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A History of Industrial Machine Tools - 4
The Boring
Machine was first invented by John Wilkinson in 1775. It is
arguably the first true machine tool when it was used to make the internal
cylindrical surfaces needed for the Watt's steam engine. Not only was
it used to build the first steam engine, it was capable of making parts
for other machines. As a kind of hole making device, the boring machine
tool was different from the drill in that it enlarged holes that were
already drilled. Instead of creating a hole where there was none, the
boring machine altered a hole in accordance with some specification. This
was usually done with a rotating single point cutter held on a boring
bar and fed against a stationary workpiece. Boring machines also included
jig borers and vertical and horizontal boring mills.
The
Lathe Machine is perhaps the most important machine tool used
in the Industrial Revolution. The lathe shapes metal, wood, or other material
by rapidly turning it against a stationary cutting device. In a metal
lathe, metal material is removed from a workpiece using a hardened cutting
tool, which is usually fixed to a solid moveable mounting called the toolpost,
which is then moved against the workpiece using handwheels and/or computer
controlled motors. Lathes can shape, drill, bore, grind, and perform other
operations. Woodworking lathes were used as early as the Middle Ages.
In 1797 Henry Maudslay invented the first metal lathe that could shape
a metal workpiece to produce accurately sized screws on a mass scale.
With measuring tools like the micrometer, the metal lathe made possible
precision manufacture, interchangeability of parts, and mass production.
Examples of objects produced on a metal lathe included everything from
screws, bearing, and gears to crankshafts or camshafts.
The Milling Machine is another good example of a machine used for the complex shaping of metal parts. In a milling machine, a workpiece is fed against a circular device with a series of cutting edges on its circumference. The workpiece is held on a table that controls the feed against the cutter. The table conventionally has three possible movements: longitudinal, horizontal, and vertical; in some cases it can also rotate. Milling machines are the most versatile of all machine tools. Flat or contoured surfaces may be machined with excellent finish and accuracy. Angles, slots, gear teeth, and recess cuts can be made by using various cutters. Operated manually or under computer numerical control (CNC), milling machines can perform a vast number of complex operations, such as slot cutting, planing, drilling, rebating, routing, etc. Cutting fluid is often pumped to the cutting site to cool and lubricate the cut, and to sluice away the resulting swarf. In 1798 Eli Whitney invented a milling machine to produce 10,000 army muskets, all with interchangeable parts. In 1818 he used a milling machine to create a machine that could clean cotton. Coined the cotton gin, his machine revolutionized the textile industry.
The Assembly Line is perhaps the most enduring legacy of the industrial revolution. It is also, in a way, the ideal machine tool in so far as it is a collection of machine tools for making other machines such as a car or computer. As a manufacturing process in which interchangeable parts are added to a product in a sequential manner to create an end product, the first assembly line was conceived by Eli Whitney when created 10,000 muskets for the US Government in 1798. Over 100 years later, Henry Ford would improve upon Whitney's idea by introducing the moving assembly line at the Highland Park Ford Plant to cut manufacturing costs and deliver a cheaper product. Until the Industrial Revolution, a single person or team of craftsmen would create each part of a product individually, and assemble them together into a single item, making changes in the parts so that they would fit together. By dividing his labor force into specific, circumscribed tasks for maximum efficiency of output, and using parts created by other machines in the assembly line, Ford began a new stage in the Industrial Revolution which continues today.
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