Early pattern small Whitworth adjustable screw plate

Made:
circa 1850 in Manchester
maker:
Joseph Whitworth and Company

Early pattern small Whitworth adjustable screw plate, and one Archimedean drill

Joseph Whitworth had worked for the most eminent machine builders in Britain. Many of the techniques he adopted appear to have originated with Henry Maudslay, but Whitworth’s great contribution was to make accurate tools widely available. By the 1850s he was Britain’s pre-eminent tool-maker. To a contemporary he was 'the most original engineering genius that ever lived’, but also 'a monumental egotist. His fundamental idea was that he had taught the world all that it knew mechanically - and all it could ever know.’ This screw plate was used to make finer threads.

Details

Category:
Hand and Machine Tools
Object Number:
1938-529
Materials:
steel (metal)
type:
hand tools

Parts

One Archimedean drill; late 19th century

One Archimedean drill; late 19th century

One Archimedean drill; late 19th century, fitted with a spoon type drill bit.

Measurements:
overall: x 22.0472 x 3.1496 in.; x 560 x 80 mm
Materials:
wood and steel
Object Number:
1938-529/1
type:
hand drill
Screw plate

Screw plate

Screw plate, adjustable, by Whitworth but for fine threads.

Measurements:
: x 5.5118 x 3.1496 x .9843 in.; x 140 x 80 x 25 mm
Materials:
steel
Object Number:
1938-529/2
type:
screw die