Joseph+Whitworth

Joseph Whitworth

Was an English Engineer and inventor, was born in Stockport near Manchester in 1804. His got his first job as an mechanic in his uncle's cotton mill at Ambergate,  he was training in Manchester and London, where he worked hard to improve his knowledge and the skills he would use later. He built his first absolutely flat piece of steel plate which he called a surface plate. From this he built more precision instruments. His first was a lathe with which he could turn out accurate spindles and shafts for the machines. Then he designed delicately measured bearings for the new drive shaft to rest in. His big breakthrough was the famous Whitworth thread. He invented mass produced taps and dies which were exported over the globe to cut the first ever standardised nuts and bolts. Machinery made in one country could now be repaired in another. This was followed by the micrometer which could measure down to one thousandth part of an inch. The Whitworth Institute was built and opened in 1890, 3 years after his death through the efforts of his wife. It contained Britains's first heated indoor swimming pool, an assembly Hall, library, various reading and committee rooms, a museum of natural history, and a landscaped park complete with recreational areas and a conservatory. It remained in use until the 1930's when it was taken over by the armed forces.

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This is Joseph Whitworth

The screw thread machine