X-Nico

2 unusual facts about Interchangeable parts


Henry Maudslay

This allowed the concept of interchangeability (an idea that was already taking hold) to be practically applied to nuts and bolts.

Interchangeability

Interchangeable parts, the ability to select components for assembly at random and fit them together within proper tolerances



see also

Eli Whitney

Although Whitney's demonstration of 1801 appeared to show the ingenuity of interchangeable parts, Merritt Roe Smith concludes that Whitney's demonstration was "staged" and "duped government authorities" into believing that he had created interchangeable parts.

English system of manufacturing

Mass production using interchangeable parts was first achieved in 1803 by Marc Isambard Brunel in cooperation with Henry Maudslay, and Simon Goodrich, under the management of (with contributions by) Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Bentham the Inspector General of Naval Works at Portsmouth Block Mills at Portsmouth Dockyard for the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic War.

National Watch and Clock Museum

Other highlights include an exhibit of the pioneering automated machinery developed by the American Waltham Watch Company, allowing for the first time to mass-produce watches using interchangeable parts, a large selection of American pocket watches (including Railroad watches), and the "Engel Clock", a complicated "monument" clock built by Stephen Decatur Engel of Hazleton, Pennsylvania.