactured by mechanical process. (Ambrose Swasey, Hartford, Conn) |
| 1880 ca. |
Precision roll-grinding machine introduced: determined straightness and uniformity of finish. (J M Poole, US) |
| 1887 |
Portable electric drills introduced: for shipbuilding. (F J Rowan, Britain) |
| 1887 |
Spur-gear hobbing machine patented. (C B Grant, US) |
| 1892 |
Quick-change gearbox invented: flexible lathe device. (W P Norton, US) |
| 1893 |
Experimental work on planing published: RABOTA I USILIE NEOBKHODIMYYA DLYA OTELENIYA .... (K A Zvorykin, Moscow) |
| 1895 |
Multispindle automatic lathe introduced for small pieces. (US) |
| 1896 - 1940 |
Heavy-duty precision, high-production rate grinding machine introduced, Brown and Sharpe. (Charles Norton (Ford), RI and Mass) |
| 1897 |
Gear-shaping and related cutters patented. (E R Fellows, US) |
| 1899 |
Grinding machine produced for cones and cups of bicycle ball bearings: changeable templates adjust to various designs of theball-race profile. (Pratt and Whitney, US) |
|
top 20th Century |
| 1900 |
Tools by Bethlehem Steel Company using Taylor-White steel exhibited at Paris World Exposition. (Taylor-White, Paris) |
| 1900 ca. |
Magnetic chucks introduced in machine tools. (US) |
| 1902 |
Hydraulic drives and controls introduced for machine tools. (Brown and Sharpe, US) |
| 1909 ca. |
Drill sharpening machine patented: adopted worldwide (rights sold to Ingersoll-Rand). (J George Leyner, Littleton, Colo.) |
| 1915 |
Centerless grinding introduced. (L R Heim, US) |
| 1917 - 1939 |
Gear and hob measuring machines designed: includes pantograph mechanism and sine arm, and 1939 surface finish recorder. (George Tomlinson, NPL, Britain) |
| 1920 ca. |
Keller milling machine introduced: die-sinking for three-dimensional copying of template, used for large steel dies in automobile manufacturing. |
| 1920 ca. |
Electric motors combined with individual machine tools on wide scale (begins as early as 1901). (US) |
| 1921 |
First industrial jig borer made for precision machining: based on 1912 single-point tool. (Societe Genevoise, Switzerland) |
| 1925 |
Tool-tip temperature measurements established through independent work of E G Herbert, H Shore, and K Gottwein. (London, Massachusetts (US), USSR) |
| 1927 - 1949 |
Accuracy of large-turbine gear-teeth finish improves greatly over 20-year period. (IMechE) |
| 1933 |
Continuous filing and band-saw machine (Do-All) introduced in US. (US) |
| 1938 |
Machine tool tests and alignments published by IMechE. (G Schlesinger, Britain) |
| 1943 |
Electro-discharge machining (spark erosion) developed for machine tool manufacturing. |
| 1944 - 1947 |
Centerless thread-grinding machine patented. (A Scrivener (British), Britain, US) |
| 1950 ca. |
Portable chain tooth saw replaces manual tree-cutting tools. |
