Andrey Nartov
Andrey (Andrei) Konstantinovich Nartov (Russian: Андрей Константинович Нартов) (1683—1756) was a Russian scientist, military engineer, inventor and sculptor. He was a personal craftsman of Peter I of Russia, and later a member of the Russian Academy of Science.
From 1705 Nartov worked in the lathe workshop at the Moscow School of Mathematics and Navigation. During 1712-1725 Nartov worked in Saint Petersburg at the palace workshop of the Tsar Peter the Great. There he constructed many lathes of different types and made a number of innovations. Of special value was his copying lathe for ornamental turning.
In 1718 Nartov invented what might have been the first lathe with a cutting tool-supporting/guiding carriage (a slide rest) and a set of gears.
In 1718-1719 Nartov travelled to England and France and demonstrated his lathes. In his letters to Peter I, Nartov wrote that nowhere in Europe could he find lathe masters comparable to Russian ones. On his way back to Russia, he taught lathe-working to the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm I.
After the death of Peter I in 1725 Nartov went to work at the Moscow Mint, where he supervised modernisation of the machinery.
In 1735 Nartov was elected a member of the Russian Academy of Science. From 1736 to the end of his life he was head of the Academy's lathe workshop.
Among other inventions of Nartov are such things as a rapid firing 44-barrel gun on a rotating disc, a screw mechanism for changing a gun's fire angle, a boring lathe for cannon-making, and an early telescopic sight. He also supervised the building of a device intended to lift the gigantic Tsar Bell onto a bell-tower.
The above information is condensed from the Wikipedia entry.
Nartov is said to have developed the world's first screw-cutting slide lathe with interchangeable gears in 1717. He completed "Teatrum Makhinarum" (Театрум Махинарум) shortly before his death. His son collected all the pages of the manuscript and prepared it for presentation to Catherine II. The manuscript was transferred to the court library and there lay in obscurity for almost two hundred years. [1]
Machine tools from the court turning workshop of Peter I are on display in the Hermitage at St. Petersburg, namely: three machines for copying designs at various reductions on the periphery of cylinders, two medallion copying machines, and a machine for cutting gear wheels, constructed between 1712 and 1729 by Franz Singer, A. K. Nartov and other masters of "Tokarni".
Illustrations of a number of Nartov's ornamental turning lathes are available online in Russian sources, here for example[2]
Medallion Copying Machine
A medallion copying machine (Tour à portraits) made by Nartov c.1717 is on display in the Musée des arts et métiers in Paris. Some information and two zoomable images here.
See also photos 1 - 8 above. The machine is set up for engraving a reduced copy (about half size) of the face of a medallion. It can evidently also be used to produce reduced engravings on the periphery of a workpiece, but not at the same time.
The decorative embellishments make the machine look more complicated than it really is. Nevertheless its method of operation is not fully understood. Focusing on what is clear: A stylus, held in linear guides, is used to follow the pattern on the master model (photos 3 & 4), and its movement is used to move an engraving tool at the opposite end of the machine, held in similar guides (photos 5 & 6). The required reduction is obtained using a simple system having two pitch chains attached to a common shaft at the back of the machine. The ratio of the diameters of the brass shaft where the chains are attached determines the reduction ratio for engraving.
Similar arrangements are used for both face and peripheral copying. For the latter, the back shaft drives two cross shafts by worm and wheel gearing (photo 5). For peripheral turning, the main shaft which carries the master and the slave copy of the workpiece needs to rock fore and aft. The main shaft is carried in an iron frame with its pivots fixed to the wooden cabinet (photo 1). The rocking arrangement needs to be locked in position for face engraving.
Now we move into uncertain territory. In photo 7 will be seen a small cylindrical device fixed to the table top, having a ratchet, a square shaft, and a U-shaped stirrup engaging with the shaft. It is speculated that this applies a thrust force on the main shaft, which presses the master medallion against the stylus. If so, as the stylus follows the contours, it moves the shaft axially, varying the depth of cut in the workpiece. If so, it follows that the depth of cut will not be scaled down. Further, a depressed surface on the master will produce a raised surface on the workpiece.
Having established that the stylus and the tool are positioned by pitch chains, the rest is unclear. In particular, it is not clear how the chains are kept under tension. It is just possible that the stylus and tool holders were pulled back manually using the rings attached to their holders, but then a second person would be needed to turn the crank handle.