James Nasmyth as Tool Maker

Abstract

WHEN James Nasmyth (1808–1890) was twenty-six years of age he set up in business as an engineer in Manchester, and two years later, at Patricroft on the Bridgewater Canal, he established the famous Bridgewater Foundry, so named after the Great Duke. By 1856, Nasmyth was able to retire and devote himself to astronomy. The foundry, however, was carried on successfully by others until July 1940, when it became a Government ordnance factory. One consequence of this was the presentation to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, by Sir Holberry Mensforth, of Nasmyth's well-known “Sketch Book” and a portfolio of early drawings. Most of the drawings are of steam hammers, but others relate to machine tools. Some of these are of exceptional interest, and in The Engineer of May 23, Dr. H. W. Dickinson gives a review of Nasmyth's pioneering work in this department of engineering. As an appendix to the article a transcription is given of a letter written in 1864, in which Nasmyth refers to his discovery of the willow leaf pattern on the sun's surface, a discovery which “has made a great stir among astronomers”.