His first customer was an artist who gave him an order for an iron easel. Business prospered and he found plenty of work. His reputation was established, however, in connection with the Portsmouth block machinery, which was described in the last chapter. The building of this machinery occupied about eight years, from 1800 to 1808. The design was substantially Brunel’s, but Mr. Nasmyth says that “every member of it was full of Maudslay’s presence and the mechanical perfection of its details, its practicability and adaptability show his handiwork at every turn.” Soon after this work was undertaken, Maudslay moved his shop to Margaret Street, near Cavendish Square. During the building of the block machinery Maudslay had met Joshua Field, who had been engaged as a draftsman in the Portsmouth dockyards under Sir Samuel Bentham and had worked with him in the development of the machinery. Field was transferred to General Bentham’s office at the Admiralty in 1804, and a year later joined Maudslay. Five years later they moved to Lambeth on the south side of the Thames and bought an old riding school on Westminster Road on what was formerly a swampy marsh. Here the firm of Maudslay & Field continued its long and famous career. Few firms have influenced mechanical development more, and for many years it was one of the leading machine shops of the world. Here Maudslay did his life work as one of the leaders in the development not only of machine tools but of the steam engine, both stationary and marine. After his death in 1831 the business was continued by Mr. Field, who outlived him many years, and by Maudslay’s son and grandson, both of whom were fine mechanics and men of great influence. It was in connection with the slide-rest and screw-cutting lathe that Maudslay is best known. Too much value cannot be placed on the slide-rest and its combination with a lead screw, operated by change gears. It is used in some form in almost every machine tool and is one of the great inventions of history.