Peter Wright (1803-1874) of Peter Wright and Sons
1863 Peter Wright, Railway Wheel, Vice and Anchor Works, Dudley.[1]
1875 Obituary [2]
Peter Wright was born in Dudley on 15th March 1803, and in early life commenced business as a vice and anvil manufacturer, a trade which had been carried on by his family in the same place for more than a hundred years previously. He made many improvements in the manufacture of anvils and vices, all of which were successful ; and this placed him at the head of the trade, as the senior partner in the firm of Messrs. Peter Wright and Sons, of Dudley and Oldbury.
In 1848 he invented and made the machinery for cutting the internal screws of vice-boxes out of the solid iron, making the ‘solid box vice,’ which he was the first to accomplish; this he did by fixing the Screw-cutting tool vertically during the cutting, so as to allow the cuttings to fall away clear of the work.
In 1852 he invented the 'solid anvil' with which his name is associated, and which he was the first to make all forged solid in one piece by means of dies and by turning it frequently under the hammer during the forging, anvils having previously been always built up of a number of pieces welded together.
In 1862 he invented the parallel vice, and also an improved railway wheel.
He died on 28th August 1874 in the 72nd year of his age. He became a Member of the Institution in 1863.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ 1863 Institution of Mechanical Engineers
- ↑ 1875 Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Obituaries Minutes of the Proceedings