kinda OT- Who is the most famous machinist, living or dead?

[Tony Wells]

We're getting a little off topic here, but that's ok.

I find it very fascinating to find such talent that exists among hobby machinists. I've worked with hundreds of machinists of varying skill levels, and some of them aren't nearly the caliber of some of the hobbyists found showing their work on the Internet. But, having said that, I really doubt many of those hobbyists could hold a job in a commercial shop. And that's just fine. It's a different world, with different challenges. I think that's one reason this forum will make it. Some other forums cater strictly to the pros, and shun the hobbyists as though doing the same thing for fun makes them somehow inferior.

I'm no model maker, but I respect and admire those who put great effort into their projects. I suppose I could make models, but honestly, there just isn't much I'd want to scale down and build. I just enjoy the smell of hot sulfurized oil, and the screaming of metal in agony, the hot chips getting caught in my mustache...wait a minute! I don't like that part.

 

[cyrusb]

My vote is for John Harrison, the Bill Gates of the 1700's. But I would call him the greatest Mechanic. Isn't that the nub of "machinist"? Some of the men mentioned were great designers,with machining being just one facet of bringing their products to life. My answer to the original question would be "Anyone who can hit the numbers on a regular basis"

 

[hermetic]

I also agree with Cyrus, when you consider that Harrison died aged 83 in 1776, and aside from his marine chronometers, made his early clocks(first in 1713) entirely from wood (he was a trained carpenter) using lignum vitae for bearings and pallets as it is self lubricating, Three of these wooden clocks are still in existence, and still running! The term "machinist" is a difficult one, in the UK/Europe, a machinist is generally taken as being a sewing machine operator. The guy who works in a machine shop is usually known on this side of the pond as a "precision engineer".
I also echo the above about the Maritime museum and the Greenwich observatory, if you ever get the chance to visit, don't miss them!
As "hobby machinists" we have to look at the machines we use today, and where they came from, and really there is no one great engineer, but there is a man who kicked it off, and a small group who did the rest.
Joseph Bramah (1748-1814), like Harrison was a Yorkshireman and also a carpenter. After his apprenticeship he moved to London, invented and patented the hydraulic press, an "improved water closet" and a lock. A very complex pick proof lock which was proving difficult to make. He employed a local lad by the name of Henry Maudslay who at 18 years old was reckoned to be one of the finest hand tool metalworkers around , to help make it. Maudslay realised that it would be neccasary to modify the hand rest lathe to produce parts faster, and more accurately, so he fixed the tool to the rest, and made the rest slide along parralell to the work. Bramah and Maudslay fell out over money, and Maudslay set up his own works, where he built the first lead screw driven screw cutting lathe with a leadscrew cut by hand, and immediately used it to cut another more accurate leadscrew. among the people trained in Maudslays works were Many outstanding engineers including Richard Roberts, David Napier, Joseph Clement(who had also worked for Bramah and would later build the difference engine for Charles Babbage), Joseph Whitworth(who also worked for Holzapffel), James Nasmyth (inventor of the steam hammer), Joshua Field and William Muir (who also worked for Whitworth, Holzapffel and Bramah). Between them this group invented and built (largely by hand) the forerunners of just about every universal (jobbing) machine tool we use today, and also built special pattern controlled copying machines for particular jobs like mass producing wooden pulley blocks for the British navy. All this before 1850! We all owe them a debt for creating the Screw cutting lathe, the shaping machine, the planing machine and the milling machines we still use today. Many of these original machines are on display at the Science museum in London, or at Kelham Island industrial museum in Sheffield UK. Earlier this year, when I bought my Alba shaper the seller was showing me a slotting machine he had just bought, it had been originally designed for use with overhead power shafting, but now had its own motor and cast into the side was "Joseph Whitworth Manchester". Still in use and showing no appreciable wear after about 180 years! These few people were the movers and shakers of their age and they were all closely connected, . To this day in London slang the word "Bramah" is used to describe anything that has achieved perfection. "It's a Bramah!" or even just "Bramah!"
This is a potted history, wikipedia and google will provide much more interesting results for those nights when the snow is deep and the shop is cold!
Phil.