Grace's Guide To British Industrial History

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Grace's Guide is the leading source of historical information on industry and manufacturing in Britain. This web publication contains 162,241 pages of information and 244,492 images on early companies, their products and the people who designed and built them.

Grace's Guide is the leading source of historical information on industry and manufacturing in Britain. This web publication contains 147,919 pages of information and 233,587 images on early companies, their products and the people who designed and built them.

Difference between revisions of "Samuel Varley"

From Graces Guide
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1825 Samuel Varley's method of cutting screws in the lathe was described by his nephew  [[Cornelius Varley]] <ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/41325689?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents] Varley, Cornelius. "No. III. COPYING SCREWS BY THE LATHE." Transactions of the Society, Instituted at London, for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, vol. 43, 1824, pp. 90–93 and Plate VJSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41325689. Accessed 15 Sept. 2020</ref>. The lathe spindle was provided with several short threaded portions which provided a range of thread pitches (four are shown in the illustration). The lathe was equipped with a sliding flat bar alongside the headstock, guided to move parallel to the lathe axis. Fitted to the left hand end of the bar was a guide pin, which could be pushed into contact with the selected threaded portion. The right hand end of the sliding flat bar carried a tool holder. This held a form tool (a chasing tool) which was manually pushed against the workpiece to cut the thread. The guide pin and the toolholder were supported on the underside. Varley probably developed the method before 1800.
1825 Samuel Varley's method of cutting screws in the lathe was described by his nephew  [[Cornelius Varley]] <ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/41325689?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents] Varley, Cornelius. "No. III. COPYING SCREWS BY THE LATHE." Transactions of the Society, Instituted at London, for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, vol. 43, 1824, pp. 90–93 and Plate VJSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41325689. Accessed 15 Sept. 2020</ref>. The lathe spindle was provided with several short threaded portions which provided a range of thread pitches (four are shown in the illustration). The lathe was equipped with a sliding flat bar alongside the headstock, guided to move parallel to the lathe axis. Fitted to the left hand end of the bar was a guide pin, which could be pushed into contact with the selected threaded portion. The right hand end of the sliding flat bar carried a tool holder. This held a form tool (a chasing tool) which was manually pushed against the workpiece to cut the thread. The guide pin and the toolholder were supported on the underside. Varley probably developed the method before 1800.


Samuel Varley also developed a lathe for optical turning, grinding lenses, watch-jewelling, and other purposes. [[Cornelius Varley]] added some improvements, mainly related to the belt drive arrangements, and described the lathe in 1829<ref>[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=WEoEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA309&lpg=PA309&dq=%22samuel+varley%22+lathe&source=bl&ots=fSQKEwm5Uc&sig=ACfU3U1AzqIET3dHKzOeP7Qd2mgjihN-Lg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiZ45aZku3rAhVuRRUIHa4cDDA4ChDoATACegQIBBAB#v=onepage&q=%22samuel%20varley%22%20lathe&f=false] Gill's Technical Repository, Volume 3 by Thomas Gill, 1829, p.307ff. & Plate VIII</ref>. The toolholder was carried in a swinging frame, providing accurate guidance for facing cuts. Varley also introduced tapered fittings for the lathe chuck and the for the tool in its holder. The depth of cut was set by a screw with a graduated collar.
Samuel Varley also developed a lathe for optical turning, grinding lenses, watch-jewelling, and other purposes. [[Cornelius Varley]] added some improvements, mainly related to the belt drive arrangements, and described the lathe in 1829<ref>[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=WEoEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA309&lpg=PA309&dq=%22samuel+varley%22+lathe&source=bl&ots=fSQKEwm5Uc&sig=ACfU3U1AzqIET3dHKzOeP7Qd2mgjihN-Lg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiZ45aZku3rAhVuRRUIHa4cDDA4ChDoATACegQIBBAB#v=onepage&q=%22samuel%20varley%22%20lathe&f=false] Gill's Technical Repository, Volume 3 by Thomas Gill, 1829, p.307ff. & Plate VIII</ref>. The toolholder was a prismatic bar carried in a swinging frame, providing accurate guidance for facing cuts. The depth of cut was set by a screw with a graduated collar.Varley also introduced taper fits for the lathe chuck and for the tool in its holder. Varley determined that the optimum taper was 4 degrees.  


==See Also==
==See Also==

Revision as of 11:48, 16 September 2020

Samuel Varley of Clerkenwell was a watchmaker, instrument maker, and scientist.

Born 24 Oct 1744.

Died 18 April 1822.

1825 Samuel Varley's method of cutting screws in the lathe was described by his nephew Cornelius Varley [1]. The lathe spindle was provided with several short threaded portions which provided a range of thread pitches (four are shown in the illustration). The lathe was equipped with a sliding flat bar alongside the headstock, guided to move parallel to the lathe axis. Fitted to the left hand end of the bar was a guide pin, which could be pushed into contact with the selected threaded portion. The right hand end of the sliding flat bar carried a tool holder. This held a form tool (a chasing tool) which was manually pushed against the workpiece to cut the thread. The guide pin and the toolholder were supported on the underside. Varley probably developed the method before 1800.

Samuel Varley also developed a lathe for optical turning, grinding lenses, watch-jewelling, and other purposes. Cornelius Varley added some improvements, mainly related to the belt drive arrangements, and described the lathe in 1829[2]. The toolholder was a prismatic bar carried in a swinging frame, providing accurate guidance for facing cuts. The depth of cut was set by a screw with a graduated collar.Varley also introduced taper fits for the lathe chuck and for the tool in its holder. Varley determined that the optimum taper was 4 degrees.

See Also

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Sources of Information

  1. [1] Varley, Cornelius. "No. III. COPYING SCREWS BY THE LATHE." Transactions of the Society, Instituted at London, for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, vol. 43, 1824, pp. 90–93 and Plate VJSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41325689. Accessed 15 Sept. 2020
  2. [2] Gill's Technical Repository, Volume 3 by Thomas Gill, 1829, p.307ff. & Plate VIII