Transcriber’s Notes Texts printed in italics and in bold face have been transcribed between _underscores_ and =equal signs= respectively; small capitals have been replaced with ALL CAPITALS. ^{text} represents superscript characters. More Transcriber’s Notes and an explanation of the transcription of the “genealogical charts” may be found at the end of this text. ENGLISH AND AMERICAN TOOL BUILDERS [Illustration: HENRY MAUDSLAY] ENGLISH AND AMERICAN TOOL BUILDERS BY JOSEPH WICKHAM ROE _Museum of the Peaceful Arts, City of New York, Professor of Industrial Engineering, New York University_ FIRST PRINTED IN 1916 REPRINTED IN 1926 McGRAW-HILL BOOK COMPANY, INC. NEW YORK: 370 SEVENTH AVENUE LONDON: 6 & 8 BOUVERIE ST., E. C. 4 1926 COPYRIGHT, 1916 BY JOSEPH WICKHAM ROE First published May, 1916 Republished March, 1926 “Man is a Tool-using Animal. Weak in himself, and of small stature, he stands on a basis, at most for the flattest-soled, of some half-square foot, insecurely enough; has to straddle out his legs, lest the very wind supplant him. Feeblest of bipeds! Three quintals are a crushing load for him; the steer of the meadow tosses him aloft, like a waste rag. Nevertheless he can use Tools, can devise Tools: with these the granite mountain melts into light dust before him; seas are his smooth highway, winds and fire his unwearying steeds. Nowhere do you find him without Tools; without Tools he is nothing, with Tools he is all.” CARLYLE: “Sartor Resartus,” Chap. IV. PREFACE The purpose of this book is to bring out the importance of the work and influence of the great tool builders. Few realize that their art is fundamental to all modern industrial arts. Without machine tools modern machinery could not be built. Little is known by the general public as to who the great tool builders were, and less is known of their lives and work. History takes good care of soldiers, statesmen and authors. It is even kind to engineers like Watt, Fulton and Stephenson, who have conspicuously and directly affected society at large. But little is known, even among mechanics, of the men whose work was mainly within the engineering profession, and who served other engineers rather than the general public. The lives and the personalities of men like Maudslay, Nasmyth and Eli Whitney, can hardly fail of interest to the mechanic of today. They were busy men and modest, whose records are mainly in iron and steel, and in mechanical devices which are used daily with little thought of their origin.